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Eric Story

Assistant Professor, History; Co-Director, Laurier Centre for the Study of Canada
estory@wlu.ca
Waterloo, Ontario
Faculty of Arts
Eric Story is an expert in First World War, history of colonialism, history of disability, history of epidemics, history of medicine, public health, Second World War and war veterans.

Areas of Expertise

  • Disability Studies and Accessibility
  • History of Medicine and Science
  • Postcolonial and Decolonial Studies

Biography

Prior to joining Laurier, I held postdoctoral fellowships at Brock University and Western University. I am a 20th-century medical historian with expertise in infectious diseases, disability, colonialism and war. I have published widely on the legacies of the Great War in Canada, including in the Canadian Historical Review, Journal of the Canadian Historical Association and Canadian Military History. My article, “The Indigenous Casualties of War” was awarded the Canadian Historical Review’s Best Article Prize for 2021.

I completed my PhD (2024) at Wilfrid Laurier University. I also have an MA (2016) from Laurier and a BA (2015) from the University of Saskatchewan. I am currently serving as the Book Reviews Editor for the Canadian Journal of Health History.

I am currently working on a major project on the experience of tuberculosis illness in 20th-century Canada through the eyes of the country’s first anti-tuberculosis association, the National Sanitarium Association. Funded by an NSA Scholars Award, this project will involve digitizing the records of Canada’s first two tuberculosis sanatoria, the Muskoka Cottage Sanatorium (1897) and the Toronto Free Hospital for Consumptives (1902), and investigating how people diagnosed with tuberculosis lived with a debilitating chronic disease, as well as how Canadians employed preventive medical techniques to combat the spread of the bacteria.