UPEI instructor wins SSHRC Exchange Publication Award
Dr. Callum Beck, a sessional instructor in religious and university studies at the University of Prince Edward Island, has been awarded a $7,000 SSHRC Exchange Publication Award for his book, The Bridging of the Protestant–Catholic Divide on Prince Edward Island.
The SSHRC Exchange Publication Award is given out annually to support the publication of a manuscript written or edited by UPEI faculty in the social sciences and humanities. The book will be published by Island Studies Press in 2027.
The divide between Catholics and Protestants on PEI once permeated everyday life—from which school Island residents attended and which hospital they would go to, to which businesses they would fraternize, and, above all, who they would date or marry.
Beck writes, “If you ask an Islander under 60 today if they have ever considered a doctor’s religious denomination in choosing a doctor, they will consider you and your question quite daft; but for residents of Charlottetown and certain other parts of the Island prior to 1970, it was perhaps the first factor considered.”
In this new book, Beck traces the early origins of this divide from the pioneer years when the two groups got along reasonably well, to the sectarian wars of 1847–77, the gentlemen’s agreements that led to the province having a de facto separate school system and electing 21 Protestants and 9 Catholics in every provincial election, to the bridging events of the 1960s. True integration was not reached until 1969 with the amalgamation of the public schools and the creation of UPEI as the provincial university. These were the key factors in the breaking down of the friendship and fellowship barriers between the two main faith groups on the Island, leading to the more integrated society in the province today.
Beck is the author of The Belfast Riot of 1847, published in 2025 by Island Studies Press. He was born and raised in Charlottetown, PEI. He completed a BA in Philosophy at UPEI, a Master of Arts in Religion at Emmanuel School of Religion in Tennessee, and a PhD at the Open University in the UK. Professionally, he has served as a pastor and sessional faculty member at UPEI. He and his wife Lorraine have three children and six grandchildren.
Island Studies Press congratulates Beck and thanks Dr. Marva Sweeney-Nixon, associate vice-president research and dean of graduate studies at UPEI, for supporting faculty publications.
For more information, please contact Bren Simmers at ispstaff@upei.ca or call (902) 566-0386.
