UPEI hosts over 600 historians at three overlapping conferences June 1 to 5
In the first week of June, the historic UPEI campus will be bustling with over 600 historians from across Canada here to attend three conferences.
The UPEI Department of History is hosting overlapping conferences from June 1 to 5: the Canadian Historical Association (CHA), June 1 to 3; Atlantic Canada Studies (ACS), June 3 to 5; and the Canadian Catholic History Association (CCHA), June 3 to 4. This is the first time that the three conferences have been held in combination.
Members of the public are welcome to attend two events: one is on May 31 and the other on June 4.
On May 31, Dr. Josh MacFadyen, Canada Research Chair and local chair of the ACS conference, will host a public presentation titled “Reflections on Resilience: 20,000 Years of Climate History” by Dr. Dagomar Degroot, a leading climate historian at Georgetown University, from 5:30–6:45 pm. All are welcome to join the event in McMillan Hall, W.A. Murphy Student Centre.
On June 4, the CCHA will host a public book launch for a book titled Contesting Zion: The Vatican, American Catholics, and Partition of Palestine by Dr. Adrian Ciani, St. Augustine’s Seminary, Toronto School of Theology in Bill and Denise Andrew Hall, Room 142, from 2:30 to 3:30 pm. Dr. Rob Dennis, associate professor of religious studies and local chair of the CCHA conference, will emcee the book launch.
All three conferences feature leading experts and topics of interest to the respective associations’ members.
During the CHA conference, delegates are invited to reflect on the ways in which conceptions of “self” and “other” have been mediated in the past. Themed “Self, Other, and History,” the conference features a high number of presentations about public history, as well as related public history activities in collaboration with partners including L’nuey, Parks Canada, and the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation.
“It’s 24 years since the meeting of the Canadian Historical Association happened in PEI,” said Dr. Lisa Chilton, professor of history, lead for the combined event, and local chair of the CHA conference. “The range of subjects covered is incredibly varied, but probably the most significant area of engagement is in the relationship between academic history and public history. How historians are engaging with the politics of public history is of great interest to all of us right now.”
Prior to the conferences, the CHA Council, together with chairs of history programs at universities across Canada, will meet on campus from May 30 to 31.
