Abstract
The study of history has been in decline within universities over the past few decades. The reasons given for this decline usually include lack of relevance to contemporary times, the dismissal of the discipline as triumphalist, and for students (and parents), a perceived lack of employment opportunities upon graduation. By looking at Canada in particular, this paper proposes two other reasons for the decline: 1) the overwhelming predominance of “space-biased” communications technologies, as conceptualized by Harold Adams Innis in his Bias of Communications, and 2) its struggles over the meaning of decolonization and its place within the country’s history. To address these challenges, I describe my attempts to refocus areas of historical study by bringing actors and activities which have typically been in the background of Canadian history to the foreground. Specifically, I discuss the creation of two courses that foreground, in the first instance, animals, and in the second, the night. The next part of the paper continues the ongoing discussion of addressing decolonization within the discipline and my reflections of it, as a settler scholar. The last part of the paper discusses the results of the creation of the courses in terms of attracting students to the discipline. The discussion around decolonization presents conclusions far more indeterminant but raises some points of reflection that may be used as a means of bringing Indigenous “history” into the foreground of the Canadian discipline.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Beyond Borders: The Role of the Humanities in Reimagining Communities
KEYWORDS
History, Canada, Animals, Night, Decolonization
