Doctor in Training - Life as a PhD Student

Hello blog world! Sorry for the massive delay in writing another adventure from the archives. Things have been a little hectic but the good news is that a potential publication on Ugandan Asians in Canada may be available for all of you to read in the coming months! Without any further ado let's get into this week's find from the archives. We have an updated memorandum to cabinet from September 1972 and it follows up from the previous memorandum submitted in August featured in adventure from the archives part II . What: Memorandum to the Prime Minister's office/ Cabinet Who: Sent by Bryce Mackasey, Minister for Manpower and Immigration When: September 13th 1972 Where: Ottawa So What: Marks the first official increase of Ugandan Asian expellees to come to Canada and proposes that Canada accept anyone who qualifies under the points system as well as an additional 1,000 who would require special humanitarian assistance. p age 1...

Hello blog world! Recently I attended my first ever TEDx Conference in Toronto this past Thursday. It was a truly inspiring event with a broad range of speakers covering everything from the cosmos to singing as a giant group of over 1000 people to understanding racial profiling in the police force and coming out to your family as a lesbian comedian who is half Swiss and half Pakistani. I really wanted to share some of my thoughts and major take aways from some of the excellent speakers. The theme was brilliant - relentless pursuits - it was all about dreams that we chase but may never achieve. It pushed the delegates and online viewers to ask how far are you willing to go for the chance to be happier? Some of the interesting take aways and talk for me include: The idea of taking responsibility to challenge barriers we face. "If you had a chance to save an entire species, would you turn away?" - Gabriela Mastromonaco ( Curator of Reproductive Programs and Resea...

Hey everyone, this is a 15 minute youtube clip that features the full presentation I made at the 2014 Mobility and Immobility Conference held at Western University this past April. It explores the concept of diaspora and encourages listeners to challenge their definitions of home and belonging. The conference was hosted by Ryerson University's Centre of Immigration and Settlement and Western University's Centre for Research on Migration and Ethnic Relations .  The presentation itself was well received and I am also grateful to the audience as well as my supervisor for their feedback. I do believe the presentation could have been delivered more effectively with a less reading off the page and definitely a lot fewer "umms" especially in the beginning. I'm always striving to improve my presentation skills so please don't be shy to let me know where things could be better. There's always room for improvement :)  

Hello blog world! Here is the latest instalment of the adventures from the archives series. This week features an early press release after the initial expulsion period ended on November 3rd 1972. What:  Press release on Ugandan Asian refugees in Canada Who: Robert Andras (the new Minister for Manpower and Immigration after Bryce Mackasey) When: December 5th 1972 Where: Ottawa So what? The press release makes in quite clear that there was a considerable amount of assistance on the ground for resettling Ugandan Asian such as courses under the Canada Manpower Training Program and the 12 Ugandan Asian committees set up across Canada. Page 3 - Click to zoom Page 1 - Click to zoom Page 2 - Click to zoom Take a look at this short press release to get a sense of how Ugandan Asian refugees were initially adapting to Canadian society. Some highlights and statics from the press release are: " Nearly 50% of the 2,200 Ugandan Asians who registered for employment...

Hello blog world, Here is the latest segment of the adventure from the archives series. This week's article is a cabinet submission to Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau  two days before Canada announced their decision to send an immigration team to Kampala. I encourage you to read through the actual memorandum but as always I have included some highlights below :) What: Memorandum to the parliamentary cabinet Who: Bryce Mackasey - Minister of Manpower and Immigration When: August 22nd 1972 Where: Ottawa So what: The document makes it clear that there were several motives behind Canada's involvement in the resettlement of Ugandan Asian refugees. It also highlights the complications as to whether this was just an excellent opportunity to accept a large number of highly skilled individuals, to appease Britain's pressure to get involved, or the Canadian government acting on pure humanitarian intentions. Was is truly opportunism or humanitarianism? As you'...

Hello blog world! Here is the latest segment of the adventures from the archives series. This week we have some absolutely fascinating pages written by Idi Amin himself!  What: A letter addressed to Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau from President of Uganda Idi Amin addressing the expulsion decree Who: Prime Minister Trudeau and President / Major General Idi Amin When : October 14th 1974  Where: Hand delivered to PM. Trudeau in Paris Why: This letter is in response to PM. Trudeau's initial letter which encouraged President Amin to reconsider the expulsion decree So what:  Provides a crucial historical evidence of the motivations of President Amin. Using his own words President Amin justifies the expulsion decree and makes it very clear that he will not reconsider the decree he had issued on August 4th 1972. Here  are a couple highlights from the letter that stuck out for me: " Since colonial days, the economy of Uganda especially ...

