Tag: Carleton University Archives and Research Collections

Teaching with Humanitarian Archives: Three Lessons from Collaborations between Carleton University Archives and Special Collections and the Canadian Network of Humanitarian History

In December 2022, CNHH member Dominique Marshall participated in a workshop showcasing learning by doing with library resources. In the six minutes that follow, she speaks about the fit between Archives and Special Collections‘ fonds of humanitarian archives and ‘experiential learning’ at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
She thanks her three partners in the ongoing Humanitarian Archival Rescue Project, Chris Trainor and Lloyd Keane of ASC, as well as Hunter McGill, veteran of Canadian International Development Agency; Nina Dore of Carleton’s Teaching and Learning Services, organized the event and kindly produced the clip.

Spotlight on Experiential Learning: Instructor Panel with the Library (Maps, Archives, Rare Books, and Ottawa Resource Room) – Dominique Marshall presentation

CNHH’s Seventh Annual Meeting Goes Virtual

by Anna Kozlova

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Canadian Network of Humanitarian History’s (CNHH) seventh annual meeting was held virtually through the video conferencing platform Zoom. The virtual format of this year’s meeting resulted in a record high turnout with a number of overseas partners joining the meeting, demonstrating one of the rare benefits of the pandemic.

This was noted during the planning for the Canadian Historical Association’s (CHA) 2022 conference, where the goal is to have an Africa-centred panel as there has never been an area-focused panel focusing on development aid and humanitarianism in Africa. Organizers of the panel are considering the possibility of having a partially virtual format as that would allow for greater participation.

In spite of the pandemic, the past year has been a productive one for CNHH members. During the meeting, updates were provided on two MITACS-funded projects, Two case studies in the public history of international development policies in Canada: the Lebanese Special Measures Program (1975-1990) and The Life of Lewis Perinbam (1925-2008) and Micro-Histories of Transnational Humanitarian Aid: Co-Creation of Knowledge, Policy, and Education Materials. David Webster, Professor of History at Bishop’s University, talked about the digital initiatives that he is involved in which include launching a website inquiry on the history of Canadian development assistance, the Timor-Leste International Solidarity Archive and History Beyond Borders, which publishes e-dossiers on international history. Dominique Marshall, Professor of History at Carleton University, talked about her continued work with Archival Rescue on which is she working with alongside Hunter McGill, Senior Fellow at the School of International Development and Global Studies at the University of Ottawa, and Chris Trainor, Head Archivist at Carleton University.

Digital media was central to a lot of the discussions that took place during the meeting. Dominique has recently collaborated with Nicolas Lépine, an Associate Professor of History at Lakehead University on Recipro – a collaborative teaching website, meanwhile, Jill undertook the important role of overhauling and modernizing CNHH’s website, which is currently seeking blog contributions.

In terms of future projects, suggestions for a larger, more comprehensive project that explores the history of Canadian development efforts and a project focusing on visual histories were discussed. Under normal circumstances, CNHH tries to partner with local NGOs from the region where the annual meeting is being held, however, with the current remote environment, any NGOs, regardless of their location, are welcome to collaborate. Sarah Glassford, an archivist at the University of Windsor, talked about the value of establishing connections with NGOs as these connections often become long-term partnerships.

This meeting served as a wonderful example of the ability to productively adapt to the turbulent times we are currently living in. Throughout the discussions taking place at this meeting, CNHH members demonstrated the many ways that our current remote and digital environment has helped to eradicate some barriers to participation and collaboration, bringing the development community closer together.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Anna Kozlova is a PhD Candidate in the Department of History at Carleton University. She was the lead researcher on the MITACS-funded project “Two case studies in the public history of international development policies in Canada: the Lebanese Special Measures Program (1975-1990) and The Life of Lewis Perinbam (1925-2008).”

Taking Inventory of WUSC’s Past – A Basement Journey

by Elizabeth Reid

In the Winter of 2020, I had the opportunity to work with the communications department at the World University Service of Canada, or WUSC, to help sort through decades worth of documents, photos, and other forms of media stored in its Ottawa office. Shortly after the First World War, WUSC, under its original name, European Student Relief, was created in Switzerland to help support European students displaced by the war. Although the archives I had the chance inventory did not span all the period back to the 1920s, they helped to paint a picture of the work WUSC has done in the last several decades, and the aid they have been able to provide to students on an international level. While most of WUSC’s archives are held in an off-site storage facility, a small portion of them are still stored in their main office and needed to be inventoried.

Continue reading

Entrevues et documentation pour l’histoire d’une aventure montréalaise de solidarité internationale

Par Anne-Michèle Lajoie, étudiante stagiaire, Université Carleton

 

Image en vedette ci-dessus: 1. Kiosque des bénévoles: Prise au Sommet des Peuples à Québec avril 2001. C’est un sommet en parallèle avec le Sommet des chefs d’État. C’est la réponse populaire démocratique, internationaliste au processus de mondialisation structuré autour de celui des governments et des patrons. Cette photo démontre l’importance des bénévoles dans la mission d’Alternatives.

L’organisation montréalaise de solidarité internationale « Alternatives » aura 25 ans en novembre 2019 et l’organisation a le souhait de bâtir une mémoire, en faisant ressortir des moments clés de son histoire, en mettant la lumière sur des étapes de son évolution qui ont un intérêt historique au-delà du strict cadre institutionnel. Anne-Michèle Lajoie, étudiante en « Public Affairs and Policy Management » à Carleton, a passé les 13 jours de son « practicum » en histoire à les aider.  Dans ce blog, elle raconte son expérience et réfléchit sur les liens entre les praticiens et les historiens de l’humanitaire. Continue reading