1. HG
The Graduate History Society Review
Welcome to the 2004-05 edition of the
Graduate History Society Review! The ac-
tivities of graduate students in the De-
partment of History are featured in the
following pages. It was the accomplish-
ments of my peers which spurred me
to create this year-in-review to celebrate
what we have done and foster commu-
nity within the department.
As you will see in Brian Beaton’s piece,
the Graduate History Society was es-
pecially active this year, thanks to those
students who served on the executive
and volunteered their time to improve
the intellectual and social life of the de-
partment. This year also saw the inau-
guration of an annual Graduate History
Symposium, organized by Sarah Amato
and Ariel Beaujot, and the creation of a
series of workshops on teaching history,
organized by Valerie Hébert and Dana
Wessell. Among achievements of a more
personal nature, graduate students in the
department won awards, presented con-
ference papers, and published articles
over the past year. And a number of
recent PhDs have landed teaching posi-
tions.
I hope this newsletter will make us all
more aware of what a great group we
are, and will help introduce us—both
current and incoming graduate stu-
dents—to each other and to some of the
things which make the department, the
university, and the city such great places
to study, play, and live. Happy reading!
This newsletter would not have been possible without
the help of a number of people. Thank you to all the
contributors of articles and to those who responded
to the call for information; to Jennifer Francisco for
providing the lists; to Brian Beaton, Jennifer DeSilva,
Whitney Kemble, and Amy Milne-Smith for their
input on the newsletter’s contents and for helping or-
ganize submissions; and to Alexandra Guerson de
Oliveria for designing the final product.
WELCOME
GHS PRESIDENT’S REPORT
In many ways this newsletter is the culmi-
nation of a year of firsts by the Graduate
History Society. In our efforts to foster
a vibrant intellectual and social commu-
nity, the GHS directly supported a series
of creative graduate student initiatives,
from the first annual graduate student
conference to weekly coffee socials and
a spring barbeque. This
year also witnessed the cre-
ation of a series of teach-
ing workshops and popular
evening events, including
a regular pub outing and a
holiday party.
Beyond these new initia-
tives, the GHS continued
its long-held role as the
primary liaison between
the department and the larger gradu-
ate student population. Though much
of this work goes unrecognized, it re-
mains arguably the central function of
the GHS. Over the past year we worked
closely with the Office of the Graduate
Coordinator and the Graduate Program
Committee on everything from graduate
student funding to post-comps intellec-
tual life. In doing so, a dedicated group
of GHS officers gave their time, energy,
and intellect to matching the depart-
ment’s own demonstrated commitment
to graduate training.
I want to thank those dedi-
cated officers and to ask
that we each reassess our
individual commitment to
the larger community of
scholars comprising the
Department of History.
While graduate training is
a seemingly personal and
individualized endeavour,
the accumulation of ex-
pert knowledge is only one
small facet of a meaningful intellectual
life. Likewise, teaching in higher educa-
tion is only one of the many opportuni-
ties available to those trained in synthetic
thinking and empirical rigour.
As you build your research, publishing,
and teaching profiles, consider your time
within the graduate program as an op-
portunity to build a service profile as
well. For every conference you attend,
serve on a committee. For every article
or review published, organize a talk with-
in the department. While such gestures
undoubtedly strengthen your position
on job markets, they also strengthen the
graduate student experience for you and
those around you. We have the opportu-
nity and talent to create a graduate stu-
dent culture unrivaled in its dynamism.
More importantly, we have the opportu-
nity and talent to re-imagine the role of
the professional historian. Think expan-
sively. Engage broader publics. Become
involved.
JENNIFER POLK
Newsletter Editor
S
BRIAN BEATON
GHS President
“We have the op-
portunity and talent
to create a gradu-
ate student culture
unrivaled in its
dynamism.”
2004-2005
Do you have a suggestion for next year’s
newsletter? If so, email it to jennifer.
polk@utoronto.ca
2. APPLYING TO PHD PROGRAMS
At first I thought that applying to a PhD
program would be just like applying to
an MA program, only I would be a year
wiser and would have definitely decided
on my course in academic life. How hard
could that be? Somehow, however, time
escaped me and all of my great
plans were for naught. Still, it can
be done.
Applying to a PhD program while
in your MA year is quite an or-
deal. If you did your undergradu-
ate degree anywhere but Toron-
to, you will be working with new
professors who probably will not
know you as well as those back at
your old school. It is a challenge to find
someone to write a letter of recommen-
dation when you have only been at U of
T for two or three months. At the same
time, you want someone representative
of your time as an MA student. Talk with
your professors about recommendations
early, so as to avoid any last minute run-
ning around. While doing your course-
work, you probably will not have the
time to go explore a different campus.
All the things that people told you to do
before applying to grad
school get thrown out
the window.
If you are lucky, like
I was, you will have a
course in your first se-
mester or a 2000 paper
topic that catches your
attention and provides
the intellectual spark
for a future PhD project. You might have
more of an idea about your goals; you
might also be just as confused as before.
(Be honest: You probably never walked
out of a class thinking “Now I totally
understand!”) Your MA coursework and
your preliminary reading for your 2000
paper should form a basis from which to
attack a PhD application.
One final note: You will be in classes with
all kinds of different people during your
MA year. If your experience is anything
like mine was this past year, you will of-
ten leave class thinking that you might
just be the dumbest person there. Be as-
sured: Lots of people are thinking the
same thing. Just do not sit down to write
an application letter the same day as your
“I am a dummy” class. Wait for the one
where you leave class feeling smart!
PhD Application
Letters of Reference
Transcripts
Proposal
Forms
Pay app. fees
Bradley Coates
“Talk with your
professors about
recommendations
early, so as to avoid
any last minute
running around.”
As I finish my 2000 paper and look for-
ward to completing my MA within the
next few weeks, I cannot help but look
back over the past 10 months to reflect
on what I did. Graduate school may have
been harder than I thought, both intellec-
tually and psychologically, but it was also
very different than I thought it would be.
If I have enjoyed this year—and I think I
have—it is simply because I let it be what
it would. So many MA students seemed
to look at this year as little more than a
stepping-stone to something else, often
somewhere else. With an end so clearly
in sight, I was initially hesitant about be-
coming too personally invested in the
program. Yet, with each class and each
term, I made connections with students
and professors that have taken me a long
way from where I was in September.
In classes and on committees I got to
see another side of U of T, all of which
helped me really, truly decide whether
this is what I wanted to do with my life.
