Linda Ambrose
Biography
The latest piece of my life story has to do with this: The Laurentian University 2018-2023 Strategic Plan launched on January 17, 2018. In my role as Special Advisor to the President, I guided the process of developing our strategic plan for the next five years.
Here's a media interview I did with CBC Morning North about the plan: http://www.cbc.ca/listen/shows/morning-north/segment/15494692
And here's the plan itself: https://www3.laurentian.ca/strategicplan/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/StrategicPlanENG_2018_electronic.pdf
Before I was involved with strategic planning, I was (and still am!) a History Professor.
I have been teaching Canadian History in the History Department at Laurentian since 1994. My areas of expertise include women's history, gender history and family history. I am an active researcher with publications on rural women's organizations, (specifically the Women's Institute movement), biography (A Great Rural Sisterhood: Madge Robertson Watt and the ACWW is my latest book with U of T Press, 2015), and Canadian Pentecostalism (my current project). I belong to several professional associations including the Canadian Historical Association (CHA), the Ontario Women's History Network (OWHN), the Canadian Committee on Women's History (CCWH), the Rural Women's Studies Association (RWSA), the Agricultural History Society (AHS), the Society for Pentecostal Studies (SPS), and the European Research Network on Global Pentecostalism (GloPent).
Education
- University of Waterloo (PhD)
- University of Waterloo (MA)
- University of Waterloo (BA Hons)
Academic Appointments
Professor of History
Member, History MA
Member, Human Studies PhD
Fellow, Thorneloe University
On The Web
June 7, 2017: When Scholars Collaborate. A blog describing my new co-edited book, Women in Agriculture: Professionalizing Rural Life in North America and Europe, 1880-1965 University of Iowa Press, 2017. The book came about through a series of collaborations with fellow scholars of rural women's history in the USA, UK, and Netherlands. Here's the blog: https://ruralwomensstudies.wordpress.com/2017/06/07/when-scholars-collaborate/ The link to the book in the University of Iowa Press: Women in Agriculture, University of Iowa Press: https://www.scribd.com/document/328882594/University-of-Iowa-Press-Spring-2017-catalog
November 28, 2016: Where did all the women go? A podcast interview with New Leaf Network, the interdenominational church planting strategy group. When New Leaf heard my CBC interview (below) they decided to connect with me to hear more about the history of women establishing churches across Canada. Among other things, we talked about commemoration and why the roles of those founding women are sometimes hard to find in denominations' official histories. Listen here: http://www.newleafnetwork.ca/podcast/ep-27-happened-women-history-women-church-planting-paoc-dr-linda-ambrose/
July 7, 2016: What happened to the Pentecostal women? On CBC Morning North (Sudbury) with Markus Schwabe as part of the series SummerU, featuring researchers from Laurentian University. Here's the link to our chat, with a bonus clip of Sister Aimee Semple McPherson preaching: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury
April 25, 2016: Right on the money? On CBC The Current with Anna Maria Tremonti to discuss the process of selecting which Canadian woman should be featured on our currency. Spoiler alert: my pick is Agnes Macphail! Listen here: http://www.cbc.ca/radio/popup/audio/listen.html?autoPlay=true&clipIds=&mediaIds=2687407236&contentarea=radio&subsection1=radio1&subsection2=currentaffairs&subsection3=the_current&contenttype=audio&title=2016/04/25/1.3551316-the-current-for-april-25-2016&contentid=1.3551316
March 15, 2016: A report based on the CBC radio report about women on Canadian currency. I did this interview with History MA student, Laura Robinson, who suggested the idea of adding women's faces to Canadian money through a bill she introduced when she was a member of Laurentian's model parliamentarian in Ottawa in January 2016: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/historians-look-to-have-northern-ontario-woman-on-canadian-currency-1.3491867
March 7, 2016: A guest blog I wrote for Voice of Women about using film in my Women's History Class HIST3167: http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/vowpeace/2016/03/history-feminism-still-shows-it-pays-to-be-radical
June 27, 2015: this report about the "strawberry social" and book signing for A Great Rural Sisterhood (UofT Press, 2015) in Stoney Creek, Ontario with the Federated Women's Institutes of Ontario: http://www.thefreepressnewspaper.com/strawberry-social-at-erland-lee-museum-june-27th/
May 2015: And blog post by Jenni Waugh about a talk I gave on Madge Watt in Pershore, England in May in connection with Professor Maggie Andrews's project "World War One in the Vale": https://ww1inthevale.wordpress.com/2015/06/12/madge-watt-and-the-great-rural-sisterhood/
Pentecostals and Feminism? I gave a public lecture claiming that the Vancouver-based Rev. Bernice Gerard (1924-2008) was a feminist. That comes as a surprise to those who knew her as a Pentecostal pastor, chaplain, and radio/TV personality. But it might be even more surprising for those who remember her work as a city alderman, a moral crusader, and a staunch anti-abortionist. My paper will be published later this year in an edited collection published by Brill. Meanwhile, here's a link to some of the conversation generated in Vancouver by that talk: http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2014/03/04/was-pioneer-tv-preacher-bernice-gerard-a-feminist/
Watch a video of Professor Ambrose as she spoke with Canada's History about her teaching and research interests here:
http://www.canadashistory.ca/Education/New-Research/Video/Laurentian-University---Linda-Ambrose
Research
There are two strands to my current research interests: RURAL WOMEN'S HISTORY and THE HISTORY OF CANADIAN PENTECOSTALISM.
