Students gather to share food and conversation at the Holiday Mixer sponsored by TUGSA at the University of Waterloo.
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. This initiative will continue in Winter 2026.
2026-27 TUGSA Co-Presidents
University of Guelph
University of Waterloo
Wilfrid Laurier University
Aidan Hughes is a PhD candidate in his second year. He is interested in the histories of performance-enhancing drugs, body cultures, and masculinities. Aidan’s doctoral work examines the Dubin Inquiry and the ways in which athletes perceived and justified their own anabolic steroid use at a time when the anti-doping movement was gaining considerable moral currency. Aidan spends his free time weightlifting and boxing.
Christine Trivino is a PhD student working with Dr. Andrew Hunt. She is interested in United States history with particular emphasis on cultural developments, gender history, and the role of the celebrity in the 1950s-1970s. Her current research will explore how female celebrities became political figures and how their varying access to public space shaped their contributions to activism. Christine spends her free time reading, hiking, and baking.
Brian Gibb is a Ph.D. candidate and is originally from northern Ontario. His research interests include European expansion in the early-modern period, global history and political economy. He hopes to research resistance to British and French customs and tariffs in the Channel Islands in the mid-eighteenth century. He also works in harm reduction and is an advocate for people who use substances, and helps them do so safely.
2026-27 TUGSA MA Representatives
University of Guelph
University of Waterloo
Wilfrid Laurier University
Nicolas Landers is an MA student in his first year, working with Dr. Matthew Hayday. He is currently interested in Québec, French-Canadian, and Franco-Ontarian History. His work primarily focuses on the history of the French language in the Ontario Justice system, and the reactions of the government and the people to its implementation.
Lina Barker is an MA student working with Dr. Dan Gorman. Her research interests include post-war Britain, media-government relations, and the history of journalism and communication. Her thesis will examine Britain’s participation in the International Organization of Journalists (IOJ) in the post-war period. Lina spends her free time reading, drawing, and keeping up with the New Statesman.
Clare Vike is an MA student working with Dr. Eva Plach at Laurier. She is interested in Polish history, the Holocaust, and genocide studies. As she loves books and literature, this plays a huge role in her research endeavours. Her Major Research Paper (MRP) will look at how books impacted the Lodz Ghetto during the Nazi occupation. In her free time, Clare enjoys reading, crocheting, and spending time with her cat, Toby. Clare is originally from British Columbia and moved to Ontario for further education.