Doukhobors Featured at the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences

The Doukhobors were among the topics featured at the 76th annual Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences held in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan from May 26 to June 2, 2007. Speakers included Jonathan J. Kalmakoff, writer, historian and webmaster; and University of Toronto graduate student, Ashleigh Androsoff.

Organized by the Canadian Federation for Humanities and Social Sciences, the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences - formerly known as the “Learned Societies” - is the largest annual multidisciplinary academic gathering in Canada; its multidisciplinary character marks it as unique in the world.

Now in its 76th year, the Congress is an important meeting place for new and established academics and researchers working in such richly diverse areas as anthropology, bibliotherapy, communication and disability studies, language, literature, geography, the history and philosophy of science, international development, political science, social work, theatre research, ethnic and minority studies, women studies and many more.

This year, approximately 5,600 Congress delegates representing over 68 learned societies came to the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon from all over North America, Europe, Africa and Asia to present their research at lectures, panels and workshops, and to debate some of the most important social and cultural questions of the day.

The theme of this year’s Congress was “Bridging Communities: Making public knowledge – Making knowledge public.” With its emphasis on equity issues, minority groups and bridge-building, it provided a rich backdrop for several interesting sessions on the Doukhobors in Canada.
 

At the session, “Toponymy” hosted by the Canadian Society for the Study of Names on May 26th, Jonathan J. Kalmakoff presented a paper on “Place Names of Early Doukhobor Settlements in Saskatchewan, 1899-1907”. His paper explored the influence of history, belief, language, orthography and geography on the early place names of the Doukhobors, and examined the mechanisms through which these influences were formulated and manifested.  Click here to view an abstract of his paper.

At another session, “The Immigrant Experience in Canada” hosted by the Canadian Historical Association on May 29th, Ashleigh Androsoff presented a paper entitled “From the Private Sphere to the Public Eye: ‘Redressing’ the Image of Doukhobor-Canadian Women in the Twentieth Century”. Her paper addressed the disparate amount of press attention received by Doukhobor women over the course of the twentieth century in Canada.