My Top Picks for CHA 2019

Of course I’m back again this year with my top picks fpr CHA 2019! Did you think I’d let you down? Now that the final program for CHA 2019 has been released, it’s time for me to  go over the panels that I think will be the most popular as well as the ones that I am planning to attend! AKA, how to stalk Andrea (please don’t stalk Andrea). Just remember that these are just my recommendations, and I wish there was a way to attend multiple panels at once.

One final note as always, before I get down to business: if you spot me running around, please don’t be afraid to come and say hi!

Sunday June 2nd

Every year the CHA does something special on Sunday, and this year is no exception. The Canadian Committee on Labour History is presenting a free walking tour of downtown Vancouver and labour history workshop. You are welcome to drop in ay any time. The walk starts at 10 at the corner of West Hastings and Cambie. At 12, there will be lunch at the Ukrainian Hall (805 East Pender Street), and at 1, there will be three roundtable discussions: “Working in the Neoliberal University,” “Labour History Beyond the Classroom,” and “Building an Inclusive Labour History.” Finally, there will be supper! To attend, you will need to register in advance.

Monday June 3rd

As soon as I saw the panel titled “Public History for Human Rights: Museums and Museology as Tools for Social Justice,” with Stephanie B. Anderson, Jason Chalmers, Carly Ciufo, Véronique Bertrand-Bourget and Isabelle Masson, I knew I was going to be at UBC at 8:30 in the morning to attend. Sigh. But the panel, “Building a Nation of Consumers,” with Jennifer A. Stephens, Daniel Guadagnolo, and Bettina Liverant also looks super cool, as does “Conversations with Migrants,” with Lisa Chilton, Marlene Epp, and Nick Scott.

Of course, at 10:30 everyone will be at the CHA Keynote, featuring Allan Greer speaking on “Settler Colonialism and Beyond.”

The Canadian Committee on Women’s History is also hosting their Keynote at 1:30, featuring Valerie Korinek speaking on “Queer Thoughts for Challenging Times: Writing Canadian Histories of Sexuality and Gender from the Margins.” But I would also highly recommend “Twentieth Century Indigenous Issues,” since watching Emma Battell Lowman speak is a treat that no one should miss. The rest of the papers also look fabulous. I also think that the panel, “From Looking Out to Looking Back: The First Year After the Defense,” with Stephen Smith and Mikhail Bjorge, will be good.

Of course everyone who is anyone will be attending MY panel, “Troubled Intersections Between Feminism, Religious Faith, Heritage, and Community,” at 3:30, right? 😉 But I really wish I could clone myself to attend the “Sharing Circle: Art, Performance, and Occupation: Radical, Decolonizing Tools for Historians,” featuring Brittany Luby (Anishinaabe), Emma Stelter, Susan Roy, Heather George, Kim Anderson (Métis), and Lianne Leddy ( Serpent River First Nation). CHA, why are you so mean? I also wish I could attend, “Who’s Afraid of Visual Proof? Discussing Visual Culture’s Challenge to Historical Methodologies,” with Carmen Nielson, James Opp, and Daniel Rück, as well as “Treaty Talks: Engaging Non-Indigenous Canadians with the Past and Present of Treaties” with Alison Norman, Heidi Bohaker, Laura Murray, and Dave Mowatt (Alderville First Nation).

Finally, all of the coolest historians will be hanging out at the Canadian Committee on Women’s History reception and book launch at 5:30!

Expert Tip: UBC Rare Books and Special Collections has put together a special exhibit, entitled “A Queer Century, 1869-1969,” collecting together  rare books, art, manuscripts and ephemera from the holdings of UBC’s Rare Books and Special Collections, along with materials from local private collections. For more information, go here.

Tuesday June 4th

Even though it’s at 8:30, I think that “Optimistic about their Future, but no Idea how to Get there: Supporting History Undergraduate and Graduate Students in their Transition to the World of Work,” with Maren Wood, Matthew Stone, and Janay Nugent will be super popular. And important! I’m also interested in the “Teaching Public History” panel, with Jordan Baker, Jennifer Bonnell, Audrey Pyée, and Rhonda Hinther.

