General Meeting

Peter Ward, Professor Emeritus of History (2011), will talk about the development of modern personal hygiene habits, one of the great cultural transformations throughout the western world over the past two centuries. How men and women have cared for their bodies and the clothes they wore has been revolutionized since the late 18th century, and in the process the very meaning of cleanliness has been transformed. His talk will explore some of the main features of this transition and some of its broader implications. In particular he will discuss the histories of soap and water, of domestic space and household technology, of privacy and social relations, and of health and beauty.

He has worked on projects involving the social history of Canada and has written extensively on the history of birth weight as an index of maternal wellbeing during the industrialization of western Europe and North America.The Clean Body (Mc-Gill-Queen’s), his just-published book on the history of personal cleanliness, draws on his experience as a social historian, combined with his interests in comparative history and the history of health.

2:15pm Business Meeting
2:30pm Speaker Peter Ward
3:30pm President's Award for Distinguished Service by UBC Emeriti with President Ono
4:00pm Wine and Cheese Reception and Book Display