Announcements

Professor Bob Johnson will start Part 2 of his talk, "Revising History" on Thursday, May 2, 2013 from 9 - 10 PM on CBC Radio One (99.1 Toronto). Professor Johnson looks at "what happens when historians go searching for new evidence about the nation's past? It can change the way its citizens think about their country as well as their identity. And it can upset both citizens and those who govern them. In Part 2 of this two part series, historian Robert Johnson speaks to some American historians who are asking us to reconsider America's role in the Vietnam War." This talk will be available for 6 months on CBC/ideas/podcasts at: http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/podcasts/
 

Professor Kevin Coleman will be participating in a workshop based upon his book manuscript and a public lecture by Professor Jens Andermann from the University of Zurich. The workshop will take place on Tuesday, April 2 from 4-6 pm in RM 108N, Munk School of Global Affairs at 1 Devonshire Place. The Public lecture will take place on Wednesday, April 3 from 2-4 pm RM 208N, Munk School of Global Affairs at 1 Devonshire Place.

“Invocations of Kaliyuga in Violent Kannada Cinema” by Chandan Gowda, Professor of Sociology, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, Thursday, April 4, 2013 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM University College 255 15 Kings College Circle

Professor Bob Johnson will starting his radio program at CBC on Wednesday, April 3, 9-10:00 PM CBC Radio One (99.1 Toronto) REVISING HISTORY, Part 1; Program 1 will be rebroadcast on Ideas in the Afternoon on Monday, April 8, 2-3:00 PM What happens when historians go searching for new evidence about the nation's past? It can change the way its citizens think about their country as well as their identity. And it can upset both citizens and those who govern them. In Part 1 of this 2-part series, historian Robert Johnson looks at what happens when Russians begin to examine Stalin's vaunted role as a leader during World War II. Part 2 - about the Vietnam War - airs on Thursday, May 2. The program will also be available on podcast at the CBC Ideas website: http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/

Placing History & Historicizing Geography: a cross-disciplinary workshop on the relations between geography and history, March 25-26 2013

For information about the event and schedule, please visit http://placinghistoryworkshop.wordpress.com/

South Asia Day

International Women's Week

The UTM Women's Centre has been collaborating with various on and off campus groups to bring you International Women's Week, which will be taking place on March 6th, 7th, and March 8th.

Wednesday March 6 - 12 - CampUS safety launch in CCT
Wednesday March 6 - 3 p.m. Cancer Workshop

Thursday March 7 - 11-1 - WGS Action group Panel Discussion in student center
Thursday March 7 - 6 p.m. Campus police Dissolve Play

Friday March 8 - 11 - 1 Fair in South
Friday March 8 - 1- 2 Presentation conference in IB
Friday March 8 - Health centers movement program in the evening.

Foundation for Iranian Studies & Toronto Initiative for Iranian Studies present: 2013 Women’s History Month Seminars

 To learn more about the seminars, please click here.

Seminar in Ottoman and Turkish Studies presents: Irene Markoff (York University), "Reflections on the Revitalization of Sufi Identities and Expressive Culture in the Balkans: In Search of Origins and Parallels with Heterodox Muslim Groups in Turkey"

Date: Thursday, 28 February 2013

Time: 4:30-6:30 pm

Place: NMC dept. Seminar Room (BF200B), 4 Bancroft Ave.

For more information, please click here.

Iranian Studies Seminar Series - “The Trouble with Third Powers: German-Iranian Relations to 1941” a talk by Jennifer L. Jenkins (University of Toronto)

Date: Friday 15  February 2013

Time: 4 pm

Place: Bancroft Hall 200B

4 Bancroft Avenue Toronto, Ontario M5S 1C1

Abstract: This talk analyzes the German presence in Iran from 1928 until the Allied invasion of the country in August 1941. By 1940-41 the economic relationship between the two countries was at its height, with Germany enjoying the position of Iran's "foremost trade partner." In looking at this peak period of interaction, questions arise as to continuities and ruptures in the relationship between the two states. What was specific to the Nazi economic relationship with Iran? What were the older German-Persian economic foundations upon which Hitler's regime built and expanded? Did ideological connections primarily shape the relationship in the 1930s, or did national economic interests—as exercised by each side—dominate? After providing background on German-Iranian relations, this talk will argue the economic side. It explores why Iran became a site of National Socialist economic concentration in the mid 1930s, and asks the question of how the plans of Reich Economics Minister Hjalmar Schacht for the global outreach of the Nazi economy spoke to the desires of Reza Shah's Iran for national modernization. 

