Tag Archives: book display

Queer History Month – A Redpath Exhibition

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The Humanities and Social Sciences Library would like to wish the McGill University Community a Happy 2021 Queer History Month. Every year in Canada, the month of October is observed as a time to reflect and learn about LGBTQ+ history and culture.  This year’s Queer History Month theme is “Coming Together”.  

For the 2021 Queer History Month, the Humanities and Social Sciences Library would like to showcase the diversity of Queer resources you have available to you for teaching, learning and research purposes both online (see online exhibit) and in physical format. Visit the Queer History Month Calendar to learn more about the various programming during the month of October. 

Under the care the Liaison Librarian for LGBTQ+ Studies, the McGill Library has been able to acquire access to valuable digital archives such as to the Archives of Human Sexuality and Gender, Alexander Street Press’ LGBT Thought and Culture, and Adam Matthew’s Defining Gender. These primary source digital archives provide you with access to historical newspapers and newspaper clippings, personal journals, photographs, magazines and more!  

Discover Queer McGill’s History 

A small search for “Gay McGill”, present day Queer McGill, in the Archives of Human Sexuality and Gender reveals numerous digitized documents that help us relive Queer McGill’s history as one of the first and most influential LGBTQ+ organizations at McGill, in Québec, and in Canada. Learn about the 1974 Gay McGill Civil Rights Public Forum, an article published in The Gay Times. Rediscover the 1979, 1981 and 1988  Gai(e) Danse posters for the dances Queer McGill held on campus. Read what quite possibly might be the first mention of Queer McGill (formally Gay McGill) in the July-August edition of Body Politic (Toronto, Ontario). If you find any other interesting historical things about McGill and its Queer Community, let us know in the comments!  

Scholarly Articles Databases 

In addition to these primary source treasure troves, you will also find important databases for scholarly publications, like the Gender Watch and Gender Studies Database. These two databases provide access to journals that published scholarly articles on gender and sexuality studies.  

Physical Redpath Display 

Finally, we invite you to look at the physical display located in the main hallway of the Redpath Library Building. You’ll see a selection of novels, encyclopedia, and essays on various aspects of Queer Studies. Note that this is only a small fraction of the available print resources we have at the Humanities and Social Sciences Library. If there is a specific title on display that you would like to borrow, please contact hssl.library@mcgill.ca.  

Living Queer Collection 

Our libraries are for everyone and open to all. We like to extend this philosophy to our collection management practices. In this spirit, if you have purchase suggestions that you believe we should add to the McGill Library, please reach out to the Liaison Librarian for LGBTQ+. Our collection is constantly growing, and the best way to strengthen it is collaboratively.  

Happy Queer History Month to all and feel free to reach out to Michael David MILLER, Liaison Librarian for LGBTQ+ Studies for any questions, comments or suggestions. 

A special thank you to our staff who helped assemble the physical and virtual displays. 

  • Vanja Lugonjic, HSSL Outreach Assistant 
  • Kristen Goodall, Library Assistant 

Redpath Book Display: Hispanic Heritage Month

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On June 20th, 2020 Quebec’s National Assembly declared the month of October Hispanic Heritage Month. This coincides with Canada’s Latin American Heritage Month Act, which was sanctioned by Parliament in 20198. Both acts recognize the many contributions of both Hispanic and Latin American individuals to the social, economic and political development of the province and the country. The McGill Library is joining the celebrations with our October book display, which features books and films written by Hispanic and Latin American authors.  You can view the physical display on the main floor of the Redpath Library or check out our online version.

Hispanic and Latin American: Is there a difference? 

While many people tend to use terms like Hispanic, Latin American, Latino/a, or Latinx interchangeably, they represent different cultural or ethnic origins. Here is a quick primer:  

Hispanic: A person of Spanish or Spanish-speaking origin or ancestry. This includes Spain as well as Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America.  

Latin American: A person from the Latin American region regardless of language.     

Latino or Latina: In English North America, a person of Latin American origin or ancestry living the USA or Canada. The term was adopted by the community as a rejection the word Hispanic for the latter’s connection to Spain and Spanish colonization.  

Latinx: A gender-neutral option for Latino and Latina.  

There are even more descriptors individuals in these communities may prefer to use. Some would rather identify with their country of birth or ancestry and choose to use terms like Boricua (from Puerto Rico) or Chicano (Mexican-American). Others choose descriptors that reflect the intersection of their ethnic and racial identities like in the case of Afro-Latinas, Afro-Caribbean, Latinasians (Latin Americans of full or partial Asian descent) or Indigenous Latin Americans. 

 Below is a video that better explains the complexities on these identities:  

Redpath Book Display: Indigenous Awareness

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This year McGill celebrated its 10th annual Indigenous Awareness Weeks, from September 13th – 24th and we are also marking the 20th anniversary of the First Peoples’ House Pow Wow, which took place virtually on September 24th, 2021. On Thurssday, September 30th, Canada is recognizing the first-ever National Day of Truth and Reconcilitiation. In honour of these events, the Humanities and Social Sciences Library held a physical book display in the Redpath Library for the month of September to celebrate Indigenous voices. We have now moved that display to our online Redpath Book Display space for all to enjoy.  

This display was created by Librarians and Staff in our Indigenous Issues Interest Group, we recognize that McGill University is located on unceded territory and this list was put together by workers who are settlers and grateful guests on this land. If anyone has any comments or suggestions to improve this display, please feel free to send us an email at hssl.library@mcgill.ca.  

Here are some of the wonderful texts you can find in our Indigenous Awareness display: 

One Drum: Stories and Ceremonies for a Planet by Richard Wagamese 

One Drum draws from the foundational teachings of Ojibway tradition, the Grandfather Teachings. Focusing specifically on the lessons of humility, respect and courage, the volume contains simple ceremonies that anyone anywhere can do, alone or in a group, to foster harmony and connection. 

Split Tooth by Tanya Tagaq

Tanya Tagaq explores a world where the distinctions between good and evil, animal and human, victim and transgressor, real and imagined lose their meaning, but the guiding power of love remains. Haunting, brooding, exhilarating, and tender all at once, Tagaq moves effortlessly between fiction and memoir, myth and reality, poetry and prose, and conjures a world and a heroine readers will never forget. 

Being Together in Place: Indigenous Coexistence in a More Than Human World by Soren Larson and Jay Johnson 

Being Together in Place explores the landscapes that convene native and non-native people into sustained and difficult negotiations over their radically different interests. Using ethnographic research and a geographic perspective, this text shows activists in three sites learning how to articulate and defend their intrinsic and life-supportive ways of being – particularly to those who are intent on damaging these places. 

A Clan Mother’s Call: Reconstructing Haudenosaunee Cultural Memory by Jeannette Rodriguez

A Clan Mother’s Call articulates Haudenosaunee women’s worldview that honors women, clanship, and the earth. Over successive generations, First Nation people around the globe have experienced and survived trauma and colonization. Extensive literature documents these assaults, but few record their resilience. This book fulfills an urgent and unmet need for First Nation women to share their historical and cultural memory as a people. It is a need invoked and proclaimed by Clan Mother, Iakoiane Wakerahkats:teh, of the Mohawk Nation.