Curriculum Vitae

Joshua MacFadyen, PhD

SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Western Ontario

Research Associate, Institute of Island Studies
University of Prince Edward Island

Office: (902) 367-3547 x.208

email: jmacfad_at_uwo_ca

Professional Preparation

  • PhD., History (2009), University of Guelph, “Fashioning Flax: Industry, Region, and Work in North American Fibre and Linseed Oil, 1850-1930″ Advisor: Douglas McCalla
  • M.A. (2003), History, University of Waterloo
  • B.A. (2002), History, University of Prince Edward Island and Trent University

Select Awards and Honours

  • SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship (2010-2012)
  • Ontario Graduate Scholarships (3)
  • Newcomen Dissertation Colloquium participant
  • Ireland Fund Scholarship
  • Tri-University Doctoral Award, Guelph
  • Pammett Historical Prize, Trent University
  • Dean’s Honour List, University of Prince Edward Island

Peer Reviewed Publications

  • Novaczek, I., J. MacFadyen, and D. Bardati. « L’utilisation de la cartographie des valeurs sociales et culturelles comme outil d’adaptation aux changements climatiques dans les petites îles. » Accepted to VertigO: La revue electronique en sciences de l’environnement, special issue on climate change adaptation on small islands, forthcoming in 2011. (http://discoveryspace.upei.ca/vmp/)
  • “Breaking Sod or Breaking Even? Flax in the Northern Great Plains and Prairies, 1889-1930,” Agricultural History 83(2) (Spring 2009): pp. 221-246
  • “The Perine Flax and Lumber Mills in Ontario, 1854-1871,” Waterloo Historical Society 93 (2005): pp. 51-75
  • “‘Nip the Noxious Growth in the Bud’: Ortenberg v. Plamondon and the Roots of Canadian Anti-Hate Activism,” Canadian Jewish Studies/Études juives canadiennes 12 (2004): pp. 73-96
  • Four book reviews in Canadian Historical Review June 2010, Social History of Drugs and Alcohol 2010, Eighteenth-Century Scotland Spring 2008, and H-Net Reviews in the Humanities and Social Sciences, January 2007

Other Publications

  • “Linseed Oil,” in Heather Streets (Ed.), Commodities, Culture, and History: the Products That Have Changed the World, Facts on File, 2010, [forthcoming]
  • “Fuel Wood,” and “Cotton,” in Kathleen A. Brosnan (Ed.), Encyclopedia of American Environmental History. New York: Facts on File, 2010
  • “Scots-Irish Patterns of Settlement, Canada,” and “Irish Linen in North America,” in James P. Byrne (Ed.); Philip Coleman (Ed.); Jason King (Ed.). Ireland and the Americas. SantaBarbara: ABC-CLIO, 2008, pp. 841-845
  • Historical maps: “Ireland,” in Kevin James, Handloom Weavers in Ulster’s Linen Industry, 1815-1914, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2006
  • “Geographic Information Systems (GIS) & Rural History,” online essay for the Rural History at the University of Guelph website (2005/09), University of Guelph (www.uoguelph.ca/ruralhistory/resources)

Teaching Experience

  • 2010, Summer, Instructor, “Env 409: Special Topics – Environmental History and PEI,” Environmental Studies, University of Prince Edward Island. Cross-listed with Island Studies 409 and 614 for graduate students
  • 2006-2008, guest lectures in Economics 2720 ‘Business History,’ History 2100 ‘Pre-Confederation Canadian History,’ History 2600 ‘Post-Confederation Canadian History’
  • 2006, Winter, Instructor, “History 4620: Seminar in North American Rural History,” University of Guelph
  • 2003-2006, Teaching Assistant, ‘Pre-Confederation Canadian History,’ ‘Post-Confederation Canadian History,’ ‘Canadian Contemporary Issues,’ ‘Canadian Social History,’ University of Guelph
  • 2002-2003, Teaching Assistant, ‘History and Film,’ ‘Canadian History: Pre-Confederation,’ University of Waterloo

Scholarly Presentations

  • 2010/03/11, “Hewers of Wood: Canadian Biomass Energy in the Age of Coal,” American Society for Environmental History, Portland, OR (podcast available on the NiCHE website http://niche-canada.org/node/9140)
  • 2009/10/3, “Profitable Subsistence: Flax in Local and Transnational Commodity Chains, 1850-1871,” Bringing Subsistence out of the Shadows: An Environmental History Workshop on Subsistence Relationships, Nipissing University, North Bay, ON
  • 2009/05/27, “Mennonites and Mixed Paint: Canada’s flax commodity chain, 1878-1901,” Canadian Historical Association, Carleton University
  • 2008/06/20, NiCHE sponsored semi-plenary panel, “‘Settlement’: An Environmental History Perspective,” The West and Beyond: Historians Past, Present, Future, University of Alberta, Edmonton
  • 2008/04/12, “Sodbusting and Trust Building: Flax and Linseed Oil in Canada and the United States, 1860-1930,” Business History Conference, Sacramento, CA
  • 2007/06/01, “Threads in a Web of Trade: Reciprocity and Flax in the United States and Canada,” Business History Conference, Cleveland, OH
  • 2007/04/14, “Exploring History Through the Life of a Commodity: The Case of Flax,” Canada on Display, Trent University, Peterborough
  • 2007/03/01, “Prelude to Sodbusting: The Environmental Impact of Promoting and Growing Flax in Ontario & Saskatchewan,” American Society for Environmental History, Baton Rouge, LA
  • 2006/03/17, “The Gangs of Waterloo South: Flax Farms and Wage Labour in Rural Ontario, 1854-1919,” McGill-Queen’s Graduate Conference in History, McGill University, Montreal
  • 2005/11/17, with Jenny Marvin, “Vectorizing Flax Farms and Rural Space,” GIS Day, University of Guelph
  • 2005/06/22, “125 Years of Scots-Irish Resettlement in Canada, 1766-1891,” Canadian Association for Irish Studies Conference, National University of Ireland, Maynooth
  • 2005/05/30, “Rural Adaptations: The Perine Flax and Lumber Mills in Ontario, 1854-1871,” 84th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Historical Association, University of Western Ontario

Other Academic Activities

  • 2009-2010, Co-organizer, Time and a Place: Environmental Histories Environmental Futures and Prince Edward Island, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, PE
  • 2004-2009, Webmaster, Rural History at the University of Guelph website (www.uoguelph.ca/ruralhistory)
  • 2006-2008, Treasurer, Graduate Students’ Committee of the Canadian Historical Association
  • 2005-2006, Co-organizer, WHEATS (Workshop for the History of Environment, Agriculture, Technology & Science), 6-8 October, 2006, London, ON
  • 2004-2006 Graduate Representative, Department of History, Graduate Students’ Association, University of Guelph


Industry, Region, and Work in North American Fibre and Linseed Oil, 1850-1930.