Laurier Centre for the Study of Canada

12/05/2025

The Canadian War Museum is hosting a public celebration of life for Tim Cook. Follow the link to register for in-person attendance in Ottawa or two watch the livestream.

The Canadian War Museum is deeply saddened to announce the passing of our dear friend and colleague Chief Historian and Director of Research, Dr. Tim Cook.

We invite you to read the Museum’s full statement and join us in extending our sincerest condolences to Dr. Cook’s family, colleagues, and friends.

https://www.warmuseum.ca/news-releases/war-museum-announces-passing-of-chief-historian-dr-tim-cook

A book of condolences will soon be available in the War Museum lobby for those who wish to leave a personal message. A more formal opportunity to celebrate Tim Cook’s contributions will be shared through Museum channels soon.

11/24/2025

How did Canada's metropolis experience the lead-up to and early years of the Second World War? Terry Copp takes another look at his hometown in "Montreal at War 1938-43."

As an open access follow-up to his 2021 monograph Montreal at War 1914-1918, Terry Copp has released an analysis of the city of Montreal in the early years of the Second World War.

11/20/2025

THIS WEEK!
Join us TONIGHT at the Guelph Civic Museum from 7-8:30 p.m. for Military Lecture: Training the Ukrainian Army Before Russian Attacked with Captain Jeff Fry.

Capt. Jeff Fry will share his experience training the Ukrainian army before the start of the war with Russia. Capt. Fry was deployed on OP UNIFIER in Ukraine from July 2020 to May 2021 where he served as the Officer Development Team Lead at the Odessa Military Academy and Airborne Assault School. He will talk about instructing Ukrainian officer cadets on Troop Leading Procedure and Ukrainian Army Brigade Staff on Military Decision Making Process (OPP), and advising and assisting Academy staff at a national level to develop new course material and training.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the presentation starts at 7 p.m., followed by a question period.

The lecture premieres in-person at the Civic Museum, and online via our Facebook livestream. The recorded conversation will be available on Facebook, YouTube, and our Museum Everywhere Portal. Guelph Museums’ Military Lecture series is presented in partnership with the Laurier Centre for the Study of Canada.

More details available on our website: https://guelphmuseums.ca/event/military-lecture-training-the-ukrainian-army-before-russia-attacked/
The City of Guelph
Waterloo-Wellington Museums and Galleries
Gather In Guelph
Guelph Historical Society
Laurier Centre for the Study of Canada

11/06/2025

What was Canada up to in Africa during the Cold War? Find out at the Diefenbunker's speaker series on November 20th featuring the LCSC's own Kevin Spooner!

This free lecture examines Canada’s role in Sub-Saharan Africa during the Cold War, and the connections between race and the battle for allegiances between East and West.

10/28/2025

Today we are remembering a longtime friend of everyone at LCSC, historian Tim Cook. We remember him as a great scholar but also a generous man who gave back to the profession by paying it forward.

Tim’s association with the Laurier Centre for the Study of Canada goes back nearly 30 years. An early contributor to our journal, he wrote to us recently:

10/16/2025

What is happening with Canadian climate policy? On November 6th, LCSC Fellow Debora VanNijnatten and our Director Kevin Spooner will consider this question. Follow the link to register for this Robarts Centre webinar.

Upcoming event - A "What is Happening in Canada? " seminar with Dr. Debora L. VanNijnatten (Wilfrid Laurier University) Canada Twixt the US and Europe: Climate Policy Choices and the Way Forward

This lecture will examine the current moment in Canadian climate policy-making as the country faces difficult choices enroute to meeting its Net Zero targets, in a more uncertain continental and global context. On the one hand, Canada must respond to the climate policy retrenchment of its closest trade partner, the United States, with whom its economic prosperity is entwined. On the other, Canada is seeking deeper economic and policy alignment with the European Union, long a climate policy leader. Further, these conflicting policy impulses - to be a climate policy leader vs. abandoning Net Zero targets as unrealistic and incompatible with Canada's economic well-being - are mirrored within Canada and especially across provincial administrations. In trying to navigate different alliances and conflicting policy impulses, how can Canada maintain course and continue to pursue greenhouse gas reductions? This talk will be moderated by Kevin Spooner, Director, Laurier Centre for the Study of Canada.

November 6, 2025 | 1:00 - 2:00 pm
Registration: https://yorku.zoom.us/meeting/register/XUjW4GshTUKfEXQrpSHFvQ #/registration

This webinar is part of the 'What is Happening in Canada?' (WIHIC) series, a webinar focused on exploring a range of key topics in contemporary Canadian studies. Visit our website for more information: https://www.yorku.ca/research/robarts/what-is-happening-in-canada-series/

TransCanadian Networks Laurier Centre for the Study of Canada

06/10/2025

"But There's Always a War Somewhere." The CSN-REC's spring 2025 Research Talk features Wilfrid Laurier University's own Lindsay Thistle who will be speaking about "National Contexts in Early Canadian and Irish Plays About WWII."

CSN-RÉC SPRING 2025 RESEARCH TALK “But There’s Always a War Somewhere:” National Contexts in Early Canadian and Irish Plays About WWII

03/19/2025

Join us for the Winter 2020 People Make History Zoom event. This term we are focusing on the history of Canadian-American relations. The panel features three experts on Canada's military, political, and socio-cultural history with the United States.
Wednesday, March 18 at 7:00 pm EST. Register here:
https://wilfrid-laurier.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_zHED_NXBRRepchVguGG3Vw

12/20/2024

Now available on YouTube: The Good Allies with Tim Cook.

In this presentation Tim Cook discusses his new book The Good Allies, a masterful account of how Canadians and Americans made the transition from wary rivals to steadfast allies, and how Canada thrived in the shadow of the military and global superpower. In exploring this complex and crucial dimensi...

12/20/2024

Looking for some reading over the holidays? New articles are available from 'Canadian Military History'

Canadian Military History is a peer-reviewed academic journal published bi-annually by the Laurier Centre for the Study of Canada with editorial and financial support from the Canadian War Museum. Its purpose is to foster research, teaching and public discussion of historical and contemporary milita...