I was honestly undecided in September
and was unsure of how to best make use
of this year as an MA student. But, be-
ing mindful of what was happening day
in and day out and taking advantage of
most of the opportunities that came my
way, I have come to a very different place
than where I thought I might be. As I get
ready to come back next year as a PhD
student, I cannot wait to see what hap-
pens next.
REFLECTIONS ON MY MA YEAR
Chris Parsons
The department’s recently
completed renovations pro-
vide new social and meeting
spaces.
Right: The large conference
room. Far right: The com-
mon room.
Photos by Brian Beaton
2
3. This past October I travelled to Phila-
delphia to present a paper at an interna-
tional conference. This sounds good in
theory, but there were two slight prob-
lems. First, I had never
presented at a conference
before. Second, I had
never actually attended a
conference before. Now,
while this might seem
somewhat surprising for
a fourth year PhD candi-
date, that was the situation
in which I found myself
as I boarded a prop plane
for Philadelphia.
I managed to find my ho-
tel and arrive on time for the first day.
However, as I knew no one there, and
everyone else all seemed to know one
another, I spent quite a while sipping my
coffee and nibbling at a bagel. I had a
few good pieces of luck when it came to
my panel, though. First, one
of the papers on the panel
was bad. This might sound
cruel, but at least it made me
feel a little more confident in
my own paper. Second, I was
asked interesting questions
that I was able to answer. I
also had the book review
editor of a journal come up
to me afterwards and ask if
I wanted to write a review—
exactly what you want out of
a conference. (Second only
to “We want to publish your dissertation
and give you a large advance!”) For the
next two days of the conference I was
able to relax and enjoy some really inter-
esting papers.
Best of all I learned some valuable tools
for the future. One reason so many peo-
ple had paired off into little cliques, I dis-
covered, is that sometimes people make
contact with those whom they want to
speak with at the conference in advance.
I also learned that on the day you pres-
ent, it is not unreasonable to expect you
might be too drained to do much social-
izing or go on the walking tour of the city
or whatever. In the end I do not know
why I put off presenting my first confer-
ence paper for so long. Maybe next time
I will get that book deal!
ADVENTURES IN CONFERENCING
TEACHING HISTORY WORKSHOPS
The Teaching History Workshop series
was conceived by Valerie Hébert and my-
self to create a forum in which graduate
students and faculty could discuss the
pedagogy of history. We developed the
series around three formats of teaching
history: the broad survey course, the fo-
cussed lecture course, and the seminar
(graduate and undergraduate). Valerie
and I then approached professors in the
department who had won accolades for
their teaching and asked them to speak
on issues such as their teaching philoso-
phy and methodology, their pedagogical
influences, how they choose readings
and textbooks, and their methods of as-
sessment.
For our first workshop on the survey
course, Drs. Kenneth Bartlett and Mi-
chael Wayne spoke in depth about the
importance of maintaining a connection
with students in a large lecture class. They
felt this was far more important than
utilizing visual images, which distracted
from rather than added to the students’
learning experience. Both also stressed
the need to conceive these broad courses
around a central concept or theme which
linked each aspect of the lecture series
together.
Our second workshop featured talks by
Drs. Barbara Todd and Jacques Korn-
berg about the challenges of teaching the
focussed lecture course. Both professors
advocated introducing controversy into
syllabi and lectures by challenging the
master narrative and therefore encourag-
ing students to question their own his-
torical and personal preconceptions. Dr.
Kornberg spoke about the need to have
a vision of the course being taught which
would guide one’s practice pedagogically.
In a similar vein, Dr. Todd discussed
the need to have central goals prevalent
throughout every lecture course, includ-
ing the desire to teach students critical
thinking and the ability to organize and
present their thoughts coherently in both
written and spoken form.
The undergraduate and graduate seminar
was the focus of our final workshop with
Drs. Thomas Lahusen, Kenneth Mills,
and Mark Meyerson presenting their
thoughts on approaching these formats
pedagogically. Dr. Meyerson discussed
the specific challenges of teaching semi-
nars in medieval history, emphasizing the
need to tackle such issues as languages,
lack of background knowledge, and
presuppositions about particular topics.
He encouraged us as teachers to focus
our attention on broadening the hori-
zons of our students. Dr. Mills argued
for the need to humanize learning and
make it student-centred. He emphasized
the importance of the first seminar in
setting a tone which would allow stu-
dents to understand that their work and
preparation was crucial to the course as
a whole. Finally, Dr. Lahusen encour-
aged us to provoke students by shaking
their assumptions and then guiding them
through difficult material. In launching
students into new areas of inquiry, he
recommended the use of metaphors—
for example, a painting, a film, or a pho-
tograph—which encapsulate in abstract
form some of the most complex and
broad-reaching historical events.
Overall, the Teaching History Workshop
series was very well received by both par-
ticipants and presenters. All of the faculty
members who spoke at these sessions in-
dicated their enjoyment in hearing others
speak about their pedagogical methods
and in turn reflecting on their own ideas
about teaching. There has been a great
deal of interest in continuing this series
next year and beyond. We are grateful
to the Department of History and the
Graduate History Society for sponsoring
these workshops.
“ I do not know
why I put off
presenting my first
conference paper
for so long. Maybe
next time I will get
that book deal!”
Amy Milne-Smith
Dana Wessell
3
4. To celebrate completing my first year at
the University of Toronto—as well as
to prepare for a language exam—I am
spending two months this summer in
and around the southern Ger-
man city of Ulm. Fortunately
for all graduate students, our
tuition covers the summer
sessions, and therefore the
international programs man-
aged through the University’s
International Exchange Of-
fice (ISXO) are free of charge.
Although transportation and
living expenses are not includ-
ed, Canadians and permanent
residents can apply for bursaries to help
cover these. For me the trip has been
somewhat of an investment. But when
will I get another chance to live and study
for two months in Germany?
I am impressed by the
language and cultural pro-
gram thus far. I spend four
days a week in intensive
language lessons at the
University of Ulm with a
mix of graduate and un-
dergraduate students from
across North America, in-
cluding two PhD students
from other U of T depart-
ments. Last weekend I
visited Bavaria’s cultural capital, Munich,
and next weekend our program coordi-
nators have arranged an excursion 100
kilometrers south to Lake Konstanz on
the border with the Austrian and Swiss
Alps.
The application process was straightfor-
ward, and the staff at ISXO very help-
ful. Visit their webpage at http://www.
utoronto.ca/student.exchange.