Expert Tip: Throughout the conference, there are a number of TRC workshops that have been organized. They all look fantastic, so I would recommend that you check them out if you get the chance! Here the list:

Tuesday

8:45 – 10:15  (SWNG 301)

Classroom Conversations on Indigenous and Settler Histories in Canada: Reflections from Intersecting Fields

Participants:
Camie Augustus, Vancouver Island University
Patricia Barkaskas, UBC, Peter A. Allard School of Law
Chelsea Horton, UVIC, History and Centre for Studies in Religion and Society
Rick Ouellet, Langara College, Aboriginal Education and Services

Chair | Animatrice : Malinda Smith (University of Alberta) Discussant | Commentateur : Richard Devlin (Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University)

Wednesday

8:45 – 10:15  (SWNG 405)

Teaching and Learning after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Participants:
Keith Carlson (University of Saskatchewan) Michael Marker (University of British Columbia) Jeannie Morgan (Simon Fraser University)
Paige Raibmon (University of British Columbia) Martha Walls (Mount Saint Vincent University)

Chair | Animateur : Allan Downey (McMaster University)

10:30 – 12:00 (SWNG 307)

Historical Research and K-12 Indigenous Curriculum: A Roundtable on Knowledge Mobilization, Knowledge Translation, and Capacity Building in Coast Salish Education Initiatives

Participants:
Keith Thor Carlson (University of Saskatchewan)
Brenda Point (First Nations Education Coordinator, Chilliwack School District)
Karina Peters (Tla’amin Educator, Powell River School District 47)
Rod Peters (Indigenous Educator/Coordinator, Fraser Cascade School District)
Colin M. Osmond (University of Saskatchewan)
Tsandlia Van Ry (University of the Fraser Valley, Stó:lō Student Researcher) Drew Blaney (Culture and Heritage Manager, Tla’amin Nation)
Kirsten Paul (Tla’amin Student Researcher)

Chair | Animateur : Naxaxalhts’i Albert “Sonny” McHalsie (Historian, Stó:lō Research and Resource Management Centre)

10:30 – 12:00  (SWNG 405)

Teaching and Professional Practice/Race, Ethnicity, Indigenous People and Politics

Participants :
Sarah De Leeuw (University of Northern British Columbia) Krista McCracken (Algoma University)
Magdalena Milosz (McGill University)
Brenda Trofanenko (Acadia University)
Karen Bridget Murray (York University)
Jacqueline Woods (University of Saskatchewan)
Sean Carleton (Mount Royal University)
Clinton Debogorski (University of Toronto)

Chair | Animatrice : Kiera Ladner (University of Manitoba)

14:00 – 15:30 (SWNG 221)

Community- Engaged Teaching and Research in the Age of Reconciliation

Participants:
Carolyn Podruchny (York University) and Alan Corbiere (M’Chigeeng First Nation – York University)
Catherine Tammaro (Wyandot of Anderdon First Nation)
Victoria Jackson (York University)
Laura Peers (Oxford University)
Kathryn Labelle (University of Saskatchewan)

Chair Animatrice : Kiera Ladner

15:45 – 17:15 (SWNG 405)

Teaching and Professional Practice/ Race, Ethnicity, Indigenous People and Politics

Participants :
Antje Ellermann (University of British Columbia) Nicole Bernhardt (York University)
Laura Pin (York University)
Rhiannon Klein (Yukon College)
Kent den Heyer (University of Alberta)
Derek Murray (University of Victoria)
Sujata Thapa-Battarai (University of Toronto) James Fitzgerald (York University)

Discussant/Commentateur/Commentatrice : David Gaertner (University of British Columbia)

At 10:30, I’m betting a super popular panel will be “Reframing Conversations around Indigenous Photographic Archives,” featuring Carol Payne, Carmen Robertson (Lakota/Scottish ancestry), Carol Williams, Jeff Thomas (Iroquois), Sherry Farrell Racette (Métis), and Paul Seesequasis (Willow Cree). But I think that “Writing Family History and Objectivity,” with Leslie Choquette, Catherine Gidney, Bonnie Huskins, Brittany Luby, and Benjamin Bryce will also be fantastic. I am also eyeing “Displaying Canadian Technoscience,” with Dany Guay-Bélanger, Jan Hadlaw, Blair Stein, and Michael Windover. Video game history? Sold.

