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History Graduate Student Association (HGSA)

Welcome to the HGSA at Western!

The History Graduate Student Association plays a key role in the graduate community at Western. We act as a liaison between the Department of History and graduate organizations across campus. The HGSA plans social events, network opportunities, and assists professional development opportunities within the department. The HGSA holds bi-monthly meetings to discuss department concerns, plans, and ideas. Membership is free. All graduate students enrolled in the Department of History are considered members of the HGSA.

Our Constitution

Tentative Schedule

Spaces and Places: Exploring the Physical and Conceptual Environments of History Graduate Conference

Friday, March 6, 2026 – Western University, Lawson Hall 2270C
Please email Rosemary Giles - rgiles5@uwo.ca with questions

9:30am: Opening Remarks and Housekeeping

9:45 – 10:45am:

Session One: Imperial and Colonial Spaces

Spencer Paddock [University of New Brunswick] – A War amongst Ruins: Right-Wing Political Violence in an Imposed Decolonial Space

Sophia Galvao [McMaster University] – Connaissez-vous les Zoniers? A Taxonomy of Marginality in the Zone, 1890-96

Scott MacGregor [Western University] – Beneath the Picturesque: The Making of a ‘Benign’ Highlands

10:45 – 11:00am: Coffee and Snacks

11:00am – 12:00pm:

Session Two: Built Environments and Material Culture

Étienne Chevalier [University of Waterloo] – Shaping the City for Textile: The Draperie jurée and Montpellier’s Urban Ecosystem (1493–1499)

David Seston [Western University] – The Cultural Significance of the “Canadian Whites” Comics During the Second World War

12:00 – 1:00pm: Keynote

1:00pm – 2:00pm: LUNCH

2:00 – 3:00pm:

Session Three: Institutions and Sites of Governance

Alexander Fitch [Western University] – Scouts Canada and Residential Schools

Thomas Vukovic [University of Toronto] – “Every Time I Smoke, I Become a White Man”: Social Determinants of Health in New Osnaburgh and the Sioux Lookout Zone

Andrew Rice [Western University] – The American and Canadian Decisions to Boycott the 1980 Moscow Olympics: A Comparative Analysis

3:00 – 3:15pm: Coffee and Snacks

3:15 – 4:15pm:

Session Four: Places of Memory

Ben Albrecht [Dalhousie University] – Gandhi’s South African Years: A Third Space, a Third Gandhi, and his Lieux de Mémoire

Beth Zentner [Western University] – The Relationship Between Canada and the Netherlands After World War II

Huanyu Li [Western University] – The Lusitania and International Law

4:15pm: Concluding Remarks

Select Committees and Groups

The HGSA holds elections each fall and spring. There are a number of committees affiliated with the HGSA that are open for members to join.

HGSA Social Committee
HGSA Conference Committee
Society of Graduate Students (SOGS)
Undergraduate History Society liaison
Department Graduate Committee
Department Advisory Committee
Teaching Assistants' and Postdoctoral Associates' Union (PSAC 610)

McCaffrey Speakers Series

The McCaffrey seminars are a lecture series held once a month in the history department and offer graduate students the opportunity to share their research. Upper year graduate students are encouraged to apply in the summer before the school year begins in the fall. The HGSA elects a student in the spring term each year to organize the seminar series with the department.

Executive Positions - 2025-26

Co-Chairs: Huanyu Li and Scott MacGregor
Secretary: Hazel Scott Pankratz
Treasurer: Kim DelMedico
Social Committee Chair: Hannah Brett
Graduate Committee Representative: Rose Giles
Public History Representative: Beth Zentner
EDIDA Committee Representative: Huanyu Li
Advisory Committee Representative:

Social Media Coordinator: Hannah Brett
Undergraduate Liaison: Erin Case
PSAC Local 610 Departmental Stewards: Hazel Scott-Pankratz
SOGS Councillors: Rylee Brooks, Huanyu Li
McCaffrey Seminar Series Coordinator: David Seston