The Past Speaks

I will be presenting at the 2009 meeting of the Canadian Historical Association (Ottawa, 25-28 May).
In reviewing the program, I’ve noticed a few interesting things.

First, the panel, “Beyond the Founders: Approaches and Methodologies for a New Political History” caught my eye. If I understand it correctly, the theme of this panel is the creation of a new approach to political history that will draw on the methodologies used in some of other branches of history, most notably social history. In other words, this panel represents an attempt to overcome the clichéd distinction between “political” and “social” history that polarized the Canadian historical profession in the 1990s.
I’m also glad to see that a fair number of military historians will be presenting at this year’s CHA. In previous years, the conference has been largely devoid of any military history content.  I’m really looking to the panel on “Defining Authority and Identity in World War I” The presenters include Tim Cook of the Canadian War Museum, Andrew Iarocci of Royal Military College,Teresa Ann Iacobelli, University of Western Ontario, and Jane McGaughey, Royal Military College.