McCaffrey Seminar Series
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.
2024 - 2025 Schedule
Please note these talks are held in-person in Lawson Hall 2270C at 12:30pm.
Questions - Contact Samuel Diavolitsis, McCaffrey Seminar Coordinator - sdiavoli@uwo.ca
Fall Term 2024
November 7 - Michael Feagan, PhD candidate
Title: Cooperative Networks: American and Canadian Telegraph Operators' Imagined Futures
November 28 - Ryan McLachlan, PhD student
Title: "Not Because You're Right but Simply Because You're British": Provided and Promised American Material Support During the Falklands War
Winter Term 2025
January 9 - Samra Khan, MA student
Title: Beyond Borders: South Asia's Influence on European Intellectual Traditions
February 27 - Sara Khorshid, PhD candidate and former Cairo-based journalist
Khorshid's articles about the Arab Spring and Arab-Western relations and mutual perceptions have been published in The New York Times, Foreign Policy, and numerous other international and regional media outlets.
Title: Egyptian Decolonial Superheroes vs. Arab Royals in a Gendered Cold War
March 20 - Shaun Hislop, PhD student - title TBD
April 3 - James Caldwell, MA candidate
Title: Pythons and MARLABs and R, Oh My! Getting Started with Computational History
Contact historyrsvp@uwo.ca for more information.
