Clark University senior, Tricia Labbe, of Waterville, back on campus after a summer of research in Canada

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Clark University senior Tricia Labbe and Stephen Steinbrecher, a Clark University alumnus who provided funding for her research through a fellowship program created in memory of his son.

WORCESTER, MA (08/29/2012)(readMedia)-- Tricia M. Labbe, a Clark University senior from Waterville, is one of ten undergraduate students who spent the summer pursuing research with the help of a Steinbrecher Fellowship. Labbe will continue her project-and her honors thesis-on the Acadian Deportation of 1755 throughout the upcoming 2012-2013 academic year. The Steinbrecher Fellowship Program was established in 2006 to encourage and support Clark undergraduates' pursuit of original ideas, creative research, and community service projects.

Labbe spent her summer in Halifax, Nova Scotia, examining documents at the Nova Scotia Archives relating to the Arcadian Deportation of 1755 (i.e., Le Grand Derangement). She was particularly interested in finding out more about the interactions of the three ethnic groups at that time (the Acadians, Mi'kmaq Indians, and British) and any political and cultural motivations that led to the deportation.

She read a variety of primary resources from the 18th century colonial era in former Acadia. These included dispatches of correspondence between the Secretary of State and Board of Trade in Britain to the British colonial powers in Halifax. These documents, written at fairly regular intervals for the time, provided a comprehensive view of interactions between the British, Acadians, and Indians.

Because of the great connections with Clark professors, Labbe was able to meet with two leading historians in the study of Acadian and Atlantic Canadian History – Dr. John Reid at St. Mary's University in Halifax and Professor Maurice Basque at the University of Moncton, in New Brunswick. Labbe had the opportunity to travel to L'Université de Moncton in New Brunswick to consult Professor Basque and The Center for Acadian Studies. This archive and research library provided a variety of secondary sources to add to Labbe's thesis work.

Labbe said both Professor Reid and Professor Basque "were indispensible to [her] research experience and success in Canada" and that her month in Halifax was an "irreplaceable learning experience."

"This experience taught me a lot about the process of history research, as well as how to navigate and optimize time in large archives and research libraries," said Labbe. "I am now prepared and excited to start work on my honors thesis here at Clark!"

Nina Kushner, Labbe's faculty sponsor and assistant professor of history at Clark, said Labbe's research topic "is historically important...because of what it can tell us about colonialism, native American history and the history of Acadians, many of whom came to settle in Worcester."

"Tricia works extremely hard and is intellectually self-reliant," wrote Kushner in a letter of recommendation. "She is the kind of student who I think would thrive in a Ph.D. program and who could be a professional historian. I feel confident that Tricia will use this research to complete an honors thesis and that the thesis has the potential to be both interesting and significant."

Labbe is a member of Clark's Class of 2013; she is a history major. Labbe is a member of Clark Musical Theatre and Clark Eco-Reps. She is a 2009 graduate of Waterville High School and is the daughter of Susan and Randy Labbe of Waterville.

The Steinbrecher Fellowship Program was established in memory of David C. Steinbrecher, class of '81, by his parents, Phyllis and Stephen Steinbrecher, class of '55, and is funded by generous gifts from the Steinbrecher family and friends of David.

Deborah Merrill, associate professor of sociology and acting director of the Steinbrecher Fellows Program, said that the committee was very impressed by the intellectual depth of the projects being pursued and expects that all will result in significant findings.

"These ten projects represent the best of innovative, creative ideas that will yield exciting, intellectual findings while simultaneously allowing our students to 'do good' in the wider world," said Merrill.

Founded in 1887 in Worcester, Massachusetts, Clark University is a small, liberal arts-based research university addressing social and human imperatives on a global scale. Nationally renowned as a college that changes lives, Clark is emerging as a transformative force in higher education today. LEEP (Liberal Education and Effective Practice) is Clark's pioneering model of education that combines a robust liberal arts curriculum with life-changing world and workplace experiences. Clark's faculty and students work across boundaries to develop solutions to contemporary challenges in the areas of psychology, geography, management, urban education, Holocaust and genocide studies, environmental studies, and international development and social change. The Clark educational experience embodies the University's motto: Challenge convention. Change our world.