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Faculty of Humanities

Wilson Institute for Canadian History

Visiting Speaker Series

Our visiting speaker series brings in academic speakers, award winning authors, and community leaders from across multiple disciplines, countries, and experiences.

Expandable List

Syndemic : Crucial Conversations about Humanity’s Organic Crisis

What will Covid-19 mean for humanity’s future? And how can we relate our understanding of that pattern to the national communities in which we live?  Join us as world-renowned scholars, journalists, and activists address these questions. Learn more about our Syndemic Series here.

  • July 15, 2021, 7pm: A Conversation with Chandrima Chakraborty, Department of English and Cultural Studies, McMaster University
    • Location: Live via Zoom
    • Zoom Meeting ID: 712 098 7507
  • June 24, 2021, 7pm: Nicholas Christakis, Author of Apollo’s Arrow:  The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live
    • Location: Live via Zoom
    • Zoom Meeting ID: 962 6317 1206
  • June 10, 2021, 7pm: An Interview with Pat Armstrong, Author of A Place to Call Home: Long Term Care in Canada
    • Location: Live via Zoom
    • Zoom Meeting ID: 982 4506 7429
  • June 3, 2021, 7pm: An Interview with André Picard, Author of Neglected No More: The Urgent Need to Improve the Lives of Canada’s Elders in the Wake of a Pandemic
    • Location: Live via Zoom
    • Zoom Meeting ID: 938 7438 3101
  • May 27, 2021, 1pm: An Interview with Andreas Malm, Author of Corona, Climate, Chronic Emergency
    • Location: Live via Zoom
    • Zoom Meeting ID: 977 4106 7442
  • May 13, 2021, 7pm: Mike Davis, Author of Set the Night on Fire
    • Location: Live via Zoom
    • Zoom Meeting ID: 937 3986 0877
  • April 15, 2021, 12pm: An Interview with Laura Spinney, Journalist at The Guardian
    • Location: Live via Zoom
    • Zoom Meeting ID: 977 1090 9681

Theme: Racism and Democracy, Part Two

As a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic, our 2019-20 Speaker Series on Racialized People and the Color of Democracy was unfortunately cut short. However, we have decided to reboot our cancelled Spring 2020 series and invite a few extra guests in the process. These talks will be live via zoom. We’ll post the links here and on our social media closer to each event. Keep an eye on this page for an updated speakers list!

Winter 2021
  • February 11, 2021, 7pm: Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, California State University
    • Title: European Colonization of the Americas and the Birth of Racial Capitalism
    • Location: Live via Zoom
    • Hosted in Collaboration with Indigenous Studies 
Fall 2020
  • October 1, 2020, 7pm: Elizabeth Ellis, New York University
    • Title: The Border Crossed us too: The Overlap between the Struggles for Migrant and Indigenous Justice
    • Location: Live via Zoom
    • LINK TO VIDEO!
    • Hosted in Collaboration with Indigenous Studies
  • November 4, 2020, 7pm, Funké Aladejebi, University of Toronto
    • Title: Seeing Themselves: Race, Education and Black Life in Canada 
    • Location: Live via Zoom
    • LINK TO VIDEO!
  • November 19, 2020, 4pm, Landscapes of Injustice: A New Perspective on the Internment and Dispossession of Japanese Canadians. 
    • Author meets Critics, featuring Jordan Stanger-Ross (editor/co-author), Sean Mills (Chair), Constance Backhouse, Nicholas Mulder and Judge Maryla Omatsu (Critics) 
    • Zoom meeting ID: 876 6883 7849 
  • December 3, 2020, 7pm, Jason Opal, McGill University
    • Title: American Democracy after Trump: Hopes, Fears, and Precedents
    • Location: Live via Zoom.
    • LINK TO VIDEO!

Theme: Self-Isolation Edition

Theme: Racism and the Colour of Democracy

Our 2019-20 visiting speaker series has undergone an overhaul this year. First, thanks to the success of our series on Democracy, Citizenship, and Freedom, we have decided to focus our entire series around a specific theme. And this year’s theme: Racialized People and the Color of Democracy. We have invited a wide variety of historians, working on various periods, peoples, and regions for this year’s series. Unfortunately, as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic, our speaker series was cut short. 

  •  Carly Ciufo, Wilson Institute for Canadian History/McMaster University, 6 February 2020, “But, Who is This Museum for?’ Race, Space, and Memory in Liverpool, England.”
    • Hosted in Collaboration with the Department of History
  • Ian McKay, Wilson Institute for Canadian History, 28 November 2019, Race in the Archives in Twentieth-Century Nova Scotia
  •  Harvey Amani Whitfield, University of Vermont, 5 November 2019, Sketches of Everyday Enslaved Black People in the Canadian Maritime. For a live recording, click here
  • Max Mishler, University of Toronto, 10 October 2019, Freedom’s Carceral Landscape: Counter-Insurgency, Incarceration, and Racial Formation after the Civil War. For a live recording, click here
  • Robbie Shilliam, Johns Hopkins University, 30 September 2019, Free Labor / Freed Labor: The Case for an Abolition Political Economy
    • Hosted in Collaboration with the Department of Political Science 

Theme: Democracy, Citizenship, and Freedom 

Leaving the History of Capitalism behind, our Visiting Speaker Series will again be divided into two series’ this year. The first returns to our more traditional practice of hosting a variety of speakers on a variety of themes. Our second series will continue our practice of inviting speakers to present papers and/or discuss a specific theme. This year’s theme is: the Democracy, Citizenship, and Freedom.