For further details please contact 416-978-2413 or visit <http://www.facebook.com/iranianinitiative>.

Iranian Studies Seminar Series: “Neoliberal Urbanism & the 1990s Reform Movement in Iran”, a talk by Azam Khatam (York University)

Date: Friday 8 February 2013

Time: 4 p.m

Place: Bancroft Hall 200B

4 Bancroft Avenue Toronto, Ontario M5S 1C1

Abstract: The 1989 inaugural issue of an economic magazine, Tazah-ha-yi Eqtisad, published an article featuring an illustration of a patient lying on stretcher and so bloated with illness that the medics carrying him were wearing gas masks. The body was identified as “Tehran.” In the years following the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988) government economists invoked the medical metaphor of an ailing body in their description of Tehran. Their intention, in doing so, was to represent Tehran as deserving official intervention in order to be cured. I will argue that the image of Tehran as a sick body in need of medical attention eventually gave way to an understanding of Tehran as the national focal point of a putative Islamic modernism. This article addresses the liberalization and deregulation of urban governance and controversies attending this process for expanding the spectrum of political and civil dialogue and enabling neoliberal urbanism.

For further details please contact 416-978-2413 or visit <http://www.facebook.com/iranianinitiative>.

Women and Gender Studies presents Mari Ruti, PhD: The Case for Falling in Love, a public talk on Wed Feb 13 2013

"Beyond Jihad: Celal Nuri, Musa Kazem, and Alexander Helphand-Parvus on the Ottoman-German Alliance," York Norman (Buffalo State College) Fri Feb 1 2013, Time: 4-6 pm NMC department Conference Room (BF200B), 4 Bancroft Avenue

“Presence in Absence: Relics and Their Role in Haidarabadi Shīʿism,” Professor Karen Ruffle (University of Toronto) Friday Feb 1 2013, Time: 4pm Bancroft Hall 214 4 Bancroft Avenue Toronto, Ontario M5S 1C1

Prandium Journal Submissions

This is a reminder that the deadline is drawing near for submission to Prandium: the Journal of Historical Studies.

The deadline is February 18, 2013.

Submissions may take the form of, but not limited to, the following:

• Research paper
• Critical review of books or film
• Visual art
• Argumentative essay
• Short Story
• Poetry

Please nominate these works or encourage your students to respond to our Call for Papers.

Submitters are encouraged to consult the attached guideline as well as the current issue of Prandium (http://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/prandium/index) before submitting their work. Submissions (including questions) can be sent to  historical.studies@utoronto.ca  by February 1, 2013.

We thank you in advance for making the second edition of Prandium a success.

Iranian Studies Seminar Series: African Multiethnic Identity Formation in Iran, Behnaz Mirzai, Brock University, Friday, 25 January 2013 4:00 p.m. Bancroft Hall 200B, 4 Bancroft Avenue Toronto, Ontario M5S 1C1

Behnaz Mirzai is Associate Professor of Middle Eastern History at Brock University. Her areas of specialization include comparative and cross-cultural studies, ethnicity, slavery, African diaspora and gender in the Middle East. She is coordinator and member of the preparatory committee for the UNESCO Slave Route project. She is currently working on a manuscript tentatively entitled "Slavery, the Abolition of the Slave Trade and the Emancipation of Slaves in Iran 1828-1928."

Abstract: Iran has been the locus of cultural, economic, and population exchanges for millennia. As elsewhere, newcomers gradually assimilated within and transformed native populations; indeed, cultural identities have constantly evolved in Iran, leading to the emergence of multiple ethnicities. I will discuss the development of subethnic and multiethnic identity formation among African communities within the context of Iran’s richly multicultural society. I argue that a combination of Islamic and local customs served as unifying factors in the integration of Africans arriving in Iran both before and after emancipation. For further details please contact 416-978-2413 or visit <http://www.facebook.com/iranianinitiative>.

