History
On Campus
Five women, one Arts tradition
Mary LeRossignol entered McGill in 1889, just a few years after women were first admitted to the University. She unknowingly started a tradition for the women in her family that continues to this day in the Faculty of Arts.
Culture
Add these books to your summer reading list
Canada’s prime ministers, a tale of grief and ghosts, and the one-and-only Leonard Cohen are among the subjects of recent books that McGillians might want to dive into.
Culture
Holiday reading options
Looking for a good book or two to enjoy over the holidays? Here are some recent books by (or about) McGill grads for you to consider.
Discovery
A journey into the past – through menus
Food historian Nathalie Cooke sees menus as more than simply guides for ordering burgers or burritos. They offer invaluable clues about the dining cultures of past eras. She explores a wide range of menus from different time periods in her new book Tastes and Traditions: A Journey through Menu History.
Culture
An eclectic approach to Canada’s history
When film director Matthew Rankin, BA’01, came to Montreal to study at McGill, it put him on the path to learning French, embracing the city as his new home – and making the critically acclaimed Universal Language.
Society
Telling the whole story
Yale historian Ned Blackhawk, BA’92, believes that too many accounts of U.S. history pay little attention to the pivotal role that the country’s Native Americans played in that history. His recent book, The Rediscovery of America, winner of the U.S. National Book Award for Nonfiction, serves as a corrective.
Discovery
Exploring queer and feminist food culture
In her research on feminist restaurants and queer cuisine, Alex Ketchum, MA’13, PhD’18, an assistant professor at McGill’s Institute for Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies, examines underexplored areas of culinary history and food culture.
Culture
An unconventional path to literary stardom
As an undergraduate, Kai Thomas, BA’16, examined old newspaper ads in the McGill Library about runaway slaves. That research helped inform In the Upper Country, his first novel, which won one of Canada’s top literary prizes last year.
Culture
Books to consider for your holiday reading
McGill graduates who have published books in recent months include Claudia Dey, Julian Sher, Mariko Tamaki, and Rosemary Sullivan.
Culture
How historical fiction became a literary juggernaut
Historical fiction, once dismissed as a second-rate genre, is now the dominant force in American literature and a magnet for top literary prizes. In a new book, McGill’s Alexander Manshel examines how that happened.
Discovery
Exploring racism, oppression – and grit
Wendell Nii Laryea Adjetey is an associate professor of history at McGill and a two-time teaching award winner. His career path has seen him go from working in youth gang prevention to exploring post-Reconstruction U.S. and African Diaspora history as an academic.
On Campus
Snapshots from the past
McGill is marking its 200th year, but this isn’t the first time that the University has celebrated a milestone anniversary. We take a look at what life was like for previous generations of McGillians during other significant anniversary years.