Jan Raska

B.A., M.A. (Ottawa)

Research Interests:

  • 20th Century Canadian Immigration History, ‘Race,’ and Ethnic Studies; Integration; East Europeans in Canada
  • Modern East European History; former Czechoslovakia; Interethnic Relations; Czechs, Slovaks.

PhD Supervisor: Dr. Marlene Epp, Conrad Grebel University College, University of Waterloo

Dissertation Committee: Dr. Marlene Epp (Canadian Immigration & Ethnicity); Dr. James W. St. G. Walker (‘Race’ in Canada & Human Rights); Dr. Gary Bruce (Communist East Germany).

During my undergrad and early graduate years in the Department of History, University of Ottawa, I was fortunate to work under the guidance of Dr. M. Mark Stolárik, Chair in Slovak History & Culture who (as my M.A. advisor) helped to expand my knowledge of East European history, ethnic identity, and Canadian immigration history. As a 2006 recipient of the Gaston Héon Graduate Scholarship in History, I was able to conduct research at the Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the T.G. Masaryk Institute, Academy of Sciences in Prague, Czech Republic.

Currently, my research focuses on the interplay of ethnic nationalism and sociopolitical organization in postwar East European communities in Canada. In particular, my doctoral dissertation will explore the emigration of some 12,000 Czechoslovakian refugees to Canada in 1968, their socioeconomic and political integration, and impact in Canadian society.

When time permits, I encourage graduate student research as the founding editor of PRAVO: North American Journal for Central European Studies (available online). I also volunteer with the St. Joseph’s Refugee Outreach Committee in Ottawa, Ontario.

Selected Publications:

  • “Sustaining Loyalty, Preserving the Homeland: the Second Czechoslovak Liberation Movement in Montreal (1938-1945),” Canadian Slavonic Papers (Under Review).
  • “Mistrusted Strangers at Home: Czechs, Slovaks, and the Canadian Enemy Aliens Registration Issue, 1938-1942,” International Journal of Canadian Studies 38 (2009), 91-117.
  • “Hungarians in Canada” in The Hungarian Presence in Canada: Sharing the Present, Remembering the Past, Shaping the Future. [http://www.hungarianpresence.ca/map.cfm]. April 2007.

Selected Conferences and Public Presentations

  • “Spies, Lies, and Diplomatic Ties: Czechoslovakia’s Postwar Emigres, Communist Spies, and Canadian Citizenship and State Security, 1945-1968,” Sixteenth Annual International Tri-University History Conference, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada (February 27,2010).
  • “Masking ‘Undesirable’ Entry, Subverting Integration: Czechoslovakia’s Émigrés, Espionage, and Canadian State Security, 1945-1968,” Canadian Association of Slavists Annual Meeting 2009, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (May 23, 2009).
  • “Forging States of Dissent: Czech Émigrés, Communist Spies, and Canadian >State Security, 1945-1968,” International Conference: Secret Weapon or Victims of the Cold War? Central and Eastern European Political Émigrés, Institute of National Remembrance, Lublin, Poland (November 13, 2008).
  • Witness, Bill C-280 (Refugee Appeal Division), Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights, Senate of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (June 2, 2008).
  • “Allies Abroad, Enemy Aliens at Home: Czechs, Slovaks, and the Canadian ’Enemy Aliens’ Registration Issue (1938-1942),” Canadian Ethnic Studies Association Nineteenth Biennial Conference, Hotel Fort Garry, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada (September 28, 2007).
  • “Competing Ideologies and Ambitious Politics: Nová vlasť and the “Czechoslovak” Press Perspective during the Second World War in Canada,” McGill-Queen’s Graduate Conference in History, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada (March 16, 2007).
  • “Whose Truth Should Prevail? Canadian Czechs and Slovaks and the Wartime ‘Enemy Aliens’ Registration Issue (1939-1942),” Underhill Graduate Colloquium in History, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (March 9, 2007).
  • “A Fractured Response: The Canadian Czech and Slovak Reaction to the Second Czechoslovak Liberation Movement, 1938-1945,” New Frontiers in Graduate History Conference, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (February 16, 2007).
  • “‘A Pebble in the Skyscraper:’ Czech-Canadian Socio-Political Formation and the Politics of Home (1939-1948),” Pierre Savard History Graduate Colloquium, University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (April 7, 2006).