Canadian Studies Announcements
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In This Issue:
Program News & Events
- 2022 conference: “Implementing Migration Policy: Excavating the Administrative and Bureaucratic Processes Behind Migrant Admissions and Deportation”
In the News
- Opinion: “The War, the Reckoning, and its Aftermath”
- Google honors birthday of Black Canadian-American inventor Elijah McCoy
External Events
- Albright Lecture: Climate Justice and the Question of Reparations
- Canadian authors at the Bay Area Book Festival
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2022 Conference: Implementing Migration Policy: Excavating the Administrative and Bureaucratic Processes Behind Migrant Admissions and Deportation
The question of how to effectively manage international migration is one of the most difficult tasks facing governments in today’s globalized world. While much attention is paid to the ways politicians and activist groups influence immigration policy, commentators have often ignored the importance of administrative actors, such as bureaucrats, tasked with implementing these decisions. Often hidden from public view, these individuals operate behind the scenes to transform formal policy into on-the-ground practices which impact migrant populations in a variety of ways.
This conference will bring together acclaimed senior and emerging scholars to evaluate different immigration policies in a global context. Participants will discuss how bureaucratic agencies and civil society organizations influence immigration policy and resettlement in developed countries in North America, Europe, and East Asia. Comparisons will be drawn between countries with relatively liberal immigration policies, such as Canada, with those that maintain more restrictive regimes. The conference will be organized into the following sessions:
May 2:
May 3:
The panel discussion portions of this event will be livestreamed. For in-person attendees, a public reception will also be held on the evening of May 2. To view the full list of speakers and RSVP, please visit our conference page.
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Opinion: The War, the Reckoning, and its Aftermath
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has forced the West to radically reassess its view of the contemporary global order. A new opinion piece published in Canada’s Policy magazine argues that the invasion marks a historic turning point in the post-Cold War political landscape, one where Canada can play an important role. Written by Jeremy Kinsman, a former diplomat who has spoken at Canadian Studies events multiple times, the piece argues that Canada’s distinctive internationalist and consensus-driven outlook makes it an ideal ambassador for a rules-based global order. While Canada has a responsibility to support Ukraine and its NATO allies, it should also reach out to non-aligned countries hesitant to take sides in the current conflict. Many are skeptical of the current UN diplomatic framework, often hobbled by conflicts between the US, Russia, and China. Canada should encourage the formation of a strong global network with medium powers and small countries based on multilateral dialogue and cooperation. By convincing these nations that a rules-based order is in their interest, Canada can play a critical role in fostering a “constructive global mindset” that promotes human rights globally without the burdens of great-power rivalries.
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Google honors birthday of Black Canadian-American inventor Elijah McCoy
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Visitors to Google’s homepage today will be greeted with a Google Doodle horing an innovate Canadian-American engineer with a famous name – even if many people don’t know it belongs to him. Recognized as one of the foremost Black inventors of his time, Elijah McCoy invented 57 patents, including crucial advancements that helped trains operate for longer periods without maintenance. And his legacy of superior products lives on today in our everyday language – read on to find out how!
McCoy was born in Colchester, Ontario, on May 2, 1844, to parents who had fled enslavement in Kentucky. He attend his early years of school in Canada. At age 15, he was sent to Scotland, where he graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Edinburgh. McCoy then returned to his family, who by this point had relocated to Michigan.
Failing to find employement as an engineer, McCoy took a job with the Michigan Central Railroad. McCoy noticed how inefficient it was that train would have to be stopped regularly in order to lubricate the engines. Inspired, McCoy began tinkering with methods to solve this problem. In 1872, he created his first patent, an automated device that would allow engines to be lubricated while in motion. Over the next few years, McCoy continued to refine and develop lubricating systems. In 1909, he was praised by Booker T. Washington for having developed more patents than any Black man up to that time, and by the 1920s he was running his own company manufacturing lubricators.
McCoy was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2001. However, his most famous contribution to the world may be in loaning his name to the phrase “the real McCoy”, first published in an Ontario newspaper in 1884. It is thought to originate from railway engineers asking whether engines were outfitted with a “real McCoy system”, as opposed to one of his numerous inferior copycats.
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Horace Albright Lecture in Conservation: Climate Justice and the Question of Reparations
Thursday, May 5 | 12:00 pm | Berkeley | RSVP hereAs the world burns, it’s time to get serious about climate justice. But the climate emergency isn’t just an environmental crisis – it’s also a crisis of racial capitalism and colonialism. The people and countries that have benefitted the least from deforestation and fossil fuel combustion are the most vulnerable to climate change and its impacts. How can we address these harms, and prevent even worse?
Moderated by Canadian Studies faculty affiliate Daniel Aldana Cohen, the panel will feature Canadian journalist and activist Naomi Klein alongside Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò, Sabrina Fernandez, and Jackie Fielder. This event is sponsored by UC Berkeley Climate Equity and Environmental Justice Roundtable, Rausser College, and the Socio-Spatial Climate Collaborative.
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Canadian Authors at the Bay Area Book Festival
The Bay Area Book Festival is one of the world’s premier celebrations of writers, readers, and the written word. Now back in person after two years online, the festival line-up includes two exciting literary voices from Canada thanks to the generous support of the Consulate General of Canada San Francisco.
“We Read in Order to Come to Life”: Grief, Joy, and the Magic of Literary Form
In this panel, Pik-Shuen Fung will discuss her acclaimed debut novel Ghost Forest, which explores the narrator’s grief for her “astronaut” father, one of many such fathers who remained in Hong Kong while the rest of the family emigrates to Canada.
What’s New in Native American Literature for Kids
Cree children’s author David A. Robertson (On the Trapline, The Great Bear), two-time winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award, will participate in a panel on exciting new trends in Native American literature for young people.
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Canadian Studies Program
213 Moses Hall #2308
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Royal Canadian Legion, US Branch #25 