What brought you to UPEI? Why did you choose to study here?

I'm originally from a small town in central Alberta called Ponoka. It's mostly famous for its stampede held every summer. I started my undergraduate degree in 2020 initially as a psychology major before shifting over to a double major with psychology and history at the end of 2021. I picked UPEI because of the small, intimate campus and because I have family living in PEI. I love the summers there so that was a big pull too! 

What did you find unique and interesting about the History program?

The more niche courses were really interesting to me, the witchcraft related courses offered by Dr. Raiswell are fairly unique from what I know of other universities' history programs. The level you get to know your professors is pretty wonderful too, and the small class sizes makes for much more interesting class discussion in my opinion.

What did you like about your experience in the Honours in History program?

If you're an undergraduate student thinking about graduate school, I really cannot recommend doing an Honours thesis enough; it was likely the most important part of my undergrad. Writing my Honours thesis really helped strengthen the way I budget time with writing, and it sharply developed my skills as a writer too. 

I picked my Honours thesis topic because I noticed some similarities in the ways heresy and madness were construed throughout the Middle Ages, particularly in the eastern Roman Empire. People on the margins of society are often used as scapegoats or lynchpins for reifyng social formations, and this is something you can see at various points throughout history, as with Slavs and Jewish people by Nazi Germany, or how the Trump administration construes various minority groups. I ended up focusing solely on the formation of 'heresy' as a social and legal category, and I got to put an interest I have in the philosophy developed by Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari to use with it as well! I spent a lot of time thinking about historiography as well, that is something I'm going to carry with me for the rest of my career I think. 

What kinds of support did you receive during your time here from UPEI students, staff, and UPEI faculty members?

Professors are all very willing to make adjustments depending on what you're going through, and they're more than happy to help with any questions you might have as well. 

What opportunities have you experienced because you graduated from UPEI, or because of the Island location?

Being on the Island led to me doing a summer internship with both Robertson Library at UPEI and the provincial archives in Charlottetown, those were both incredible opportunities which gave me invaluable experience. I ended up being involved with a conference on the devil held in Halifax in the spring of 2024 because of my being in the history department as well, that was something really special I don't think would've happened anywhere else. 

What's unique about UPEI, and Prince Edward Island, in your experience?

The small campus was definitely my favourite thing about UPEI—it's a very cozy environment, particularly in the early autumn when the weather isn't miserable out just yet. That goes for PEI as a whole too, the word 'rustic' is one that comes to mind. 

What would you tell a high school student considering the UPEI History program?

Go for it! Take as diverse a range of courses in history as you can, and explore the other departments too. I took a introduction to critical literature course with Dr. Wohlgemut in my second year which was exceptionally fun, and all of the psychology courses I took were well done, too. 

What’s your current occupation, and how do you feel has UPEI prepared you for your role?

I am currently doing my Master's degree in History at McGill in Montreal, so I would hope it did a good job of preparing me for that! When I started my undergrad I wasn't thinking about history as a profession in the slightest, but I enjoyed doing a double major so much, it's sort of my whole thing now. 

_{Photos by Mim Burleson and Ahmet Safa Türkyılmaz on Unsplash}