The following stories are adapted from More than Memories: Stories from our past, a book produced for Human Ecology’s centennial year in 2010.

The Beginning

Home Economics Food Lab, 1914 or 1915

In 1909, the courses of study, staff members, and all other required pieces were put together and the first group of girls began their studies in Household Science on May 3, 1910. In order to apply, the girls had to be 18 years old and able to prove evidence of moral character. They needed a certificate of health signed by their parents and had to convince College authorities that their English education was sufficient for them to succeed in their lectures and subsequent exams. There is no mention of how these students were able to provide evidence of moral character in the College General Calendar, but it is very clear that any bending of the rules would result in expulsion.

Courses listed in the 1910/11 General Calendar include Management of Home Poultry, The Home Garden, Meat-cutting demonstration, and Beekeeping.

Changing to meet needs of community

In 1911, a Home Economics car was added to the Better Farm Trains that traveled around rural Manitoba giving short courses to people in rural communities. Courses were offered in Agriculture as well as the new home economics topics ranging from food safety to care of the sick. This was the beginning of agricultural extension work, which defined the history and the faculty for many years.

In 1933, the provincial extension program was becoming bigger and the demand for trained extension workers from the degree program was high. The Depression and both world wars provided new educational and research opportunities.

The “Practice House”

Living room of the Practice House, 1930s.

The first mention of actual care of children was in 1929 when, under the supervision of Florence McLauchlin, two children were cared for in the Sprague House by the students in Household Management. In 1931, when Home Management was relocated to the Farm Cottage, a separate course in child care was introduced in the fourth year degree program requiring each student in the House to be Child Director for a period of time.

After years of reports to the President of insufficient space and poor heating in the “farm house,” a new red brick Georgian-style residence, designed by Ralph Ham specifically for the Department of Home Economics “to accommodate ten students and a baby.” Known as the “Practice House,” it has been immortalized by the late Carol Shields, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, in her novel Republic of Love.

From 1929 to 1953, thirty-three children, mostly babies, received the loving care of Miss McLauchlin, known as “Mac” amongst her colleagues and friends, and her Home Ec students.

After 1945, when veterans of World War II flocked to the university, many brought their wives and families who lived lived on campus in special student housing popularly known as the “Veteran’s Village.” The basement of the new Management House was used two afternoons a week as a playroom or nursery school for their children. With about 20 two- to five- year-olds attending, “the small nursery school served as an observation laboratory for students.”

The Story of Canola

The University of Manitoba is recognized nationally and internationally as having played a role in the development of canola but credit is usually limited to the contribution made by the plant breeders (in particular, Dr. Baldur Stefansson) in the Department of Plant Science. The contribution by Foods and Nutrition is not as well known.

Dr. Vivian Bruce and Dr. Bruce McDonald were the first researchers to feed canola oil to human subjects under carefully controlled experimental conditions. These early studies found canola oil as effective as sunflower oil and soybean oil in lowering blood cholesterol.

Parallel to the nutrition studies were studies by Professor Marion Vaisey-Genser, Dr. Michael Eskin and later, Dr. Lina Malcolmson on the shelf-life and deep-fry stability of canola oil and canola shortening. These researchers adopted and perfected methods for assessing the shelf-life of canola oil and for comparing its stability with other edible vegetable oils.

Judy Teerhuis, Laboratory technicians, and the Weatherometer, 1970s

From Textiles to Advanced Materials

The opening of the Duff Roblin Building in 1969 was a significant event in the history of textile sciences. The department now had space for a full textile lab.

A Weatherometer, the first one in Canada, was installed in the lab. This machine could expose textiles to simulated natural sunlight, rain on demand and exposure to air pollutants. The lab had equipment to assess colour fastness, abrasion, stiffness, linear density, and identify fibers and fabrics. As word of the program and the new lab spread, the textile laboratories were contacted to help with local textile problems. Clients included Gemini Fashions, JEnnis Fabrics, Syn-Tex Industries, Engineered Apparel, Warehouse One, Quinton’s Cleaners, Freed & Freed, Nygard, Bombardier, several Winnipeg hospitals, Manitoba Hydro, firefighters, and many more.

The University of Manitoba’s Archives and Special Collections’ Human Ecology fonds includes a wealth of information about the faculty through the years. The fonds was donated to University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections by the Faculty of Human Ecology in several accessions between 1984 and 1993.

The digital photo collection can be found at http://digitalcollections.lib.umanitoba.ca/islandora/object/uofm%3Ahumanecology?display=grid

Milestones

1910 – Diploma in Household Sciences established within Manitoba Agricultural College

1915 – Diploma in Household Sciences becomes Bachelor of Home Economics

1924 – Home Economics granted Faculty status: Faculty of Agriculture and Home Economics

1943 – School of Home Economics established

1967 – Department of Foods and Nutrition & Department of Clothing and Textiles established

1970 – School of Home Economics becomes the Faculty of Home Economics

1971 – Department of Family Studies established

1981 – Faculty of Home Economics becomes Faculty of Human Ecology

1982 – Bachelor of Human Ecology degree introduced

2004 – Department of Foods and Nutrition renamed Department of Human Nutritional Sciences

2005 – Department of Clothing and Textiles renamed Department of Textile Sciences, Degree designation changed to B. Sc. (Textile Sciences), Textile product development curriculum launched

2007 – Bachelor of Health Sciences and Bachelor of Health Studies degrees introduced

2014 – Department of Human Nutritional Sciences moves to Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences

2015 – Department of Textile Sciences merges with Department of Biosystems Engineering, Department of Family Social Sciences merges with Department of Community Health Sciences

• that Human Nutritional Sciences move to the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences effective July 1, 2014;
• that the Department of Family Social Sciences join the Department of Community Health Sciences effective July 1, 2015; and
• that Textile Sciences join the Department of Biosystems Engineering, effective July 1, 2015.

