Canadian Studies Announcements

In this issue:

Happy “August Long Weekend?”

Today, people across Canada are enjoying a well-deserved day off. But what holiday are they actually celebrating? The answer, as with many things Canadian, depends on which province you’re in.

Some provinces, including British Columbia, New Brunswick, and Saskatchewan, mark this day as an official celebration of the province. In Alberta, it’s celebrated as “Heritage Day”, recognizing Albertans’ diverse cultural backgrounds. Manitoba honors cancer research activist Terry Fox, while the cities of Toronto and Ottawa commemorate city founders John Graves Simcoe and John By. (And Quebec, Newfoundland, and the Yukon don’t celebrate at all!)

Whatever the official name, most Canadians are just glad to have a long weekend to relax and spend time with the family.

Image: Campsite at Mystic Beach, Vancouver Island. (Michal Klajban, Wikimedia Commons.)

Meet Canadian Studies: Board Member Kathleen Thompson Hill

A Berkeley native, Kathleen Thompson Hill received degrees from U.C. Berkeley and the Sorbonne, followed by a Fellowship in Public Affairs with the Coro Foundation in San Francisco. Eventually, she earned an M.A. in political psychology at Sonoma State University. Kathleen served as executive coordinator of the 25th Anniversary of the United Nations, worked for the Peace Corps and in the White House, and with her husband co-authored three political dictionaries, four law dictionaries, and an Encyclopedia of Federal Agencies and Commissions. She is currently Food and Wine Editor of the Sonoma Index-Tribune. Kathleen collects antique kitchen implements; an exhibition of her collection opens at the Napa Valley Museum later this month.

Excerpts from our interview with Kathleen are below: click here to read the full piece.

What is your connection to Canada?

I am not Canadian, but my husband Gerald and I had a home and lived in Victoria for 15 years and taught at Canadian universities. Out of deep interest in Canada, we researched and wrote papers comparing Canadian and US governmental approaches to environmental, justice, medical, and political systems.

What has your career been like in the US and Canada?

My husband and I taught American politics and government at the University of British Columbia, the University of Victoria, and Sonoma State University. Simultaneously, we were writing guidebooks to wine regions of the west coast of North America. We were awarded UBC prizes for our books on Victoria, Vancouver Island, and the Northwest Wine Country, and received UBC’s Just Desserts Award for “exceptional service to the students.”

How did you get involved with Canadian Studies?

One of the organizations that expressed interest in our papers was the Canadian Studies Program at my alma mater, Berkeley. We got to know {Program founder Tom Barnes} professionally and personally. I was most grateful to have been invited to join the Advisory Board, as I always learn from the many experts who attend and present at our colloquia.

What are your goals as an advisory board member?

I would like to help develop a program to study and present a forum to create greater understanding among the countries of Canada, the U.S., and Mexico about what the three might do to work together on problems we share in these fast-changing times. I would also like to help create programs that attract Canadians and Americans around the Bay Area to participate in what we do and what we offer. To that end, I helped organize Canadian Studies’ first ever wine tasting of Canadian wines this year.

IN THE NEWS

Cal at the Olympics: Mom’s Example Lifts Canadian Camryn Rogers to Her Athletic Dreams

People from Vancouver to Berkeley are cheering on Camryn Rogers, the student athlete representing Canada in women’s hammer throw at the Tokyo Olympics. Born in British Columbia, Camryn swept Canada’s youth circuit before coming to Berkeley for university and joining the Cal Golden Bears. With the assistance of Cal coach Mo Saatara, she broke a collegiate record this spring. And tomorrow, she’ll be trying for a medal in the hammer throw finals after coming in an impressive fourth in yesterday’s qualifying round.

Sports Illustrated’s FanNation profiled Camryn on the eve of the qualifiers Sunday. In a touching joint interview with her mother Shari, Camryn reflects on her mother’s influence on her life and athletic career. She credits her mother, a single parent, with making her the woman she is today. “Watching her make sacrifices, do everything she could… so I could try and achieve everything that I wanted to. I don’t know if I could ever give her enough thanks for that,” says Camryn.

Image: Camryn Rogers ’22. (Cal Athletics Track & Field roster.)

EXTERNAL EVENTS

Meet the Artists: The Chaos Conversation x Primal Impacto

August 19 | 10 am | Webcast | RSVP here

The Consulate General of Canada in San Francisco invites you to attend a Connecting Perspectives “Meet the Artists” virtual event on Thursday, August 19, at 10 am PT.

Connecting Perspectives is a cross-border art initiative produced by the Toronto-based Social Distancing Festival and the Consulate General of Canada in New York. Drawing inspiration from the theme “Art Today,” 26 exceptional artists who identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Colour in Canada and the U.S. were paired and funded to create 13 new, interdisciplinary, collaborative art.

This event will feature artist pairs Kimmy Katarja (Cleveland, OH) and Chancz Perry (Regina, SK), co-creators of The Chaos Conversation, and Deb Leal (Oakland, CA), and Josefina Rodriguez (Calgary, AB), co-creators of Primal Impacto. The event will be moderated by Tawhida Tanya Evanson, with remarks by representatives from the Consulates General of Canada in Detroit and San Francisco.

Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25 90th Anniversary Picnic

August 21 | 12 pm | Richmond, CA | RSVP here

After almost 18 months of virtual events, Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25, representing the San Francisco Bay Area, is hosting a picnic to celebrate their 90th anniversary. Chartered on 12 August 1931, the San Francisco Branch is the sole remaining branch of the 13 branches that once formed the Northern Zone of the Western United States Command of the Royal Canadian Legion.

The picnic will be held at the Marsh Hawk picnic area in the Miller/Knox Regional Shoreline Park. Attendees are asked to bring their own food. The branch will provide beverages for everyone, as well as something sweet and celebratory.

The picnic is open to the public, but guests are asked register in advance. For more information, please visit Branch 25’s website.

Canadian Studies Program

213 Moses Hall #2308

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