Tri-University Graduate Student Association (TUGSA)

Tri-U graduate student association logo

TUGSA purpose

The Tri-University Graduate Student Association (TUGSA) was established in 2007 to help bring together the graduate students from the three universities of the Tri-University Graduate Program in History. Our organization has three primary goals:

  • foster student community
  • maintain communication among the three departments and their students
  • strengthen the connections among the three universities. 

We hold a variety of different social and academic events throughout the year that rotate between Waterloo and Guelph, providing every student with an equal opportunity to participate in the growth and success of the Tri-University student community.

In 2023 we began an initiative that highlights student research.

2023-24 TUGSA Co-Presidents

University of Guelph

Raymond-Li

Raymond Li is a PhD student. His research field lies in the history of Northeast Asia, modern East Asia history and the history of ideology, especially for the spread and development of nationalism and feminism in Northeast Asia since the beginning of the twentieth century. Outside of academics, Raymond enjoys working out, playing basketball, and occasionally playing the piano. He likes to go diving in tropical areas during long holidays and may also expand to cold waters in the future. 

Wilfrid Laurier University

Kess Carpenter

Kess Carpenter is a PhD Candidate. They are particularly interested in social, cultural, and gender history. Their research investigates the significance of pornography in culture, and in the lives of those who consumed it, during the Cold War in North America. Kess enjoys spending time with their dog Clementine, birdwatching, antiquing, and playing guitar.

University of Waterloo

Vera Zoricic

Vera Zoricic is a second-year PhD student studying under the supervision of Dr. Ian Milligan. Her research topic focuses on the digitization of the black freedom struggles during the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. She is particularly interested in how the issues of race, class, and gender intersect to shape individual and group experiences in Canada and the United States. Vera enjoys gardening and baking in her free time.