Publications - 2020

A New Field in Mind - A History of Interdisciplinarity in the Early Brain Sciences

In recent decades, developments in research technologies and therapeutic advances have generated immense public recognition for neuroscience. However, its origins as a field, often linked to partnerships and projects at various brain-focused research centres in the United States during the 1960s, can be traced much further back in time. In A New Field in Mind Frank Stahnisch documents and analyzes the antecedents of the modern neurosciences as an interdisciplinary field. Although postwar American research centres, such as Francis O. Schmitt's Neuroscience Research Program at MIT, brought the modern field to prominence, Stahnisch reveals the pioneering collaborations in the early brain sciences at centres in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in the first half of the twentieth century. One of these, Heinrich Obersteiner's institute in Vienna, began its work in the 1880s. Through case studies and collective biographies, Stahnisch investigates the evolving relationships between disciplines - anatomy, neurology, psychiatry, physiology, serology, and neurosurgery - which created new epistemological and social contexts for brain research. He also shows how changing political conditions in Central Europe affected the development of the neurosciences, ultimately leading to the expulsion of many physicians and researchers under the Nazi regime and their migration to North America. An in-depth and innovative study, A New Field in Mind tracks the emergence and evolution of neuroscientific research from the late nineteenth century to the postwar period.

Bedside and Community: 50 Years of Contributions to the Health of Albertans from the University of Calgary

Bedside and Community is the inside story of fifty years of health care and health research at the University of Calgary. Drawing on the first-person accounts of researchers, administrators, faculty, and students along with archival research, and faculty histories, this collection celebrates the many significant contributions the University of Calgary has made to the health of Albertans. With contributions from the Cumming School of Medicine, the Faculty of Nursing, Faculty of Kinesiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Environmental Design, Department of Psychology, and Indigenous Health Initiatives Bedside and Community is a truly collaborative history. Addressing the links between departments, the relationship between the university and the community, and evolving research and teaching methods, this book places the University of Calgary within a wider national context and shows how it has addressed the unique health needs of Southern Alberta. With a pioneering focus on primary care and commitment to interdisciplinary connections, the University of Calgary has made strides in health research, health education, and community outreach. Bedside and Community tells the story of a tradition of excellence that will light the way to future outreach and discovery.

“Conservatism in the Civil War North,” special issue of Civil War History, 64, no 3 (2020).

Imagining the Sudan in British Film, 1925-1956

Remaking North American Sovereignty: Towards a Continental History of State Transformation in the 1860s

Specialization or Selectivity in the Bison Hunt? Environment, Food and Trade in the Northern Great Plains

Treaty 6 Cree Annuity Spending in the Territorial Economy of Western Canada, 1873-1905