Call for Papers

Whether for commerce, exploration, war fighting or simple pleasure cruising, travel on water - oceans, seas, lakes, rivers and canals - takes many forms and has been a staple of human transportation for at least as long as the wheel. Papers are invited to address any variety of perspectives on related themes involving ships, people, ports or trade. The Society reserves first right of refusal for publication in our journal The Northern Mariner / Le Marin du nord or newsletter Argonauta as appropriate, and new scholars are invited to apply for the Panting Bursary to support travel to deliver a paper (details on our web-site: www.cnrs-scrn.org).

Ottawa, the nation's capital, is strategically placed for this conference, located at the confluence of the Gatineau and Rideau with the Ottawa Rivers, and at the northern mouth of the UNESCO Heritage Site Rideau Canal. Mid-May also is the height of the Tulip Festival. Conference sessions and banquet will transpire in the historic quarters of HMCS Bytown, since 1943 the Wardroom (officers mess) for naval officers serving in the national defence headquarters, and there will be an optional evening dinner cruise on the Rideau Canal. A variety of accommodation options are available in the immediate area.

Paper proposals and administrative enquiries should be directed to:

Dr Richard Gimblett
CNRS 2011 Conference Coordinator
49 South Park Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, K1B 3B8
Telephone: 613-830-8633
email: richard.gimblett@rogers.com

Past Conferences

2010 Halifax, NS
Theme: "The Canadian Navy Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow – The ships, the sailors, their equipment and what they did."

2009 Victoria, BC
Theme: "Pacific Navigation"

2008 Quebec / Québec
Theme: "1608-2008 - Four Centuries of North Atlantic Crossings / Quatre siècles de voyages transatlantiques"

2007 Churchill, Manitoba
Theme: "Northern Navigation"

2006 Manitowoc, Wisconsin, held jointly with the North American Society for Oceanic History (NASOH)
Theme: "Charting the Inland Seas"

2005 Hamilton, Ontario
Theme: "Rivers, Lakes, Canals & The Sea"

2004 Ottawa, Ontario.
Theme: "A Canadian Celebration of Hydrography"

2003 Vancouver, British Columbia.
heme: "Ships: Their Lives, Work and People"

2002 Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Theme: "Halifax and the North Atlantic in Peace and War"

2001 Kingston, Ontario, held jointly with the North American Society for Oceanic History (NASOH)
Theme: "Canadian-American Relations on the Great Lakes in Peace and War"

2000 Ottawa, Ontario
Theme: "Maritime Moments of the Millennium"

1999 Corner Brook, Newfoundland, held jointly with the Association for the History of Northern Seas (AHNS)
Theme: "Merchants and Mariners in Northern Seas"
This conference included field trips to the Basque whaling station at Red Bay, Labrador, and the Viking settlement at L'Anse Aux Meadows, near St. Anthony, Nfld.

1998 Calgary, Alberta
Theme: "Naval War, Exploration and Societies"

1997 Saint John, New Brunswick
Theme: "Ports and People"

1996 Kingston, Ontario
Theme: "Commerce and War"

1995 Montreal, PQ, held in conjunction with the International Commission for Maritime History (ICMH) at the International Congress of Historical Sciences
Theme: "Ports, Port Cities and Maritime Communities"

1994 Vancouver, British Columbia, with the North American Society for Oceanic History
Theme: "The Pacific Coast and Wider Seas"

1993 Toronto, Ontario
Theme: "Working Waterfronts: Challenges, Conflicts and Change"

1992 St. John's, Newfoundland. One day was held in common with the Naval Officers Association of Canada (NOAC)
Theme: "Ships, Shipping and Seafarers"

1991 Ottawa, Ontario
Theme: "Ships, Men and Governments: The Connection Between Government Policies and Naval and Merchant Shipping"

1990 Victoria, British Columbia, in conjunction with the Canadian Historical Association
Theme: "Canadian and International Maritime History"

1989 Halifax, Nova Scotia
Theme: "The Merchant Marine: Its Research Sources and History"

1988 Windsor, Ontario, in conjunction with the Canadian Historical Association
Theme: "Selected Topics of Canada's Maritime History"

1987 Kingston, Ontario, with the North American Society for Oceanic History (NASOH)
Theme: "The Great River, the Great Lakes and Beyond"

1986 Galiano Island, British Columbia
Theme: "Seamanship, Trade & The Flag"

1985 No conference was held

1984 Kingston, Ontario
Theme: "Canada's Atlantic Communities"

The Canadian Nautical Research Society was incorporated under Letters Patent issued by the Department of Consumer and Corporate Affairs, Canada, on 25 October 1984.

The incorporation of the society marked the culmination of work begun at a meeting held at the University of Ottawa on 10 June 1982. Professor Keith Matthews of the Memorial University of Newfoundland was in the chair.