Jens Hanssen (University of Toronto), "Imagining Nahda Networks: Towards the History of an Ottoman-Arab Intellectual Tradition," January 25, 5-7 pm, Sidney Smith Hall 2098, 100 St. George Street

“A History Without Peasant Revolts: Critical Insights on Iranian Historiographies" by Prof. Amir Hassanpour, Friday January 11, 2013, 4PM, Bancroft Hall 200B

Prandium: A Historical Studies Lunchtime Seminar Series

The UTM Department of Historical Studies and the Historical Studies Society cordially invite you to the fourth talk of the 2012‐2013 Prandium Seminar Series, on Tuesday, January 15th, at 12:00 in Room 143, North Building, UTM. A light lunch will be provided.

Our presenter is Erin Vearncombe, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department for the Study of Religion, who will be delivering the paper “Connecting Threads: Clothing and Identity in the Gospel of Mark”.

For more information, please click here.

Prandium Journal Submissions

Prandium: the Journal of Historical Studies is now accepting scholarly submissions from current undergraduate students on subjects relevant to Historical Studies and its related disciplines. Submissions may take the form of, but not limited to, the following:

• Research paper
• Critical review of books or film
• Visual art
• Argumentative essay
• Short Story
• Poetry

Submissions (including questions) can be sent to historical.studies@utoronto.ca  by February 1, 2013.

Information regarding submission guidelines can be found on the Prandium Journal website.

Historical Studies Exam Jam Tomorrow!

The Exam Jam will be taking place tomorrow (Dec 5). There have been two new courses added to the Exam Jam Schedule: RLG204 and HIS222.

Time: 9am-6pm

Location: Davis Building, Spigel Hall

For a revised Exam Jam schedule, please click here.

We look forward to seeing you!

Historical Studies Exam Jam!

                                                                              To view the Exam Jam schedule, please click here.

“Chishtī Sufi Khanqah and the Culture of Books in the Later Mughal India:
The Punjab-Deccan Connection” by Sajida Sultana Alvi, Professor Emerita, McGill University. Friday, 4 PM Nov 9, 2012 Bancroft Hall 200B

Guest Lecture: Dr. Judith Fletcher

Dr. Yonatan Eyal: Rountable Teaching Symposium:

“Whither Liberal Education in a Research University?” on Nov 5, 2012 from 1:30 – 2:30 pm, and Shafique will be on the Panel, “ Online Learning – Beyond Content to “Aha moments” for Both Faculty and Students” from 2:35-3:35.
 Please refer to the following link http://www.teaching.utoronto.ca/about_ctsi/symposium/agenda.htm for registration and details.

Professor Sebastián Carassai Lecture and Workshop

Lecture on Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 at UTM, RM 2080 DV from 1-3 PM. On Oct 29 & 31 and Nov 1 & 2, 2012 he will be presenting a workshop from 2-4 pm, Sidney Smith Hall, RM 3041. Please contact Dr. Kevin Coleman at kevin.coleman@utoronto.ca for further details.

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS YOUR CLASSROOM? Find the answer at the UTM Study Abroad Fair!

Instructional Building Atrium — Wednesday, October 24, 11am-4pm Information Panel: Room IB150, 12-1pm                                                                                                   

The University of Toronto offers students many opportunities to experience different regions of the world while earning credit towards their UofT degree. From short summer courses to full-year exchange programs to a term in Florence, the choices are incredible, and incredibly diverse.

Come to the fair to learn more!

Students of HIS318H5F (Environmental History - The Early Period) are having a poster day. Wednesday, Oct 24, 2012 from 11 to 12 on the third floor of the Davis Building. Between 12 and 1 they will be there to present it to the public.

Town Hall Meetings re: Academic Planning

The dates for the Town Halls are are as follows:

• Wednesday, Sept. 5^th, Town Hall (primarily for Staff) - 10:00 – 11:30 am, Council Chambers (DV 3130)
• Tuesday, Sept. 18^th, Town Hall (primarily for Students)- 3:00 – 5:00 pm, Council Chambers (DV 3130)
• Tuesday, Oct. 9^th, Town Hall (primarily for Faculty and Librarians)– 3:00 – 5:00 pm, Council Chambers (DV 3130)

Prandium Seminar Series 2012-2013

Congratulations to the winners for the Prandium Seminar Series 2012-13. For a list of speakers and schedule, please click here

An Eye for Photography

Congratulations to our newest faculty member, Dr. Kevin Coleman, on winning the Spring 2012 NACLA photo contest. To view the winning photo, please click here.

