News and Events
Past Events
» January 24, 2024: The TMC Network hosted a webinar, “International Perspectives on Transforming Military Cultures,” moderated by Dr. Nancy Taber. This webinar welcomed panelists Kyleanne Hunter, Morten Ender, Chiara Ruffa, Annick Wibben, and Hannah West who discussed two central questions on military culture change challenges and best practices in relation to their respective country, followed by a Q&A from webinar attendees. A recording of this webinar is available on our TMC Outputs webpage under “Recordings of TMC Events.”
» December 20, 2023: TMC co-directors Dr. Maya Eichler, Dr. Tammy George, and Dr. Nancy Taber co-edited a Special Issue of the Canadian Military Journal, which is now available online. The Special Issue includes an editorial from the co-directors titled, “Transforming Military Cultures,” articles by each co-director, and several articles written by Network members. Read the Special Issue today!
» December 6, 2023: The TMC Network hosted a webinar, “Trauma-Informed Practice for Military Culture Change,” moderated by Dr. Tammy George. This webinar welcomed panelists Ash Grover, Ruth Stanley-Aikens, and John Whelan who discussed three central questions related to trauma-informed practice, followed by a Q&A from webinar attendees. A recording of this webinar is available on our TMC Outputs webpage under “Recordings of TMC Events.”
» November 17‒19, 2023: The TMC Network held our second symposium, Dare to Disrupt the Status Quo: Envisioning Alternatives for Military Culture, in Ottawa, Ontario. The symposium was attended by a variety of participants including veterans, military members, academics, defence scientists, DND MINDS representatives, students, and peace activists. The symposium included panel presentations, individual presentations on envisioning alternatives, small group discussions, and a contribution from Airforce Bhangra. In addition, the event was preceded by a book launch featuring Megan MacKenzie’s book, Good Soldiers Don’t Rape: The Stories We Tell About Military Sexual Violence. Please check out our full symposium program for more details! A symposium report will also be available soon.
» October 20‒21, 2023: Co-director Dr. Nancy Taber participated in and presented at the Meeting of the MINDS about TMC’s focus, research, and recommendations for transforming military culture. Kathryn Reeves, a TMC Youth Advisory Board member and 2022‒23 TMC Network Research Scholarship recipient, presented her research about the experiences of children in military families as relates to culture change.
» October 19, 2023: Co-director Dr. Nancy Taber delivered a CAF Training Workshop for the Instructor Development Program with the Canadian Forces Training Development Centre titled, “How Critical Education is Critical to Transform Military Cultures.”
» August 2023: We selected our 2023‒24 TMC Network Research Scholarship recipients. We have provided a $3,000 scholarship to four graduate students at Canadian universities who are conducting research on a topic related to military culture change. All four recipients have joined the Network as members, and they will be attending and presenting their work at our upcoming Symposium.
» TMC co-director Dr. Maya Eichler’s chapter, “Military Sexual Violence in Canada,” (in English and in French translation) has been included in the Restorative Engagement Program by the Department of National Defence (DND) to educate and train approximately 700 Defence Team members from 2023‒2027.
» June 14, 2023: Marshall Gerbrandt facilitated a webinar called Culture Change in the Canadian Armed Forces: What’s Adult Learning Got to Do with It? A recording of this event is available on our TMC Outputs webpage.
» June 8–9, 2023: Drs. Tammy George and Nancy Taber participated in the Culture and the Way Ahead for Military Education Workshop in Kingston, ON. Dr. George presented on the “Best practices from civilian universities” panel, and Dr. Taber participated in a Fireside Chat event with Dr. Karen Davis.
» June 1, 2023: We held a virtual check-in meeting for TMC Network members. The co-directors provided an update on Network activities and members were invited to share their ongoing work and ideas related to culture change.
» May 10–12, 2023: The TMC Network organized a NATO workshop in collaboration with DGMPRA/CPCC, Understanding of Military Culture to Support Organizational Change: Systems Approaches, Critical Analyses, and Innovative Research Methods, at the Swedish Defence University in Stockholm, Sweden. The workshop was co-chaired by Drs. Isabelle Richer and Nancy Taber. A recording of the keynote by Professor Victoria Basham is available on our TMC Outputs webpage.
» April 25, 2023: Shauna Mulligan facilitated a webinar called Indigenous People in the Military. A recording of this event is available on our TMC Outputs webpage.
» April 20, 2023: Marshall Gerbrandt facilitated a professional development session with TMC emerging scholars called Productive Procrastination.
» March 3, 2023: Dr. Megan MacKenzie facilitated a media training session with TMC emerging scholars.
» February 17–20, 2023: The TMC Network held our first Annual Symposium, Military Culture Change Beyond the Checkbox, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. We held the following events and activities during the symposium:
- Day 1, February 17, 2023: We welcomed Dr. Kelly S. Thompson, who facilitated two writing workshops called Tell your own truth: Trauma-informed writing. Dr. Thompson also gave a public keynote lecture called Changing military culture through true stories.