ACADEMIC EXCHANGES
RESEARCH ADVENTURES
Archival research is the historian’s rite of
passage. It is what finally turns a mere
student into a capital-H Historian. As
someone who has publicly downplayed
the importance of hidden archival sourc-
es in my own research, I was a bit sur-
prised when asked by the GHS to write
about my experiences. That said, in the
past year I have logged many air miles
and way too many journeys by Grey-
hound bus in the pursuit of dusty, long-
forgotten archival material. And as I will
undoubtedly be accused one day of not
doing enough archival work, I am glad to
take this opportunity to prove that I have
done some.
In December I spent a lovely week in the
post-industrial berg of Syracuse, New
York. Despite the downtown’s complete
lack of a grocery store and the fact that
every other storefront was boarded up,
I did manage to track down some ex-
cellent barbeque. The locals were inex-
plicably excited about the Godsmack
concern that occurred during my stay.
One cab driver I spoke to was not ter-
ribly impressed, though, nostalgically
recalling when the likes of Mötley Crue
would pass through town. I was not sure
whether to be creeped out or reassured
when the hotel manager refused to give a
potential client a special hourly rate for a
room in the middle of the day.
When I was in Boston a few months lat-
er, I thought I would try and save some
money and stay at a youth hostel. Every-
thing was fine as I mingled with overseas
backpackers until one night when I re-
turned to my room around eleven and
found someone asleep in my bed. It was
a large, bearded man; that was not so
cool.
What struck me most about
the National Archives in DC
was that academic historians
did not make up the major-
ity of users, unlike at the
other archives I visited. On
my first day I sat with a Viet-
nam vet searching through
the records of his platoon to
prove that his experiences exposed him
to sufficient trauma to qualify for com-
pensation for post-traumatic stress dis-
order. Strange encounters with military
personnel seemed to be the theme of
that week: On an earlier bus trip I sat be-
side a young man sent by the army from
Detroit to New Mexico for retraining for
another tour of duty in Iraq. His war sto-
ries combined oddly a disturbing delight
in the visual pleasures of war with feel-
ings of deep regret for leaving behind his
young wife and infant son. His story of
a good friend who died while clowning
around with live grenades certainly kept
me up on the long overnight ride.
Though I have focussed here on trips
and hotels, I did have a few moments
of great illuminations when new ideas
emerged out of long for-
gotten documents. I hope
everyone had a produc-
tive year and that you all
have some fun adventures
as you research and write
your dissertations.
Auri Berg
Mike Pettit
“...our tuition covers
the summer sessions,
and therefore the
international programs
managed through
ISXO are free of
charge.”
4
“On my first day
I sat with a Viet-
nam vet searching
through the records
of his platoon... ”
5. For the last three years the Office of
Teaching Advancement on the fourth
floor of Robarts’ Library has sponsored
this student-run programme. It is de-
signed to improve TA teaching skills and
make pedagogy a more important aspect
of graduate studies at U of T. Although
it would be nice to avoid marking essays
and leading tutorials, most of us find TA-
ing to be an integral part of the graduate
school experience, as well as a necessary
component of the funding package.
The programme holds a series of 2-hour
seminars throughout the academic year.
They cover strategies for improving ev-
erything from public-speaking skills, to
course design, to resolving ethical dilem-
mas, and introduce participants to web-
based course administration programmes
(i.e. CCNet, WebCT, etc.).
TAs who take five seminars over the
course of one academic year and com-
plete a final project are eligible for the
TATP Certificate. The final project can
include assembling a teaching dossier,
presenting a seminar on a teaching skill
or issue, or inviting TATP officers into
one of your tutorials for an on-site eval-
uation. The TATP Certificate is fast be-
coming the most important professional
development tool at U of T.
Even students who do not intend to
teach after graduation may enjoy discuss-
ing the tutorial experience and the free
pizza lunch offered at morning and mid-
day seminars.
In addition, every year the programme
awards four teaching awards, accepting
nominations of stellar TAs from stu-
dents and faculty. This year Jamie Smith,
one of the history department’s own
PhD students, received a teaching award.
Congratulations Jamie!
Access the Teaching Assistants’ Training
Programme website at http://www.uto-
ronto.ca/tatp.
THE TEACHING ASSISTANTS’TRAINING PROGRAMME
LIVING IN THE ANNEX
The Annex, just north of campus (and
Bloor St.), is a great neighbourhood for
finding a home. There are quite a few
apartment buildings, and a ton of cen-
tury homes and other houses in which
you can rent a room, an apartment, or
the entire house.
A wide variety of people live in the area,
including families, students, and young
professionals, making it fun but not too
loud. If you are lucky your home will
have a deck with a great view of Casa
Loma, the big castle in the city. After a
day spent on campus, a walk along the
area’s smaller streets (such as Madison or
Huron) can make you forget that you are
in a major city, though important arteries
(like Spadina) are never far away.
There are plenty of small places to eat
or grab a warm beverage throughout the
Annex, as well as pubs (Duke of York or
Bedford Academy on Prince Arthur; the
Pour House on Dupont). Living in the
Annex also means you are only a short
walk away from great restaurants and
shops on Bloor, as well as Whole Foods
and Dominion (the big 24-hour grocery
store). At the recently opened Shoppers
Drug Mart at Spadina and Dupont you
can buy almost anything you want—in-
cluding groceries.
The Annex is a great place to live—and
there is a good chance a friend from the
department could even live just around
the corner, making the walk to campus
even more fun!
EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
Jennifer DeSilva
Heather Dichter
Whether you are interested in competi-
tive athletics or free food, U of T offers a
variety of extra-curriculars. Hart House,
for example, hosts everything from $5
cooking workshops and drop-in aerobics
classes to Sunday afternoon classical con-
certs and bridge tournaments. Most uni-
versity clubs and organizations welcome
graduate students, from the Argentine
Tango Club to the Dodgeball Club. And
there are programs such as Grad Escapes
and the Graduate Student Initiative that
organize grad-focussed trips and work-
shops. Lastly, Toronto is a great city, so
take time to explore the festivals and free
concerts at Harbourfront and the Royal
Ontario Museum, as well as the excellent
and affordable eats in nearby Chinatown,
and the plethora of bars, clubs, and cafés
just minutes from campus.
