CHA at the Congress in Ottawa, wassup?

Canadian Historical Association annual meeting continues in Ottawa today and tomorrow.  Not much live-blogging (to my knowledge), and CHA's VoxHistorica seems to be inactive. But some notes by Tom Peace here at Active History. Conference program here.

Whose War of 1812?

Active History and the Canadian Historical Association seek participants for a seminar on the War next June at the CHA meetings in Kitchener-Waterloo.  

How did regional, cultural and linguistic differences affect experiences of the war and did they reinforce or conflict with so-called “national” narratives centred on nation building? Can we, in fact, speak of “The War of 1812”

Meanwhile columnist Rick Salutin argues that official commemorations are sure to be shaped by current politics as:

the Harper people try to reframe 1812 as part of a march toward sheer harmony with the U.S. 

History Camp

How cool is this? Summer History Camp for grown ups. And in Val d'Espoir, which is super lovely.

This intensive three-week course will be of interest to those wishing to develop their field recording techniques, to learn to interpret buildings and sites, to work with local interest groups in community development, and to sensitively intervene in regional cultural landscapes. Open to advanced undergraduate and graduate students and professionals of a variety of disciplines, the course welcomes both English and French speakers. The number of places is limited to 15.

I'm a little perturbed by the idea of sensitively intervening in regional cultural landscapes, though. Sounds a bit like the U.S. army soi-disant in the Middle East. But maybe it's a translation thing.

The downside? Since the field school runs May 16-June 3, you would have to miss out on history mini-camp, the CHA-SHC annual meeting, being held at Congress May 29-June 2 (register by March 31 for early bird rates.) In Fredericton this year, also super lovely, and you can sign up for a yummy-sounding lobster dinner.