RURAL WOMEN'S HISTORY: Watch for it in Spring 2017! My lastest book, coedited with Joan M. Jensen, is Women in Agriculture: Professionalizing Rural Life in North America and Europe, 1880-1965 (University of Iowa Press, forthcoming spring 2017). The contributors in this volume show how women in the USA, Canada, the UK, and the Netherlands have played a variety of roles in agricultural professions for longer than one might think. My previous book, A Great Rural Sisterhood: Madge Robertson Watt and the ACWW, (University of Toronto Press, 2015) is a biography of the woman who founded the Women's Institutes in the UK during World War One and went on to become founding president of the Associated Country Women of the World in 1933. I have an article "The New Woman in Rural British Columbia: Madge Robertson Watt and the Women's Institutes, 1893-1913," in the last issue of Pacific Northwest Quarterly. I gave a conference presentation in September 2014 at the National Women's History Conference at the University of Worcester in the UK. I also presented conference papers on rural themes (rural feminism, the influence of Dorothy Schwieder, publishing in rural women's history, and gender constructions in Ontario 4-H) at the Rural Women's Studies Conference in San Marcos, Texas (February 2015). I chaired a panel of amazing women scholars on sources in rural women's history in honour of Joan Jensen at the Agricultural History Society Conference in Kentucky (June 2015). I am working with Joan Jensen on a co-edited collection of essays on "The New Woman and the New Patriarchy in Agricultural Professions."
HISTORY OF CANADIAN PENTECOSTALISM: Hot off the press - November 2016 has been a great month for publications to appear! My latest papers are now available: 1) Linda M. Ambrose “Canadian Pentecostal Women in Ministry: The Case of Bernice Gerard and Feminist Ideologies” in Margaret English de Alminana and Lois Olena, eds. Women in Pentecostal and Charismatic Ministry: Informing a Dialogue on Gender, Church, and Ministry. (Leiden, NL: Brill, 2016): 229-246; and 2) Linda M. Ambrose “Gender History in Newfoundland Pentecostalism: Alice Belle Garrigus and Beyond,” PentecoStudies: An Interdisciplinary Journal for Research on the Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements 15, 2 (2016): 172-199.
During my sabbatical year (2014-15) I spent time on my ongoing project on the gender history of Canadian Pentecostal women in ministry during the 20th century. This project is comprised of a series of biographical studies of women across Canada whose ministry roles included evangelists, pastors, missionaries, bible college instructors, musicians and writers. I am exploring these women through archival collections and so far, this project has taken me to archives in British Columbia (Summit Pacific College, the University of British Columbia, and the City of Vancouver); in Ontario (the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada Archives in Mississauga); and in September-October 2014, to Newfoundland (Centre for Newfoundland Studies at Memorial University, the Rooms - Newfoundland Provincial Archives, Pentecostal Assemblies of Newfoundland and Labrador, and private collections in St. John's and Bay Roberts). I have published some of this work in the Journal of the Canadian Historical Association, Historical Papers: The Journal of the Canadian Society of Church History, and Pneuma: the Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies. I also have a chapter in the edited collection, Worth Fighting For: Canada's Tradition of War Resistance from 1812 to the War on Terror. My chapter is on Pentecostalism and war resistance (Toronto: Between the Lines, 2015). I also presented parts of this work at the Society for Pentecostal Studies in Lakeland, FL in March 2015 and at the Canadian Society of Church History at the Canadian Congress of Social Sciences and Humanities in Ottawa in June 2015. This year, I presented at the Canadian Soceity of Church History in Calgary in June, and at the Canadian History of Education Association in Waterloo in October.
RESEARCH FUNDING: My work has been funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Laurentian University Research Fund.
Awards
2005: Article Award - Ontario Historical Society’s Ridell Award for the best article in Ontario History published in 2004. For Ambrose, Linda M., "Better and Happier Men and Women: The Agricultural Instruction Act, 1913-1924" in Historical Studies in Education/Revue de l'éducation 16, 2 (2004): 257-85.
2005: Laurentian University Teaching Excellence Award. Nominated by students and colleagues.
2000. Laurentian University Status of Women Achievement Award. For work in promoting women’s history to the university campus and the Sudbury community.
