Upcoming Travel

Posted on By krista
Map with a wallet on top of it.

I have a bunch of travel coming up in the next few months and as always I would love to connect with public history and archival colleagues while travelling.  In the coming months I’m looking forward to the following events:

  • Kishay Pisim Mamawihitowin – The Great Moon Gathering 2018, Timmins, Ontario, February 14-16th.  I’ll be attending KPM with my colleague Liz Webkamigad, we will be participating in the Gathering by hosting a photo album display on behalf of the Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre and by providing a workshop on teaching about Residential Schools.
  • Tri-University Graduate History Conference, Guelph, Ontario, March 9th.  Details about this one are forthcoming – but I’m excited!
  • National Council on Public History annual meeting, Hartford, Connecticut, March 27-30th. This is hands-down my favourite conference every year and attending always feels a bit like heading home to my professional family. I look forward to seeing lots of familiar faces and connected with new folks at NCPH in March.
  • Archives Association of Ontario, Belleville, Ontario, May 8-10th.  It has been a couple of years since I’ve been to AAO and I’m really looking forward to reconnecting with this great group of archivists.
  • Canadian Historical Association annual meeting, University of British Columbia, June 3-5, 2019. Stay tuned for details of what I’ll be up to at CHA.

Get in touch if you’re going to be at any of the above events and want to grab coffee, plot to take over the profession, or just connect in person.

Photo credit: Kira auf der Heide on Unsplash

Breaking down NCPH’s First Twitter Mini-Con

Posted on By krista
NCPH Active poster

My latest piece, “Breaking down NCPH’s First Twitter Mini-Con” was written in collaboration with Christine Crosby.  Head over to History@Work to our reflections on #NCPHactive.  We take a behind the scenes look at the Twitter mini-con organizing, provide reflections on successes, and consider changes we might make to a similar event in the future.  Personally, I really enjoy the Twitter conference format and would love to explore other ways it can be used to stimulate conversations across disciplines and distances.

Archives As Activism: Community Narrative Building at the Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre

Posted on By krista

As part of the “(re)Active Public History” Twitter mini-con hosted by the National Council on Public History I presented a presentation on the role of the Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre as a place of community building and activism.  The complete Twitter presentation is below.

(Re)Active Public History Twitter Mini-Con

Posted on By krista
Mini-con poster

The NCPH (Re)Active Public History mini-con schedule is now live!  There are some fantastic presentations planned including two great keynotes.  The Thursday October 18th keynote by LaTanya Autry is titled “Beyond Conversations: Transforming Museums through Social Justice Action” and the Friday October 19th keynote “Memory to Action” is by Allison Tucker from the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience.

In addition to the two keynotes there are session from 12:30-7:30 PM on both Thursday October 18th and Friday October 19th.  The theme for the conference is “(Re)Active Public History” and is rooted in a desire to critically discuss the active ways that public historians engage with the public, the past, and historical scholarship. I’m really excited about all of the presentations on the schedule and look forward to participating both days.

Interested in learning more about how you can join the #NCPHactive twitter conference? Check out the tips NCPH has compiled for participants.

(Re) Active Public History Twitter Mini-Con

Posted on By krista
Poster for Re Active Public History Mini Con with date and hashtag.

NCPH is having it’s first virtual mini-con! Modeled after last year’s Beyond 150 Twitter Conference organized by Andrea Eidinger and I, the “(Re) Active Public History” Twitter mini-con will take place October 18-19, 2018. The CFP for this mini-con is now live and is open to submissions until September 7, 2018.

Like #Beyond150 the #NCPHActive mini-con has no registration fees or travel costs! Just follow #NCPHactive on Twitter to participate.

Want more details on what a Twitter Conference involves? What does a presentation look like? Why should you participate? Check out my History@Work blog post which introduced the NCPH Twitter mini-con.

CHA and Regina Extras

Posted on By krista
First Nations University Exterior

When I attend conferences I typically try to engage in a couple of activities outside of the conference programming.  This usually means scoping out local museums, heritage sites, and art galleries. While in Regina I was able to squeeze in a few local sights and engage in some more general Congress programming in addition to the sessions offered by the CHA.

