Centennial of suffrage to be focus of summer institute

As Canada celebrates the centennial of women earning the vote, a Brandon University (BU) professor will spend a portion of next summer investigating the meaning of enfranchisement and citizenship at Carthage College, in Wisconsin.

Dr. Patricia Harms, an associate professor in both History and Gender & Women’s Studies at BU, has been awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute Grant of $124,749, which she shares with colleague Stephanie Mitchell of Carthage College. The pair will host a “Women’s Suffrage in the Americas” institute from July 23 to August 3, 2018 at Carthage College, bringing together up to 30 participants, including guest lecturers from across the Americas.

The funding supports the participants during the two-week institute, as well the guest lecturers and the creation of the institute itself. While the primary focus will be the enfranchisement of women, the institute will also focus on those groups excluded from citizenship such as Indigenous peoples and descendants of all African Americans across the continent. The program is designed to explore critical questions such as the meaning of citizenship, its impact on regional politics and its historical role within national and transnational movements. The institute is planned to coincide with the centennial of federal suffrage for women in Canada.

“We are thrilled with the news of the NEH funding,” said Dr. Harms. “As we approach the first of many centennials across the hemisphere of this important historical achievement, this institute will give us the opportunity to explore the strategies, national and transnational movements women developed to gain citizenship.”

Harms and Mitchell are also involved in an edited book project with researchers from across the Americas to explore the enfranchisement of women.

Contact