Aug 2010 “Une féminste québecoise confronte la Nouvelle Zélande: en honeur de mon amie Andrée Lévesque.” Canadian Committee on Women’s History Conference, Vancouver, August, 2010.

Aug 2010 “White widows’ wishes in 19th century British colonies.” International Federation for Research in Women’s History, International Congress of Historical Sciences, 22-28 August, Amsterdam, Netherlands .

Apr 2009 “Migration, family fortunes and the law in 19th century Quebec and the Cape Colony,” Inside and Outside the Nation: Canadian History as Transnational History, Winnipeg. Invited presenter.

Apr 2009 “Revisiting Brian Young’s George- Etienne Cartier, Montreal Bourgeois through the lenses of two decades of women’s and gender history,” Montreal History Group May Day Conference in Honour of Brian Young.

Jun 2008 “A drinking widow confronts Quebec’s civil courts: Maria Mitchell’s struggle for a say in her children’s future in nineteenth-century Montreal," CHA, Annual Meeting, Vancouver.
Facilitator session on “Gender, Necessity, and Obligation,” CHA, Annual Meeting, Vancouver

Feb 2008 “Nineteenth Century Widowhood: Challenges, Choices and Constraints,” Invited talk, Herstory series, Black Creek Pioneer Village.

Oct 2008 “‘Dower this barbarous law:’ Re-imagining marriage, widowhood and nation in early 19th century Montreal.” Invited lecture. Shannon Lectures in History, University of Carleton.

Jun 2007 “‘Wholly deprived of the keeping and comfort of her said five children’: Maria Mitchell’s struggle over her children’s future in the civil courts of nineteenth-century Quebec,” The Social and Cultural History of Children and Youth Conference, run by the Society for the History of Children and Youth, Linköping University, Norrköping, Sweden. Jun 2007 “Wife to Widow to Mother Superior: Emilie Tavernier Gamelin and the Reshaping of Montreal’s Nineteenth-Century Social Institutions, The Merry Widow: Rethinking widowhood in history, culture and society, Centre for Research into Gender in Culture and Society, University of Swansea, Wales.

May/Jun 2006 “City of Women: A Twenty-Year Retrospective.” Roundtable organized by the Canadian Committee on Women’s History, with Carolyn Strange, Karen Dubinsky and Steven Maynard, CHA, York University

Oct 2006 “Table ronde: La liberté du pauvre,” Poverty and Social Relations in Canada, 19th and 20th centuries. Centre d’histoire des régulations sociales / Centre for the History of Social Regulation, UQAM, Montreal.

Jul 2005 “Imagining Widowhood ‘á la loi anglaise.’ British Montrealers adjust to living with French marriage law over the 19th century,” British World Conference, Auckland, New Zealand.

Oct 2005 “Widow’s Wealth: Children Wills and Widowhood,” Feminist History Group, Melbourne, Australia.

Sep 2005 “Women and the vote in early 19th century Quebec,” History Department, University of Melbourne.

Nov 2005 “‘I hope dear Caroline that your future may be far more bright than your past has been and that you may have all the comfort in your children you can derive.’ Widows’ Wealth: Children, work and wills in 19th century Montreal,” MHG, Jeudis d’histoire, McGill University.

May 2005 “‘In England a man can do as he likes with his property:’ Competing Visions of Marriage and Inheritance in Nineteenth-Century Quebec and the Cape Colony,” Thirteenth Berkshire Conference on the History of Women, Scripps College, Claremont, California.

Oct 2004 “Le vote de Mme Cuvillier: loyauté, genre et alterité dans l’élection partielle de Montréal Ouest, 1832,” Institut d’histoire de l’Amérique française, Annual Meeting, Chicoutimi.

May 2004 “Widows at the Hustings, April-May 1832,” Montreal History Group Annual May Day Conference, “In the street.” Montreal, Quebec.

Nov 2003 “Family Historians, Affidavits and the Case for and against Gay Marriage,” Queen’s Department of History, Guest Lecturer.

Feb 2003 “Family Historians, Affidavits and the Case for and against Gay Marriage,” Historian’s Craft Opening Session, New Frontiers in Graduate History Conference, York University.

Jul 2003 “Rethinking Marriage and Nation in 19th century white settler societies,” British World Conference, Calgary, July 2003.

May 2002 “Qui laisse quelles traces? Veuves francophones et anglophones au 19e siècle: l'effet des identités culturelles dans les archives montrèalaises,” History Department, Laval University, Quebec.

Feb 2002 “Widowhood and Cultural Identity in 19th Century Montreal,” Annual Jackson Lecture, History Department, University of Winnipeg.

