Taking into consideration the theoretical literature on the body generated in various disciplines and recent approaches to the body in Canadian historical writing, this essay argues that attention to the power of the body as defined by Spinoza, Nietzsche, and Gilles Deleuze can offer new possibilities for historical praxis. An exploration of works on women’s bodies and medicine, children’s bodies, the bodies of First Nations peoples, and the treatment of dead bodies, as well as a discussion of the author’s work on vagrancy, homelessness, and city building on Canada’s west coast, demonstrates that doing history through the body does not simply mean doing body history. Conceiving the body as a site of historical investigation can flesh out and shed new light on many seemingly disembodied historical processes, such as relationships between children and parents, colonization, community development, and city building.

As many women's historians well know, collaborative projects that bring together a diversity of voices and research expertise have deeply enriched feminist scholarship and helped to democratize intellectual work in the academy. So what better way to report on "Continuities and Changes: Fourteenth Berkshire Conference on the History of Women"--a three-day, 204-session feminist history conference that left many folks feeling enlightened, exhilarated, and exhausted--than to do so collaboratively? Furthermore, the impressive mix of scholars, activists, and projects that characterized this (as other) Berks program deserved more than one individual's response, and, together, we could give fuller coverage of the conference. We are all Canadian but represent a mix of regular Berks goers and first-time participants; museum-and universitybased historians; and research interests spanning women's labor, ethnic radicalism, homelessness, sexuality, and bodies.Although quite large (approximately 1,400 people attended this year) the Berks has a very different "feel" than other meetings of comparable size. It has the kind of warm and friendly atmosphere that enables strangers to smile at each other and continue debates--that began in sessions--over coffee, drinks, or meals. First-time participants also commented on the diverse range of scholars from around the globe and the stimulating mix of research papers, politics, networking, and social activities.The 2008 meeting, held at the University of Minnesota from June 12-15, was a celebration of the Berkshire Conference's thirty-fifth year, and, in line with the program's anniversary theme of "Continuity and Change," there were a variety of panels that encouraged reflection on older and continuing influences and changing paradigms within the field on influential historians (such as Mary Hartman and Linda Gordon) and continuing professional

“There is no ‘Islam’ and there is no ‘West’,” boldly proclaimed the programof the Trudeau Foundation’s conference held in Vancouver, BC, Canada on16-18 November 2006. Rather, the premise was that there are numerousIslams (religious, political, and geographical) and many Wests. Given thiscontext, some 160 scholars, activists, and policymakers came together underthe more general heading of “Muslims in Western Societies” to discuss,debate, and make sense of the complex interactions among and manifestationsof these many Islams and many Wests.The event was organized around five themes: “Religious Belief, Secularism,and the State”; “Immigrant Societies, Cultural Memory, and CulturalChange”; “The Multicultural Challenge”; “Muslim Women inWestern Societies”; and “Muslims, Political Violence, and the SecurityEstablishment.” Plenary sessions were held on each theme. In addition,because it was a working conference, attendees participated in discussiongroups organized around these same themes and presented summaryaccounts of their two-day deliberations in a closing plenary.Perhaps because of the Canadian setting, multiculturalism was one ofthe concepts that received much attention and served as a touchstone duringmany of the weekend’s discussions. During the panel on the challenge ofmulticulturalism, Will Kymlicka (Queen’s University) outlined the historyof multiculturalism in Canada and argued that in order to accommodate thecurrent concerns of Muslims and other religious minorities, Canada mustupdate its multiculturalism policy. In the early 1970s, Canada officiallybecame “multicultural” at the behest of Ukrainian Canadians who wanted toprotect their language and culture within the framework of official biculturalismand bilingualism policies. In the 1980s, the logic of anti-racismentered multicultural debates, and now, Kymlicka insisted, religion hasarisen as a cultural element in need of protection. He urged that we update,rather than abandon, Canada’s multicultural policy.In “Muslims, Political Violence, and the Security Establishment” (and inthe working group on the same topic, in which I participated), Rex Brynen ...

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