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Concordia's first Trudeau Fellow

Professor Ronald Rudin, a public historian, is one of four researchers across Canada to obtain prominent distinction this fall.
October 17, 2011
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By Sylvain-Jacques Desjardins


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As a public historian, Ronald Rudin has examined questions of Quebec and Acadian identity from centuries past, but the Concordia Department of History professor has always sought contemporary methods to share his findings with future generations.

His storytelling prowess has now been rewarded. At an October 17 ceremony in Toronto, Rudin became Concordia University’s first faculty member to earn a Trudeau Fellowship. He was joined by peers from the University of British Columbia, Queen’s University, and York University.

Trudeau Fellow and history professor Ronald Rudin in Old Montreal.
Trudeau Fellow and history professor Ronald Rudin in Old Montreal. | Photo by Concordia University

“Ronald Rudin is an innovator in teaching and research,” says Concordia University President Frederick Lowy. “As a public historian, he investigates seminal matters and constantly seeks new ways to share his findings with the broadest possible audience. Recognition from the Trudeau Foundation will enable Ronald to find new ways to continue making the past relevant to our future.”

Beyond the peer-reviewed papers and six books to his name, Rudin has produced two documentary films – an unusual medium for an academic in his field. His first documentary, Life after Île Ste-Croix, was distributed by the National Film Board of Canada. His second film, Remembering a Memory, can be viewed online.

He’s also created a website, Remembering Acadie, which deals with questions of how Acadians recall their past. Rudin is currently working with his research assistants to develop new tools, such as smart-phone applications, to allow people to learn about the past in modern ways.

“Digital technology has provided the means to share stories with wider audiences,” says Rudin. “I’ve always been interested in how history is shared. People always make choices in what they tell — and what they don’t.”

Every year, the Trudeau Foundation selects up to five fellows who have set themselves apart through research, creativity and social commitment. Selected by an independent jury, Trudeau Fellows receive $225,000 over three years to propel their research. Only 42 Trudeau Fellows have been awarded since the program began in 2003.

“To be selected as a Trudeau Fellow is a great distinction,” says Louise Dandurand, Concordia Vice-President, Research and Graduate Studies. “These fellowships reward a rich body of work and serve as a catalyst to further advance research for the benefit of society.”

New projects in the works

Rudin is currently on sabbatical to work on his next book, which follows the harrowing experience of more than 1,200 people, mostly Acadians, who had their homes expropriated to establish New Brunswick’s Kouchibouguac National Park in 1969.

“How these people resisted expropriation reflected significant changes in how Acadians saw themselves,” Rudin says. “Until now, that story has mostly been shared through oral history and works of art.”

To reconstruct their story, partly with the help of new technologies, Rudin has interviewed former residents from the region and consulted more than 10,000 pages of government files. He is working with his assistants to arrange for the recorded voices of expropriated landowners to be heard within Kouchibouguac National Park via a smart-phone application linked to a global-positioning system, as well as around the world through a web-based interactive map.

“I’m trying, in a sense, to return the voices of these families to where they lived,” he says. “I believe that there is a public purpose in telling such stories — as a public historian, my work can give a voice to people who haven’t often been heard.”

Rudin’s most recent book, the award-winning Remembering and Forgetting in Acadie: A Historian's Journey through Public Memory (University of Toronto Press, 2009), also revealed stories that might have remained largely untold. Most notably, he exposed the grievances of the Passamaquoddy First Nation of southwestern New Brunswick.

“Sharing the Passamaquoddy story, which continues as these people struggle to secure recognition by Ottawa, constitutes one of the most rewarding moments of my career,” he says.

Support for storytelling

Rudin plans to use his Trudeau Fellowship to further hone his storytelling skills. While able to research, produce and write his documentary films, Rudin has had to depend on others to direct and edit them. “The Trudeau Fellowship will allow me to develop the skills to become more directly involved with the production process,” he says.

He plans to take formal courses, consult with film production professionals, employ post-doctoral students and research assistants, as well as organize a professional conference to bring together historians and filmmakers with shared interests. Rudin even hopes to use animation and historical re-enactment to share more stories.

“I have to try new media, otherwise I’d get bored,” he says with a chuckle. “This is a great new age, with new technology, for historians to tell stories.”

Partners in research

Rudin’s research has been supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

A Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Rudin was the academic convenor for the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences held at Concordia in 2010.

Related links:
•    Concordia Department of History
•    Ronald Rudin’s biography
•    Trudeau Foundation



 

 



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