Give to History

Public lectures and workshops are a centerpiece of the Department’s intellectual life, and would not be possible without the generosity and support of our donors. Every year, thanks to the Bernice Nugent Bequest, we bring a host of internationally acclaimed scholars to campus to present their research in our Departmental Seminar Series, our Arthur Lower Workshop in Canadian History, and our annual Nugent Lecture. The John M. Sherwood Memorial Fund supports a distinguished lecture series in the History of Science and Technology. These events draw university-wide audiences, and serve as crucial outreach to the broader community.

The History Trust Fund also enables us to support talks and events organized by our colleagues both within and beyond the Department. Our faculty, postdoctoral fellows and students participate in a wide array of interdisciplinary networks on campus, including the Queen’s Medieval Seminar, Muslim Societies, Global Perspectives, the Russian and East European Studies network, Studies in National and International Development, and more. These initiatives help forge connections across campus and depend on support from individual departments like ours.

Gifts from our donors help support the Department’s research mission. Endowed post-doctoral fellowships offer crucial support to early career scholars and inject new dynamism and breadth into our programs and our collective intellectual life. The Buchanan post-doctoral fellowship, established by a generous financial gift from alumna Catherine Buchanan in honour of her late husband, alumnus Murray Buchanan, enhances our expertise in Canadian history and our reputation for groundbreaking scholarship in the field. Our longstanding Marjorie McLean Oliver post-doctoral fellowship has helped launch a number of academic careers and continues to enrich our strong research cluster in medieval History.

Research is also supported through a host of endowed fellowships and awards for students. The David Russell Fund, established by alumnus David Russell, provides our graduate students with much needed financial support to travel to archives and research libraries. Undergraduate research recently received a boost from the establishment of the Prendergast-Rivard studentship, which supports an outstanding student who is undertaking an independent research project. The History Trust fund also provides crucial research support to our students. Over the past several years, this fund has enabled several of our top undergraduate students to assume Summer Research Fellowships, affording them an opportunity to work closely with a faculty member on an independent research project.

The History Department prides itself on the wealth of opportunities and experiences we offer our students. Donations to the History Trust fund have allowed us to enrich the classroom experience: the History Trust has funded field trips to the archives in Ottawa, talks by invited speakers, and special projects such as a class podcast series on diasporas and a rare books exhibit organized by second year students entitled The Taste of the Library. Endowed funds such as the Nugent Bequest further provide our students with the opportunity to organize conferences and workshops. Recent examples include the Global History Initiative conference on Global Histories of Colonialism, and the annual Queen’s-McGill Conference, a major history conference run entirely by graduate students of the two institutions.

Our students also benefit from a host of scholarships and prizes. Established by our alumni and friends over the years, they reward both undergraduate and graduate students for their accomplishments and recognize outstanding coursework. They also provide much needed financial support. At the graduate level, our ability to attract top students depends on the generously endowed scholarships that supplement university funding packages.