- Day 2, February 18, 2023: We hosted two panels on What did we learn this year about transforming military cultures? Challenges, opportunities, and tensions. The first panel was made up of the TMC Network executive team, Dr. Maya Eichler, Dr. Tammy George, Dr. Nancy Taber, Dr. Sandra Biskupski-Mujanovic, and Ash Grover. The second panel consisted of Dr. Vanessa Brown, Dr. Lynne Gouliquer, and BGen Corinna Heilman. We also heard from the TMC Network Youth Advisory Board on Youth perspectives on military culture change. The board consists of: Ayshia Bailie, Oskar Mansfield, Hannah Meagher, Kathryn Reeves, and Ellen Smith.Dr. Tammy George facilitated a session with Shauna Mulligan and Seyi Okuribido-Malcolm called Culture Change in Practice.Dr. Cynthia Enloe gave a public keynote lecture called A feminist conversation on military culture change.
- Day 3, February 19, 2023: We began our day with two researcher panels. The first was called Perspectives on military culture change in Canada and included presentations from Dr. Karen Davis and Walter Callaghan. The second researcher panel was called Peace, security, and international perspectives on military culture change and featured Dr. Catherine Baillie Abidi, Dr. Anna Mensah, and Dr. Ben Wadham.In the afternoon, we were treated to diverse readings from authors that contributed to an edited book called Speaking Up: New Voices on War and Peace in Nova Scotia. This session included co-editor Dr. Maya Eichler, Dr. John Whelan, Dr. Catherine Baillie Abidi, Marianela Fuertes, kathrin winkler, and Jessica Lynne Wiebe.We concluded the day with collaborative brainstorming on what we want to achieve this coming year.
- Day 4, February 20, 2023: Dr. Nancy Taber facilitated a Writers Collective of Canada Workshop (WCC) called Culture Shock and Ash Grover facilitated an activity with found poems on what we learned from our discussions about transforming military cultures. TMC Network co-directors, Dr. Maya Eichler, Dr. Tammy George, and Dr. Nancy Taber, concluded the symposium with an informal “ask me anything” session.*Recordings of our keynote lectures with Dr. Kelly S. Thompson and Dr. Cynthia Enloe are available on our TMC Outputs webpage.
» February 6, 2023: The TMC Network emerging scholars welcomed Charlotte Duval-Lantoine for a Q & A about her book, The Ones We Let Down: Toxic Leadership Culture and Gender Integration in the Canadian Forces.
» November 22, 2022: We hosted a virtual meeting called International Perspectives on Transforming Military Cultures where some of our international members discussed what they see as the most critical military culture change challenges in their countries and practices for transforming them. A recording of this event is available on our TMC Outputs webpage.
» November 7, 2022: We hosted a webinar called Understanding Anti-Oppression: A Framework for Military Culture Change. Facilitated by Ash Grover, the webinar discussed the following questions: What is anti-oppression? Why use anti-oppression as a framework? How can we practice anti-oppression in military contexts? A recording of this event is available on our TMC Outputs webpage.
» October 21–23, 2022: We participated in the IUS Armed Forces and Society conference at Carleton University in Ottawa, ON. Several TMC Network members presented their research at the conference and the Network hosted two panels: Transforming Military Cultures: An Educational Lens and Transforming Military Cultures: Identity and Organizational Change.
» October 19, 2022: We held a Workshop at CIMVHR called, “Military Culture Change Meets Wellness.”
» September 26, 2022: We held our first emerging scholar event, a virtual meet and greet. We discussed how emerging scholars can be involved in the TMC Network.
» September 23, 2022: We held our first Youth Advisory Board meeting! Board members discussed what role they want to have in the network, possible events and activities, and planned for next steps.
» August 24, 2022: Networks members met to discuss the Minister’s Advisory Panel on Systemic Racism and Discrimination Report , its promises and limitations and how we can best facilitate its recommendations.
» June 13, 2022: Network members met to discuss the Arbour Report, its promises, and limitations, and how we can best facilitate its recommendations.
» June 4–5, 2022: Several Network members attended a workshop organized by Dr. Maya Eichler and Dr. John Whelan called, “How a revised military masculinity can foster culture change in the Canadian Armed Forces.” Check out the briefing paper produced from this workshop!
» May 25, 2022: We hosted a virtual meet and greet for our Network members! It was great to begin discussing our mission and to receive feedback on potential Network activities and other outputs.
» May 5, 2022: We officially launched the Transforming Military Cultures Network! The Network co-directors convened with members of the MINDS team and directors/senior analysts at DND/CAF to present the Network vision, mission statement, and key questions guiding research and activities. The meeting concluded with a discussion and question period.