UWinnipeg’s Dr. Janis Thiessen launches her latest book Necessary Idealism – a history of Westgate Mennonite Collegiate on Sunday April 7, 2019 from 2:00 -4:00 pm in the Westgate Collegiate atrium, 86 West Gate. The event includes a reading and live choral music, which will be followed by a reception.
Using both documentary materials and oral history methodologies, Thiessen has produced a splendid institutional history of ethnic and religious private schools in Canada – Westgate Mennonite Collegiate.
This volume undertakes a careful, historical examination of the school’s history, admittedly by a sympathetic insider (alumna and former teacher), and makes a significant contribution to the history of ethnic and religious private’s schools in Canada.
Thiessen was a student at Westgate in the 1980’s and taught at the school while achieving her PhD. An enthusiastic teacher, researcher and snacker, Thiessen has shared her love of Canadian, Mennonite, labour and food history in person and through her many books including Manufacturing Mennonites, Not Talking Union and Snacks: A Canadian Food History.
Necessary Idealism – a history of Westgate Mennonite Collegiate is published by the CMU Press.