Historical Studies Professor Recognized with Prestigious Human Rights Prize

The Department of Historical Studies would like to congratulate Dr. Joan Simalchik, recipient of the 2012 Ludwik and Estelle Jus Memorial Human Rights Prize. Below is a section of the feature article that can be read in its entirely in the inaugural issue of Prandium: The Journal of Historical Studies at the University of Toronto Mississauga.

"Though her students and colleagues in the Historical Studies department at UTM know her as a senior lecturer and programme coordinator for Women and Gender Studies (WGS), Dr. Simalchik’s extensive CV highlights the extent to which her educational activities reach far beyond the UTM classroom. Her students are the fortunate beneficiaries of her varied career in local, national and international organizations. One associate characterized Joan Simalchik as “a catalyst for change, and someone who uses her incredible talents, experience and insight to ensure that some of the most vulnerable people in our society are treated with dignity and care and provided with the space to participate in important global issues and change.”

To read the full-length article, please click here.

Society President Receives Principal's Involvement Award

Congratulations to Ashley Yoannou, President of the outgoing Historical Studies Society (HSS), on having been recently named a recipient of the Principal's Involvement Award. To learn about what the HSS accomplished this year, please see Miss Yoannou's article in our inaugural issue of Prandium: The Journal of Historical Studies at the University of Toronto Mississauga.

The Principal’s Involvement Award annually recognizes the outstanding contributions of students to enhancing the quality of life at the University of Toronto Mississauga. Students in their final years of study at the undergraduate or graduate level are eligible for nomination. Undergraduate students should have completed 15 credits by May, and be in good academic standing with a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0. A student may win this award only once.

Involvement, for the purposes of this award, is defined as the myriad of ways that students engage with campus life outside of their regular academic work. This includes, but is not limited to: significant leadership in campus groups and organizations, active involvement on academic committees and councils, paid employment in one of the university's academic or administrative departments, off-campus community service where the activity has a direct impact on UTM.

Miss Yoannou is a fourth year History Specialist and English Minor. She will return to the Department as a summer intern before attending graduate school in the Fall.

Professor in the Press

The Department of Historical Studies would like to acknowledge Dr. Daniel Thornton's quote in the Article, "Discussion versus lecture in class" posted in The Medium on 14 November 2011. To view the article, please click here.

History Professor Shows Creative Side

During the summer term of 2011 the students in Dr. Ariel Beaujot’s class, “Visions of the Other: Representations of Africa, Asia and India” (HIS493), participated in an innovative new assignment allowing them to plan and create a museum exhibition for their final assignment.

Each student chose an object that has its origin in a non-western country and also has relevance in Canada. Students chose things like the Niqāb, Sapporo beer, baby slings, hummus, perfume and sugar. They did a material cultural analysis on their artefacts noting its shape, use and texture, the emotional and intellectual responses they derived from the object, and devised a research plan based on these observations. With the help of Historical Studies librarian Elaine Goettler, the students learned to search historical newspapers, image databases, and video archives, to locate sources specific to their topic. With this research as their base the students planned and presented a museum exhibit about their object.

The students who worked on hummus designed a museum that allowed visitors to explore hummus through the senses of smell, touch, and taste and showed their visitors how hummus is a politically charged foodstuff in the Middle East. The students who presented on perfume challenged their audience to create advertisements that did not reproduce the Orientalist imagery often found in perfume ads. And the student who worked on the salt created a living museum in the form of a video montage that transported visitors from Caribbean sugar plantations, to Victorian England, to modern day Canada demonstrating along the way how each of these cultures experienced sugar.

I invite you to take a look at “Veiled Fantasies” an exhibit about the Niqāb that was done in blog form: veiledfantasies.blogspot.com

Images from the class have been posted on flicker, to view the pictures please click here.