1999: Book Award - Ontario Historical Society's Alison Prentice Award for Women's History. For Ambrose, Linda M. For Home and Country: The Centennial History of the Women's Institutes in Ontario. Boston Mills Press, 1996.
Teaching
Check out this guest blog I wrote about using film in HIST3167 classroom - Themes in Contemporary Canadian Women's History: http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/vowpeace/2016/03/history-feminism-still-shows-it-pays-to-be-radical
Publications
a) Books:
Ambrose, Linda M., and Joan M. Jensen, eds. Women in Agriculture: Professionalizing Rural Life in North America and Europe, 1880-1965 Iowa City, IA: University of Iowa Press, 2017. https://www.scribd.com/document/328882594/University-of-Iowa-Press-Spring-2017-catalog
Ambrose, Linda M. A Great Rural Sisterhood: Madge Robertson Watt and the Associated Country Women of the World. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2015.
Ambrose, Linda M.; Bray, R. Matthew; Burke, Sara; Dennie, Donald; and Gaudreau, Guy (eds). Laurentian University: A History. Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2010.
Ambrose, Linda M. Women's Institutes in Canada: The First One Hundred Years, 1897-1997 Ottawa: Federated Women's Institutes of Canada, 2000.
Ambrose, Linda M. For Home and Country: The Centennial History of the Women's Institutes in Ontario. Boston Mills Press, 1996.
b) Chapters in Academic Books
Ambrose, Linda M. “Canadian Pentecostal Women in Ministry: The Case of Bernice Gerard and Feminist Ideologies” in Margaret English de Alminana and Lois Olena, eds. Women in Pentecostal and Charismatic Ministry: Informing a Dialogue on Gender, Church, and Ministry. (Leiden, NL: Brill, 2016): 229-246.
Ambrose, Linda M. “Principal Purdie Objects: Canadian Pentecostal Bible College Students during World War Two,” in Lara Campbell, Michael Dawson, Catherine Gidney (eds), A History of War Resistance in Canada, 106-117 (Toronto: Between the Lines, 2015).
Ambrose, Linda M. "Canadian Pentecostal Women in Ministry: The Case of Bernice Gerard and Feminist Ideologies," in Margaret A. De Alminana and Lois Olena (eds), Women in Leadership: Brill Global Pentecostal Charismatic Study Series (Leiden & Boston: Brill Academic Publishers, forthcoming 2015).
Ambrose, Linda M. “Aimee Semple McPherson,” in Adam Stewart, ed., A Handbook of Pentecostal Christianity, (Northern Illinois University Press, 2012): 142-146.
Ambrose, Linda M., “Women: In a Man’s World: The Early Years, 1960 – 1972,” in Matt Bray, ed., Laurentian University: A History, (Kingston and Montreal: McGill-Queen’s Press, 2010): 250-259.
Ambrose, Linda M., “Women: Decidedly No Cause for Rejoicing: Identifying Women’s Situation,1972–1985,” in Matt Bray, ed., Laurentian University: A History, (Kingston and Montreal: McGill-Queen’s Press, 2010): 260-271.
Ambrose, Linda M., “Women: Policies and Practices for Equity and Equality: 1985 to Present,” in Matt Bray, ed., Laurentian University: A History, (Kingston and Montreal: McGill-Queen’s Press, 2010): 272-281.
Ambrose, Linda M., “Faculty: Early Years, 1960-1972,” in Matt Bray, ed., Laurentian University: A History, (Kingston and Montreal: McGill-Queen’s Press, 2010): 291-302.
Ambrose, Linda M., “Faculty: Consolidation and Certification, 1972-1985” in Matt Bray, ed., Laurentian University: A History, (Kingston and Montreal: McGill-Queen’s Press, 2010): 303-311.
Ambrose, Linda M., “Faculty: From the Strikes and Social Contract, to Growth and Expansion, 1985 to present,” in Matt Bray, ed., Laurentian University: A History, (Kingston and Montreal: McGill-Queen’s Press, 2010): 312-322.
Ambrose, Linda M., “Cartoons and Commissions: Advice to Postwar Rural Youth in Ontario,” Reprinted in People, Places, and Times: Readings in Canadian Social History Volume 2: Post-Confederation. Cynthia R. Comacchio and Elizabeth Jane Errington, eds., 278-93. Toronto: Thomas Nelson, 2006.
