Department of History

The book Mining  and Communities in Northern Canada: History, Politics and Memory, has won the Canadian Studies Network's 2016 Prize for Best Edited Collection. Co-edited by history professor John Sandlos and geography professor Arn Keeling, the book is a series of case studies on the social, environmental and economic impacts of historical mining projects on Indigenous and some non-Indigenous communities in northern Canada. The book is unique in that it is largely composed of chapters from Memorial University graduate students; eight of the twelve chapters were authored by history and geography students associated with Sandlos and Keeling's Abandoned Mines in Northern Canada project. The award citation lauded several other unique features of the book: 

The committee was impressed by the collection's deep interdisciplinarity and the way it addressed issues of the environment, heritage policy, Indigenous issues, region, history, industrial development, and oral history. The contributors to the volume comprise an excellent mix of scholars at various stages of their career. We commend the book for its innovation, accessibility, and methodological deft, particularly in relation to oral history and oral testimony. It is a collection that is regionally focused and nationally important.

Mining and Communities is part of University of Calgary Press' Canadian History and the Environment series edited by Alan MacEachern, a rapidly expanding collection of downloadable open access ebooks on issues ranging from parks and protected areas to counter-cultural environmental movements. The History Department congratulates the editors and is especially proud that this collection includes work from so many of our former graduate students.