Donald Wright
Associate Professor
Donald Wright completed his degrees at Mount Allison University (BA), McGill University (MA) and the University of Ottawa (PhD). In 1998 he was a Fulbright Scholar in the Department of History at NYU. Prior to joining UNB, he held a joint appointment in the Department of History and Centre for Canadian Studies at Brock University (2000-2005). In 2011-2012, he was a Visiting Fellow at Clare Hall, University of Cambridge.
Dr. Wright's book, The Professionalization of History in English Canada, was shortlisted by the Canadian Historical Association for the Sir John A. Macdonald Prize for best book in Canadian history.
His manuscript, Donald Creighton: A Life in History, has been submitted to the University of Toronto Press.
Dr. Wright served on the executive of the Canadian Historical Association and co-edited the CHA Bulletin/Bulletin SHC (1994-2002); he co-edited of the Journal of Canadian Studies/Revue d'études canadiennes (2005-2008); and he chaired the program committee for the 2011 annual meeting of the Canadian Historical Association. He is currently a member of the CHA Nominating Committee and of the Sir John A. Macdonald Prize Committee.
Finally, he has received a number of awards in recognition of his teaching, including the UNB Arts Faculty Teaching Award (2010), the Brock University Faculty of Humanities Award for Excellence in Teaching (2005), and the St. Thomas University Student Union Honour Roll for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (1997).
You can access Dr. Wright's CV as a PDF document here.
Selected Publications:
- Introduction to Donald Creighton, The Road to Confederation, Oxford University Press, 2012
- Introduction to Donald Creighton, Canada's First Century, Oxford University Press, 2012
- "Creighton, Donald Grant," Dictionary of Canadian Biography, forthcoming
- "The Writing of the History of Canada and of South Africa," Oxford History of Historical Writing, vol. 4, Oxford University Press, 2011. Co-authored with Chris Saunders.
- The Professionalization of History in English Canada, University of Toronto Press, 2005.
- Canadian Studies: An Introductory Reader, Kendall-Hunt, 2004.
- The Canadian Historical Association: A History, Ottawa, 2003.
Courses:
- POLS 2200: The Canadian Political Experience is a full-year course. It is an examination of liberalism from the nineteenth century through to the present. Specific topics include the Rebellions, Confederation and western expansion; the suffrage movement, the welfare state, and federalism; Quebec nationalism, the Charter of Rights, and gay liberation; post-Fordism, neo-liberalism, and the re-definition of the welfare state.
- POLS 2101: The American Political Experience examines American politics in the post-1945 period. The organizing theme is the rise and fall of the New Deal Order. Specific topics include the Cold War, the expansion and contraction of the welfare state, the Civil Rights Movement, the Second Wave women's movement, the war against Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, and the rise of the New Right and the New Christian Right.
- POLS 3251: Canadian Federalism is a senior-level course that, as its name suggests, studies Canadian federalism. It recognizes that Canadian federalism is not static but changes over time to accommodate new demographic, political and fiscal realities. Specific topics include Confederation, the French-English axis, the federal-provincial axis, and the role of the JCPC and the Supreme Court.
- POLS 3247: Trudeau's Canada studies the life, times and legacy of Pierre Trudeau. Specific topics will include the changing face of Quebec nationalism, bilingualism, multiculturalism, federalism, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the failed Meech Lake Accord. Through biographies, books, movies, documentaries and letters to the editor on the occasion of his death, the course will also examine Mr. Trudeau as a cultural icon.
- HIST 6301: The Making of Canadian History is a graduate-level course in the Department of History. It surveys the writing of history in English and French Canada from the mid-nineteenth century to the present.
Contact Information:
Associate Professor
Office: Tilley 216
Phone: (506) 458-7494
