The good news just keeps rolling in! Please join me in congratulating Prof. Alan Corbiere on receiving the 2019  Barbara Godard Prize for the Best York University Dissertation in Canadian Studies! Named in memory of our late, distinguished colleague, this prize is awarded each year to the doctoral dissertation that "best advances our knowledge of Canada."

The committee unanimously recommended Prof. Corbiere's dissertation titled "Anishinaabe Treaty-Making in the 18th- and 19th-Century Northern Great Lakes: From Shared Meanings to Epistemological Chasms" for this award.

In their citation, the committee spoke very highly of Prof. Corbiere's thesis, stating:

"Dr. Corbiere’s thesis, through its thoughtful recreation of understandings of treaty relationships between the Anishinaabeg and the British, stood out on all the criteria for the prize: advancing knowledge of Canada, transcending disciplinary boundaries and demonstrating innovation in thought and/or methodology. By recovering the Anishinaabe perspective and using material culture, spiritual beliefs and the author’s familiarity with the Anishinaabe language, as well as a wealth of archival sources, the thesis extends knowledge about the Anishinaabe culture, language and viewpoint that will serve other disciplines beyond history and inform public debate. Indeed, these new perspectives on treaty relationships have already had some impact in recent case law interpreting 19th-century treaties in British North America."

Prof. Corbiere received his PhD from the Department of History at York University in 2019. Later that same year, he also joined the faculty at York University as an Assistant Professor in the Department of History.

Please join me in congratulating Prof. Corbiere on this wonderful recognition of his accomplishment with this dissertation!

Boyd Cothran
Graduate Program Director
Department of History, York University