Laurier expert alert: Remembrance Day

Nov. 7, 2023
For Immediate Release

WATERLOO — Remembrance Day will be observed Saturday, Nov. 11. Laurier has several experts available to speak about topics related to war, veterans and memorialization. The following list includes Laurier experts who are currently available to speak, but does not represent the full breadth of expertise that exists at the institution. For a more comprehensive inventory of Laurier’s faculty researchers, please consult the Experts at Laurier database.

Cynthia Comacchio, professor emerita in the Department of History, is an expert on the sociocultural impact of war in Canada and veterans’ social reintegration after the First World War. Comacchio is also available to comment on war commemoration efforts, including memory and public memorialization. Contact: ccomacchio@wlu.ca

Ann Fitz-Gerald is the director of the Balsillie School of International Affairs and a professor in the Department of Political Science. Fitz-Gerald is an expert on military operations, global security, international relations, and peace and conflict resolution. She has advised and been seconded to work with national governments on issues relating to national security policy and strategy, including Canada, Ukraine, Lebanon, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Nepal, Botswana, Jamaica, Indonesia, Sierra Leone, Albania, Montenegro and Nigeria. In 2012, the Government of Canada awarded Fitz-Gerald the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for her contributions to post-conflict resolution and national policy dialogue. Email: afitzgerald@wlu.ca

Amy Milne-Smith, associate professor in the Department of History, is an expert on veteran mental health and military trauma. Milne-Smith specializes in 19^th-century British and imperial history. Currently, she is working on a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council-funded project that explores military psychiatry and the horrors of war in the 19^th century. Contact: amilnesmith@wlu.ca

Roger Sarty, professor emeritus in the Department of History, is an expert in Canadian military history, Canadian foreign and defence policy, and the history of the First World War and Second World War. Sarty has served as senior historian at the Department of National Defence and deputy director of the Canadian War Museum. Contact: rsarty@wlu.ca