Beyond the Lecture: Innovations in Teaching Canadian History

Today Active History announced "Beyond the Lecture" a new monthly series dedicated to renewed dialogue about best practices for teaching Canadian history at the post-secondary level.  This series is edited by Andrea Eidinger and I and is open to submissions. How do you approach Canadian history in the classroom? Do you use digital history, public … Continue reading Beyond the Lecture: Innovations in Teaching Canadian History

Announcing the Historical Reminiscents Podcast

White circle on blue background with text reading "Historical Reminiscents Podcast"

If you know me chances are you also know I have serious feels about podcasts.  I like them.  A lot.  For over a year I've been tossing around the idea of starting my own podcast.  I went back and forth numerous times on what to create a podcast about -  public history, fandom, or craft … Continue reading Announcing the Historical Reminiscents Podcast

Interactive History: Indigenous Perspectives and the Blanket Exercise

As part of Orientation Week at AlgomaU students, staff, faculty and community members were invited to participate in the KAIROS blanket exercise.  Originally developed in the 1990s as a response to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples the blanket exercise is a participatory teaching too that invites participants to learn about Canadian history from an … Continue reading Interactive History: Indigenous Perspectives and the Blanket Exercise

Reading: Unwritten Histories

A few months ago I stumbled across Andrea Eidinger's Unwritten Histories blog.  If you haven't already come across her site it's well worth a visit.  I've particularly enjoyed her Historian's Toolkit posts and her "What's in My Bag?" series which uses material culture as a lens to examine the past. Andrea has been wonderfully consistent … Continue reading Reading: Unwritten Histories

Canadian Girls In Training: 100 Years With A Purpose

My most recent post, "Canadian Girls in Training: 100 Years With A Purpose" can be seen over at Active History.  I wrote this post after attending a local 100th anniversary celebration of CGIT and learning about the local impact of the organization.  The post also looks at the history of CGIT across Canada and the … Continue reading Canadian Girls In Training: 100 Years With A Purpose

Moral Goodness and Venereal Disease: Sexual Health Education in Ontario

My latest post, "Moral Goodness and Venereal Disease: Sexual Health Education in Ontario" can be see over on the Activehistory.ca site. The post looks at the introduction of sexual health education into Ontario schools in the early 1900s and traces the changing nature of the sexual health curriculum to present day.

Redress and Reconciliation: The Legacy of Residential Schools

Yesterday I attended a panel at Algoma University focused on residential school and reconciliation.  The panel, “Redress & Reconciliation in the face of Post-Apology Revelations”, was standing room only and featured four residential school survivors, two inter-generational survivors, and historian Ian Mosby.   The panel participants were invited to speak about their thoughts on Harper's … Continue reading Redress and Reconciliation: The Legacy of Residential Schools

Orange Shirt Day

September 30, 2014 is the second annual Orange Shirt Day.  The day grew out of a residential school commemoration event held in Williams, Lake BC in Spring 2013.  During this event Phyllis (Jack) Webstad, a Survivor of the St. Joseph Mission Residential School described her experience of arriving at the residential school and having an … Continue reading Orange Shirt Day