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McCaffrey Seminar Series
2026-27 Schedule*
*Please check back for updates
Fall Term
29 October - Öykü Demir, PhD student - The Student Roots of Resistance: San Francisco State University and the Occupation of Alcatraz Island (1966-1971)
26 November - TBA
Winter Term
7 January - Brianne Machan, MA Public History student - Tails from the Grave: History of Canada’s Oldest Known Pet Cemetery
4 February - TBA
25 March - David Sestion, PhD student - Comics
8 April - Apeksha Pawanikar, MA candidate - Black Canadian History
The lectures this year will be held in-person in Lawson Hall 2270C at 12:30pm.
Questions - Contact Abby Salvatore, McCaffrey Seminar Coordinator – asalvat8@uwo.ca
The Bruce McCaffrey Memorial Graduate Seminar Series
The History Department enjoys a vibrant graduate student culture, which has been energized by various students over the years. One important graduate activity is the graduate seminar series, which is organized by, and for, graduate students as a venue for their research and intellectual exchange. In 2002, the graduate students renamed their series in memory of M.A. student Bruce McCaffrey (1938-2002), whose love and enthusiasm for history reverberated throughout the department at Western.
Bruce McCaffrey left politics in 1987 and shortly thereafter relocated to London where he completed his honours upgrade and M.A. degree in History at Western. McCaffrey enjoyed studying the mid-19th century Canadian political era, with a special interest in Sir Francis Hincks (1807-1885). As a member of the history community, McCaffrey was friendly to all, with no pretensions and a great sense of humour. Fellow graduate students loved to hear his many (and sometimes bawdy) stories about the culture of politics.
Bruce McCaffrey died in August 2002 of lung cancer just days after completing his major M.A. research paper and graduated posthumously in October 2002. In memory of his spirit and enthusiasm for history, the seminar series continues to support historical research and graduate interchange.