Year In Review: 2018

"2018" written with a sparkler

It’s December! That means it is annual year end reflection time. As in previous years I’m going to use this post remind myself of all the things I did over the past year.  A year is a long time and accomplishments tend to be immediately celebrated and then forgotten in the hustle of the day-to-day chaos.  I encourage other folks to take the time to reflect on all the small and big things they have been a part of in 2018.

Writing Things

  • In August Danielle Robichaud and I published “Doing the work: Editing Wikipedia as an act of reconciliation.”  I am still thrilled about having something published via On Archivy and I’m super happy that we able to develop our AAO presentation from April 2017 into a longer form piece.  Plus, Danielle is an awesome colleague and working with her was a joy, as always.
  • Skylee-Storm Hogan and I have submitted two book chapters – one related to the Residential Schools Land Memory Mapping Project and one about archives as contested space.
  • I had an article accepted to the Canadian Historical Review, it will be appearing in the 2019 summer issue of CHR.
  • Andrea Eidinger and I wrote an academic article together!  Publication details are still forthcoming, but working with Andrea on this was a fantastic experience and it highlighted the value of cross-discipline collaboration.
  • I’ve continued to work as part of the Active History editorial collective. In 2018 Andrea Eidinger and I launched the Beyond the Lecture series.  This series is focused on exploring best practices in teaching Canadian history and seeks to expand perspectives related to history education.  The series is still open to submissions, so hit us up with your ideas!

Talks and Presentations

  • In April 2018 I was part of a fantastic National Council on Public History roundtable, titled “Sharing the Power: The Role of Public History in Reconciling Indigenous-Settler Narratives.” It was an honour to be part of this panel that featured Indigenous, settler, Canadian, and US perspectives on public history work.
  • I also had the privilege of being part of the “Diversifying Narratives: Intersections of Public and Digital History in the 21st Century” roundtable at the Canadian Historical Association Annual meeting in May 2019.  This session brought together Andrea Eidinger, Jessica Knapp, Jessica DeWitt, and I to talk about digital history and public history.  I love collaborating with these folks and this roundtable was no exception.
  • In 2018 I also provided a number of nuts and bolts style workshops on archival practice, digital publishing, and local history.
  • I’ve also continued to do a lot of outreach and presentation work as part of my job – I’ve spoken with over 5,000 students and professional groups about Residential Schools and the history of the Shingwauk site.  As part of this work I’ve had the chance to work closely with some great folks including Skylee-Storm Hogan, Mike Cachagee, Madison Bifano, and Elizabeth Edgar-Webkamigad.  These folks are constant sources of inspiration and I’m lucky to work with them.

Collaborations

  • Jessica Knapp and I ran year two of the Canada-wide Wikipedia edit-a-thon event.  I am very happy to see this Wikpedia work continuing.
  • I was part of the group that helped organize the National Council on Public History (NCPH) “(Re)Active Public History” Twitter mini-con.  I am thrilled with how this event turned out and especially pleased with the number of great presentations that were part of the event.  If you missed it, you can check out all of the presentations as Twitter moments.
  • I was nominated to the NCPH Board of Directors and as part of that role I’ve been able to collaborate with some great NCPH folks and continue to learn more about all of the moving parts that make NCPH such a great organization.
  • The Reclaiming Shingwauk Hall exhibition space opened in August 2018.  This space is representative of so much community collaboration and I can’t adequately express how happy I am to see this space being used for education and the ongoing work to honour Survivors of the Shingwauk Residential School.

Grants

  • This year was full of grant writing and grant based projects.  Some highlights include:
    • Successful application to the National Heritage Digitization Strategy call for funding for the “Healing and Reconciliation Through Digital Access” project.
    • Being part of the SSHRC funded “Documenting Early Residential Schools” project with Tom Peace and the Woodland Cultural Centre.  This funding allowed a group of Huron students to spend a few days up at Algoma/Shingwauk site – which was a fantastic experience.
    • Skylee-Storm Hogan and I were awarded a $10,000 ChangeUp grant through the Inspirit Foundation.  This project has focused on youth education around Residential Schools and has allowed us to pay some awesome Indigenous youth for their work.
    • 2018 also saw the continued funding of the “Realizing Healing and Reconciliation through Education” by the Heritage Canada Museum Assistance Program.  This current funding will allow the SRSC to expand the Reclaiming Shingwauk Hall exhibition to include an artifact driven exhibition space.
    • I’ve also continued to be part of the SSHRC funded “Residential Schools Land Memory Mapping Project

Odds and Sods

  • I’ve continued to produce and record episodes of the Historical Reminiscents Podcast on a regular basis. With November marking the one year anniversary of this podcast!
  • This year I taught an “Introduction to Archival Studies” course at AlgomaU in the fall term.  This is the first time an archives studies course has been offered at AU, so I’m super happy about that development.
  • I have an energetic and empathetic four year old who inspires me to do better.
  • I started embroidering things! Photos can be seen on my Instagram account (@kris_tlon).

Despite the horrid news cycle that has characterized 2018, I had many good experiences over this past year.  I am fortunate to work with kind and generous collaborators who are an inspiration.  I’m looking forward to 2019 being filled with more of the same.

Photo credit: NordWood Themes on Unsplash

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