Laxer, who teaches in 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, will  talk about the effect of the War of 1812 on the Native struggle for nationhood, as well as the battle between the British Empire and the United States over Upper and Lower Canada. He’ll also discuss the friendship of Shawnee chieftain Tecumseh and empire defender Major-General Sir Isaac Brock.

The talk will take place June 17 at 2pm at the Toronto Public Library’s Bloor/Gladstone Branch, 1101 Bloor St. W. in Toronto. Everyone is welcome to attend this free event.

In Tecumseh and Brock (House of Anansi), Laxer takes a fresh and compelling view of this decisive war by bringing to life two major contests – the native peoples’ Endless War to establish nationhood and sovereignty on their traditional territories and the American campaign to settle its grievances with Britain through the conquest of Canada.

It is the dawn of the 19th century and the British Empire is engaged in a titanic war with Napoleonic France for global supremacy. The American Republic is quickly expanding its territory along the western frontier, while native peoples struggle to protect their lands from the relentless wave of new settlers.

At the heart of this story is the unlikely friendship and political alliance of Tecumseh, the charismatic leader of the native confederacy, and Brock, defender and protector of the British Crown. Together, these two towering figures secured what would become the nation of Canada.

Laxer has written several books, including Stalking the Elephant: My Discovery of America and The Border: Canada, the U.S. and Dispatches from the Forty-ninth Parallel. He regularly appears on television discussions of issues of the day and was the host and co-author of Reckoning, a prize-winning series of films on the global economy produced by the National Film Board of Canada.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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, taking place at Brock University May 10 to 11, offers a forum for scholars, students, educators, historians and members of the public to explore the important role played by African Canadians the last war fought on Canadian soil. It will also showcase a new web-based project to help children “virtually” experience the history surrounding the Underground Railroad, the first phase of which will be unveiled by Jean Augustine, fairness commissioner for Ontario.

The conference’s opening reception on Thursday will feature James Bradley, Ontario environment minister; Brian McMullan, mayor of St. Catharines; Paul Dyster, mayor of Niagara Falls, New 91��ɫ; Brian Merrett, chief executive officer of the War of 1812 Legacy Council for Niagara; and Bonnie Rose, executive vice-president of Niagara University.

Guest speaker Gareth Newfield of the Canadian War Museum will present "Free Men of Colour: The Coloured Corps during the War of 1812”, followed by a musical performance by Diana Braithwaite and Chris Whitely. The launch of Conestogo Bound: Black Pioneers of Wellington County, an original film by Queen's Bush pioneer descendant Diana Braithwaite, will conclude the evening.

Friday, workshop topics include the "coloured corps" stationed at Fort George in Niagara-on-the-Lake; the wartime experience of black women and children; African Canadian service in the battle for the Great Lakes and on the high seas; and the post-war migration to Canada Maritimes of the so-called "black refugees”, some 2,000 African Americans who fought on the British side in the War of 1812.

An important component of the workshop will be outlining directions for future research and providing suggestions for the development of educational materials for the new project of the Harriet Tubman Institute and Department of Fine Arts, 91��ɫ: We Stand On Guard for Thee: Teaching and Learning the African Canadian Experience in the War of 1812.

Also on Friday, Augustine will launch . The web-based project includes 24 original biographies of people who came to Canada in search of freedom before the American Civil War. Narratives, detailed essays, primary documents and historic images support a series of original lesson plans designed for Grades 3-12, enhanced by augmented reality segments created by 91��ɫ film Professor Caitlin Fisher, Canadian Research Chair in Digital Culture at 91��ɫ, and her team in the Faculty of Fine Arts .

Augmented reality allows students and teachers to engage with personal stories and photos of refugees from American slavery and free African American immigrants before the Civil War. Some of the materials were contributed by descendants of those profiled and have never before been shown in public. The segment is set in motion when an image card is held in view of a webcam; the program conjures three-dimensional digital images, video and audio in a number of vignettes. The person holding the card up to the webcam becomes part of the picture and thus part of the action.

Breaking the Chains was created by 91��ɫ's and the Augmented Reality Lab in the Faculty of Fine Arts at 91��ɫ with community partners from across Ontario. The project, carried out under the supervision of Karolyn Smardz Frost, senior research fellow at the Tubman Institute,was tested in a number of Ontario schools over the past few months. It will be rolled out after its May 11 launch and offered free online through the Tubman Institute website as a resource for teachers to encourage students to interact with Canadian history.

Several 91��ɫ scholars will be involved in the We Stand on Guard for Thee workshop. History Professor Michele Johnson is conference chair. She is also moderator of the panel, Teaching and Learning the African Canadian Experience in the War of 1812, on which historian Hilary Dawson and education director Natasha Henry, both of the Tubman Institute, will speak. Welcoming workshop participants will be Paul Lovejoy, Tubman Institute director and Canadian Research Chair in African Diaspora History, and workshop organizer Smardz Frost, author of  , winner of the 2007 Governor General's Award for non-fiction. Smardz Frost will also discuss the connection between the War of 1812 and the Underground Railroad.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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