Department of History Centennial Celebration
It’s been over one hundred years since the first lecture at the new University of Saskatchewan was given—and it should really come as no surprise that it was in History. Professor Edmund H. Oliver delivered a lecture in Greek History to a small first-year class in the Drinkle Building in downtown Saskatoon on September 29, 1909. It would be another three years before the first university class was actually taught on campus.
In celebration of Oliver’s first lecture and what the Department of History has since come to mean to the University of Saskatchewan, two days of centennial celebrations, based on the slogan, "Bringing History Home," were held in Saskatoon in early October 2009. It was a chance for the ninety registrants to renew friendships, share memories, and engage with a new generation of History faculty and students.
Highlights of the two-day event (October 2-3) included:
- A reception hosted by President Peter MacKinnon at his residence;
- Breakfast at the Faculty Club, including "State of the Department" address by head
- Campus tours of the renovated College Building, including stops at a special centennial display in the Museum of Antiquities and a History alumni book display
- "Department on Display" session, showcasing the research of faculty and grad students
- Afternoon Symposium Series, featuring department alumni from across Canada speaking on "Social Change in the Historical Profession," "The Curriculum Wars," and "Is History More/Less Important Today?
- Reception and Centennial Dinner at Boffins Club, featuring remarks from Saskatchewan’s Lieutenant-Governor Gordon Barnhart and a short musical program produced by Garry Gable from the Department of Music.
