James Ersil
Few students better exemplify the wide scope offered by a liberal arts degree than James Ersil, who graduates from King’s this month with a Combined Honours in History of Science and Technology and Theatre, with a Certificate in Dance and Movement.
“The first time I went to the Registrar’s Office and they typed in my degree, it crashed the system,” Ersil laughs, remembering back to their first year.
Ersil took full advantage of the opportunities for cross-pollination this combination of subjects offered. Often they were able to translate what they learned in HOST to what they were learning in theatre in exciting and dynamic ways. For example, they recently wrote a HOST paper that discussed mermaids as an analogy for the healthcare system’s treatment of women during the Victorian Era.
“…Half of it was a paper, and the other half was a pitch to do a show based on [the paper],” they explain. “And then in my choreography class, I took that pitch and I made a dance piece about it. … There was a voiceover element, and I had some of my friends read from medical texts and scientific observations of unidentified creatures in the water from the period.”
Coming to King’s from Ottawa, Ont., Ersil originally signed up for the introductory HOST course alongside the Foundation Year Program to satisfy a science credit requirement. As the year went on, they were surprised by how much they liked the course.
“I’ve always been interested in history, I love history. And I’ve always been interested in science, but I have a really hard time with math. So I was very excited that I got to experience science, and sort of be around it, but not in a math capacity.”
In addition to their HOST courses, they also auditioned for, and were accepted into, the acting program at Dalhousie University’s Fountain School of Performing Arts. Most notably, they starred as Man in a Fountain School production of Morris Panych’s 7 Stories directed by Ann-Marie Kerr.
“At the start of the show, Man climbs [to the roof of a building] and looks like they’re going to jump. And then people open their windows and various chaos ensues,” they say. “So as Man, I didn’t leave the stage for an hour and a half. That’s the whole show. There’s no intermission, the full show.
“Getting to do scenes with every single one of my classmates and knowing that they needed me and I needed them, was solidifying to me, as an actor. Because I knew that if I didn’t do my job, there would be no show.”
After graduation, Ersil plans to keep their options open. They recently worked as an intern producer for OutFest, the largest queer theatre festival in Atlantic Canada, and they’re looking forward to working with the Halifax theatre community even more going forward.
Will they continue using what they learned in HOST for their work in theatre?
Absolutely, they say.
“I think any time I tell people that I’m doing that degree, they’re like, ‘You’re doing two different degrees.’ … But I’m not. Because I can use my acting degree to communicate everything that I learned in HOST. There’s so much history that people just don’t know about, right? And so by making plays and other forms of theatre, it’s the perfect opportunity for people to see them.”
“I love history. And I’ve always been interested in science, but I have a really hard time with math. So I was very excited that I got to experience science, and sort of be around it, but not in a math capacity.”
El Hansen
When chatting with El Hansen about their History of Science and Technology degree, you would think it was what they always wanted to do. As they talk about their favourite subjects within the program, their eyes light up.
However, HOST wasn’t even on their radar when they came to King’s from Sussex, N.B. Like Ersil, they signed up for the introductory course in tandem with FYP, for the science credit.
“…The two particular profs who were running the program, Dr. Mélanie Frappier and Dr. Gordon McOuat, and the material that we studied, I found so intriguing, so fascinating. They taught it in a truly exceptional way.” Hansen says.
By the time second year rolled around, they knew HOST was going to form a big part of their studies. When they graduate this month, they will be awarded a Bachelor of Arts with a Combined Honours in History of Science and Technology and philosophy.
“Sometimes I would end up sleeping in through FYP lectures when I was very tired,” they admit with a laugh, “but I don’t think I ever missed a HOST lecture in my first year.”
They love the way the program demonstrates how technological advancements and the material world are intertwined.
“The example that really drew me during the Foundation Year Program was our conversation on the moldboard plow.”
Hansen explains that when the moldboard plow was introduced to Medieval society, it simultaneously reinforced feudalism, revolutionized farming and transformed the European landscape.
“The intertwining of social forces and the environment and technology and all these different things, I found truly, truly captivating.”
Outside of class, Hansen enjoys reading, political organizing and playing Dungeons and Dragons. They were also involved with the HOST society and say that presenting at the annual History of Science and Technology student conference was one of the highlights of their year.
“That was pretty excellent. We had six presenters, I believe, over two different sessions. I was entered in the second session with a paper I wrote about the Cape Breton miners and their relationship to technology, which is a topic that has, I think, little to no scholarship on it.”
Hansen especially enjoyed one presentation about the science and history of lobotomies in the 1950s and their portrayal in the show BoJack Horseman. For Hansen, it once again demonstrated the elasticity of their field of study, and how science and technology can have lasting impacts on everyday life, culture and society.
“… It was nice to have questions and feedback on our papers that [came] not just from professors, but from the general public, too.”
Hansen hopes eventually to go to graduate school and continue building on the passion they’ve developed in undergrad. First and foremost, they say, they’d like to take some time after graduation to relax after a busy four years and gain some work experience.
When reflecting on the past four years, Hansen reiterates that Dr. Frappier and Dr. McOuat’s influence was one of the leading factors that brought them to where they are now.
“I would not be in this program without them.”
“The intertwining of social forces and the environment and technology and all these different things, I found truly, truly captivating.”
