25-H201 20th Century Canada: Why Canada in 1999 Bore No Resemblance to Canada in 1900 – Alvin Finkel
Canadians in 1999 could view their 1900 counterparts as people from a different planet. This course examines when and why dramatic shifts occurred. It examines how both popular struggles and global changes make the concept of a “nation” an evolving rather than a fixed notion. In 1900, the only groups that counted were British imperialists and the French-speaking, Rome-controlled Quebec Roman Catholic Church. Racism, patriarchy, misogyny, homophobia and rigid social class distinctions faced few challenges. By 1999, British imperialist ideology had vanished, the Church was mostly dismissed by francophones, and challenges to the former official ideologies on sex, gender, race, and class, while not always successful, made the 1900 status quo something that few defended. The return of colonized Indigenous people to centre stage highlighted changing values. How many things changed, but much remained the same below the surface, is what we tackle in this course.
To see the daily lecture schedule, click here: 25-H201 Lecture Schedule.
Instructor: Alvin Finkel
Dr. Alvin Finkel is a much-published, celebrated Canadian historian whose books have sold over 170,000 copies. They include key survey textbooks on Canadian history and on the history of social policy in Canada and the history of labour in Alberta. His international history books include Humans: The 300,000 Year Struggle for Equality, and Compassion: A Global History of Social Policy. He was professor of history at Athabasca University for 36 years before his retirement in 2014 and has since taught courses frequently at ELLA and the Jewish Senior Citizens Centre. Dr. Finkel is also the president of the Alberta Labour History Institute and the author of the Change Alberta Facebook page.