On Sunday May 27th I had the chance to attend a Secret Feminist Agenda Podcast meetup at Malty International Brewing.  For folks who haven’t heard of the Secret Feminist Agenda, I highly recommend you download a few episodes and listen.  Hosted by academic Hannah McGregor, this podcast is a great example of digital scholarship.  McGregor has partnered with Wilfred Laurier University Press to develop a platform for the peer-review and critical discussion of the podcast. The meetup was a fantastic opportunity to be in a space with other feminist folks who are pushing boundaries and engaged in exciting scholarship. It was also a chance to connect with some folks from the Canadian Society for Digital Humanities.

I also had the opportunity to check out the Stonecuts and sealskins: Inuit work on paper exhibition at the Fifth Parallel Gallery which featured works from the President’s Art Collection, Shumiatcher donation. Though a relatively small gallery space and a relatively small exhibition Stonecuts and Sealskins included a number of impressive examples of early and contemporary Inuit print making styles.  The show included a couple of Kenojuak Ashevak prints, which I had seen before – but are breathtaking every time I see them.  I am glad I carved out some time during a break to check out this gallery space.

I also stopped by the beaded blanket collage by Katelyn Ironstar.  I loved the participatory art project aspect of this work and the idea of taking up space at an academic conference to reclaim traditional beading styles.  Essentially Ironstar was inviting folks to sit with her, learn about traditional beading, and contribute to a collaborative art piece. The space Ironstar carved out was both mindful and reflective. I think we need more of this within academic spaces.

There were definitely local spaces that I wish I had more time to visit during CHA.  But I am very glad I had the opportunity to step a bit outside the main conference stream and explore.  If nothing else, I now have a few things I want to see in Regina if I ever make my way back through that area.

Photo: Exterior of First Nations University in Regina.

Tweets from CHA 2018

Posted on By krista

I spent this week at the Canadian Historical Association (CHA) annual meeting.  I was pleasantly surprised by the range of context at this year’s meeting and was thrilled to be able to listen to so many great sessions on public history and Indigenous history.

I live tweeted the majority of the sessions I attended.  I tend to use this as a form of note taking, the tweets definitely aren’t perfect but they provide a nice summary of what was covered by the presenters.

I’m still thinking about the best way to preserve these tweets, but I have made one of the panels – the “Subverting Traditional Historiographies: Seeking Diversity in the Archives and Beyond” panel – into a Twitter moment.  I’d like to do this for all of the panels I tweeted, but it might have to wait until I have more time next week.

CHA 2018: Gathering Diversities

Posted on By krista
Highway and sky in distance.

Next week I’m headed to Regina for the Canadian Historical Association (CHA) annual meeting.  I’m looking forward to connecting with colleagues and to taking in a number of great sessions.  If you are going to be in Regina you can likely find me at the following events:

Monday May 28th

  • Bright and early at 8:30am I’ll be speaking as part of the “Diversifying Narratives: Intersections of Public and Digital History in the 21st Century” roundtable with Andrea Eidinger, Jessica DeWitt, and Jessica Knapp.  Join us in room ED 315 for great discussion about the intersection of digital and public history work.
  • From 10:30-12 I’ll be at the CHA Keynote Address featuring A.B. Stonechild.
  • In the afternoon I’m chairing the “Unsettling the Settler Narrative: The Possibilities and Limits of Material Culture in Canadian History” session featuring Erin Millions, Krista Barclay, Elizabeth A. Scott, and Susie Fisher.  We’ll be in room RC 175 from 1:30-3pm.
  •  I’m really excited that Speed Networking, a National Council on Public History (NCPH) stable will be at CHA this year.  I’ll be participating as one of the established professionals. A huge shoutout to Jessica Knapp for her work organizing this event.
  • To round out Monday I’ll be attending the Lost Stories Film Festival.  For anyone interested in learning more about the Lost Stories project, check out the posts from last week’s Active History theme week on the Lost Story initiative.