Emily Winerock
Websites of Interest
Around Campus:
Clubs & Societies
http://www.sa.utoronto.ca/area.php?waid=2
Grad Escapes
http://www.gsu.utoronto.ca/escape/
Hart House
http://www.harthouse.utoronto.ca/
International Student Centre
http://www.isc.utoronto.ca/
Events at U of T
http://www.events.utoronto.ca/thisweek.asp
Around Town:
NOW Magazine online
http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/current/
Student-oriented events
http://tostudent.com
Toronto Festivals
http://www.tdbab.com/torontoevents.htm
5
6. My ethnography as a new teaching assis-
tant began as an initiation by fire. I was
thrown into the role of TA, and initiated
into its mysteries, just one week after my
arrival from Australia. Needless to say I
was still suffering from jet lag, culture
shock, and the unexpected humidity of
a Canadian September. (I was told it
was unnaturally cold in Canada!) Con-
sequently, when presented to my stu-
dents in the first lecture, my visage was
less than spritely. Tip: Always present a
calm, professional exterior. Tip: Dress
better than the students do for authority
points.
For the next 45 minutes the other two
TAs and myself were subjected to the
delectable, beady-eyed (or bored) scru-
tiny of 200 undergraduates. We then
passed around the curriculum; I had no
idea what to expect, as it was as new to
me as it was to them. After some techni-
cal work—posting sheets of high quality
paper listing times and TA names on the
walls outside the lecture theatre—we had
our lists of students. Being new and not
with it, I stupidly opted for the midday,
later tutorials. My reward was groups of
up to 19 students. Tip: If you like small
groups, opt for the unnatural 8 or 9am
tutorial sessions.
My most memorable tutorial was the one
that had to be evacuated due to a gas
leak in the classroom. Being a novice, I
soldiered on in the hallway, continuing
with the tutorial rather than letting the
students go. The rest of the semester
passed in a blur of questions, emails, and
faces that became somewhat familiar for
better or worse. For the most
part the students were diligent
and interested in the material.
The tutorials went smoothly,
and I was usually able to find
a seat. Tip: Prepare numer-
ous questions to throw intelli-
gently at the students to make
them talk. Resist the urge to
lecture at them (they become
lazy and bored) even if their
answers are questionable or
hilarious. For example, I never
realized (until one student enlightened
me) that the mother of the astronomer
Kepler was in fact a drug dealer. Clear-
ly there is much to be learnt from the
minds of undergraduates. Particularly
when they get all their information from
the internet.
All in all the TA experience is a good
one; you learn a lot about teaching, and
about your limits (no, I cannot mark 100
assignments in two days). For my efforts,
I was hugged by one ecstatic student af-
ter giving an extension, nominated for
a teaching award, and applauded at the
end. (I did not realize it was all part of a
new reality TV show: TA
Survivor.)
My advice to new TAs
is to do what you can,
do your best, and try to
keep the students inter-
ested in history. Final tip:
Be strict with extensions.
Give an inch and they
will take a mile. That is,
give one student a week,
and the other 50 stu-
dents will develop strange diseases, have
multiple deaths in the family, and extend
your marking period!
OBSERVATIONS OF A NEW TA: AN ETHNOGRAPHY
LIVING IN THE GAY VILLAGE
Living in the “village,” the “gaybour-
hood,” or the “gay ghetto” as it is some-
times known, can have many advantages
and wide appeal to students. For one, it
can be a nice break from campus or the
more typically student-focussed neigh-
bourhoods. It also provides the oppor-
tunity to meet people from a broader so-
cial range than you might otherwise find
around U of T.
The village runs roughly from Bloor and
Yonge West to Church and south past
Wellesley. There is a lot to see and do,
with tons of cruisy spots along Church
and many gay-focussed businesses. Be-
cause it is rare to find anything but single
apartment rentals, it, like most down-
town neighbourhoods, is fairly expen-
sive. It also tends to be dominated by
gay men (as opposed to lesbians or other
queers), and can sometimes tend toward
the more consumerist elements of that
culture. But there is also the 519 Com-
munity Centre and ACT (AIDS Com-
mittee Toronto) nearby, both of which
are central features of this community,
drawing a diverse bunch and offering
great programs.
Campus is a 10-minute walk
away, and the downtown core is
close by too, making the loca-
tion central for all your adven-
tures. There are also a number
of quiet streets that run be-
tween Yonge and Church, and
parkettes that connect them.
The neighbourhood is full of
friendly dogs, and the people
tend to be very social too. For
those who like clubbing, many
of the city’s hottest spots are
all within spitting distance, as
are many regular events—which means
the neighbourhood can be vibrant, if
sometimes loud! For many, the excite-
ment and community are worth some
of the hassles, and the gaybourhood is
definitely a great option, especially if you
never lived in a gay village before.
Janine Riviere
“My advice to new
TAs is to do what
you can, do your
best, and try to
keep the students
interested in
history.”
A Village Dweller
6
8. Success! I have a job—a tenure-track po-
sition at a small liberal arts college south
of the border. It may not be perfect, but
it is a job. And believe me, after seven
years of graduate toil at U of T, that is a
strange, yet profoundly pleasing, reality.
A year ago my professional horizons
seemed pretty bleak. Year six was fast
drawing to a close. Practically all of my
time was divided between dissertation
revisions and the preparation and deliv-
ery of my first course. This left little time
to steel myself for re-entering the seven
month rollercoaster that is the academic
job market. Despite a couple of inter-
views, my first attempt had been a rank
failure. The idea of doing it all again was
dispiriting to say the least. The technical
side of the process was not particularly
troubling; the real challenge was to main-
tain a positive attitude despite the con-
stant rejection, the utter lack of control,
and the apparent irrationality of the pro-
cess. Applications for jobs that seemed
ideally suited to me would end in a po-
litely dismissive letter, while others that
seemed a stretch would sometimes lead
to campus visits. This left me confused
and occasionally enraged until I realized
that success on the job market depends
as much on luck and timing as on hard
work and talent.
The word “crapshoot” leaps to mind.
Sure, there are stars who will be able to
write their own ticket, but for the rest of
us a degree from a good school, a couple
of publications, some teaching experi-
ence, social skills, and a sound job-talk
will not always clinch the job. There are
too many intangibles that can trump tal-
ent. Is the search legitimate, or is the job
already reserved
for an incumbent
or someone’s pet
graduate student?
Did you have the
rancid tuna-salad
forlunchor“sleep”
in the room with
the screaming radi-
ator? Did the vice-president of the insti-
tution keep you in a meeting so long that
you had no time to go over your notes
before your teaching demonstration? My
point, trite as it sounds, is that the only
way I could minimize the cycle of rejec-
tion and depression was to accept the
role of fate, stay positive, and wait for
that happy moment when chance, some
ability, and hard work would hopefully
intersect. And so it did when my job-talk
killed and I hit it off with the members
of my new department. Of course, it did
not hurt that a rival candidate indiscreet-
ly displayed pictures of his two pugs in
their Batman and Robin costumes from
last Halloween.
