CÉLINE GRIMARD

Every day students are participating in the making of individual and collective histories and the history department at the University of Saskatchewan aims to entice students, faculty and the surrounding community by offering a variety of thematic topics for students to explore.

With one of the best graduate programs in Canada, according to the department website, the U of S boasts 62 students currently enrolled in graduate studies — 36 pursuing doctoral studies and 26 in the master’s program — and 25 full-time faculty able to supervise in a wide variety of areas, proving that the study of history is alive and well at the U of S.

Historical interests are reinforced by the 18 tenured faculty members who are currently engaged in various areas of historical research. Moreover, the history department has recently evolved to include a suite of courses called “History Matters” which integrate thematic areas such as Aboriginal history, colonial history and the history of gender and sexuality, among others.

According to Louis Reed-Wood, fourth-year history student and co-president of the History Undergraduate Students’ Association, the courses offered through the department are about more than just dates and facts.

“[The history department] facilitates understanding, teaches valuable skills, strong writing skills, persuasive writing skills and critical thinking,” Reed-Wood said.

HUSA currently boasts a 50-person membership including seven executive members. Since 1995, HUSA has been concerned with students’ academic needs as well as sponsoring social events throughout the year which promote the ongoing study of history.

Jim Handy, head of the history department, has been a part of the faculty for nearly 30 years and speaks to his experience teaching the subject.

“I’ve never given the same lecture twice. Because students ask different questions and they engage in different discussions and it changes the whole shape of how it’s done and that’s always exciting,” Handy said.

Handy began his training in architecture but chose to pursue history as he desired an education that would allow him to acquire an increased understanding of the world.

“I wanted to change the world and to do that, I thought I had to understand the world,” Handy said. “History approaches understanding a problem in a more nuanced, sophisticated and complicated way.”

The most recent change Handy refers to is the move toward experiential and out of classroom learning that engages with various communities near and far.

A new 400-level course, “Telling Stories about Diversity: Migration and the Prairies in Recent Memory,” has students working on narrative projects involving new immigrants or migrants to the city. The class is a collaboration between the department and the Open Door Society, a centre that welcomes and assists refugees and immigrants who have moved to Saskatoon.

Historical awareness prompts people to positive action, according to Handy, but first people must have a basis of understanding.

“No issue is simple, no answer to an issue is simple and history invites us to explore the complexities involved. It inspires people to respond.”

Handy insists that students who take history classes at the U of S will find the professors try to make the classroom interesting and comfortable.

“Anybody who thinks history is that old stuff you used to get, that is, you know, dates and all these people you have to put in order, that is just not what history is about,” Handy said.

Handy encourages students to view the subject of history as an ongoing exercise in critical thinking rather than a fact-driven or one-sided lecture.

“History is all about unraveling a problem. It’s all about finding a kernel of an issue or problem that you want to solve and then you just keep pulling threads as far as you can and every time you pull a thread, another one unravels that you need to pull and that’s really exciting.”