Given that the Faculty of Human Ecology’s departments will all have joined with other faculties by July 1, 2015, the Faculty Council and Senate recommended that the Faculty of Human Ecology be closed effective July 1, 2015. The Board of Governors approved this recommendation on June 23, 2015.

Throughout its 105 year history at the University of Manitoba, the study of Human Ecology has evolved to reflect the educational and research needs of a changing society. It has grown from being a diploma in Household Sciences at the Manitoba Agricultural College in 1910 to become the School of Home Economics in 1943. In 1970, the School was granted official faculty status and in 1981, the Faculty changed its name to Human Ecology to reflect the diversification of curricula. In 2012, discussions about exploring partnerships between the Faculty of Human Ecology and other faculties were initiated as part of the university’s Academic Structure Initiative.

The transition of Human Nutritional Sciences, Family Social Sciences and Textile Sciences to their new faculties will enrich educational experiences for students in these areas, enhance leading edge, multi-disciplinary research, and forge new connections with community partners.

We respect and value the contributions that Home Economics and Human Ecology faculty, staff, students and alumni have made throughout the years and look forward to their continued contributions as we move into the future.

Dear Colleagues:

As part of the University of Manitoba’s Academic Structure Initiative (ASI), Senate approved in principle and recommended to the Board of Governors the joining of the Department of Textile Sciences, Faculty of Human Ecology, and the Department of Biosystems Engineering, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences. On March 17, 2015 the Board of Governors approved this recommendation. As such I am writing to inform you that Karin Wittenberg and Harvy Frankel will guide the implementation process to bring together these departments and the transfer of the associated programs from the Faculty of Human Ecology to the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences.

By bringing together these departments, the University of Manitoba will strengthen productivity and innovation by generating designs based in engineering that provide solutions to environmental, agricultural, biological and health-related problems.   This restructuring also enhances the application of nano-technology for the purposes of creating medical textiles and new health care options by continuing textile research in the context of the larger Biosystems Engineering innovation programs.

It is anticipated that current undergraduate and graduate students in the Faculty of Human Ecology’s Textile Sciences programs will transition to the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences for the Fall 2015 academic term. There will be no changes to the academic programs at this time and proposals for future changes to these or other academic programs, once in the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, will follow the standard institutional processes already in place and will require the appropriate Senate and/or Board approvals.

It is proposed that the academic and support staff from the Department of Textile Sciences will transition to the Department of Biosystems Engineering in the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences with full rights and responsibilities by July 1, 2015.

For continued information, please monitor the Academic Structure Initiative webpage or UMToday.

Sincerely,

Joanne C. Keselman, PhD

Vice-President (Academic) and Provost

Exigence Technologies won the Environmental division in the business plan presentation round, which qualified them to compete in the championship round. They placed third in the idea pitch competition, fourth overall, and ultimately ranked as the top Canadian team.

Exigence presented a business plan for commercializing a treatment for hospital fabrics that completely eliminates bacteria. U of M researcher  Song Liu, from the department of textile science in the Faculty of Human Ecology, developed the technology. The team is now working in close collaboration with Lui and the U of M’s Technology Transfer Office to commercialize the technology and incorporate the company.

The second Asper team, Don’t Be Skiddish, took second place in the Safety & Technology division after a suspenseful tie-breaking round against a team from the University of Louisville. Don’t Be Skiddish presented a business plan for magnetic sensor and Bluetooth technology that prevents truck and trailer wheels from skidding.

“We are very proud of both teams this year,” says Stuart Henrickson, I.H. Asper Executive Director for Entrepreneurship at the Stu Clark Centre for Entrepreneurship. “Both teams exceeded expectations by lining up suppliers, forming manufacturing and operations alliances, developing their customer market, arranging the proper intellectual property, and – most importantly – putting together attractive strategies for potential investors.”

Hosted by the Stu Clark Centre for Entrepreneurship from March 14-15, the Stu Clark Investment Competition is Canada’s premiere business competition, and is judged by senior leaders and executives from a variety of private and public sector organizations. This year, the competition welcomed 16 graduate student teams from across North America – and one from as far away as Thailand – to compete for a grand prize of $20,000 and a berth at the 2014 Global Venture Labs Investment Competition at the University of Texas this May.

2014 Competition Results

 Business Plan Competition

• 1st Place: Disease Diagnostics, LLC – Case Western Reserve University
• 2nd Place: Innoblative Designs Inc. – Northwestern University
• 3rd Place: Systemica Health – University of Louisville
• 4th Place: Exigence Technologies – University of Manitoba

Top Canadian University

• Exigence Technologies – University of Manitoba

Idea Pitch Competition

• 1st Place: Systemica Health – University of Louisville
• 2nd Place: Disease Diagnostics, LLC – Case Western Reserve University
• 3rd Place: Exigence Technologies – University of Manitoba

Logo Competition

• 1st Place: Respira – Johns Hopkins University
• 2nd Place: BreedEx, Co. Ltd. – Thammasat University (Thailand)
• 3rd Place – Datavis, LLC – University of Arkansas

The Stu Clark Centre for Entrepreneurship encourages the development of new businesses and entrepreneurial thinking among Canadians by encouraging them to consider entrepreneurship as their life’s calling. The Centre was launched on April 1, 2008 based on the generous financial support of Asper School alumnus and oil and gas entrepreneur Stu Clark. 

 For over 75 years, the I.H. Asper School of Business at the University of Manitoba has been at the forefront of knowledge creation, educating innovative business leaders who contribute ethically to the social and economic well-being of Manitoba, Canada and the world.