Blog
Jul
7
The Utility of History: Perspectives on International Development
Victoria Hawkins, student blogger at Congress 2015
Don’t say history doesn’t have the power to change the future. At Congress 2015, Historians of Humanitarian Aid held a panel on the "utility of history" in today’s development in the Global South. Jill Campbell-Miller of St. Mary’s University (pictured) presented a case study of Canadian bi-lateral assistance to India in the 1950 to illustrate how the history of development practice is important and useful for both scholars and practitioners of international development today.
Campbell-Miller argued that at the very least, history can have an effect on institutional memory, the collective understanding of an institution’s past. That understanding could potentially contribute to...
Jul
6
Roundtable: Working in Public History
Victoria Hawkins, student blogger at Congress 2015
The work of public historians can take many different forms, some quite unexpected. A roundtable discussion at Congress 2015 focused on the different roles that public historians take in their work. Jennifer Anderson of Library and Archives Canada acted as moderator of the discussion. Anderson is currently working on assignment at the Canadian Museum of History and offered insight into the role of both archives and museums in shaping public memory.
As a relatively new field, Public History has many unexpected applications in both the public and private sectors.The panel of speakers represented the various roles of public historians, from freelance and contract work for museums and other cultural...
Jun
26
Reconciling multiculturalism
Christine McKenna, student blogger at Congress 2015
Canada is often viewed as a diverse, welcoming nation comprised of immigrants from around the world, a reputation built on the embracing of “multiculturalism” as an approach to immigration and citizenship. Emerging as a policy framework in 1971, the concept of multiculturalism in Canada has since shifted and evolved, and many now wonder about the term’s relevance to our society, both today and in the future. In a panel presented by the Canadian Sociological Association, scholars gathered to discuss what multiculturalism is, where it came from, and what it implies in a contemporary context. 
“The future of multiculturalism: sociological perspectives” was...
Jun
25
When big data meets the soul of culture: innovation for the future
Victoria Hawkins, student blogger at Congress 2015
The digital age is rapidly changing how scholars produce, share, analyze and preserve ideas. At Monday’s interdisciplinary symposium at Congress 2015, the changing nature of scholarly research with technology was the topic of discussion.
One of the event’s hot topics was the preservation of the past, facilitated by Fabien Lengellé, Corporate Secretary of Library and Archives Canada (LAC). Lengellé outlined the recent digital projects undertaken by the LAC in efforts to relate to the Digital Humanities domain. Lengellé’s presentation sparked some lively questioning about the choice of which archival materials to digitize and the difficulty of prioritizing certain records. In response, Lengellé said that...
Jun
24
Technological Unemployment and the Future of Work
Ashley Stewart, student blogger at Congress 2015
What world can we imagine in 20, 30, even 50 years in the future? How rapid will technology advance and how do we develop policy to match the speed of development? How many times will my job description change? What do we do when machine intelligence surpasses human intelligence? These are just a few of the many questions that I have after the "Technological Unemployment and Future of Work" interdisciplinary symposium at Congress 2015.
I sat down for the symposium intrigued about the topic, but didn’t fathom the scope of what I would learn. It is both fascinating and terrifying the scenarios presented about what technology could possibly bring to society and what that means for our...