Ambrose, Linda M., “Canadian Youth Commission,” in The Oxford Companion to Canadian History. Gerald Hallowell, ed., 111. Oxford & Toronto: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Ambrose, Linda M., “4-H,” in The Oxford Companion to Canadian History. Gerald Hallowell, ed., 235. Oxford & Toronto: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Ambrose, Linda M., “Women’s Institutes,” in The Oxford Companion to Canadian History. Gerald Hallowell, ed., 672. Oxford & Toronto: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Ambrose, Linda M., "Rural Women's Organizations in the Interwar Years: the Case of the Ontario Women's Institutes" in Canada, Confederation to Present: An Interactive History. Bob Hesketh and Chris Hackett, eds. Edmonton: Chinook Multimedia Inc., 2001 [CD Rom]
Ambrose, Linda M., "Ontario Women's Institutes and the Work of Local History," in Alison Prentice and Beverly Boutilier, eds., 75-98. Creating Memory: English Canadian Women and the Work of History. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1997.
Ambrose, Linda M., "The Women's Institutes of Northern Ontario, 1905-1930: Immitators or Innovators?" in Margaret Kechnie and Marge Reitsma-Street (eds). Changing Lives: Women in Northern Ontario. 263-274.Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1996.
Ambrose, Linda M., "Collecting Youth Opinion: The Research of the Canadian Youth Commission" in Gordon Dodds, Alvin Esau, and Russell Smandych (eds). Dimensions of Childhood: Essays on the History of Children and Youth in Canada. 63-84.Winnipeg: The Legal Research Institute University of Manitoba, 1991.
c) Journal Articles
Ambrose, Linda M., “Aimee Semple McPherson: Gender Theory, Worship, and the Arts,” Pneuma: The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies 39 (2017): 105-122.
Ambrose, Linda M. “Gender History in Newfoundland Pentecostalism: Alice Belle Garrigus and Beyond,” PentecoStudies: An Interdisciplinary Journal for Research on the Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements 15, 2 (2016): 172-199.
Ambrose, Linda M., "The New Woman in Rural British Columbia: Madge Robertson Watt and the Women's Institutes, 1893-1913," Pacific Northwest Quarterly 105 (Winter 2013/14): 3-11.
Ambrose, Linda M., and Payne, Leah. “Reflections on the Potential of Gender Theory for North American Pentecostal History,” Pneuma: The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies 36, 1 (2014): 45-63.
Ambrose, Linda M., “On the Edge of War and Society: Canadian Pentecostal Bible School Students in the 1940s,” Journal of the Canadian Historical Association 2013 New Series, 24, 1 (2014): 215-245.
Ambrose, Linda M. “Thinking Through the Methodological and Theoretical Quandaries of Gender and Canadian Pentecostal History,” Canadian Journal of Pentecostal Charismatic Christianity 3 (2012): 70-88. https://journal.twu.ca/index.php/CJPC/article/view/75/56
Ambrose, Linda M. “Establishing a Gendered Authority through Pentecostal Publications: The Writings of Zelma Argue, 1920-1969,” in Historical Papers: Journal of the Canadian Society of Church History, (2009): 69-80.
Ambrose, Linda M. “Zelma and Beulah Argue: Sisters in the Canadian Pentecostal Movement,” in Historical Papers: Journal of the Canadian Society of Church History, (2008): 81-102.
Ambrose, Linda M., and Kristin Hall. “A New Woman in Print and Practice: The Canadian Literary Career of Madge Robertson Watt, 1890-1907,” History of Intellectual Culture; 7, 1 (2007): Available online: http://www.ucalgary.ca/hic • ISSN 1492-7810
Ambrose, Linda M. “Our Last Frontier: Race, Region, and Imperialism in a Northern Canadian Rural Women’s Organization,” Canadian Historical Review 86, 2 (June 2005): 257-84.
Ambrose, Linda M. “Quarantine in Question: The 1913 Investigation at William Head, B.C.” Canadian Bulletin of Medical History/Bulletin canadien d’histoire de la medicine 22, 1 (2005): 139-54.
Ambrose, Linda M. “Better and Happier Men and Women: The Agricultural Instruction Act, 1913-1924,” Historical Studies in Education/Revue d’histoire de l’ėducation 16,2 (2004):257-85.
Ambrose, Linda M. “Forever Lunching: Food, Power and Politics in Ontario Women’s Organizations,” Popular Culture Review 13,1 (January 2002): 7-17.
Ambrose, Linda M. “Cartoons and Commissions: Advice to Postwar Rural Youth in Ontario,” Ontario History XCIII, 1 (Spring 2001): 57-79.
Ambrose, Linda M. "Social Control or Social Feminism? Two Views of the Ontario Women's Institutes" with Margaret Kechnie. Agricultural History 73, 2 (Spring 1999): 222-237.
Ambrose, Linda M. "`What Are the Good of Those Meetings Anyway?': Explaining the Early Popularity of the Ontario Women's Institutes" Ontario History LXXXVII, 1 (Spring 1995):1-19.
Ambrose, Linda M. "`Working Day and Night Helping Dick': Women in Post-War Planning on the Canadian Youth Commission, 1942-48" Historical Studies in Education/Revue d'histoire de l'education 3, 1 (Spring 1991): 75-92.