Boxing Researcher Practices International Resolution Building with his Students
Trent University History professor Dr. David Sheinin in the Argentinean Spotlight
As the only Canadian member ever named to the Argentine National Academy of History, Trent University Professor Dr. David Sheinin became aware of global injustice at an early age. In his teens, living in Toronto’s Moore Park neighbourhood, he remembers walking past the headquarters of the United Church of Canada, a pioneer in helping Canadians to understand the depth of human rights violations in 1970’s South America. Despite having no affiliation with the Church, he wandered into their bookstore and began to buy United Church and Inter-Church Committee on Human Rights in Latin America newsletters: “That was my introduction to dictatorship and state terror in the hemisphere,” said Professor Sheinin.
Since then he has developed his research interests within the areas of the histories of Argentina, Venezuela, and Colombia; US foreign relations; boxing and society; human rights and the state. Prof. Sheinin’s work on boxing is a fascinating aspect of his diverse approach to historical cultural concerns.
Just as hockey is seen to represent fundamental character-istics about Canadian culture, society and nation, Professor Sheinin’s research in collaboration with Daniel Fridman of Columbia University has shown that the wild popularity of boxing in the history of several Latin American countries reflects, in part, dominant ideologies of racism, violence andviolence and cultural identity.
Prof. Sheinin was featured in the Buenos Aires newspaper Clarin on July 1, 2012 for his boxing research, particularly two short books El Boxeador Poeta (The Boxer Poet) and El Boxeador Incrédulo (The Incredulous Boxer), published by the Argentine street publisher, Eloisa Cartonera. A pioneer in the publication of inexpensive, hand-made books, Eloisa Cartonera only publishes Latin American authors and Prof. Sheinin’s two books are the only exceptions. Prof. Sheinin uses the books as a teaching tool and to run workshops on writing history as story telling.
More recent work has involved collaboration with the Argentine government, “to help bring about friendly and peaceful tripartite conversations among the British government, the residents of the Falkland Islands/Malvinas, and the Argentine government.” (This work was also featured in Clarin on July 1, 2012) Prof. Sheinin has given public lectures in Ottawa and elsewhere, explaining the cultural importance of the islands to the people of Argentina. He makes clear during these lectures “that Argentines strongly oppose any sort of military confrontation over the disputed territory.”
Prof. Sheinin’s research and teaching are intertwined in diverse ways. In early 2012, he screened the Canadian premiere of documentary Las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo and the Search for Identity, on human rights in Argentina, and brought in Minister Gerardo Bompadre, Deputy Chargé d'Affaires from the Argentine Embassy in Ottawa. His students came up with tough questions for his South American colleague. The experience resulted in a debate where class members were engaged by the visiting speaker through a “tough, but friendly debate on problems of sovereignty, decolonization, and international affairs.”
In the fall, his former student, Paul Bocking, will be back at Trent to screen his new documentary 2 Revoluciónon work and society in Mexico, after having premiered in Toronto in June, 2012.
During his time at Trent, Prof. Sheinin feels that he has “been consistently fortunate to have been pushed hard by outstanding students:
“Interested in early twentieth century southern progressivism in the United States, one afternoon Mike Stammers just got into his pick-up and drove down to the Washington.He crashed at a motel and spent a week in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress preparing an outstanding piece of original research.
“Derek Lipman wrote a master’s thesis that represents the best analysis anywhere of US Senator Thomas Dodd’s career that we have.
“Jenna Cameron’s oral and written communication skills made me rethink my lecturing style.”
As an important adjunct to his research on boxing and society, Prof. Sheinin has also worked for several years with Bill Byrick, director of Athletics at Trent. He greatly admires Byrick’s professionalism and skill and says that “under his guidance, and in consultation with varsity coaches, I’ve been advising Trent student athletes on developing their academic skills.”
The University Press of Florida will publish Dr. Sheinin’s next book, Consent of the Damned: Ordinary Argentineans and the Dirty War in November of 2012, an important rethinking of the problem of human rights and the eras of dictatorship (1976-1983) and nascent democracy (1983-1990).