Saskatchewan Master Storyteller to Receive Distinguished Researcher Award

Posted May 11, 2004


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 11, 2004 2004-05-17-OTHER

Saskatchewan Master Storyteller to Receive Distinguished Researcher Award

A University of Saskatchewan historian whose work has brought alive dozens
of rich and vibrant stories from the province's past will receive the
Distinguished Researcher Award at the May 27 convocation.

Professor Bill Waiser is one of Canada's leading historians, specializing
in the western and northern Prairies. The award, which carries a $1,000
prize, recognizes a U of S faculty member who has made a major
contribution to knowledge through research and publication.

"Perhaps more than any other Canadian historian, Professor Waiser has
found innovative ways of reaching out to general audiences with the
insights that make the history of our region come alive," says U of S
Vice-President Research Steven Franklin. "He has also done a great deal to
energize the study of history on our campus, contributing to a rich
experience for our undergraduates and graduate students alike."

He has written eight books and is currently working on his ninth, a
history of Saskatchewan commissioned by the U of S and supported by the
government of Saskatchewan as well as the federal department of Canadian
Heritage for the provincial centennial. His latest book, All Hell Can't
Stop Us: The On-to-Ottawa Trek and Regina Riot, won a 2003 Saskatchewan
Book Award for non-fiction.

An earlier work, Loyal till Death: Indians and the North West Rebellion
was co-authored with Professor Blair Stonechild, head of Indigenous
Studies at the First Nations University of Canada. The book was praised
for its sensitivity in telling the stories of Indians during this
turbulent time. It took a 1997 Saskatchewan Book Award for First Peoples
Publishing and was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award
for non-fiction.

"No one in Saskatchewan for over a generation has worked as successfully
to engage both scholars and the province at large in a debate about its
essential character," says Ken Coates, fellow history professor and dean
of the College of Arts and Science. "Few scholars anywhere in this country
have contributed as much, and as consistently, to the explication of
regional society."

Waiser's award-winning efforts also include the broadcast medium. Working
with CBC producer Paul Dederick, he hosted and co-produced Looking Back, a
series of nearly 50 six-minute segments aired on CBC TV's Saskatchewan Now
early evening news from 1998 to 2001.

Looking Back was praised for its approach of telling historical stories
from the perspective of people who were there. There was the boy who
skipped school and so witnessed the 1931 Estevan riot from his hiding spot
inside a garbage can. There was the woman who lost both grandparents to
Saskatchewan's worst blizzard in 1947, and to this day cannot face
February 2 without tears. There was the friction in Moose Jaw with the
arrival of the British Commonwealth Air Training Program and its dashing
British pilots who wooed the local young women, creating friction that may
have led to the 1944 riots.

Looking Back was short listed for the Pierre Berton Award and received an
honourable mention at the Columbus International Film and Video
Festival. Material from the program has been adapted into the 2003 book
Looking Back: True Tales from Saskatchewan's Past.

Waiser is adept at satisfying the rigorous demands of scholarly
work. He has published 13 refereed articles and served as chair of the
advisory board of the scholarly journal Canadian Historical Review from
2000 to 2003. He is an active member of local and regional historical
societies, and has served on the board of Canada's National History
Society since 2001.

Waiser brings his enthusiasm for our shared history to the lecture hall
and his mentorship of numerous graduate students. He has supervised three
PhD students and 17 Master's students. In 2002, he received the College of
Arts and Science Teaching Excellence Award.

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For more information, contact:

Bill Waiser
Department of History
College of Arts and Science
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-5801
waiser@duke.usask.ca

Michael Robin
Research Communications
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-2427
michael.robin@usask.ca
www.usask.ca/research