Historical research

Master’s Thesis in History – Université de Montréal

Client: University of Montreal, Department of History

Date: Sept. 2015 – Dec. 2018

Challenge:

• Produce original research work from primary and secondary historical sources.
• Understand the smuggling trade of the colonial era (17th and 18th centuries) from the point of view of its contemporaries.
• Propose counter-models to the “free trade” vs. “directed trade” dichotomy, with respect to the historical study of colonial trade.

Concept and Methods:

• From secondary sources, describe the (often contradictory) dynamics of colonial trade in general, and the fur trade in particular.
• From primary sources: analyze the issue of colonial smuggling from the point of view of New France’s colonial administrators.
• Synthesis of historiographical currents that have analyzed illicit trade: economic history, ethnohistory, Atlantic history.
• Discursive analysis of official correspondence of the French Navy during the 18th century.

Outcomes:

Master’s thesis, 176p, submitted on August 24, 2018 to the Department of History of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences of the University of Montreal.

N.B. thesis in French, English-language abstract available.

Public conference: the Life of Explorer Cavelier de la Salle

Client: Société historique Cavelier de La Salle, French CBC, University of Saint-Boniface.

Dates: October 10, 2017 (Henri-Lemieux Community Centre), November 9, 2017 (Radio-Canada), November 5, 2018 (University of St. Boniface).

Challenge:

• Present the life of a 17th-century French explorer to a lay public.
• Unravel a historical plot as a detective investigation, with a critical presentation of historical sources; distill key interpretive issues surrounding the explorer’s life.
• Provide documentary references to members of the public looking to further dig into the subject.

Concepts and Methods:

• Research: Reading and critical analysis of primary and secondary sources. Organization of the documentary corpus around successive “schools” of historiography.
• Design: Creation of the narrative framework in (five) dramatic acts. Synthesis of primary and secondary sources to form a historical narrative. Add a section at the end of the slideshow to present the historical controversies relating to the life and legacy of the explorer.
• Presentation: Oral presentation of a presentation text, accompanied by slides. Illustration of live commentary with images, source excerpts, and examples of period cartography.

Outcomes:

• 2-hour conference for 30 guests, given as part of the celebrations of the 350th anniversary of ville La Salle, Montreal, at the invitation of the Cavelier de La Salle Historical Society.
• Presentation of the explorer’s life on the radio program Aujourd’hui l’histoire, on Radio-Canada (French-language CBC).
• 50-minute presentation of the explorer’s journey at the University of St. Boniface, for 50 event attendees.

N.B. Links and references provided redirect to French-language content.