Faculty take issue with SP column on demise of Humanities

Three faculty members from the College of Arts & Science—Bill Waiser and Robert Englebert from the Department of History and Lisa Vargo, Department Head of English—have responded in print to a column by Bronwyn Eyre (BA’93, LLB’96) that appeared in the Sept. 21 edition of The StarPhoenix titled "Lament for the demise of the humanities." Below are their comments:

Canadian history alive, kicking at universities

By Bill Waiser, The StarPhoenix, October 6, 2011

Waiser is A.S. Morton research chair in the department of history at the University of Saskatchewan.

If Bronwyn Eyre is to believed (Lament for the demise of the humanities, SP, Sept. 21), I'm in trouble, perhaps soon to be an endangered species. That's because, she claims, "Canadian history...appears to be a dying discipline."

Eyre reaches this startling conclusion on evidence gleaned from the University of Toronto calendar. Unlike 40 years ago, when the majority of classes offered were in British, American or Canadian history, Toronto history undergrads no longer have to take a senior course in any of those areas.

It's an interesting finding, one that suggests the teaching of history at Canadian universities has moved to other fields, other topics, and other themes. And that's a good thing.
History, boiled down to its basics, is about change over time. This change also applies to the discipline. Because of new methods and new sources, the teaching and writing of history does not stand still, but has been pushed into new areas of interpretation. Indeed, the history that was offered at the University of Toronto 40 years ago is not the same history that is available to history students today, thanks in large part to the social history revolution of the 1970s and 1980s and then the cultural history renewal in the 1990s.

Looking at the experience of other countries or regions, moreover, can provide students with some much-needed perspective on the history of Canada. New methods arising out of the study of aboriginal peoples in the developing world, for example, can help reshape and redefine Canadian history by encouraging scholars to apply some of these same techniques to the study of Native-newcomer relations.

It's quite a stretch, though, for Eyre to state that Canadian history is dying simply because students at the U of T are no longer required to take courses in the area for their history degree. That's like saying that Gordie Howe's NHL records should not count because he never wore a hockey helmet during his playing days.

Perhaps Eyre should have checked in her backyard to see what was being done at the University of Saskatchewan. Here, she might be surprised to learn that Canadian history is alive and kicking. Even though students are not required to take Canadian history, these department of history courses are popular because of the calibre of the teaching, the content, and interest in the subject matter.

Not only is Canadian history being taught at the introductory level in several sections, but there are a variety of new undergraduate courses - from Native-newcomer relations to the history of Canadian medicine to gender history to Canada's Great War. Students also have the opportunity to attend an ethnohistory field school in British Columbia as part of their studies.

Graduate enrolment, meanwhile, has grown steadily, particularly at the doctoral level, where at least half the students specialize in Canadian history. One former graduate student, Guy Vanderhaeghe, is drawing upon his history training to write award-winning novels.

Canadian specialists are also engaged in active research programs, spearheaded by two federally funded Canada research chairs. One of these chair holders, Jim Miller, is at present engaged in a national speaking tour that is sponsored by the Royal Society of Canada, about the history of treaties in Canada.

The history department is also home to the SSHRC-funded Prairie Environmental Network, which held a highly successful symposium this past spring on the demise of the bison. An earlier workshop grappled with the question of historic climate change on the Great Plains.

There are many other examples, beyond the university, where Canadian history is thriving —whether it be the local youth heritage fair, the Winning the Prairie Gamble exhibit at the Western Development Museum or culture days. In fact, the executive director of the WDM, the manager of references services of the Saskatchewan Archives Board, and the external relations manager of the local Parks Canada office, to identify just a few, all are U of S graduates in Canadian history.

So, here's my advice to Eyre: Before declaring Canadian history to be a dying discipline, based on suspect evidence, she might want to do some "investigative" journalism.
I'm sure a history student will be glad to help her. But don't expect to find a Canadian history corpse.
© Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix

Humanities glass full to the brim

By Lisa Vargo, The StarPhoenix, September 29, 2011

Professor Vargo is head of the English department at the University of Saskatchewan.

Re: Lament for the demise of the humanities (SP, Sept. 21).
I thank Bronwyn Eyre for calling readers' attention to research by students in the English department.

But rather than bemoan that the humanities are diminished, why not celebrate that its glass is full to the brim, with new subjects joining more traditional ones?

We are proud of the innovative research that faculty and students undertake in a variety of areas, and Eyre names two recent excellent works by master's students.

The project on Avatar suggests how literary studies can be applied not only to "high culture," but to the realm of popular culture. Doing so can make us more thoughtful and informed citizens.

It also confirms why the humanities are so important: The training in thinking and reading that literary studies offer helps us to understand contemporary social phenomena as well as Don Quixote.

The student's groundbreaking thesis on video games is another case in point. The thesis defence was eagerly attended by students and faculty from computer science. It is very exciting to think of humanists and scientists coming together to celebrate a student's research! The thesis belongs to the field of digital humanities, which applies the methods of literary studies to online communications and creative practice. A member of our department has developed a new minor in digital culture and new media, and an internationally renowned digital scholar (and Medievalist) has joined the department for a prestigious university research chair.
 

Eyre will be happy to know that master's students recently completing their degrees wrote on a range of subjects: Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queene (1590); Renaissance citizen comedy; Samuel Richardson's novel; Clarissa (1747); Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818); the Canadian Modernist poet Louis Dudek; Leonard Cohen's Beautiful Losers; Tomson Highway's Kiss of the Fur Queen; and yes, a study of Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Another wrote on the reimagined Battlestar Galactica.

Let us celebrate how the new and the old suggest that intellectual curiosity and analytical skills are central to the humanities and are a testament to their continuing importance.
© Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix

Wasted column

By Robert Englebert, The StarPhoenix, September 29, 2011

Robert Englebert is an Assistant Professor in the Department of History.

Bronwyn Eyre's recent rant about the current and supposedly declining state of the humanities was put together with the type of anecdotal and disparate information that would make most working in these fields cringe.

A study of 2,000 American students here, some Paglia quotes there, an incomplete and oddly singled-out look at history at University of Toronto, and a random Bloomberg quote for good measure, and we're all going to hell in a handbasket.

The state of the humanities is not uniform across universities, provinces, states and countries. Eyre's argument amounts to a thinly veiled blanket statement that is nearly impossible to substantiate.

U of T is offering at least 48 courses this year on Canada, Europe, and America; and at the University of Saskatchewan, enrolment for introduction to Canadian history has grown substantially in the past four years. This is the tip of an iceberg of evidence that undermines the notion that Canadian history is dying.

However, outrageous commentary rarely examines a broader body of evidence.

Ultimately, this piece is less about the humanities and more about a longing for the good old days. While provocative, it is not a new or particularly innovative argument, and adds nothing to the debate on the state of the humanities and the role of a liberal arts education.
I feel that an opportunity for meaningful discussion regarding the future of the humanities has been wasted. Pity.