Len Kuffert

After completing the PhD and teaching sessionally for about two years, I held a Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada postdoctoral fellowship for a year before taking up a term position with the Department of History at UM in 2003. The following year the department hired me as an Assistant Professor. I was promoted to Associate rank in 2010, and Professor in 2017. I have served as Graduate Chair, which includes responsibility for the Joint MA programme (with University of Winnipeg).

• PhD (History), McMaster University, 2000
• MA (History), University of British Columbia, 1994
• BA Honours, University of Saskatchewan, 1992
• BEd, University of Saskatchewan, 1990

Research interests

• Twentieth century Canadian history, with a particular interest in mass culture and media
• History of broadcasting and public media
• History of leisure and hobbies, especially woodworking, but including other industrial activities (Anglophone world)

Research summary

Currently, I'm writing a book on hobbyist woodworking in print and broadcast media. This is the story of how something people did as a job became something they did for fun, especially when magazines and television programs were pushing them to do so. The story runs from the late nineteenth century through about 2000, and addresses themes such as knowledge, gender, craft, and mental health.