History

News Stories

Headshot of Dr. Whitney Wood.

VIU researcher examining pelvic health histories to help address gaps and inequities in care

March 15, 2023

Dr. Whitney Wood received more than half a million dollars from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to pursue her study. Studies on women’s health tend to focus on reproduction. Vancouver Island University (VIU) researcher Dr. Whitney Wood believes this has led to gaps and inequities in care. Wood, VIU’s Canada Research Chair in the Historical Dimensions of Women’s Health, argues... Read more


People doing a live broadcast in a coffee shop

VIU experts appear live on CBC Nanaimo broadcast

January 27, 2023

Several shows were broadcasting from Serious Coffee on Hammond Bay Road The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation launched its permanent bureau in Nanaimo on Friday, January 27 with a special live broadcast in the Harbour City that featured several experts from Vancouver Island University. The Nanaimo bureau “will focus on telling stories from the mid-and-north Vancouver Island region” states a CBC... Read more


A group of soldiers pose for a photo with Nanaimo Remembers written across the bottom

VIU and community partners remember local fallen armed forces members through video memorial

October 28, 2022

VIU video project acknowledges Nanaimo armed forces members' contributions to the First and Second World Wars. Private Reginald Edgar Emblem, a farmer and resident of South Wellington, served in the 72nd Battalion during the First World War. He died at age 20 of influenza and pneumonia in October 1918 and was buried at Seaford Cemetery in Sussex, United Kingdom. Private William Armstrong Syer, a... Read more


Kelly Black looks off to the horizon with a mountain in the distance.

5 Questions with Kelly Black

September 27, 2022

Kelly Black, a Vancouver Island University Adjunct History Professor, received the Anne and Philip Yandle Best Article Award from the BC Historical Federation this June. The article, “Explaining Settlers to Ourselves: Rethinking interpretive narratives at heritage sites” was published in the spring 2021 edition of British Columbia History magazine. Black has more than a decade of experience in... Read more


An aerial photo of the Nanaimo tramway.

VIU students create community exhibit at Nanaimo Museum

June 15, 2022

Exhibit, which explores the history behind some of city’s more unusual street names, runs until June 25. Nanaimo is home to many streets with less-than-common names, such as Dingle Bingle Hill Road and Bergen Op Zoom Drive.  Between January and April, students in two upper-level history courses at Vancouver Island University (VIU) researched the intriguing stories of how these roads acquired... Read more


Dr. Whitney Wood sits at a desk with a shelf of books behind her.

VIU Researcher Exploring Changing Attitudes Towards Childbirth

December 2, 2021

Project focuses on “natural” and medicalized childbirth in mid-to-late 20th century Canada. Building on a decade of work on the histories of women's health, bodies and pain, Dr. Whitney Wood, VIU’s Canada Research Chair in the Historical Dimensions of Women’s Health, is exploring changing attitudes towards childbirth in mid-to-late 20th century Canada.  Beginning in the 1930s, and especially in... Read more


Graphic with text Gender, Health & Social Justice written on it.

Speaker Series Highlights Innovative Research in the History of Gender and Health

November 9, 2021

The Gender, Health and Social Justice Speaker Series presented by VIU and the University of Saskatchewan is offered for free via Zoom and kicks off on November 19. A speaker series running this winter and spring will introduce attendees to the innovative scholarship being done by early-career researchers in the history of gender and health. “The conversations taking place around this research... Read more


Ozoz Sokoh, wearing a bright yellow shirt, stands in a garden area.

VIU Symposium Examines Intertwined Histories of Gender, Food and Sovereignty

June 10, 2021

Keynote speaker Ozoz Sokoh highlights how food is an important aspect of people’s history and heritage. Vancouver Island University (VIU) scholars and panelists from around the globe are examining how the histories of food and sovereignty are intimately intertwined during a symposium this June. The Food and Sovereignty symposium, hosted virtually by VIU and the journal Gender & History June... Read more


: Dr. Yoichi Mukai, a VIU Modern Language Studies Professor; Dr. Kelly Black, a VIU Adjunct History Professor;  Dr. Joy Gugeler, a VIU Creative Writing, Journalism and Media Studies Professor, and Stephanie Johnson, a member of School District 68

VIU Faculty Create Understanding Through Colloquium Lectures

January 14, 2021

People can attend the Colloquium Series lectures from the comfort of their own homes this spring and gain an appreciation of how important the arts and humanities are to understanding today’s world. Vancouver Island University’s (VIU’s) Arts and Humanities Colloquium Series returns this spring with a thought-provoking lecture lineup that delves into the intricacies of language; re-evaluates... Read more


Photo of Dr. Richard Lane, smiling with greenery behind him

Researchers Developing a Better User Interface for Historical Archive

December 2, 2020

VIU researchers are mapping historical data contained in the Canadian Letters and Images Project and creating a sophisticated interface so scholars, students and the public can gain better access to information contained in the archive. Researchers at Vancouver Island University’s (VIU’s) MeTA Digital Humanities Lab are using advanced computer software to help map large quantities of historical... Read more