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History Graduate Student Association

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

From Prof. Alan MacEachern, faculty supervisor:

"A hearty congratulations to everyone involved in yesterday’s History Graduate Conference, Communities in History: Thinking Globally, Acting Locally.

Organizers Rose Giles, Mary Baxter, Brian Gibb, & Zaynab Jivraj did a smashing job, as did all the graduate student presenters from near & far. It was great to see this History event resurrected."

Congratulations!

Communities in History
8 March, 2024

The History Graduate Student Association at Western University in London, Ontario, invites submissions for our in-person, 2024 interdisciplinary history graduate conference. The theme of this year’s conference is “Communities in History: Thinking Globally, Acting Locally”.

Communities are more than collections of people: their members come together because of shared experiences, interests, backgrounds, beliefs, religions, or adversities. Frequently, communities nurture their members by offering spaces of safety and acceptance and facilitating learning. Sometimes, these social structures amplify activism or generate conflict when members' beliefs or opinions collide with those of another community. Always, by the very nature of their form, communities both include and exclude. As a topic of particular interest to a
myriad of scholars, academics should seek to understand what role communities have played throughout history, and how they have been shaped by internal or external forces over time.

Keynote Speakers:
Dr. Lianne Leddy, Wilfrid Laurier University
Dr. Thomas Peace, Huron University College

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 Appointments 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 - 2024-25

Chair: Liam Clifford
Secretary:
Treasurer:
Social Committee Co-Chairs:
Graduate Committee Representative:
Public History Representative:
EDI Committee Representative:
Advisory Committee Representative:

Social Media Coordinator:
Undergraduate Liaison:
PSAC Local 610 Departmental Stewards:
SOGS Councillors:
McCaffrey Series Coordinator