Graduate student research

bracelet of different stones of different colours

The Tri-U Graduate Student Association (TUGSA) provides space for graduate students to share their research. If you are interested in participating in an upcoming TUGSA graduate student panel, please contact Catherine Ramey at ceramey@uwaterloo.ca.

Travel and Tourism - March 2024

On Tuesday morning, March 26, the third student research panel of the 2024 year occurred. Daniel Berry, Waterloo MA student discussed the "public's perception of the history of Las Vegas, and how an artificially-created, masculine influence was projected on the city since its founding in the late 1800s as a 'frontier town.'" He was followed by Catherine Ramey, PhD candidate at Waterloo, who "centred the travels of Canadian Rev. Dr. Walter T. Currie in the 1880s to emphasise the multiple roles that missionaries adopted in foreign fields." Finally, James E. Rubino, MA student at Guelph "discussed the ways in which Romantic aesthetic codes were utilized by nineteenth-century travelers in their manuscript travel journals" using the writing of Anglican cleric William H. Bathurst (1796-1877).

Dr. Matthew Wiseman, Lecturer in History at Waterloo, chaired the panel.

Read more about the presenters research and what motivated them to explore their topics.

Black History Month - February 2024

TUGSA, together with the History Anti-Racism Taskforce (HART) at the University of Waterloo hosted a well-subscribed panel on February 8 with three panelists. Chair was Deirdre McCorkindale of the University of Guelph. Tolulope Akande, MA graduate from the Tri-U history program, "delved into the remarkable story of Princess Orompoto of the old Oyo empire, an intriguing figure from Nigerian history." Dacian Dawes, a 3rd-year undergraduate at the University of Toronto, "focused on advocating for equitable healthcare policies and treatments for Black communities in Canada." Arshad Suliman (return presenter), PhD candidate at the University of Toronto, "introduced the history of Black Canadian solidarity campaigns in Toronto from 1972 to 1994, in relation to Black Canadian mobilisation in the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movements (or BDS) against colonialism in Southern Africa and then against apartheid in South Africa." Find out more about their research through the email interviews conducted with the organizer, Catherine Ramey.

Medical Histories - January 2024

In the virtual panel held on January 25 on medical histories, wide-ranging topics were presented. Guelph PhD student Matthew Edwards' "presentation was a research-in-progress (or RIP) style talk on the history of conversion therapy within Canada’s mental healthcare system." Guelph MA student, Sasha Jones' "presentation explored the sociocultural and sociomedical implications of age-related baldness in eighteenth-century Britain." Email interviews conducted by series coordinator, Catherine Ramey, provide more background on their topics and research methodology.

The panel was chaired by Dr. Amy Milne-Smith of Wilfrid Laurier University.

The Making of Public History - November 2023

Dr. Ben Bradley, the newest professor in the Tri-U chaired the virtual student research panel on "The Making of Public History." The panel was held on November 6, 2023. Brianne Casey, MA student at Laurier, Benji Smith, first year PhD student at Waterloo, and Nicole Vankooten, MA student at Waterloo participated. Each of them gives more background on their topics and research in this post-panel email conversation with the organizer, Catherine Ramey.

Researching Gender - September 2023

Kicking off the new academic year, a panel on "Researching Gender," was coordinated by Catherine Ramey on behalf of TUGSA. Chair for the online event was Dr. Kristina Llewellyn. Kess Carpenter, PhD candidate at Laurier, Rui Li, incoming PhD student at Guelph, Jake McIvor, MA student at Guelph who is completing his research in Fall 2023, and Vera Zoricic, part-time PhD student at Waterloo presented. Learn more about the topics and the presenters thoughts about their research.

Indigenous History Month student research - June 2023

Panelists Elizabeth Best, Emma Rain Smith, and Sarah Stravridis presented their research in the final event of the student research panels of Winter/Spring 2023 that were co-sponsored by the History Anti-Racism Taskforce (HART) and TUGSA. Elizabeth Best is a PhD candidate at York University, Emma Rain Smith is an MA History student at Waterloo, and Sarah Stravridis recently graduated from Western where she served as a research assistant with Tri-U PhD Candidate and Western professor, Cody Groat. Find out more about their presentations and reflections on their research process.

Asian Heritage Month research presentations - May 2023

For Asian Heritage Month, History Anti-Racism Taskforce (HART) together with TUGSA hosted a second graduate student panel on May 17. The panelists included: Hera Averion, a Waterloo graduate with a B. Sc. in Computer Science and a Minor in History; Trevor Parsons, PhD in History candidate at Waterloo; Tanroop Sandhu, Waterloo graduate with a BA and MA in History now pursuing a PhD at Queen Mary University in London; Saif Zaman also a PhD candidate in History at Waterloo. Dr. Norman Smith, University of Guelph professor chaired the event. Read more about the panelists, their presentations, and their reflections on their research.

Research presented for Black History Month - February 2023

On February 14th, 2023,  TUGSA, along with the History Anti-Racism Taskforce (HART) hosted a graduate student panel in honour of Black History Month.

The panelists included:

  • Abigail Opoku, a former MA student in the Department of History at the University of Waterloo
  • Arshad Desai, a second-year PhD student in the Department of History at the University of Toronto
  • Tolulope Akande, a current MA student in the Department of History at the University of Waterloo

Dr Barrington Walker, recently from the Department of History at Wilfrid Laurier University, chaired the panel. Read more about the panelists, their presentations, and their reflections on Black history research.