From past student evalutations:

"I have wanted to do a field school since I began my undergrad and this experience transcended my expectations. I learned so much that it is difficult to bring each lesson to mind, and I’m sure that there are many that I don’t even realize that I leaned. I am so happy that I decided to take the class."

"This course is excellent, I count myself very lucky to have taken it and I hope that it will run for many years to come."

"I liked the course and I thought it was a great experience. It was like nothing I would have experienced anywhere else."

"A wonderful experience and a valuable entry to approaches to history respectful of First Nations. It also felt good to be doing history that seemed applicable, that people might actually care about...!"

"It’s great. It’s an amazing introduction to Sto:lo culture and ethnohistory, and a really good time as well. It’s also stressful and intense at times, but I don’t think you could eliminate that entirely without also taking out a lot of what’s best about the course."

"This course changed the way I will approach the rest of my academic work. Each of the course instructors taught me something new, and helped me develop a skillset and critical stance I previously did not have."

"The immersive environment really encouraged me to understand the practical significance of writing history in a way even the best lecture or tutorial does not offer. While I knew that I would learn about ethnohistorical methods, especially conducting oral history interviews, I didn’t expect to see improvement in my writing; the comments that John and Keith made on my project were thorough and incredibly helpful."

"The best experience I have had at university."

"I cannot say enough positive things about this class! It was such an intense and wonderful experience that changed how I think about my role as a student, my research and the vibrancy of community. I've never experienced such generosity of time, knowledge, and spirit within an academic context. It really was an experience in humanity."

"An unparalleled and transformative experience that will shape my fuuture scholarly interests and approaches, as well as the ethics and ideas I bring to both."

"I felt truly blessed to have participated in such a wonderful experience...we also had the chance to contribute something worthwhile."

"This course was an incredible academic and personal experience. It was absolutely the most important experience I have had at school. The ethnohistory fieldschool was the perfect way to introduce students to the discipline as well as tangibly demonstrating how historical research can be effectively done within a community in a way tat benefits both the researcher and the people they are studying."

"It was not a "course", it was nothing less than a foundational experience for me."

"What I will remember most about this course is the people that I spent it with. The other students, John, Keith, our home stay, and the Sto:lo nation were the force that moved this course beyond an academic structure into a type of transformative experience."

Field School Alumni

2011

Back L-R Martin Hoffman (UVic), Ashley Forseille (UVic), Catilin Copage (UVic), Maria Melenchuk (USask), Tylor Richards (UVic), Keith Carlson (C0-instructor).
Front: Maddie Knickerbocker (SFU), Claire Thomson (USask), Ryan Buhay (USask), Ben Clinton-Baker (UVic), Stephanie Bellissimo (USask), Darren Charlie (Master Drum Maker).

2009

Back, L-R John Lutz (Co-instructor), Abe Lloyd (UVic), Keith Carlson (Co-instructor), Davon Alder(UVic), Justin Opheim (UVic); Mid: Margaret Robbins (UVic), Stephanie Danyluk (USask); Front: Robyn Moore (USask), Carolyn Bartlett (USask), Kate Martin (UVic), Megan Harvey (UVic).

2007

L-R. Dave Schaepe, (Stó:lō Research and Resource Management Centre), Keith Carlson (Co-instructor), Andrée Boisselle (UVic), Katya McDonald (USask), Lesley Wiebe (USask), Sarah Nickel (USask), Emmy Campbell (UVic), Mandy Fehr (USask. Front: Ana Novakovic (USask), Devon Drury (UVic). Missing: Amber Kostuchenko (USask).

2005

Jody Bergerman (USask), Anastasia Tataryn (USask), Liam Haggarty (UVic), Jon Clapperton (UVic), Jodi Crewe (USask), Heather Watson (USask), Keith Carlson (Co-instructor), Mackinley Darlington (USask. Missing: Henry Nikolaus (UVic), Cinnamon Pandur (USask), Karl Preuss (UVic).

2003

L-R: Alan Long (USask), Janet Dunnet (UVic), Elizabeth Scott (USask), David Sulz (UVic), , Byron Plant (UVic), Adam Rudder (UVic), Melissa McDowell (USask), Sylvan Lutz, Heather Woolard (USask).

2000

L-R: Gabe Haythornthwaite (UVic), Amber Kostuchenko (SFU), Tina Rafter (UVic), Kathy McKay (UVic), Rob Hancock (UVic)

1998

Left-Right: Sonny McHalsie (Stó:lō Nation), Heather Gleboff (UVic), Koni Benson (UVic), Christie Shaw (UVic), Mike Ashley (UVic), Jody Woods (UBC), Samara Brock (UVic), Melissa Curry (UVic).