Apr 2001 “Families: Historical, Critical and Contemporary Perspectives,” Graduate Program in Sociology seminar.

Apr 2001 “The Children of Single Parents a Hundred Years Ago. Patterns and Problems,” A Conference on the History of Families in Canada, Toronto, Ontario.

Apr 2001 “Wife to Widow: Center to Margins? Individual Itineraries in 19th Century Quebec,” Key note speaker, On the Margins of Family / Aux marges de la famille, Hamilton, Ontario.

Mar 2001 “Exhibiting History: Conversations about fins de siècle “McCord,” Invited speaker at Colloquium at the McCord Museum of Canadian History, Montreal.

May 2000 “Reading men’s wills. Marriage, death and property in 19th century Montreal,” Annual May Day Meeting, Montreal History Group.

Apr 1999 “Colonies, Civilization and Marriage: Rethinking the Marriage Contract in Nineteenth Century White Settler Societies,” Montreal History Group Annual May Day Conference, McGill.

Oct 1999 “Rethinking marriage, property and cultural identities in 19th century Quebec,” American Society for Legal History, Toronto.

Jun 1999 “Single Parenting in 19th Century Toronto,” Conference of the Canadian Families Project, Victoria, B.C.

Jul 1998 “Colonies, Civilization and Marriage: Re-thinking the Marriage Contract in Nineteenth Century White Settler Societies,” Conference of the International Federation for Research in Women's History, Melbourne.

Sep 1998 “Family Matters: Historical Perspectives”, Robarts Series on the Family, York University.

Jun 1998 “Past Lessons- Future Policy: How Government Learns from History?" Round Table, CHA Annual Conference

Jun 1998 “Past Lessons-Future Policy: How Government Learns from History?” Round Table, CHA Annual Conference.

Oct 1998 “Women in Business in the Nineteenth Century,” Commentator, The Fifth Canadian Business History Conference, Hamilton.

Feb 1997 “Negotiating Widow's Rights in 19th Century Quebec,” Guest speaker, UBC Centre for Research in Women's Studies and Gender Relations

Nov 1997 “Wife to Widow: Class, Culture, Family and the Law in Nineteenth Century Quebec,” First invited speaker for the Conférences Desjardin annual lectures, sponsored by the Programme d’ études sur le Quebec, McGill.

May 1996 “Boundaries and Marriage Law: Legal traditions and Legal Choices in Nineteenth Century Montreal,” Edinburgh, Scotland, Centre of Canadian Studies Conference

Mar 1996 “From Wife to Widow: Transformations of Women's Rights in 19th Century Quebec,” Research Lecture series, York University, 6 March

Apr 1996 “On the Rules it Establishes depends the Scanty Pittance of the Widow: The Registry Ordinance of 1841 and Widows' Rights in Lower Canada,” Power, Place and Identity. Historical Studies of Social and Legal Regulation in Quebec. Montreal History Group, McGill.

May 1996 “Private Decisions and Public Policy: Transformations in widow's dower rights in nineteenth century Quebec,” Canadian Historical Association, Learneds:

Mar 1996 “Women, Property and the State: Reflections on the Changing Relation of Women to the State in Quebec between 1800 and 1880,” État: de nouvelles perspectives en histoire canadienne, 22-23 March, UdeM

Apr 1995 “Researching the History of Women's Work in the Home,” Workshop at Counting Women in: New ways of thinking about Work, Conference sponsored by Ontario Women's History Network, Toronto Board of Education, Ontario Workers Arts and Heritage Centre, Glendon College.

Oct 1994 “Great Expectations: Transformations in Widows' Rights in Early Nineteenth-Century Montreal,” Guest speaker, Windsor History Department.

Mar 1994 “On Dowers and Death and the Death of the Dower,” Montreal History Group, Jeudis d'histoire", McGill University, Montreal.

Oct 1994 “Transformations dans les droits des veuves, Montreal, 1820-1860,” Congres annuel de l'Institut d'histoire de l'Amerique francaise, Chicoutimi.

Nov 1994 “Wives and widows: Rethinking women and economic change in 19tcentury Canada,” Visiting Speaker, HIstory, Sociology and Women's Studies, McMaster University.

Aug 1993 "From civil death to separate property: Changes in the legal rights of married women in nineteenth century New Zealand”, "Suffrage and Beyond. An International Historical Conference to commemorate the centenary of female suffrage in New Zealand,” Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.

Apr 1993 "From Working-Class Families to Widowhood: Researching Nineteenth Century Women's Lives, ” York University, Sociology Department, Social History Network Meeting.