Hello blog world,  Here is the latest instalment from the adventures from the archives series. I was fortunate enough to be granted access to personal correspondence between the Aga Khan and Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau . I had always wondered how close these two actually were especially considering how it has taken on a life of its own within the Ismaili community in Canada.  It turns out that they were actually very close friends. Beyond the fact that the Aga Khan was a honorary pallbearer  at Prime Minister Trudeau's funeral and that Justin Trudeau commonly refers to the Aga Khan as " Uncle Karim ", these letters showcased how they were indeed good friends. Their letters were often signed off with "in friendship". The photo that I have included was from a letter PM. Trudeau had sent to the Aga Khan congratulating him and his wife at the time Princess Salima on the birth of their first child Princess Zahra .  A photo of Princess Z...

Hello blog world! My apologies for the delay in posting on these two amazing events that happened on June 20th in Ottawa. The first was World Refugee Day that was celebrated at Ottawa City Hall with a wonderful mix of speeches, presentations, poetry, and live performances. Mr. De Angelis delivering the opening remarks at the flag raising ceremony Some of the distinguished guests included Furio De Angelis  (the head of UNHCR in Canada),  Senator Mubina Jaffer (a Ugandan Asian refugee), Senator Thanh Hai Ngo (a Vietnamese Refugee), Jim Watson (Mayor of Ottawa), and Chris Alexander (Citizenship and Immigration Minister). To be entirely honest the commemoration embodied both the hope and despair of refugee life in the 21st century. As Mr. De Angelis remarked in his opening address, the world currently has more refugees than it has ever had since the Second World War. That means there are more than 51.2 million refugees  worldwide. As the world has become ...

Hello blog world! A huge thank you to William J. Turkel and Mary Beth Start who I collaborated with in my latest publication. This one is a bit of a twist from what I usually work on and I am very proud of it. It is published in the IEEE Annals of the History of Computing and looks at grounding digital history within the history of computing. It is a short one, so have a quick read, and as always send me comments or questions.  http://www.computer.org/csdl/mags/an/2014/02/man2014020072.pdf

Hello blog world! Sorry for the delay on sending this one out but I have finally gotten around to uploading part II :) Today's latest treasure from the archives is a draft of a public statement made by Prime Minister Trudeau. Page 1 of the draft (click on the image to zoom) Who: Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau What: Submission to the Cabinet of a draft statement to be made on August 24th 1972 (The draft is very similar to the final version) When: August 22nd, 1972 Where: Ottawa Why: This would officially mark the formal launch of the resettlement initiative by the Canadian government. As you read through the statement you will notice some very interesting details. The first is that the Prime Minister explains Canada's involvement is based on humanitarian grounds. The second reason is that the Canadian government sought to aid the British. Prime Minister Trudeau also outlines that Canada is willing to accept Ugandan Asians on an emergency basis. Wha...

Hello blog world! Before we get into the actual article below, I just wanted to quickly thank all of you who have been been following the blog. I have been absolutely shocked and humbled by how many of you are taking the time to read these posts. It really does mean a lot to me and I truly appreciate all of your support and encouragement. As always, don't be shy to get in touch with me or ask questions. Now enough of this sappiness and on to the first article! Uganda Argus, August 5th, 1972.  Here is the first article in the Adventures from the Archives series. Naturally it seemed fitting to start with the original article from the Ugandan newspaper the Argus.  It was on August 4th 1972 in an address to officiers and men of the Airborne Regiment at Tororo. Major General and President Idi Amin declared that there was no room in Uganda " for the over 80,000 Asians holding British passports who are sabotaging Uganda's economy and encouraging corruption " (Ug...

Hello blog world! Today I finally wanted to share with all of you what my dissertation topic is and why I decided to choose this topic. First is the cole's notes version of the project followed by a more in-depth look at the thesis. Ugandan Asian refugees leaving Entebbe airport in 1972 Who:  Ugandans of South Asian descent (who began migrating to Uganda in the early 1900s) who were expelled from Uganda by Idi Amin What: The resettlement of Ugandan Asian refugees in Canada. When: The expulsion decree was announced by Idi Amin on August 4th 1972 who claimed that Asians were sabotaging Uganda's economy and were given 90 days to leave the country or face extreme hardship. Where: Approximately 80,000 Ugandan Asians were expelled from Uganda with the majority going to the United Kingdom and India. However, Canada played a significant role in resettling roughly 7,000 refugees from 1972-1974. Why: I am particular attached to this topic because my mother and her family...

Hey everyone! It has been quite some time since I have put anything up on the blog but it's time for a couple updates. The first update is on the most recent guest lecture I was lucky enough to give in my supervisor Stephanie Bangarth's 3000 level lecture course: Canada in the World, Studies in Foreign Policy . Before I get into the details, I really want to publicly thank Dr. Bangarth for this wonderful opportunity to lecture in her class and I certainly learned a lot about what it's like to be on the 'other side'. Future Dr. Shez in action! Many of you who know me personally must be wondering how did this clown end up running a full 2 hour lecture on the "'Refugee Crisis' of the 1970s in Canada"? Well let me tell you it was honestly a lot more fun than I was expecting. I sat there wondering for days about how I could stand in front of a bunch of university students and just talk for 120 minutes straight. What was I going to say? Were t...