In This Issue:

News from Berkeley

• The forgotten history of the Royal Canadian Legion’s Berkeley branch

Upcoming Events

• ACB-FGC: A Culturally Responsive Program to Support Black Families Involved with the Ontario Child Welfare System
• 6th Annual Canadian Thanksgiving Dinner

Academic Opportunities

• Fulbright Canada-Mitacs Globalink Research Internship
• The Donner Medal in Canadian Studies

External Events

• Celebrate National Legion Week with US Branch 25!
• Canadian films at the San Francisco Dance Film Festival
• Human Impact on Life Below the Arctic Ocean and Climate Change: How Exploration, Restoration and Policy Protect Species and Climate

NEWS FROM BERKELEY

The Forgotten History of the Royal Canadian Legion’s Berkeley Branch

Most Canadians are familiar with the Royal Canadian Legion, the veterans’ organization best-known for organizing the country’s annual Remembrance Day Poppy campaign. But did you know that the organization once had 16 branches across Northern California? While US Branch 25 (San Francisco) now represents the entire Bay Area, for about 20 years Berkeley had its own local chapter, Post 113. To commemorate the first-ever National Legion Week this week, friends of Branch 25 did a little digging into the history of its long-vanished counterpart across the Bay.

The Berkeley branch of the Canadian Legion of the British Empire Service League (as it was then known) received its charter in 1939. The organization met monthly in the Veteran’s Building in Downtown Berkeley. While never a particularly large or well-funded branch, it hosted social events, dinners, and even maintained a small bagpipe band. (One band member recalled that they “neither played or drilled well but no one seemed to care about that much at the time”.) As membership dwindled in the 1950s and 60s, the branch eventually gave up its charter and merged with Branch #15 (Oakland), which ultimately likewise merged into Branch #25 (San Francisco).

Today, Branch #25 carries on the legacy of the other Bay Area branches, including maintaining a collection of memorabilia from the former Berkeley branch. Read the full blog post on the Branch #25 website to see photos of artefacts, newspaper clippings, and more. And be sure to check out their other National Legion Week posts for more history of the local branches and profiles of notable members!

UPCOMING EVENTS

ACB-FGC: A Culturally Responsive Program to Support Black Families Involved With the Ontario Child Welfare System

Tues., Sept. 26 | 12:30 pm | 223 Philosophy Hall | RSVP

The disparate treatment of African American families in the American child welfare system is well documented, but researchers are only just beginning to examine the experiences of African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB) Canadian families in Canada. In the province of Ontario, recent studies find that Black families are represented in the child welfare system at disproportionate rates. Experiences of Black youth, caregivers, and workers also highlight differential and punitive treatment within the system. These findings have given rise to the development of the African, Caribbean, Black Family Group Conferencing Project (ACB-FGC), a restorative, culturally responsive innovation to support Black families at risk of, or already engaged in, the child welfare system in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). In this presentation, Dr. Lance T. McCready, co-director of ACB-FGC, describes the community-based research that led to the development of the program and implications of ACB-FGC for provincial policies to address anti-Black racism in the child welfare system and among partner institutions.

Dr. Lance McCready is the lead researcher for the Making Spaces Lab, and an associate professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. He holds a B.A. in psychology and an M.A. and Ph.D. in education, all from UC Berkeley. He is the recipient of the 2017 Ludwik and Estelle Jus Memorial Human Rights Prize from the University of Toronto, and the 2018 Distinguished Research Scholar Award from the Ontario Education Research Symposium. Dr. McCready held a Sproul Fellowship with Canadian Studies at Berkeley in Spring 2023, where he worked on several projects related to the health and welfare of Black families, youth, and GBT/MSM individuals in Canada.

This event is cosponsored by the Berkeley School of Education, the Center for Race and Gender, and the Department of African American Studies & African Diaspora Studies.

6th Annual Canadian Thanksgiving Dinner

Sunday, Oct. 8 | 4:30 pm | Alumni House | Buy tickets

Canadian Studies is proud to partner with the Digital Moose Lounge for our sixth annual Canadian Thanksgiving! Join your fellow Bay Area Canadians for this annual Thanksgiving tradition. Share a delicious turkey dinner as you connect with friends old and new.

Tickets may be purchased through the Digital Moose Lounge.

ACADEMIC OPPORTUNITIES

Fulbright Canada-Mitacs Globalink Research Internship

Deadline: September 21, 2023

Fulbright Canada is pleased to announce that the competition for the Fulbright Canada-Mitacs Globalink Research Internship is open for applications. American students are invited to take up a research internship in Canada between May and October 2024. The internship is a fantastic opportunity for U.S. students to work with outstanding faculty and researchers at Canadian host universities and conduct hands-on research in their field of study. In addition to honing valuable professional and research skills, participants will receive a grant of $7,500 CAD.

Learn more and apply here.

The Donner Medal in Canadian Studies

Deadline: October 1, 2023

The Association for Canadian Studies in the United States (ACSUS) is seeking nominations for its Donner Medal in Canadian Studies. The award recognizes distinguished achievement, scholarship, and program innovation in the area of Canadian Studies in the United States. The recipient shall have been active in and made contributions in at least one of the following categories: teaching, scholarship, administration, and public affairs. Please submit nominations to info@acsus.org.

EXTERNAL EVENTS

Celebrate National Legion Week With US Branch 25!

September 17-23 | Learn more

The Royal Canadian Legion is a nonprofit organization serving Canadian veterans and their families. Since 1931, US Branch 25 (San Francisco) has upheld a proud tradition of service in the Bay Area through hosting annual Remembrance Day services to sponsoring a local cadet corps to maintaining the graves of Canadian and Commonwealth veterans. With the help of local partners, it also organizes the annual Poppy campaign.

Join Branch 25 as they celebrate the first annual National Legion Week from Sunday, September 17 to Saturday, September 23, with stories about the branch, its history, and its current activities. For more information, visit their website.

Canadian Films at the SF Dance Film Festival

Sept. 22-Oct. 15 | San Francisco, CA | Buy tickets

Four Canadian short films will be screened at this year’s 14th annual San Francisco Dance Film Festival. A highlight is Just Short of Reality, a series of interlocking shorts that show the mundane serendipities of everyday life through the genres of surrealism, silent film, and dance (Screendance 2: What’s the Story?, October 7; also on streaming). Other Canadian entries include Beyond the Off-Screen and Future Futures – Walter’s Very Bad Day (Narrative Shorts, October 5) and Branché (Raising Voices, October 8; also on streaming).

Sept. 30 | 12:00 pm | San Francisco, CA | Get tickets

The United Nations Association of San Francisco will host an important discussion climate change and the future of the Arctic at the Veteran’s Memorial in San Francisco. Marine biologist, ocean explorer, and conservation leader Dr. Sylvia Earle will deliver the keynote address. Two panels will follow: one on the United Nations Treaty on the High Seas, and a “Meet the Aquanauts” panel featuring cave diver Jill Heinerth, explorer-in-residence for the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.

This event will be webcast for those who cannot attend in person. However, please note that the discussion with Ms. Heinerth will not be webcast.

This event is co-sponsored by the Consulate General of Canada in San Francisco.

Canadian Studies Program

213 Philosophy Hall #2308

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