Now an award-winning author, Dr. Jeremy Milloy of Trent’s History department is the proud recipient of the 2018 Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot Award (English) from the Society of Automotive Historians (SAH) for his 2017 book, Blood, Sweat and Fear: Violence at Work in the North American Auto Industry 1960-1980.

“I’m very grateful to the SAH for recognizing the book,” said Professor Milloy who recently completed a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Postdoctoral Fellowship at Trent’s Frost Centre for Canadian Studies and Indigenous Studies. “To be recognized alongside other authors who've made contributions to the automobile's history is a wonderful honour.”

Named after the inventor of the world’s first automobile, the annual award is presented each year for the book which best advances the understanding of the automobile’s history.

Having taught in both the History department and Trent’s School for the Study of Canada, Prof. Milloy shared some of the book’s research with students of his Violence and the Project of Canada course. Once a Trent History undergraduate himself, his research interests were initially sparked by a third-year Canadian Working-Class History course.

“The class enthralled and inspired me,” he recalled. “I realized how history could give me skills and tools to understand my present-day world. Ever since then, I’ve been committed to explaining why work is the way it is, and to contribute to a working world with more justice, equity, and peace. Working closely with faculty as a Trent undergraduate was invaluable in my development as a scholar. Working in the outstanding interdisciplinary environment of the Frost Centre and the School for the Study of Canada allowed me to collaborate with outstanding scholars, while developing as an interdisciplinary scholar and instructor.”

His current project explores the historical relationship between addiction and work under capitalism in the United States and Canada.