I consider research assistantships an integral part of my teaching responsibilities. Mentoring promising undergraduate and graduate students in advanced research techniques is a time-consuming, but rewarding activity. It requires that I ask not just what an RA can do for me, but what and how I can contribute to an RA’s academic development. Identifying appropriate research tasks that evolve as an RA develops new skills is challenging and interesting for both mentor and student.
The faculty researcher must take time to explain what needs to be done, as well as why and how a research technique is employed and what the RA’s contribution will mean for a larger project. At the same time, I always encourage assistants to provide constructive feedback and to suggest ways to improve processes. I am pleased that most of the undergraduate RAs with whom I have worked most closely have won SSHRC scholarships and other prestigious awards to support their graduate studies.
I strive to create opportunities for exceptional RAs to co-present or co-publish findings with me. Examples of publications include:
- P. Whitney Lackenbauer and Grace Chapnik (M.A. student, University of British Columbia), eds. “It is necessary that they should understand that they are under the Law”: The Murder Trials of Sinnisiak and Uloqsak, 1917. Peterborough: Frost Research Centre Press, 2023.
- P. Whitney Lackenbauer and Grace Chapnik (B.A. student, Trent University), eds. Canada’s First Eastern Arctic Patrol, 1922: First Person Perspectives. Arctic Operational Histories series no. 9. Antigonish: Mulroney Institute on Government, 2022.
- P. Whitney Lackenbauer and Ryan Dean (Ph.D. student, University of Calgary), eds. Canada and the Origins of the Arctic Council: Key Documents, 1988-1998. Documents on Canadian Arctic Sovereignty and Security (DCASS) no. 18. Calgary and Peterborough: Arctic Institute of North America and the North American and Arctic Defence and Security Network (NAADSN).
- Corah Hodgson (M.A. student, University of Waterloo) and P. Whitney Lackenbauer, eds. “Religious Frenzy” and the Application of Canadian Law: The Belcher Island Murders, 1941. Foreword by Kenn Harper. Landmark Northern Canadian Legal Cases and Trials series. Peterborough: Centre for the Study of Canada, 2020.
- Ryan Dean (Ph.D. student, University of Calgary) and P. Whitney Lackenbauer, eds. Operation Morning Light. Arctic Operational History Series, vol. 3. Antigonish: Mulroney Institute on Government, 2018.
- P. Whitney Lackenbauer and Kristopher Kinsinger (B.A. student, University of Waterloo), eds. Arctic Show Trial: The Trial of Alikomiak and Tatamigana. Introduced by Ken Coates and William R. Morrison. Documents on Canadian Arctic Sovereignty and Security (DCASS) No. 9. Calgary and Waterloo: Centre for Military, Strategic and Security Studies/Centre on Foreign Policy and Federalism/Arctic Institute of North America, 2017.
- Ryan Dean (Ph.D. student, University of Calgary) and P. Whitney Lackenbauer, eds. Canada’s Northern Strategy under the Harper Conservatives: Key Speeches and Documents on Sovereignty, Security, and Governance, 2006-15. Documents on Canadian Arctic Sovereignty and Security (DCASS) No. 6. Calgary and Waterloo: Centre for Military, Strategic and Security Studies/Centre on Foreign Policy and Federalism/Arctic Institute of North America, 2016.
- P. Whitney Lackenbauer and Daniel Heidt (Ph.D. candidate, Western University, “Sovereignty for Hire: Civilian Contractors and the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line” in De-Icing Required: The Canadian Air Force’s Experience in the Arctic, ed. P.W. Lackenbauer and W.A. March. Sic Itur Ad Astra: Canadian Aerospace Power Studies Series No.4. Trenton: Canadian Forces Air Warfare Centre, 2012. 95-112.
- P. Whitney Lackenbauer and Peter Kikkert (Ph.D. candidate, Western University), “Building on ‘Shifting Sands’: The Canadian Armed Forces, Sovereignty, and the Arctic, 1968-72,” in Canada and Arctic Sovereignty and Security: Historical Perspectives ed. P.W. Lackenbauer. Calgary Papers in Military and Strategic Studies. Calgary: Centre for Military and Strategic Studies/University of Calgary Press, 2011. 283-308.
- P. Whitney Lackenbauer and Peter Kikkert (M.A. student, University of Waterloo). “Sovereignty and Security: The Department of External Affairs, the United States, and Arctic Sovereignty, 1945-68,” in In the National Interest: Canadian Foreign Policy and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, 1909-2009, ed. Greg Donaghy and Michael Carroll. Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 2011. 101-20.
- P. Whitney Lackenbauer and Peter Kikkert (M.A. student, University of Waterloo). The Canadian Forces and Arctic Sovereignty: Debating Roles, Interests, and Requirements, 1968-1974. Waterloo: Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies / WLU Press, 2010.
- P. Whitney Lackenbauer and Nick Shrubsole (Ph.D. candidate, University of Waterloo), “The Gustafsen Lake Standoff,” in Blockades or Breakthroughs? Aboriginal Peoples Confront the Canadian State, 1970-2007, ed. Yale Belanger and Whitney Lackenbauer. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, forthcoming 2014.
- P. Whitney Lackenbauer and Katharine McGowan (B.A./M.A. student, University of Waterloo), “Indigenous Nationalisms and the Great War: Enlisting the Six Nations in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF), 1914-17,” in Aboriginal Peoples and the Canadian Military: Historical Perspectives ed. P. Whitney Lackenbauer and Craig Mantle. Kingston: CDA Press, 2007. 89-115.