ADVENTURES ON THE JOB MARKET
Hints for the Job Search:
1) Exploit the department’s Placement Committee from the
moment you write your c.v. to when you are negotiating the contract
for your dream job. Its members will help you with your applica-
tion materials, conduct mock interviews, assist with job talks, etc.
I did not avail myself of all these opportunities and sometimes
regretted it.
2) Use the Graduate Dossier Service at the Career Centre.
It is a great way to manage your transcripts and references and
ensure that you can get them where they need to be, when they need
to be there.
3) Find a support group of colleagues going through the same
experience. I got great tips and hints from others on the market this
year and it was nice simply to rant with those in the same boat.
HISTORY IN THE COMMUNITY
In January 2005 I lectured at Toronto’s Sunnybrook Hospital
to an audience of Canadian war veterans on the topic of na-
tionalism in Canada during the First World War. For this I have
the director of a community therapy program at the hospital,
Karen Morris, and U of T history PhDer Ariel Beaujot, to
thank. Ariel was invited by Karen to lecture at Sunnybrook
on a variety of topics, and she asked some friends from the
department to join her. Amy Milne-Smith and I gladly joined
in, and between us we gave the veterans lectures we hope were
informative, entertaining, and maybe even thought-provoking.
Ariel’s lectures looked at visual propoganda in the world wars
and the social and cultural significance of the development of
railways in nineteenth-century Britain. Amy’s topics were the
history of the English country house, and gentlemen’s clubs of
London. The veterans let Karen know that they enjoyed the
lectures and she has invited more speakers back next year.
I was gratified to learn that, yes, it is possible to use one’s ac-
ademic skills and knowledge in non-classroom and research
settings. Participating in this program was rewarding for other
reasons too. Post-lecture questions were more conversational
than ones I have heard or been asked at undergraduate lectures
and tutorials, or after conference presentations. The veterans
and other attendees wanted to relate their own thoughts and
personal histories to my lecture, and to have me respond. I
learned what should have been obvious to me: This public lec-
ture was less about informing the audience than it was about
engaging with it’s members. Chatting with a few veterans after-
ward—including a veteran of the Great War!—was fun too. I
was also glad to practice my lecture skills, and quickly realized
that this involved things that I had regularly noticed as an audi-
ence member, but that I had neglected to consider as a pre-
senter. I was fortunate that I did not have to face the technical
problems and distractions in the audience that Ariel and Amy
had to overcome. Adapting to the layout of the room, as well
as using a microphone and visual aids, were challenges enough
for me!
Nathan Smith
Chris Hagerman
8
9. Brian Beaton presented a paper at the “Collage as Cultural
Practice” conference at the University of Iowa in March, and
organized the “Social Movements, Still Images: Photography
and the Representation of Radical Politics” panel for the up-
coming American Studies Association conference in November
2005. He was a finalist for the Smithsonian Graduate Fellow-
ship this year, and completed the Teaching Assistants’ Training
Programme. The current president of the Graduate History
Society, Brian was recently elected to serve on the School of
Graduate Studies’ Governing Council for a two-year term, to
begin this fall.
Since October Wilson Bell has been researching in Moscow
and Siberia, and is returning to Toronto this summer. Wilson
had an article published: “One Day in the Life of Educator
Khrushchev: Labour and Kul’turnost’ in the Gulag Newspa-
pers,” Canadian Slavonic Papers 46, no. 3–4 (September–Decem-
ber 2004): 289–314. He holds a SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship
and also received a one-year fellowship from the American So-
cial Sciences Research Council Eurasia Program.
Max Bergholz spent the 2004–05 academic year conducting
archival research in Serbia and Montenegro. His trip was fi-
nanced by a nine-month grant from the International Research
and Exchanges Board. In May he presented a paper (in Bos-
nian) in Sarajevo based on his ongoing research at a conference
called “60 godina od završetka Drugog svjetskog rata: Kako se
sjecati 1945 godine?” (60 Years Since the End of World War
Two: How to Remember 1945?). His essay, “Meu rodoljubima,
kupusom, svinjama i varvarima: Spomenici i grobovi NOR-a u
periodu izmedu 1947–1965 godine” (Among Patriots, Cabbage,
Pigs, and Barbarians: Monuments and Graves to the People’s
Liberation War, 1947–1965), will be published this fall by the
Institute for History in Sarajevo. In addition to financial sup-
port from the Centre for Russian and East European Studies
and the School of Graduate Studies, he also won a Bernadotte
Schmitt Grant from the American Historical Association for
his research trip.
Christine A. Berkowitz published “Ludlow Lives On. . .”
in the Newsletter of the Labor and Working Class History Associa-
tion 2 (October 2004). She held an OGS during 2004–05, and
for 2005–06 won an Associates of the University of Toronto
Graduate Award for the Study of the United States, the Gilder
Lehrman Research Fellowship to the New York Public Library,
an SGS Travel Grant, and a Department of History Travel
Grant. This academic year she co-taught “Thinking About the
USA” (USA300Y) with Prof. Rick Halpern.
Ryan Berry, who held an OGS for 2004–05, is working on his
German language skills and finishing his 2000 paper. In the fall
he will take up a position as a high school English teacher. Ryan
is considering pursuing a doctorate in the future.
Serhiy Bilenky is a recipient of both the Dmytro and Natalia
Haluszka Family Scholarship in Ukrainian Studies and the Ivan
Bodnarchuk Scholarship in Ukrainian Studies for 2005–06.
Erin Black held a Canada-US Fulbright Fellowship for 2004–
05. She spent nine months in Washington, DC, where she was
a visiting scholar at the Elliott School of International Affairs,
George Washington University. During that period Erin par-
ticipated in the academic life of GWU, but spent most of her
time conducting research for her dissertation at the US Na-
tional Archives. Erin also did research in the J. W. Fulbright
Papers in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and the Mike Mansfield Papers
in Missoula, Montana. Some highlights of her time in the US
include meeting Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense to
presidents Kennedy and Johnson (and an important figure in
her research), and Colin Powell. Erin is now back in Canada
with most of her research complete. She plans to spend 2005–
06 writing her dissertation and hopes to defend before the end
of next summer.
Jennifer Brewer presented “Let Her be Waived: Outlawing
Women in Yorkshire 1293–1294” at a conference at the Uni-
versity of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee in April. For her
paper she won the Sewanee Medieval Colloquium Prize, an
award she shared with Sarah Downey from U of T’s Centre for
Medieval Studies.
