Dr. Dianne Newell

I am an historian of technology who has spent her career examining the diffusion of knowledge in disciplines across the social sciences and humanities. My teaching interests have included Technology and Society, Gender and Technology, Native History, Canadian Social History, and Life Writing.

My earliest books offered new perspectives on the persistence of old techniques in the face of rapid development, looking at early industries such as mining and west coast fisheries. My latest book, with Victoria Lamont, Judith Merril: A Critical Study (Mcfarland Publishers, 2012), examines the life and work of one of science fiction’s central figures in post-WW II Canada and the United States. Current research includes a book on Merril’s career in public broadcasting in Toronto in the 1970s.


Dianne Newell, Department of History
Professor Emerita (B.A., University of Ottawa, M.A., Carleton University, Ph.D., University of Western Ontario)
Office: Buchanan Tower 1107
Telephone: 604-822-5195
Email: dianne.newell@ubc.ca
Website: http://www.history.ubc.ca/people/dianne-newell