The Northern History Conference is the inaugural undergraduate history conference to be hosted in Prince George, BC. The conference is being organised by the Northern History Student Society and the history faculty at UNBC. In inviting students, scholars, and community members from western Canada, we hope to provide a greater appreciation for history in Northern B.C.

Our theme for this year is "Expression," and we hope to use this theme to connect the presentations.

Keynote Address

Harvard Teaching Fellow Yvan Prkachin, a UNBC Alumni (BA History, Honours, 2006), will deliver the keynote address.

Prkachin's keynote address, “An Expression of Curiosity: Place and the History of Science in Canada," will reflect his current research and its implications for historical expression.
After he graduated from UNBC, Prkachin completed a Master of Arts in History at the University of Guelph in 2008, and is currently researching the contribution of the Montreal Neurological Institute to modern neuroscience for his PhD in the History of Science program at Harvard University.

In addition, Prkachin is a Harvard Teaching Fellow, emphasizing the history of psychiatry, the mind and brain sciences, and science during the Cold War. He has also been named a Canada Program Research Fellow at Harvard’s Weatherheard Center for International Relations in 2014-15, and is a recipient of the Mary-Louisa Nickerson Fellowship in Neuro History for 2014 and 2016. 

About the Conference

For the past few years, the Northern Historical Student Society has been making a major effort toward establishing themselves within UNBC as a strong community for both historians and everyone else attending the university. In the last academic year, we decided to take a significant step into the broader world of academia. It was here that the idea of hosting a brand new history conference began to formulate. Since then, we have been working tirelessly to make this goal a reality.

The Northern Historical Conference will cover a plethora of topics that link back to history across a variety of disciplines, are unconstrained by geographic boundaries or focus, and transcend time from antiquity to the Twentieth Century. History is the story of human interaction over time, covering endless niches and ideas. We want to hear all of yours. Our theme for this year is “Expression.” While we would like to hear ideas relating to this theme, it is not a requirement. We are happy to allow any presentation from any academic from a first year student to a critically acclaimed scholar. Everyone has a voice at UNBC.

It is our goal with this conference to establish greater working relations with other universities across Western Canada and beyond. We wish to share our ideas, and listen to yours. When we network, we all benefit.

Upon arriving at UNBC, you will be treated to the very best the North has to offer. From our world class architecture to the breathtaking eastward views towards the snow-capped Rocky Mountains, the UNBC campus will not fail to impress. After checking in, you will have a variety of sessions to attend with a number of historians, whether they are students, professors, or other historians from around Western Canada. We will have no shortage of individuals and ideas to choose from. If you want to take in a wide variety of ideas collected in a single room, make sure to check out our poster session on the second day of the conference. Here we are hoping to have dozens of historians presenting their ideas. 

If you are interested in presenting your ideas in any format, we are here for you and will find you a place to share your thoughts. You can choose from delivering a lecture, holding a panel, and presenting a poster to best illustrate your thoughts, or if you wish, some combination of these.