Neema Cherian entered the PhD program in January. She
holds one of the university’s prestigious entrance awards, the
Connaught Scholarship.
Bradley Coates presented “Bohemia as a Construction Site
for Identity” at the First Annual Graduate History Symposium
in the department in February. In the fall he will begin doctoral
studies in history at McMaster University in Hamilton.
Heather D. DeHaan won the Kenneth McNaught Fellow-
ship in History for 2004. She presented a paper entitled “The
Struggle Over the Left Bank: Settlement, Sanitation, and City
Planning in Gor’kii (Nizhnii Novgorod) in 1932,” at the 36th
National Convention of the American Association for the Ad-
vancement of Slavic Studies in Boston in December. Heather
was the course instructor for HIS351Y (History of 20th Cen-
tury Russia) during the 2004–05 school year. She will take up a
tenure-track position in Modern European (Russian) history at
SUNY Binghamton in the fall.
Kathryn Della Bitta (née Brown) finished her coursework,
passed the French exam, and is now studying Japanese. This
summer she will conduct research at the National Archives in
College Park, Maryland, and is working as a research assistant
for Prof. Dan Bender on his research project, “Industrial Evo-
lution and the Social Pit.” Kathryn is getting married this sum-
mer.
This past year Jennifer DeSilva completed the Teaching As-
sistants’ Training Programme, and held both an Iter Fellowship
with the Centre for Renaissance and Reformation Studies and
an OGS. She presented papers to the department’s Premodern
Discussion Group, and to the Canadian Society for Renais-
sance Studies at their 2005 Congress. Jennifer also served on
the School of Graduate Studies’ Council as a student represen-
tative from Division I, and sat on the Department of History’s
Graduate Program Committee.
Heather Dichter is this year’s recipient of the Graduate His-
tory Society Distinguished Service Award. She also won the
Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations’ Michael
J. Hogan Fellowship for language instruction, which she will be
using this summer at the University of Bonn.
Audra Diptee is one of the co-editors of Beyond Fragmentation:
Perspectives in Caribbean History (Markus Weiner, forthcoming,
2005). Her article, “Imperial Ideas, Colonial Realities: Enslaved
Children in Late Eighteenth Century Jamaica,” will be pub-
lished in Frontiers: Children and Youth in Colonial America (New
York Press, forthcoming, 2005). Audra expects to defend her
dissertation by the end of the year, and will take up a tenure
-track position in Atlantic History at Carleton University in Ot-
tawa this fall.
GRAD STUDENTS ON THE GO
9
10. Victoria Duroff successfully completed the coursework com-
ponent of her degree. She plans to take language exams in Ital-
ian and Latin in the fall, and do her comprehensive exams in
January 2006.
Victoria Freeman published “Attitudes toward Miscegenation
in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States, 1860–
1914,” in Native Studies Review 16, no. 1 (2005): 41–69, a paper
she also presented to the department’s Decolonizing History
Colloquium in March. She gave a reading and public talk on her
book, Distant Relations: How My Ancestors Colonized North Amer-
ica (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2000), at the Greenwood
Community Centre and at a local high school in Hudson, Que-
bec in September. Victoria presented “Turning Point: Native
Peoples and Newcomers On-Line” (see http://www.turning-
point.ca) to the Wanapitei Colloquium, Temagami, sponsored
by Trent and Carleton universities, in September. This paper
will be published in the Wanapitei Colloquium proceedings.
She gave a lecture on “Canada as a Settler Colony” to HIS254
(Canadian History) in November; was a panelist at “Aanji-
iwendamin: Cross-Cultural Dialogue on Aboriginal Issues,” at
the Native Canadian Centre in April; the keynote speaker on
colonialism and decolonization at the Huron Diocese, Anglican
Church, at the Chippewa of the Thames First Nation on 10
March; and guest lecturer in English 254 (Contemporary Na-
tive North American Literature) on 2 February. In June Victoria
spoke at the inaugural symposium of the International Institute
for Community Based Peacebuilding, organized by the Trans-
formative Learning Centre, OISE/UT.
Svitlana Frunchak will spend two months this summer in
Bloomington, Indiana studying Romanian. To help cover the
costs of the language program, she won the Petro Yacyk Grad-
uate Scholarship in Ukrainian Studies and the Ivan Bodnar-
chuk Scholarship in Ukrainian Studies. This year Svitlana held a
Global Supplementary Grant from the Open Society Institute,
received the TATP Certificate, and was the first teaching as-
sistant to design and host on-line tutorials in the humanities at
UTM.
Nicole Greenspan presented a paper at the American Political
Science Association conference in September, and participated
in a colloquium on early modern English republicanism in New
Orleans in March. She published “News, Intelligence, and Es-
pionage at the Exiled Court at Cologne: The Case of Henry
Manning,” Media History 11, nos. 1–2 (April–August 2005):
105–125, and her “Religious Contagion in Mid-Seventeenth
Century England,” in Imagining Contagion in Early Modern Europe,
ed. Claire Carlin, is currently in press. Nicole taught Western
Civilizations at Sheridan College this year, and will be teaching
at Wilfrid Laurier University in the fall.
Alexandra Guerson de Oliveira is preparing for her compre-
hensive exams, having completed her coursework and passed
the PhD Latin exam. She presented a paper entitled “Playing
the Ethnic Card: Mestiços and Indian Slavery in Sixteenth-Cen-
tury Brasil” to the Premodern Discussion Group in March.
She and Dana Wessell co-wrote the “Inquisition” entry in The
Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity (Macmillan
Reference, 2005). Alexandra was awarded a CGS last spring.
This academic year she was a member of the SGS Council, and
sat on the Executive Committee of the Friends of the PIMS
Library.
Geoff Hamm presented “Modernity and Tradition in the
Prusso-German Officers Corps, 1861–1914,” to the First An-
nual American-Canadian Conference in German and Modern
European History, held at Canisius College in Buffalo, NY in
April.
Valerie Hébert taught HIS338 (History of the Holocaust) at
UTM during the 2004–05 academic year. With Dana Wessell,
she organized the seminar series on teaching history. In May
Valerie presented “The Politics of Punishment: War Criminals
and the Struggle for German Reintegration with the West” to
the conference “After Fascism: Re-Democratization of West-
ern European Society and Political Culture since 1945,” held
at the University of Vienna. Her article, “Disguised Resistance:
The Story of Kurt Gerstein,” was accepted for publication in
Holocaust and Genocide Studies, and should come out in the spring
2006 issue. As winner of the Charles H. Revson Foundation
Fellowship, Valerie will be doing dissertation research and writ-
ing at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Center
for Advanced Holocaust Studies in Washington, DC between
June and August 2005.
