University of Saskatchewan humanities students had the opportunity to put their skills to use this summer through a new undergraduate research initiative called Collaboratorium, which offered summer jobs relating to historical research.

Keith Carlson, professor of history and research chair in Aboriginal and community-engaged history, started Collaboratorium in the spring of 2015 with the intent of offering students job experiences within the field of humanities — the same way science students can count on jobs in laboratories.

“If you’re in science, once you know the scientific method, you can start asking big important questions,” Carlson said. “I think too often history is thought of as ‘all those guys who talk about dates.’”

The historical research completed by the students focuses on the communities they were able to work in over the summer, which is an important part of Collaboratorium. Undergraduate participants in this program had the opportunity to explore the nature of oral histories among native Canadian communities and to learn more about methods of cataloguing alternative methods of historical archiving.

Colin Osmond and Keith Carlson at Collaboratorium headquarters on campus.

The program is a unique opportunity for undergraduate students, especially those involved in the arts. According to Carlson, students in science disciplines frequently have opportunities to contribute to their area of study, whereas arts students sometimes struggle to make their mark.

Carlsonwants to change that and his aim for Collaboratorium is to reflect that change. The students who participated in this summer’s program demonstrated a great deal of potential and Carlson is proud of their efforts.

“Some of these students are pretty strong students; they’re showing real aptitude and initiative, and maybe they’re going to think about grad school,” Carlson said.

Carlson insists that humanities students should feel vindicated in the same way that science students are able to when provided with this kind of opportunity.

“Maybe you have a parent at home who is saying, ‘Major in history? Where is that going to take you?’” Carlson said. “With this program, you can say, ‘Well, I just got a whole summer job working in history.’”

Graduate student Colin Osmond is studying history and ran the day-to-day operations of Collaboratorium this summer, and he is enthusiastic about the program as a whole.

“It’s great to see how students get to work with communities and see how their work is actually applied,” Osmond said. “It’s a really valuable experience beyond just handing in work to your prof and never having to deal with that topic again.”

One of the research projects completed this summer focused on recent immigrants to Canada. Some of the research questions that were asked in the project’s interview process included whether participants found Saskatoon to be a welcoming place, as well as their personal history of coming to Saskatoon.

According to Carlson, some immigrants feel that their history has been overwritten by someone with more power or authority.

“It’s great to be part of a process that’s bringing agency to someone,” Carlson said.

Collaboratorium also joined efforts with various historical sites across Saskatchewan this summer, with the aim of improving visitors’ experiences and including information viewable on smartphones. Participants in the summer program provided information on existing Saskatchewan historical spots, as well as suggestions for improvements to the current map of Saskatchewan Tourism’s recommended spots.

“We can now look at these sites and say, ‘How many of these are commemorating women or First Nations?’” Carlson said. “Instead of being passive and waiting for a community to approach us, we can be proactive.”

Carlson is interested in making the Collaboratorium history project available to all U of S students. He made it clear that anyone, regardless of their discipline of study, can participate in the program.

Although Collaboratorium was a new initiative this summer, its creators hope to build on its success by making it a recurring opportunity. Carlson and Osmond hope that more students will get involved and that their headquarters in the Arts building on campus will become a home base for students in the humanities.

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Photo: Caitlin Taylor/Photo Editor