Traditional Series:
  • Clint Bruce, Wilson Institute Associate/Université Sainte-Anne, Corina Crainic, Université de Moncton & Gregory Kennedy, Wilson Institute Associate/Université de Moncton (14 March 2019) Project launch and round table discussion for Repenser l’Acadie dans le monde : études comparées, études pluridisciplinaires
  • Jamie Jelinski, Queen’s University (31 January 2019) Hands Across the Sea: Charles Snow, Fred Baldwin, and Tattooing from England to Canada
  • Kassandra Luciuk, Corsini Fellow in Canadian History/University of Toronto (29 November 2018) Red Racket and DP Deviance: Violence and the Shaping of Hegemony in Cold War Canada
  • Daniel Macfarlane, Western Michigan University (22 November 2018) Faking Niagara Falls: The Transborder Remaking of an Iconic Waterscape
  • Kristine Alexander, Winner of the 2017 Wilson Book Prize/University of Lethbridge (18 October 2018) “But I Thought You Were a Canadian Historian?”: The Perils and Pleasures of Taking an ‘Aeroplane View’ to the Study of Modern Girlhood
  • A Conversation with Dr. Lorenzo Veracini and Dr. Allyson Stevenson (20 September 2018) Held in Conjunction with the Socrates Project and Indigenous Studies.
Democracy, Citizenship, and Freedom Series:
  • Nancy MacLean, Duke University/Author of Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America (1 May 2019) Enchaining Democracy: The Now-Transnational Project of the Radical Libertarian Right
    • Held in Conjunction with the Socrates Project
  • James T. Kloppenberg, Harvard University/Author of Toward Democracy: The Struggle for Self-Rule in European and American Thought (1 April 2019)  Why democracy is in crisis: a historical perspective.
    • Held in Conjunction with the Socrates Project
  • Geoff Eley, University of Michigan (21 March 2019) Fascism & Antifascism, 1920-2020: Slogan, Impulse, Theory, Strategy
  • Lisa Chilton, Wilson Institute Associate/University of Prince Edward Island (14 February 2019) Nativism, Migration, and the People’s Will: Democracy and the Practice of State Power in Canadian History. 

Theme: History of Capitalism

Leaving Canada150 behind, our Visiting Speaker Series will be divided into two series’ this year. The first will return to our more traditional practice of hosting a variety of speakers on a variety of themes. Our second series will continue what we started with Canada150 and invite speakers to present papers and/or discuss a specific theme. This year’s theme is: the History of Capitalism. Our aim is to approach the topic in a critical and nuanced manner, and we hope to invite a wide variety of historians, working on various periods, peoples, and regions.

Traditional Series:
  • James Hill, Mississippi State University (March 15, 2018) “A Voyage ‘Ill Advised’: Creek and Cherokee Experiences in Nova Scotia, Quebec, and Upper Canada, 1790-1794”
  • Animal Studies Conference (November 30, 2017) w/ Dr. Tracy McDonald, holder of a SSHRC Insight Grant for the study of animal history.
  • Elizabeth Ellis, New York University (September 28, 2018) w/ Indigenous Studies “Beyond Standing Rock: Activism, Academia, and the Fight for Sovereignty in the 21st Century”
History of Capitalism Series: 
  • Catherine Desbarats, McGill University (April 5, 2018) Money and Empire in New France
  • Jason Opal, McGill University (October 26, 2017) “Beyond Barbados: The Relocation of the Sugar Economy and the Rise of Anglo-American Capitalism, 1630s-1670s”
  • John Weaver, McMaster University (February 8, 2018) Farmers and Capitalism: Restructuring an Agrarian Country, New Zealand, 1975 – 1990
  • Allan Greer, McGill University (March 1, 2018)  Capitalism and Colonization?  Land Grabs in 17th Century North America

Theme: Canada150

As part of the Wilson Institute’s involvement in Canada’s 150th anniversary, the Fall 2016-Winter 2017 Visiting Speaker Series was devoted entirely to Confederation. However, rather than simply celebrating Canada and Confederation, we examined the subject within a more critical framework. We therefore lined-up a series of speakers that tackled important issues such as the impact of Confederation on Indigenous peoples, Confederation in the context of 19th century North American nation-building, and the environmental impact of Confederation.