Erin Hochman participated in the German Historical Insti-
tute’s Summer Seminar in Germany in June, and will be spending
the 2005–06 academic year in Germany on a DAAD research
grant. This year Erin served on the department’s Graduate Pro-
gram Committee.
Steve Jobbitt was the course instructor for the nationalism
seminar (HIS445) this summer.
Stephen Johns will begin the Initial Teacher Education pro-
gram at OISE/UT (I/S stream, teachables in history and politi-
cal science) in the fall after completing his MA.
Ekim Kadaifciler passed the German language exam this past
year, and is now starting work on her dissertation.
Anita Kovacevic presented a paper to the American Associa-
tion for the Advancement of Slavic Studies conference in De-
cember. She held the Faculty of Arts and Science Thomas and
Beverley Simpson (OGS) award during the 2004–05 academic
year. Anita is currently conducting research in Venice and Croa-
tia for her dissertation, and is co-editing the Croatian Renaissance
Reader (forthcoming, 2006).
Mark Laszlo-Herbert is a 2005–06 recipient of the univer-
sity’s Chancellor Jackman Graduate Student Fellowship in the
Humanities.
Paul Lawrie completed his coursework, and plans to take his
comprehensive exams in January 2006. He is working this sum-
mer as a research assistant to Prof. Dan Bender on his project
“Industrial Evolution and the Social Pit.” Paul won an Asso-
ciates of the University of Toronto Award for Study of the
United States for the coming year, and an SGS Travel Grant.
This year Nick Matte co-chaired the Women’s/Gender/Sex-
uality History Working Group at U of T, and joined the In-
stitute for Women’s Studies and Gender Studies Collaborative
Program. He presented “Classificatory Systems, Treatment Op-
tions and Lived Experiences of Transsexualism: Harry Benja-
min and his patients, 1950–1975” at an international conference
on sex and gender diversity in Manchester, England, and gave
a talk entitled “Professionalization and Pathologization: Trans
People and the Development of Trans ‘Treatment’ Methods,
1970–1990” at the Queer Conference at OISE/UT in June.
Nick, who is a CGS winner, is currently preparing for his com-
prehensive exams. He has started a new interdisciplinary, trans-
institutional working group called “History and Social Justice.”
For more information or to join, contact Nick at nicholas.
matte@utoronto.ca.
Amy Milne-Smith will be travelling to London this August
for her final research trip. She presented three papers this year:
“Imagining Exclusivity: London Clubland in the Late Nine-
teenth Century” at the North American Conference on Brit-
ish Studies in Philadelphia; “West End Boys: Gender and Class
in Victorian London” at the New Frontiers Graduate History
Conference, York University; and “London Clubs and Perfect
10
11. Gentlemen” at our own “Construction Sites: Building Histo-
ries” symposium, which she helped organize. She was a mem-
ber of the GHS executive as well as a member of the Modern
British Historians’ Discussion Group and of the Women’s/
Gender/Sexuality History Working Group. To the latter she
presented a work in progress. In addition, Amy delivered two
lectures during the Sunnybrook Hospital Lecture Series and
two lectures in British history at the Erindale campus.
Sasha Mullally defended her dissertation in November. She
was made Acting Director and Visiting Fellow at the History
of Medicine Unit at McMaster University in January, and will
continue to hold this position for the 2005–06 academic year.
Deborah Neill is finishing up her dissertation and will de-
fend in early September. She is currently a Hannah History of
Medicine Fellow and also received a Joint Initiative in German
and European Studies fellowship this past year. In 2004–05
she presented papers at the University of Oxford, the Soci-
ety for French Historical Studies at Stanford University, and
at the First Annual American-Canadian Conference in Ger-
man and Modern European History in Buffalo. Deborah also
presented in three U of T colloquia, including the Joint U of
T-York French Seminar, the “Rethinking German Moder-
nities” workshop held jointly by U of T and the University
of Michigan, and at the department’s Decolonizing History
Colloquium. She is the graduate student coordinator of the
Decolonizing History Colloquium (For more information, e-
mail her at dneill@chass.utoronto.ca). This summer Deborah
taught “Technology and the Development of Modern Europe,
1800–2000” (HIS389), and in 2005–06 she will teach a fourth-
year undergraduate seminar at Huron College, University of
Western Ontario.
Jutta Paczulla passed her major field comprehensive exam
in May. She was the 2004 winner of the Women’s Canadian
Historical Society of Toronto Graduate Fellowship. Jutta pub-
lished “The Long, Difficult Road to Dayton: Peace Efforts in
Bosnia-Herzegovina,” in International Journal (Winter 2004–05):
255–272. She is now doing research for her dissertation.
Sarah Penley, an MA candidate, will begin doctoral studies
in American and Canadian history at the University of Maine
this fall.
Andrea Geddes Poole successfully defended her dissertation
this past November. She was awarded a School of Graduate
Studies postdoctoral fellowship to teach at U of T for 2005–
06.
Benjamin Pottruff completed his coursework and language
requirements, and is now preparing for his comprehensive
exams, which he plans to take in January 2006. He presented
“Killing a President’s Killer: The Ideological Role of Popu-
lar Culture in the Execution of President McKinley’s Assas-
sin, 1901,” at the 26th Annual North American Labor History
Conference at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan in
October. In February Benjamin gave a paper entitled “Manli-
ness and the Assassin’s Bullet: Cultures of Gender and Vio-
lence in Gilded Age America, 1886–1901,” at the First Annual
Graduate History Symposium, and at the 9th Annual New
Frontiers Graduate History Conference at York University.
Marsha Reid, an MA candidate, held an OGS for the 2004–05
academic year.
Janine Riviere presented her paper, “Filthy Dreamers and
Scurrilous Dreams: The Politics of Dreams in Seventeenth-
Century England,” to the Premodern Discussion Group in
April.
Jonathan Roberts was president of the GHS, September–De-
cember. He taught HIS259 (Introduction to African History)
in the fall term, and will teach it again in the summer session.
Jon was in Ghana and elsewhere in Africa doing dissertation
research and writing between January and May. This fall he will
be teaching at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania.
Heather Shaw won a Part-Time History Graduate Scholar-
ship last fall. She is finished with her coursework, and is now
working on her language requirement (Latin) and 2000 paper,
with plans to graduate next June. Heather presented “Piety
or Politics: Exploring the Motives Behind Welsh Cistercian
Princely Burials” to the Cistercian Studies Conference at West-
ern Michigan University in Kalamazoo in May. She runs her
own graphic design business.