At 1:30, “Complicated Conversations: Re-examining Canadian Historical Scholarship through a Critical Race Lens,” with Funké Aladejebi, Patrice Allen, Claudine Bonner, and Natasha Henry, is a must-see panel. “Contemporary Indigenous Struggle, with Nicholas Xemŧoltw̱ Claxton (SȾÁUTW̱) and John Price, and Sheldon Krasowski also looks good!

And, of course, from 3:30 onwards, we will have the presidential address, the annual general meeting, the CHA Reception, and the CHA prize ceremony, followed by Cliopalooza!

Wednesday, June 5th

On Wednesday at 8:30, everyone will be at the “Disciplines in Dialogue: Historical Knowledge, Public Engagement, and Social Media in History, Archaeology, and Archival Science” panel, with me, Joanne Hammond, Stephanie Halmhofer, and Krista McCracken, right? Only the coolest panel ever! I’m pretty sure the snark will be sky high. But I also think the roudntable on Elsbeth Heamon’s “Tax Order, and Good Government: A New Political History of Canada, 1867-1917, will be super popular as well.

At 10:30, I will definitely be attending “Listening to the People: New Conversations with the Archives of State,” featuring Mary Chapman, Laura Ishiguro, Maddie Knickerbocker, and Eryk Martin.  But there are two other important panels going on at the same time. First is “Conversations on Disability, History and Postsecondary Education: Looking Back, Moving Forward,” with Nancy Hansen, Beth A. Robertson, and Hollis Peirce, as well as “The Professional is Personal & Political: Life Histories & Historical Scholarship,” with Elise Chenier, Roxanne Panchasi, and Barrington Walker.

At 12, Natasha Henry is scheduled to give a keynote for the Canada’s History – CHA Youth Conference, which should be great!

At 1:30, I’m having a hard time picking between three panels, “Redefining Child and Youth Spaces in Twentieth-Century Canada” with Mary-Anne Shantz, Cheryl Krasnick Warsh, Katharine Rollwagen, and Linda Mahood; “Citizens Vs. Government: Conflict and Letter-Writing in Postwar Canada,” with Shirley Tillotson, Katrina Ackerman, and Matthew Hayes; and “Open Educational Resources (OER) and Classroom Conversations about History,” with John Belshaw, Amanda Coolidge, Peggy French, Sean Kheraj, and Tom Peace.

At 3:30, I am definitely going to “Non-Trivial Pursuits: Historicizing Late-Twentieth Century Canada,” with Jenny Ellison, Matthew Hayday, Nancy Janovicek, and Dimitry Anastakis. Though “Hoops, Hats, and Historical Re-enactors: Material Culture and the Inconsistencies of Memory,” with Lynne Kenndy, Amy Shaw, and Steve Marti also looks super fun! The “Creating Open Educational Resources (OER) to Cultivate Conversations across Time, Place and Culture” workshop, with Tom Peace, Sean Kheraj, Peggy French, and John Belshaw also looks great. You can register to attend, though  everyone is welcome!

Thursday, June 6th

If you still happen to be in town on the 6th, you may want to sign up for the Stó:lō Territory Bus Tour, hosted by Stó:lō elder and cultural advisor Naxaxalhts’i’s, (Dr. Sonny McHalsie). The tour leaves UBC at 9 am, and will return at 6 pm. The cost is $75 per person, though students and precariously employed folks only pay $35. You can sign up via the regular Congress registration, or go here: https://fhss.swoogo.com/19- registration-inscription?lang=en

One again, the CHA Programming Committee has outdone itself. I just wish I could be everywhere at once! I hope you’ve enjoyed my list of recommended and popular panels. If you did, please consider sharing it on the social media platform of your choice! And don’t forget to check back on Sunday for a brand new Canadian history roundup! See you then!

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