Dr. Tarah Brookfield
Assistant Professor, History and Youth & Children's Studies
Contact Information
Email: tbrookfield@wlu.caPhone: 519.756.8228 ext.5792
Office Location: RCW 309
Office Hours: Thursday 10:00-11:00 and Friday 1:00-2:00 or by appointment.
Languages Spoken
English
Academic Background
Ph.D. York University, HistoryM.A. University of Waterloo, History
B.A. McGill University, Honours History and Anthropology
Biography
I'm excited to be part of two programs at Laurier Brantford: History and Youth & Children's Studies.
My research focuses on how Canadian women have worked with and against the state to improve the safety of children and families in Canada and overseas, endangered by militarization during the World Wars and Cold War. I am also interested in the politicization of children and youth in matters related to war and peace.
My new project analyses youth’s interpretations and experiences of war and peace while living on Grindstone Island on Rideau Lake outside of Ottawa. This island housed British children evacuated during World War II, and during the Cold War was the home to a Quaker cooperative hosting peace education and social justice camps for Canadian families and youth.
Recent Publications
Cold War Comforts: Canadian Women, Child Safety, and Global Insecurity (Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2012).
“Modeling the UN’s Mission in Semi-Formal Wear: Edmonton’s Miss United Nations Pageants of the 1960s,” Contesting the Body and Nation in Canadian History eds. Jane Nichols and Patrizia Gentile, (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2013).
“Children as ‘Seeds of Destiny’: Nation, Race, and Citizenship in Postwar Foreign Relief Programs,” The Difference Kids Makes: Bringing Children into Canadian History and Historiography, eds. Tamara Myers and Mona Gleason (Toronto: Oxford University Press, forthcoming).
“Maverick Mothers and Mercy Flights: Canada’s Controversial Introduction to International Adoption,” Journal of the Canadian Historical Association, 19(1) 2009, 307-330.
“Divided by the Ballot Box: The Montreal Council of Women and the 1917 Election,” Canadian Historical Review, 89(4)December 2008: 473-501.
Courses Taught Recently
HI 293 History of Canada since Confederation
HI 430 Reading Seminar in 20th Century Canada
HI 480 Research Seminar in 20th Century Canada
YC 200 Childhood and Youth Through the Ages
CT430 Youth Cultures



