Author: Sean Eedy (Page 15 of 20)

Keith Spicer: Illustrated Maps of Humanitarian Travels in Asia, 1960

April 21, 2017 / Sean Eedy

By Tyler Owens* and Dominique Marshall

The postcards and personal photographs from Dr. Keith Spicer’s 1960 trip through Europe, Africa, and Asia, were produced during the research he conducted on the trip for a doctoral thesis, better known today as A Samaritan State? External aid in Canada’s foreign policy (1966). On the same occasion, he laid the foundations for Canadian Overseas Volunteers, which would become Canadian University Students Overseas (CUSO). These two maps tell the story of this trip, in his own words. Click the arrows below to take this voyage with him.

* Tyler Owens, research assistant for the CNHH paid by I-CUREUS project put together these ESRI Story Map presentations as part of the preparations for A ‘Samaritan State’ Revisited Conference in December 2016 . We thank the MacOdrum Library Map specialist Rebecca Bartlett for ther technical advice.

From left to right: Jay Ramasubramanyam, Chris Russil, Sergio Guerra. Climate Cafe-1st March 2017: Heart & Crown, Preston St., Ottawa.

Sharing Perspectives on Climate Migration: From Narratives, to Language, to Conceptualization

April 19, 2017 / Sean Eedy

by Jay Ramasubramanyam

“Rains have become so fickle, the days measurably hotter, the droughts more frequent and more fierce, making it impossible to grow enough food on their land” read an article in the New York Times that appeared in late February which elucidated the grounds for mass-migratory patterns across Sub-Saharan Africa (Heat, Hunger and War Force Africans Onto a ‘Road on Fire’). In light of such patterns increasing more than ever in the global south, the role of Carleton University’s Climate Commons, a working group that brings together faculty members and undergraduate and graduate students to discuss climate change issues, becomes all the more prominent within the context of such narratives. An evening of discussion and dialogue on climate change migration on the 1st of March brought together professors, a slam poet and a graduate student to discuss ‘climate refugees’.

Oxfam Canada and Relief to East Timor, 1975-76

April 13, 2017 / Sean Eedy

by David Webster

When does the humanitarian impulse to provide aid and relief contribute to activism to promote human rights? When does it prompt avoidance of activism in favour of quietly enduring access to places and people in need?

This is one of the questions I am trying to answer in current research on relations between Canada and East Timor. Under Indonesian military occupation from 1975 to 1999, Canadian aid agencies tended to shy away from criticizing Indonesian actions in order to make sure they could deliver aid supplies. Humanitarian impulses dictated a quiet stance on human rights from a range of Canadian NGOs. But there was an early exception, in the work of Oxfam Canada.

Latest issue of Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees Available Now.

April 4, 2017 / Sean Eedy

The current issue of Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees has now been published. This special issue on Power and Influence in the Global Refugee Regime is one of the results of the workshop hosted at Carleton University in September 2015 with the generous support of Migration and Diaspora Studies. It is an OpenAccess journal, so you can access and share the special issue through the journal’s Table of Contents or through the provided link.

When Historians Meet Aid Workers and Policy Makers.

March 30, 2017 / Sean Eedy

by Julie Van Drie

Reflections on the Conference, “A Samaritan State Revisited: Historical Perspectives on Canadian Foreign Aid, 1950-2016.”

On December 12th and 13th 2016, the colloquium, A Samaritan State Revisited: Historical Perspectives on Canadian Foreign Aid, 1950-2016 was held at the Lester B. Pearson Building, the main office of Global Affairs Canada, in Ottawa, ON. The conference involved an array of academics and professionals on the history of Canada’s foreign aid policies since 1950, on the 50th anniversary of the publication of Dr. Keith Spicer’s A Samaritan State?[1] The conference featured 17 speakers, all of whom gave a presentation on a specific aspect of Canada’s humanitarian aid policy. With approximately 150 attendees, undergraduate and graduate students, research assistants, professors, academics, bureaucrats, ambassadors, and other distinguished guests gathered together in the impressive Robertson Room at Global Affairs Canada to engage with this important field of study, and explore questions about Canada’s past role in foreign aid and development.

Humanitarianism and its History: Insights from Down Under, 1/3

March 13, 2017 / Sean Eedy

by Sarah Glassford

This series is being reposted in HistPhil

RC Conference Program 2016.

During the weekend of 9-11 September 2016, roughly 50 scholars, archivists, museum curators, and aid practitioners gathered at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia to discuss the oldest and arguably most complex of the world’s major humanitarian organizations. “Histories of the Red Cross Movement: Continuity & Change” brought together representatives of more than a dozen countries in Europe, Asia, North America, and Australasia in lively discussions of Red Cross history, Red Cross archives, and the nature of humanitarianism itself. This is the first in a series of blog posts reporting and reflecting on the issues raised at the conference.

“Histories of the Red Cross Movement: Continuity & Change” drew together three thought-provoking keynote speakers from different parts of the globe: American political scientist Michael Barnett (University Professor of International Affairs and Political Science at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, Washington, DC), European historian Davide Rodogno (Professor and Head of the International History Department at the Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva), and New Zealander historian Margaret Tennant (Professor Emeritus and Honorary Research Fellow at Massey University, Palmerston North). Each took a particular approach to thinking about the nature of humanitarianism and its history, but collectively their remarks paint a picture of a research field coming into its own.

International Policy Ideas Challenge 2017

February 17, 2017 / Sean Eedy

Tapping into Canada’s research talent for innovative international policy ideas!

Global Affairs Canada (GAC) has published details of this year’s International Policy Ideas Challenge competition. Full details are below and can be found at: http://www.international.gc.ca/world-monde/policy_challenge-defi_politique.aspx?lang=eng

See the SSHRC competition poster.

Past competitions

2016 Policy Ideas Challenge finalists

Job Posting: Lecturer in Humanitarian Studies at the University of Manchester

February 11, 2017 / Sean Eedy

Closing Date : 19/02/2017
Employment Type : Fixed Term
Duration : 01 March 2017 to 28 February 2018
Faculty / Organisational Unit : Humanities
School/Directorate : School of Arts, Languages and Cultures
Division : Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute
Hours Per week : Full Time
Salary : £34,956 to £38,183 per annum
Location : Oxford Road, Manchester
Job Reference : HUM-09435

This position is open to academics outside the European Union as well as those from member states.

Archives and Foreign Aid, A Workshop Summary

February 6, 2017 / Sean Eedy

by Tyler Owens

On December 12th and 13th 2016, the conference A Samaritan State Revisited: Historical Perspectives on Canadian Foreign Aid, 1950-2016 was held at the Global Affairs Canada Lester B. Pearson Building in Ottawa. The aim of the conference was to explore the development of Canadian foreign aid over the preceding 60 years. (In footnote: 2016 was also the 60th anniversary of the publication of A Samaritan State?, among the first scholarly analyses of Canada’s foreign aid policy, written by Dr. Keith Spicer.) Prior to the official opening of the conference, archivists, historians, and members of the aid sector from Quebec and Ontario gathered for a workshop session. The aim of this session was to bring together colleagues from all branches of aid history; those gathered were experts in the archival, library, and document management sciences related to the production, preservation, and use of archives on humanitarian aid. The workshop therefore facilitated the sharing of tips, procedures, and best practices for researching the history of Canadian aid.

The workshop took the form of seven presentations followed by a brief question period.