Dannita Owusu Afriyie

Supervisors: Dr. Olatunji Ojo

Growing up in an African society, it was common knowledge that occult societies and secret societies were associated with horrible customs such as human sacrifices, which led to unfavorable opinions. However, through subsequent research, I discovered my initial notions were often based on misconceptions. It is worth noting during my undergraduate studies, I aspired to delve into secret societies for my final research paper, but the scarcity of credible sources hindered my efforts.
For my MRP, I intend to examine the historical significance of Freemasonry and its impact on Canadian society. Fortunately, Brock University’s comprehensive collection of Masonic materials provides a valuable resource for this study. To maintain a specific focus, my research will concentrate on the period from 1980 to 2000, investigating Freemasonry’s influence in St. Catharines, Ontario. By analyzing both primary and secondary sources, this research aims to illuminate the societal contributions of Freemasonic lodges. It seeks to correct past misconceptions and enhance our understanding of how Freemasonry has shaped Canadian society.

Ibrahim Al-Muazam

Supervisor: Dr. Olatunji Ojo

Having grown up in a multi-ethnic political home, I have developed an interest in social and political history. This interest was the motivation for my senior undergraduate dissertation, where I explored the leadership of the Kumase Central Mosque as well as the crisis that disrupted its stability, by emphasizing on ethnic antagonism as a principal cause. For my MRP, I will be looking to investigate political relations and tensions in a selected senior high school in Ghana. I believe that political relations and tensions have already made its way into the Ghanaian higher educational system — mainly the universities. In 2011, for instance, the students’ wings of Ghana’s two main political parties threatened legal actions against each other over laptop distribution in the university. These political relations are gradually making its way into the Ghanaian second cycle institutions — the senior high schools. However, scholarly works on politically motivated relations in Ghana tend to focus mainly on tertiary education. It is against this backdrop that I intend to explore the issues of political relations in a selected senior high school in Ghana.

Elizabeth Anderson

Supervisors: Dr. Elizabeth Vlossak & Dr. Daniel Samson

How do we commemorate and memorialize important figures of our history? And how does that change as our perspective of those figures shifts over time? I was inspired to ask these questions by a series of events that occurred across North America over the past year or so, in which protestors removed statues of influential historical figures, such as Sir John A. Macdonald, whose statue was torn down in Montreal in August of 2020 as a part of a protest against systemic racism. I look to evaluate how we continue to portray and understand monuments that depict our complex national history by focusing on a local statue as a focal point in a much larger debate.

Paige Groot

Supervisor: Dr. Colin Rose

My background in history and environmental practice has instilled a deep interest in the relationship between humans and the environment, specifically, human exploitation and management of natural resources. My SSHRC- funded research will focus on tracking medieval and early modern forest management and deforestation in the High Weald in South-East England. England’s High Weald is home to 35,905 hectares of forest, much of which is classified as ancient, and serve as major natural carbon sinks. Through archival research and environmental science methods, I hope to better understand past approaches to land management and natural resource exploitation. I will use HGIS (historical geographic information systems) to allow for greater analysis and visualization of geographical changes over time. I think that studying historical natural resource management through this lens is an essential part of understanding our relationship to the environment.

Steven Hamelin

Supervisor: Dr. Maureen Lux

Steven Hamelin is an MA student in History at Brock University. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Toronto in International Relations and History. His area of interest is 19th and 20th century conflict and society. His current research is on Indigenous allies and the War of 1812.

Jessica Leite

Supervisor: Dr. Andrew McDonald

I will be exploring the fascinating medieval world of the Isle of Man. I will be examining the 13th century Chronicles of the Kings of Man and the Isles to determine the role of women and the reproductive politics of medieval society. Due to a lack of surviving sources from this period, I will look towards Scotland and Ireland to fill in the gaps.

Alaric Mustoe

Supervisor: Dr. Daniel Samson

The eighteenth century has always fascinated me, whether it was exploring the forts scattered across Niagara or reading about decisive battles that forged the outcomes of North American history. Battles and forts may reveal a part of North American history. However, they also leave a great deal to be discovered. The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are seen as the eras of nation states and the rise of empires, but also the eras of revolution and the forging of national identities. For my MRP, I will focus on the role of the Seven Years War in North America and its impact on fostering a North American colonial identity. I chose the Seven Years War as my period of focus because it is often referred to as one of the most significant global conflicts and is seen as a major contributor to the creation of national identities as seen through the American Revolution.

Rebecca Nickerson

Supervisor: Dr. Maureen Lux

Rebecca Nickerson is a history MA candidate, GIS consultant and embroidery artist. Her research interests are historical GIS and the history of segregated Indigenous healthcare in Canada. Her publications and work experience include several digital map collections (Esri Canada, Defining Moments Canada), print maps, and collaborations for GIS research.

Kat Rice

Supervisors: Dr. Elizabeth Vlossak and Dr. Julie Stevens

My background in sport based oral history projects has revealed to me the remarkable ways sport can reach beyond borders and differences to speak to shared passions. In the field of sport history, oral history is a successful methodology for researching marginalized social groups that have largely been unseen due to signifiers such as class, race, gender, and sexuality. My SSHRC funded research will focus on the experiences of queer women in recreational ice hockey in the Niagara Region through oral history interviews with female players, coaches, managers, and organizers. I will use this collection of interviews to explore the relationship between ice hockey and Canadian national identity through the lens of gender and sexuality. I think studying queer experiences in sport is important for not only understanding the history and legacy of women’s ice hockey in Canada, but also for creating a more inclusive society.

Cindy Allingham

Supervisor: Dr. Tami Friedman

Young, single, white middle-class women entering office jobs in urban areas in  Canada and the U.S. at the turn of the 20^th century thought they could exercise more control over their lives by earning wages and could demonstrate some independence from the world of men. They believed that pleasing male co-workers and bosses in the workplace, or at least not antagonizing them, might help them obtain job status and security. My paper asks how they navigated the new obstacles they encountered in the city such as sexual coercion, finding affordable and respectable accommodation, and buying clothing and maintaining respectable appearances. It will also explore whether they were successful at establishing the control they sought 1900 – 1920.

Bear Lyu

Supervisor: Dr. Ning Wang

As a Chinese international student in Canada, I have received different perspectives on history from both sides of the political spectrum. For example, I traveled to Hong Kong in the summer of 2019, when there were protests there. This has awakened my political consciousness and shaped my interest in history during a time of growing international political tensions related to China’s foreign policies. I am interested in the USChina relationship during the 1970s and ‘80s, and I want to explore how a seemingly friendly relationship at the beginning turned into the hostile atmosphere now.