Spring 2025 Courses

Instructor: Dr. Mark Meuwese | Contact

This lecture series examines the history of Indigenous nations in Eastern North America from the precontact era until the era of the American Revolution. The lectures aim to give an Indigenous perspective on 300 years of North American history. One of the main themes of the course is the survival of Indigenous nations against great odds. Topics include the challenges and promises of precontact Indigenous history, Pocahontas, the Powhatans, and the English in Virginia, the role of epidemic diseases, the Wendat/Huron-Haudenosaunee conflict, Algonquians and Puritans in New England, and the development of a fragile balance of power in the early eighteenth century. The lecture series ends with the series of conflicts that dramatically reshaped the situation for Indigenous nations in North America from 1754 to 1800: the Seven Years’ War, Pontiac’s War, and the American Revolution.   

• Pocahontas, the Powhatan Confederacy, and English Virginia 
• Beyond Thanksgiving: the Algonquian peoples and colonial New England 
• The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) confederacy as a major power in Early North America to 1701
• Spanish New Mexico and the Pueblo Revolt of 1680
• From a balance of power to the era of imperial wars (Seven Years War and Pontiac's War) 
• The American Revolution and Indigenous peoples of North America

Instructor Biography

Mark Meuwese has been a member of the History faculty at The University of Winnipeg since 2004. His main teaching areas are Indigenous history outside of Canada, European expansion and global interaction, and genocide studies.

Registration

Course Number: D55 31800 PTSP1

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Instructor: Dr. Andrew McGillivray | Contact

This course explores a selection of myths and tales rooted in the Viking Age. We will focus our attention on several poems from The Poetic Edda and a selection of short tales from the Icelandic sagas.

During the first half of the course, we delve into comical stories about the pre-Christian gods such as Thor, Odin, Freyja, and Loki as they navigate at-times hilarious situations, whether in their dealings with one another or when encountering paranormal beings such as giants and trolls. During the second part of the course, we turn our attention to the adventures of human protagonists, short narratives of Viking Age Icelandic settlers and travelers who get themselves into—and out of—trouble with powerful chieftains and foreign kings and queens.

• Thor’s Adventures: Harbard’s Song, Hymir’s Poem, and Big Troubles in Giantland
• The Norse Trickster: Loki’s Quarrel, Thrym’s Poem, and the Birth of Sleipnir
• Paranormal Encounters: Giants, Elves, and Dwarves in Old Norse Mythology
• Satire in Medieval Iceland: The Saga of the Confederates
• Icelanders Abroad in the Viking Age: Hreidar the Simple and Sarcastic Halli
• Gift Giving and Good Will: The Tale of Audun from the West Fjords

Even though the Viking Age is well-known for tragedy and violence, this course on Viking Humor reminds us of the value audiences—both then and now—place on laughter and comedy.

Format: Combination of lecture and Q&A/discussion.

Instructor Biography

Andrew McGillivray is an Associate Professor and Chair in the Rhetoric, Writing, and Communications Department at the University of Winnipeg. Prior to joining the University of Winnipeg, he completed his PhD at the University of Iceland in the Faculty of Icelandic and Comparative Cultural Studies, writing his Doctoral Thesis on Old Norse Mythology. His current research focuses on medieval Icelandic literature—origins and reception—as well as contemporary Icelandic culture. At the University of Winnipeg, Dr. McGillivray teaches courses on rhetorical criticism, professional style and editing, and ethnographic research methods.

Registration

Course Number: D55 31900 PTSP1

Register now