Jan 1993 "How did working-class women manage without a man? Questions from nineteenth-century Montreal, ” York University, History Department, Graduate Student Series on the Craft of the Historian.

Oct 1993 “Widowhood and Canadian Family History,” Keynote Address, “Family and Community in Planter Nova Scotia Conference,” Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia.

Mar 1992 "'Money Matters': A Preliminary Look at the Rights of Married women to Property and Wages in Nineteenth Century England, United States, Canada and New Zealand," History Department Lunchtime Seminar Series, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.

May 1992 "Dying a religious death: Institutional charity for widows and widowers in nineteenth-century Montreal,” International Conference on Marriage and the Family, Carleton University, Ottawa.

May 1992 "Dying a religious death: Institutional charity for widows and widowers in nineteenth-century Montreal," International Conference on Marriage and the Family, Carleton University, Ottawa.

Oct 1992 "Growing Old in 19th Century Montreal,” Glendon History Club.

May 1992 "International Comparisons: Researching Nineteenth Century Married Women's Property Rights in Common-Law Colonies and Québec", Workshop on "Problems in Researching Gender, Justice and Cultural Difference", organized by the Montreal History Group, McGill University.

Oct 1992 "Mourir chrétiennement. La vie et la mort dans les établissements catholiques pour personnes agées à Montréal au XIXe siècle,” Institut d’histoire de l’Amérique francaise, Montréal.

Mar 1992 "What's hers is mine: Changes in the financial rights and obligations of husbands and wives in 19th century New Zealand," Seminar Series, Stout Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington.

Jun 1991 Commentator, "Aspects of Industrialization in France," CHA, Kingston.

Apr 1991 "Se débrouiller sans hommes à Montréal à la fin du XIXe siècle," Colloque annuel du Regroupement des chercheurs et chercheures en histoire des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec.

Feb 1990 "Families, the formalization of work and labour markets: Ideas from nineteenth-century Montreal," Colloquium "Beyond Fragmentation, Family History and Labour History, Université d'Ottawa.

Jan 1990 "Parenting Alone in the Past and Present: Changes and Continuities in lone-parenthood in Montreal since the late nineteenth-century," invited speaker, History Department, Guelph University.

Jun 1989 Commentator,"Cycles de vie à Montréal au 19e siècle" CHA, Quebec. Chair, "Gender in the Textile and Hosiery Industries" CHA, Quebec.

Apr 1989 "Marriage Regimes: Law and Practice in Nineteenth Century Montreal," with J. Greenlaw, P. Gossage, A. Stewart, and E. Kolish. Les soirées du Montreal Business History Project.

Oct 1989 "Régimes matrimoniaux: Le droit et la pratique à Montreal, 1820-1845" with Jane Greenlaw, Peter Gossage, Evelyn Kolish and Alan Stewart. IHAF, Sherbrooke.

Dec 1988 "Gender at Work at Home.” Canadian-Australian Labour History Conference, Sydney, Australia.

Oct 1988 Chair, session on "Les femmes et le travail au 20e siècle.” IHAF, Trois Rivieres.

Mar 1988 Colloque, "Montreal: Une histoire a partager/ Montreal: A History to Share", McGill, Animator of the session on Women, Work and the Family.

Feb 1988 Guest speaker, History Department, Concordia University, Montreal: "Women and Technological Change in Nineteenth Century Montreal.”

May 1987 Guest speaker, SOREP, Chicoutimi: "Mariage, veuvage et remariage à Montréal au début du 19e siècle - méthodologie et problèmes.”

Oct 1987 Social Science History Association, New Orleans: "Widows and their families in early nineteenth century Montreal.”

Jun 1986 “The writing of the history of women and working-class history", CHA, Annual Meeting, Winnipeg.

Oct 1986 Urban History Group of the Canadian Historical Association, Montreal: "Women and the family in the nineteenth-century City: Questions, Sources and Methods.”

Dec 1986 Guest speaker, History Dept, York University: "Women and the working class in Quebec historiography."

Oct 1984 "Les veuves et leurs familles, Montréal, 1860-1880.” IHAF, Quebec City.

Jun 1983 "Pigs, Cows and Boarders. Non wage forms of survival among Montreal Families, 1861 1891," CHA Annual meeting, Vancouver.

Jun 1980 "The Fragmented Family: Strategies in the Face of Illness, Disease and Death, Montreal, 1861-1885," CHA Annual Meeting, Montreal.

Jun 1979 "Families and Work in an Industrializing City, Montreal, 1871," CHA Annual Meeting, Saskatoon.