MA Colloquium
Each year in early to mid-April, the graduate program hosts an MA Colloquium—a symposium where Master’s students present and discuss their cognate essays or thesis projects in progress. This event is an opportunity to share the research they have been developing over the past months and to engage in thoughtful conversation with faculty and fellow graduate students.
Presentations are understood to be works in progress. Their research is not complete, and they are encouraged to share questions or request feedback. Faculty and peers attend in a supportive capacity, offering insight, discussion, and constructive suggestions.
The colloquium is primarily intended for members of the department and graduate students. While it is not formally promoted as a public event, students may request permission for a family member to attend on an individual basis.
The following is the schedule and topics related to the 2025 colloquium.
SESSION 1 – Ontario/Canada
Professor Cody Groat, Moderator
Alexander Fitch - Examining Scouts Canada's role in Residential Schools and Indian Day Schools in Ontario
Scott MacGregor - Everywhere and Nowhere All at Once: Revisiting ‘The Scots [Identity] in Canada’ Through Cultural Associations, 1830-1900.
Rebecca Small – Ontario Potter's Fields and their Reflection of Intergenerational Poverty
SESSION 2 – China/Asia
Professor Carl Young, Moderator
Connor Broekaert - Chinese Scholars' Experiences at Canadian Universities during China's Reform Era
Samuel Diavolitsis - Chasing Red Shadows: USAMGIK's War on Communism in South Korea
Yi Wan – The Past That Will Remain Unfinished: Four Leaders' Memorial Halls Across the Taiwan Strait
Session 3 – Bodies, Sexuality
Professor Laurel Shire, Moderator
Max Bennett - Disorient/ed/ing Bodies: Racialization, Disabilities and Archival Silence in the Detroit River Region
Natasha Hall - Repressed Sexualities: Exploring the Impact of Sexual Repression in French Gothic Print Culture in the 18th & 19th Centuries
Olivia Holland - Canadian Women and Varsity Sports at the Turn of the Twentieth Century
SESSION 4 – War/Revolution
Professor Jonathan Vance, Moderator
Seth Bradfield - Prisoners of a Dying Regime: Stalag VII-A in 1944-45
Benjamin Buchanan - The Social Revolution: How Virginian Social Elites Fought to Maintain their Authority Before and After the American Revolution
Huanyu Li - Legal and Moral Studies of Using Civilian Passenger Ships for Military Purposes During Two World Wars
SESSION 5 – Global
Professor Frank Schumacher, Moderator
Samra Khan - Anti-Western Narratives in South Asia: Historical Origins and Geopolitical Implications in Shaping a New Global Order
Samuel Stewart - The Lucky Dragon, Radiation, and the Awakening of a Global Nuclear Anthropocene
Malcolm Tatic - Universalizing the Particular: Tensions Between Nationalism and Internationalism in the Comintern
Jiayi Wei - The Belt and Road and the BRIC's: China's Conception of Global Order and Globalization
