As a tribute to all that David Dean has meant to our department, especially our students, to the university, and to partners near and far, we are proud to announce the formation of the David Dean Public History Fund (https://futurefunder.carleton.ca/campaigns/david-dean-public-history-fund/) As David’s impending retirement coincides with the 20th anniversary of the first graduating class of the M.A. in Public History Program, we wanted to launch this Fund now as a monument to one of David’s greatest legacies: the internationalization of public history. David is a celebrated member of the International Federation of Public History’s Steering Committee, and thanks to his leadership our students have worked for and with the IFPH and several of its international partners, including participation in its annual conference, editing its website, and contributing to its scholarly journal. This internationalization also includes our regular engagement with the National Council of Public History (NCPH) in the United States, at whose annual conference Carleton students and staff are regular participants, and David has been a leader in this respect as well. It is for these entwined reasons that The David Dean Fund is intended to support international student travel for research and / or professionalization. We explain more about the Fund at the website provided in this email.
Since 2003, our students have made a massive contribution to scholarship and to the profession, but their greatest legacy might be their unwavering commitment to community-engaged and community-based practices. Even when doing this work in Canada, sharing their work with international audiences and partners has made Carleton’s impact truly global: for example, new public history programs and student and faculty work in these programs have drawn inspiration directly from our model. And this impact can be traced directly to our students and to David Dean.
On Tuesday, November 28, all donations to the David Dean Fund, of any amount, will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the university as part of its annual Giving Tuesday activities. While this will not be the last or only time that people can contribute to the Fund, next Tuesday, November 28, is a special opportunity to get this Fund off the ground and get us closer to supporting our students.
Thank you for considering this request and for any contribution you might make on Tuesday or at any point in the future. And please share this news with any and all!