  • Canada@150 Keynote Address: Christopher Moore
    “A living Tree” Canada’s Constitution 150 Years Ago – And Today.”
    (April 6, 2017)
    (7:00 pm – 8:30 pm)
    (1280 Main Street West, GH111 (Council Chambers))
    Join us on April 6 at McMaster University’s Council Chambers for our Canada@150 Keynote Address. Award-winning historian and the author of 1867: How the Fathers Made a Deal, Christopher Moore, will deliver at public talk on Canadian Confederation.
  • Dr. Tim Stanley, University of Ottawa
    “Rethinking Canadian Histories in Times of Reconciliation and Resurgent Racism”
    (March 30, 2017)
    (2:30 pm – 4:00 pm)
    (LR Wilson Hall 1010)
    Join us at the Indigenous Studies Ceremonial Room (LR Wilson Hall 1010) on March 30 for our fourth Canada@150 Speaker event for the Winter 2017 semester. Dr. Tim Stanley, from the University of Ottawa, will deliver a paper titled,“Rethinking Canadian Histories in Times of Reconciliation and Resurgent Racism”
  • Dr. Dawn Martin-Hill, Paul R. MacPherson Chair in Indigenous Studies, McMaster University
    “The Scream: Colonizing the Colonizer”
    (March 23, 2017)
    (2:30 pm – 4:00 pm)
    (LR Wilson Hall 1010)
    Join us at the Indigenous Studies Ceremonial Room (LR Wilson Hall 1010) on March 23 for our third Canada@150 Speaker event for the Winter 2017 semester. Dr. Dawn Martin-Hill, the Paul R. MacPherson Chair in Indigenous Studies at McMaster University will deliver a paper on Canada’s indigenous communities titled “The Scream: Decolonizing the Colonizer.”
  • Dr. Elsbeth Heaman, McGill University 
    “Confederation, or How Not to Run a Tax Revolt”
    (February 16, 2017)
    (2:30 pm – 4:00 pm)
    (LR Wilson Hall 2001)
    Join us at the new L.R. Wilson Hall 2001 on February 16 for our second Canada@150 Speaker event for the Winter 2017 semester. Dr. Elsbeth Heaman, from McGill University, will deliver a paper titled, “Confederation, or How Not to Run a Tax Revolt.”
  • Dr. Bradley Miller, University of British Columbia
    “Marriage, Fundamental Law, and Confederation”
    (February 2, 2017)
    (2:30 pm – 4:00 pm)
    (LR Wilson Hall 2001)
    Join us at the new L.R. Wilson Hall 2001 on February 2 for our first Canada@150 Speaker event for the Winter 2017 semester. Dr. Bradley Miller, from the University of British Columbia, will deliver a paper titled, “Marriage, Fundamental Law, and Confederation.”
  • Dr. Marcel Martel, Avie Bennett Historica Canada Chair in Canadian History, York University 
    “Is there Anything New and Original to say about French Canada and Confederation?”
    (December 1, 2016)
    (2:30 pm – 4:00 pm)
    Join us at the new L.R. Wilson Hall (room to be determined) on December 1 for our last Canada@150 Speaker event for the Fall 2016 semester. Dr. Marcel Martel, the Avie Bennett Historica Canada Chair in Canadian History at York University, will deliver a paper titled, “Is there Anything New and Original to say about French Canada and Confederation?”. Join us and discover whether there is indeed anything left to say about French Canada and Confederation!
    Time and location is still subject to change.
  • Dr. Alan MacEachern, Western University
    “The Drawback: Nature and the New Canadian Nation in the 1860s”
    (November 17, 2016)
    (2:30 pm – 4:00 pm)
    Join us at the new L.R. Wilson Hall (room to be determined) on November 17 for our third Canada@150 Speaker event. Dr. Alan MacEachern, from Western University, will deliver a paper titled, “The Drawback: Nature and the New Canadian Nation in the 1860s.” Join us and discover the environmental impact of Confederation!
    Time and location is still subject to change.
  • Dr. Thomas Richards, Jr., McNeil Center for Early American Studies 
    “Forecasting Fracture: North Americans’ Visions of Alternative Political Futures in the mid-Nineteenth Century”
    (November 3, 2016)
    (2:30 pm – 4:00 pm)
    (McMaster University, Chester New Hall Room 607B)
    Join us at the Wilson Institute on November 3 for our second Canada@150 Speaker event. Dr. Thomas Richards, Jr., from the prestigious McNeil Center for Early American Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, will deliver a paper titled, “Forecasting Fracture: North Americans’ Visions of Alternative Political Futures in the mid-Nineteenth Century.” Join us and discover how instability in Canada, Texas, the Confederate States, and Mexico influenced nation-building and national consolidation in 19th century North America.
  • Dr. Matthew Hayday, University of Guelph
    “Constructing Canadian Identities: How Dominion Day and Canada Day Celebrations Have Shaped our Country”
    (October 6, 2016)
    What does it mean to be “Canadian”?
    Join us at the David Barley Center on October 6 (7-8:30pm) for our first visiting speaker to find out! Dr. Matthew Hayday will present a paper titled “Constructing Canadian Identities: how Dominion Day and Canada Day celebrations have shaped our Country.”He will discuss the fascinating politics of Canada Day, and show how these celebrations have played an active role in constructing our country’s national identity over the past century and a half. Don’t forget to register online!