Research
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New article “Gendering ‘Intelligent’ Machines” in Technology and Culture
My fourth and final article to come out of my research project Laborem Ex Machina: A History of Construction Machinery and Operating Engineers in Canada was published in the October issue of Technology and Culture. Find it here: “Gendering ‘Intelligent’ Machines:How Operating Engineers Constructed their Masculinity,” Technology and Culture 66: 4 (2025): 1111-41 Keywords: Advertising; children and youth; literature; unions; war;…
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New article “Part of the Solution? Indigenous Apprentices and the Unionized Building Trades” in Labour / Le Travail
My third article to come out of my research project Laborem Ex Machina: A History of Construction Machinery and Operating Engineers in Canada was published in the Spring issue of Labour / Le Travail. Find it here: “Part of the Solution? Indigenous Apprentices and the Unionized Building Trades: The Way of the International Union of Operating…
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Launching the Laborem Ex Machina podcast series
The Laborem Ex Machina podcast series explores the fascinating technological, business, labour, military, cultural, gender, racial, children and youth, and environmental history of modern construction machines and their operating engineers in Canada in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This 8-episode series has a digital companion with photos, artwork, videos, interactive maps, infographics, historical records, and…
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New position at York University
This month, April 2024, I have started a new position at York University’s Department of History, as the Research Lead for the Portuguese Canadian History Project. In this role, I will continue my academic research and public history work dedicated to Portuguese diaspora studies in Canada and around the world. Besides producing new research publications,…
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New article “As Ceaseless as the Sea: How Modern Construction Machines Disrupted Canadian Senses and Sensibilities, 1870s–1940s” in Technology and Culture
My second article to come out of my research project Laborem Ex Machina: The History of Operating Engineers and Heavy Machinery in Canada’s Construction Industry was published in the January issue of Technology and Culture, the flagship journal in the field of history of technology. Find it here: “As Ceaseless as the Sea: How Modern…
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New article “Reshaping the Ways of Commerce and Civilization” in the Journal of History
My first article to come out of my research project Laborem Ex Machina: The History of Operating Engineers and Heavy Machinery in Canada’s Construction Industry” was published in the December issue of Journal of History. Find it here: “Reshaping the Ways of Commerce and Civilization: Modern Construction Machines and the Building of Canada’s Mobility Infrastructure, 1860s–1920s,” Journal of History 58: 2–3 (December…
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Webinar at the Center for Portuguese Studies, UMass Dartmouth
The Center for Portuguese Studies | Tagus Press, and the Ferreira Mendes Portuguese-American Achives at UMass Dartmouth invited me to deliver a webinar on June 10. My lecture will be titled “Breaking the News: Portuguese Lusotropicalist Public Relations and Lobbying in the United States, 1961-4,” and will count with the special participation of Prof. Glória de Sá. Here…
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Interview for Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos
I recently gave an interview to the Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos’ blog about my research on the Portuguese diaspora. You can read it here.
Gilberto Fernandes 