Author: Sean Eedy (Page 4 of 18)

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.

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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).”

The Disaster Lab

The Disaster Lab is a historical research project headed by CNHH member Laura Madokoro. The project explores the history of disasters and interrogates the role of migration and citizenship in how state and civil society actors have responded in times of strife.

Building on the Canadian Disaster Database maintained by Public Safety Canada, this project explores how disasters have been perceived, defined and addressed historically by the federal government in Canada while also considering the lived experience of disasters through the eyes of the communities, humanitarians, civil society actors and rescuers who shaped the short and long-term responses to tragedy.

Inspired by very real climate change crisis confronting our global community, and the prospect of hundreds of thousands of environmental refugees in the coming years, this project seeks to learn and better understand historic responses to disasters at the local, provincial, federal and global levels.

Supported by an Early Researcher Award from the Government of Ontario (2021 – 2026), this project invites a dialogue among scholars and communities interested in understanding the impact of disasters historically and how we might reflect upon our current and future circumstances.

The project will be launching soon. Details will soon be on the project’s official website.

Reimagining Humanitarianism in an Age of Global Solidarity

Interrogating Power Structures in Aid and Multilateral Institutions 

Thursday, 8 July 2021 

12.00-17.30 (Irish Time) 

Online, via Zoom 

What does it mean to embody a lived approach to global solidarity and equal partnership in humanitarian action and advocacy? This workshop, organised by Dóchas and the School of History & Philosophy at NUI Galway, brings together leading voices from the worlds of professional humanitarianism, diplomacy, activism and academia in conversation on three key areas: human rights, multilateralism and the climate crisis. The workshop is funded by the Irish Research Council (New Foundations grant).

Confirmed speakers include: 

  • Hugo Slim (University of Oxford) 
  • Sonja Hyland (Political Director, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) 
  • Bulelani Mfaco (MASI – Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland) 
  • Tara Rao (Our Ground Works) 
  • Nishanie Jayamaha (Programme Co-ordinator, Climate and Environment Change and Civil Society Space, International Council of Voluntary Agencies) 
  • Su-Ming Khoo (NUI Galway) 
  • Christopher O’Connell (Dublin City University) 
  • Margot Tudor (University of Exeter) 

Register here:
https://nuigalway-ie.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUkceitpzsvHdFGTGeAUlcx77zUfVi4Iwmb 

Further information: 
Maria Cullen – School of History & Philosophy, NUI Galway – m.cullen10@nuigalway.ie Vikki Walshe – Project Manager, Dóchas – vikki@dochas.ie

International Solidarity Now! Event.

On June 17, CFPI will be hosting “International Solidarity Now: A gathering for a more just Canadian foreign policy.”

This live event features presentations from Leap co-founder Avi Lewis, Halifax poet El Jones, and Toronto organizer John Clarke on the importance of international activism. The event will also feature short presentations from over a dozen organizations like MiningWatch Canada, Project Ploughshares, and Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, highlighting how they are helping to build a more just Canadian foreign policy. 

Join us and hear from organizers across the country working towards a foreign policy based on peace and human rights.

Since Canada’s defeat in its bid for a seat on the UN Security Council there has been growth in critical foreign policy discussion & activism. But much more is still required. “International Solidarity Now!” is a gathering of antiwar, mining justice, and international solidarity organizations that aims to connect, strengthen and amplify our collective efforts. Join us and learn about Canada’s movement for a foreign policy based on peace & human rights.

Event is free and open to the public.

The CNHH is one of the many groups proudly participating in this event.

Follow this link to register or visit the foreignpolicy.ca website for more.

Eleventh Bulletin of the CNHH, May 2021

The Eleventh Bulletin of the CNHH has now been sent out to the membership.  If you missed it, the complete PDF of the bulletin can be found here: Bulletin of the CNHH May 2021 FINAL

It has been more than a year since the last bulletin of April 2020. We hope that you are all well and that you will continue to send news, posts and announcements.

  1. I. PANEL AND ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The annual CNHH sponsored panel on “Making Connections with the Public: Alternative Approaches to Learning History” will take place on Monday May 31, from 11:00 to 12:15 Ottawa time, virtually. The program of the CHA virtual conference is here: https://cha-shc.ca/_uploads/6092c3d816fd7.pdf

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MITACS Accelerate Project: the Lebanese Special Measures Program (1975-1990) and The Life of Lewis Perinbam (1925-2008)

by Elizabeth Reid

*Featured image: Lewis Perinbam, 1987 (Source: Unknown photographer/LAC e999919839-u).

Public history is about taking history beyond the traditional academic setting and applying it to real-world challenges. It is history that is aimed at being accessible to the public. This is exactly what Anna Kozlova, a PhD Candidate at the Department of History at Carleton University, has been doing over the past several months in her MITACS-funded research 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)”.

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Labour Solidarity during the Spanish Civil War: Book Launch

In November 2020, two books on the Spanish Civil War, Guerre d’Espagne et socialisme international: Dernière chance pour l’ordre démocratique d’entre-deux-guerres by Nicolas Lépine, and Not for King or Country: Edward Cecil-Smith, the Communist Party of Canada, and the Spanish Civil War by Tyler Wentzell, were launched as part of the Ottawa Historical Association’s first virtual book event.  This event was organized with the help of Dr. Dominique Marshall of the CNHH and was co-hosted by Dr. Marshall and, historian and war journalist, Michael Petrou.

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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.

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In Memory of Greg Donaghy (1959-2020)

by Jill Campbell-Miller

This post originally appeared on Active History and is cross-posted here with permission.

“I just hope he’s at a cottage without a cell signal and wi-fi.”

I said that to my mother-in-law several times during a recent visit to Cape Breton. After all, I told her, the book project that Greg Donaghy was co-editing with myself and fellow historian Stacey Barker had recently been progressing ahead of schedule (Breaking Barriers, Shaping Worlds: Canadian Women and the Search for Global Order, UBC Press, 2021). Perhaps he felt no need to respond to my texts and emails quickly. But even as I said it, I knew it was not right. If Greg was anything, he was conscientious and dedicated to his work. Emails, texts, and phone calls rarely went unanswered. The thought of him lounging at a cottage while his inbox filled up was, in fact, patently un-Greg-like, but I did not let myself think about alternative explanations. I had been waiting to hear from him for some guidance before I undertook a few revisions to our introduction. On July 5, we all learned the terrible truth – a heart attack left Greg in a coma, which led to his death on Canada Day.

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