Tuesday May 29th 

  • I’m undecided on the 8:30am session.  But there is a good chance you’ll find me at the “Indigenous Education in Settler Settings: Interpretations, Responses, and Resistance” session.
  • From 10:30-12 I plan on attending the “Indigenous Histories and the Canadian Narrative” panel
  • The Active History business meeting is from 12-1:30 on Tuesday! Interested in learning more about the work we do at Activehistory.ca and about Active History more broadly? Join us in room RC 228.2.
  • I’m leaving my Tuesday afternoon plans open at this point, partially because there are so many interesting sessions to pick from.

Wednesday May 30th

  • I’ll be up early for either the “Categories of Colonization: Administration and Legal Regulation, 1850-1950” or “Agency in Education and Research” session.  So many good things!
  • In the afternoon I’m looking forward to the “Subverting Traditional Historiographies: Seeking Diversity in the Archives and Beyond” session and the “Working with Indigenous Communities and Concepts” session.

Other Activities:

Photo: Paul Trienekens on Unsplash

NCPH 2018 Excitement and Planning

Posted on By krista

Next month I’ll be heading to Vegas for this year’s National Council on Public History conference.   As usual, this conference is shaping up to be the highlight of my academic travel for the year.  If you’re on the fence about registration you have until April 4th to complete pre-conference registration. After that date, registration is only available onsite.

The schedule looks fantastic with a great mixture of walking tours, panels, roundtables, and workshops.  I’m really looking forward to learning from folks and connecting with public historians from across the United States and Canada.

I haven’t selected which panels I will be attending during the conference but there are a number of events that I will definitely be participating in either as a facilitator or as a participant.  If you’re interested in connecting with me during the conference feel free to contact me before hand.  Otherwise, you can look for me at the following events:

Pre-Conference Events

  • Membership Committee Twitter Chat focused on all things #npch2018.  This virtual event will be held on April 3rd from 11:30-12:30 ET on twitter.  Join us using the hashtag #ncph2018 to share your conference survival tips or to ask questions.

Wednesday April 18

  • First Time Attendee and Conference Connections Meetup (5:30-6:00pm).  Great opportunity to ease into the conference if you are new!
  • Opening Reception (6:00-7:30 pm).  There will be food!

Thursday April 19

  • My term on the NCPH Board doesn’t start until after the end of this year’s annual meeting, but as a learning opportunity I’ll be sitting in on the Board of Directors meeting from 8am to 1pm.
  • Pop-Up: What does NCPH mean to you? (3:00-3:30pm)  Hosted by the membership committee, this pop-up is a great change to talk about why you love public history and where you see the public history field going in the next ten years.
  • Poster Session and Reception (5:00-7:00pm)

Friday April 20

  • Membership Committee Meeting (8:30-10:00am)
  • Sharing the Power: The Role of Public History in Reconciling Indigenous-Settler Narratives (10:30am-12:00pm)  I’m speaking on this panel with a lot of other fantastic folks. You should come.
  • Public Plenary: Breaking Barriers in Public Storytelling (6:00-7:30pm)
  • 3rd Annual Great Canadian NCPH Gathering (8pm)

Saturday April 21

  • Awards Breakfast and Presidential Address (8:00-10:00am)

Image credit: NCPH

NCPH Election Results

Posted on By krista
Dictionary definition of vote

Jumping up and down news! (Okay, I admit that I might be the only one who jumps up and down at this news). I was recently elected to the Board of Directors of the National Council on Public History (NCPH). Folks can find the complete election results in the March issue of the Public History News publication. Congrats to Kristen Baldwin Deathridge and Kimberly Springle who were also elected to the Board and congratulations to Gregory Smoak to who was elected as NCPH president.

I talk about NCPH a lot. It is a professional organization that I truly care about and the space that I consider my professional home. The folks who I’ve meet though NCPH are a constant source of inspiration.

Each year I come away from the annual meeting with a sense of renewed love for my profession, enthusiasm for emerging public history practices, and possibilities for projects within my own workplace. For example, the Canada-wide Canadian History Edit-A-thon organized by Jessica Knapp and I developed out of an idea we had at the 2017 annual meeting. Details on this year’s annual meeting, which is being held in Las Vegas from April 18-21, can be found on the NCPH website.

I look forward to serving on the NCPH Board and to giving back to an organization I love.