Ola Szczecinska plans to complete her 2000 paper this sum-
mer. Over the next academic year she will TA for Prof. Arne
Kislenko at Ryerson University, and will work to improve her
German, first at U of T, and then in classes at the Geothe In-
stitute in Berlin. Ola plans to apply for doctoral studies in the
fall of 2006, upon her return from Germany.
Tracey Tremaine was on a leave of absence during the 2004–
05 academic year. During that time she launched her teaching
career at the College/University of the Bahamas. Tracey taught
US history, Atlantic history, World Civilizations, and a course
in the methodology and philosophy of history. She looks for-
ward to returning to dissertation research in the fall.
Dana Wessell’s article, “Family Interests? Women’s Power:
The Role of the Family in Dowry Restitution Cases in Early
Fifteenth-Century Valencia,” will be published in a forthcom-
ing issue of the Women’s History Review. She also co-authored
(with Alexandra Guerson de Oliveira) the entry for “The In-
quisition” in The Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Hu-
manity (Macmillan Reference, 2005). Dana organized the “Bad
Husbands in Early Modern Southern Europe” session at the
Sixteenth Century Studies Conference in Toronto, at which she
presented “ ‘And he did not provide her with the necessities
of life’: Violence and Insolvent Husbands in Fifteenth-Cen-
tury Valencia.” Dana was also a panelist at the International
Medieval Studies Conference in Kalamazoo, Michigan in May,
where she presented a paper entitled “The Power to Divide?:
Germania Restitution in Early Fifteenth-Century Valencia.”
She spoke on “Teaching as Conversation: Discussion in the
University Classroom,” at the First Annual Graduate History
Symposium in February.
Emily Winerock held a workshop on “Shakespearean Move-
ment and Dance for Actors” at the Graduate Centre for the
Study of Drama’s Festival of Original Theatre Annual Con-
ference in February. In April she presented a paper entitled
“Dancing Schools and School Dances: The Practices and
Politics of Dancing in Renaissance Universities,” at Cambridge
University during the Renaissance Society of America’s Annual
Meeting. Emily choreographed a waltz for a U of T Graduate
Centre for the Study of Drama production of “Mein Kampf”
in April, and choreographed a volta, a Renaissance court dance,
for a DoubleSee production of Othello in May. She also taught
a pavane, a Renaissance court dance, to accompany a Mores-
ca performance of Renaissance music at Campbell House in
May.
Jing Ye recently published a book review of A Singing Ambiva-
lence: American Immigrants between Old World and New, 1830–1930,
by Victor R. Greene, in History: Reviews of New Books 33, no. 2
(Winter 2005): 59. Her article, “Protestant Missionary Work
among the Chinese in Canada, 1880s–1930s: With a Focus on
the Toronto Area,” is in press.
11
12. Graduate History Society
University of Toronto
Sidney Smith Hall, Room 2074
100 St. George Street
Toronto, ON M5S 3G3
www.chass.utoronto.ca/history/graduate/ghs.htm
HG
S
Ashleigh Androsoff
Christine A. Berkowitz
Laurence Brodeur
Todd Craver
Heather Dichter
Anthony Dunn
Erin Hochman
Ekim Kadaifciler
Joseph Kelly
Sean Lafferty
Mark Laszlo-Herbert
Mairi MacDonald
Nicholas May
Jon Soske
CONGRATULATIONS!
Rikke Andreassen, “The Mass Media’s
Construction of Gender, Race, Sexuality
and Nationality. An Analysis of the Dan-
ish News Media’s Communication about
Minorities from 1971 to 2004.” (Supervi-
sors: E. Jennings and E. Brown)
Michael Carroll, “Canada and the United
Nations Emergency Force: An Uneasy
Partnership.” (Supervisor: R. Bothwell)
Mark Crane, “A Conservative Voice
in the French Renaissance: Josse Bade
(1462–1535).” (Supervisor: J. Farge)
Heather D. DeHaan, “From Nizhnii to
Gor’kii: The Reconstruction of a Russian
Provincial City in the Stalinist 1930s.”
(Supervisor: L. Viola)
Benedikt Feldges, “Visual Signs and
Iconic Imaginations: The Genesis of a
National Visual Language on American
Television.” (Supervisor: P. Rutherford)
Christopher Hagerman, “Muse of Em-
pire? Classical Education, the Classical
Tradition and British Conceptions of
Empire, 1757–1902.” (Supervisor: M. Is-
rael)
Sasha Mullally, “Unpacking the Black
Bag: Rural Medicine in the Maritime
Provinces and Northern New England
States, 1900–1950.” (Supervisor: M. Bliss)
Andrea M. Geddes Poole, “Conspicu-
ous Presumption: The National Gallery
of Great Britain’s Board of Trustees and
the Decline of Aristocratic Authority
1890–1939.” (Supervisor: L. Loeb)
Jiri Smrz, “Symphonic Marxism: Ap-
propriating the Heritage of Nineteenth
Century Russian Music for the Culture
of Stalinist Soviet Union 1932–1953.”
(Supervisor: W. Dowler)
Donna Trembinski, “Narratives of
(Non) Suffering in Dominican Legend-
aries: Explorations and Explanations.”
(Supervisor: I. Cochelin)
The following students passed their comprehensive exams this year (September 2004-
June 2005)
PhD Defences (September 2004-June 2005)
Canada Graduate Scholarship
(Doctoral)
Kathryn Della Bitta (née Brown)
Kathryn Edwards
Jennifer Polk
Social Sciences and Humanities Re-
search Council Doctoral Fellowship
Christine A. Berkowitz
Cara Spittal
Ontario Graduate Scholarship
Sarah Amato
Patricia Anderson
Ashleigh Androsoff
Christine A. Berkowitz
Erin Black
Jennifer Bonnell
Kathryn Della Bitta (née Brown)
Jennifer DeSilva
Kathryn Edwards
Carla Hustak
Tomaz Jardim
Amy Milne-Smith
Mostafa Minawi
Jutta Paczulla
Christopher Pennington
Jennifer Polk
Nathan Smith
Cara Spittal
The following current graduate students were awarded new SSHRC fellowships and Ontario Graduate
Scholarships for 2005-06.
GHS Distinguished Service Awards
This year the GHS created the Distinguished Service
Awards to recognize graduate students and faculty members who
go beyond the call of duty to contribute to the intellectual and
social life of the department. The inaugural winners are Heather
Dichter and Prof. Kenneth Mills. Nominations for next year’s
awards will be accepted in the spring.
12
