A big thank-you for Big Give; plus, new events you won’t want to miss!

An item from one of our fellow Canadian organizations in the Bay Area.


Canadian Studies Announcements

In This Issue:

Program News

  • Big Give 2024 results: Another outsized success, thanks to our Canadian Studies community!

Upcoming Events

  • Sodomy and Settler Self-Government in the Canadian Colonies

Academic Opportunities

  • Last call for papers: Populations rendered “Surplus” in Canada

External Events

  • Harvard University Native American Program Annual Lecture: A Conversation with Paulina Alexis
  • Resurgence: Bridging Existing Curricula with Indigenous Voices and Pedagogies
  • Michael Ondaatje: A Year of Last Things: Poems

PROGRAM NEWS

Big Give 2024: Another Outsized Success, Thanks to our Canadian Studies Community!

The preliminary numbers are in, and they show that Canadian Studies continues to set the standard for small-unit community fundraising here at Berkeley. We’re excited to announce that Canadian Studies raised at least $33,270 from 31 donors. For context, that’s about 12% of all the money raised by the 120+ centers in Berkeley’s Research Division!

We here at Canadian Studies are so thankful to have a community like you. Your committed support is the reason we’re able to punch so far above our weight. And while donations are a crucial part of that, they’re only one of the ways that you consistently show up for us. Whether by attending our events, doing research, or telling your friends about Canadian Studies, there’s so much you do all year round that help us spread knowledge of Canada. So from all of us at the Program, thank you for making the big day so special!

UPCOMING EVENTS

Sodomy and Settler Self-Government in the Canadian Colonies

Tues., April 16 | 12:30 pm | 223 Philosophy Hall | RSVP

This talk will explore the history of anti-sodomy legislation and its historical consequences in early 19th-century Canada. It argues that the new anti-sodomy statutes sanctioned by the then-new United Province of Canada in 1841 and 1842 reveal an unsettled understanding of the implications of queerness upon settler-colonial manhood. It highlights the complexities surrounding the anti-sodomy debates and their relation to the 1842 capital sodomy trials of Samuel Moore and Patrick Kelly. While the shifting sexual politics of the empire underscores an emerging consensus among colonial legislators that perceived queer sex and individuals as a threat to the colonial project, the cases of Moore and Kelly and Governor General Bagot’s moderate response demonstrate that dissenting voices did exist. By contextualizing these events within a broader trans-imperial framework, the talk will reveal competing understandings of same-gender sex, highlight the intersections of power and privilege, and expose efforts to orient the sexual structures of settler society in 1840s Canada toward straightness.

About the Speaker

Dr. Jarett Henderson is a lecturer in history at UC Santa Barbara, where he coordinates the Gender + Sexualities Research Cluster. His research explores the history of gender and sexuality in Canada and the wider British Empire. Dr. Henderson earned his Ph.D. in Canadian history from York University in Toronto, and his MA and BA in history from the University of Manitoba. Before arriving in California, Dr. Henderson was an associate professor of history at Mount Royal University in Calgary. His current book project, Unnatural Sex and Uncivil Subjects: A Queer History of Straight Settler State Making in Early Canada, examines the debates over the implementation of white settler self-government in the Canadian colonies alongside efforts to re-criminalize sex between men in the first half of the nineteenth century.

If you require an accommodation to fully participate in an event, please let us know at least 7 days in advance.

ACADEMIC OPPORTUNITIES

Call For Papers: Populations Rendered “Surplus” in Canada

Deadline: Monday, April 15

Social Sciences, an open-access, peer-reviewed journal, has put out a call for papers for a special edition in Canadian studies. Titled Populations Rendered “Surplus” in Canada, this issue seeks to address the challenges faced by Canada’s displaced, marginalized, erased, racialized, and disadvantaged populations.

The edition will be guest edited by Christina Keppie, director for the Center for Canadian-American Studies at Western Washington University. Submissions from all fields and disciplines related to the social sciences are encouraged, and a multi- or interdisciplinary approach is welcome.

Click here to learn more.

EXTERNAL EVENTS

Harvard University Native American Program Annual Lecture: A Conversation with Paulina Alexis

Thursday, April 4 | 3:00 pm PT | Online | Watch here

Join the Harvard University Native American Program (HUNAP) for a conversation with Paulina Alexis. Alexis is an actress, artist, and proud member of the Stoney tribe of the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation in central Alberta, Canada, where she was raised. She is best known for her role as Willie Jack in the series Reservation Dogs.

This event will be livestreamed. To tune in, click the link above at 3:00 pm PT (6:00pm ET). A recording of the livestream will be available on this page after the event.

This event is made possible with support from The Clara E. and John H. Ware Jr. Foundation; ArtsThursdays, supported by the Harvard University Committee on the Arts (HUCA); The Weatherhead Canada Program; and the Harvard Art Museums.

Resurgence: Bridging Existing Curricula with Indigenous Voices and Pedagogies

Monday, April 15 | 4:00 pm PT | Online | RSVP

In this session, Anishinaabe educator Christine M’Lot will share collectively generated wisdom and knowledge from her groundbreaking textbook, Resurgence. This inspiring collection of contemporary Indigenous poetry, art, and narratives serves as a vital resource for K-12 teachers seeking to bridge existing curricula with Indigenous voices and pedagogies. Designed especially for educators, this session will provide valuable insights into Indigenous education, Indigenous content suitable for your classrooms, and Indigenous learning processes.

This session is part of the series “The Canadian Mosaic: Material & Methods for Teaching Multicultural Canada Spring 2024 Series”, organized by the Canadian-American Center at the University of Maine; the Center for the Study of Canada & Institute on Québec Studies at SUNY Plattsburgh; and the Center for Canadian-American Studies at Western Washington University.

Michael Ondaatje: A Year of Last Things: Poems

Wed., Apr. 17 | 7:00 pm | San Rafael, CA | Tickets

Acclaimed Canadian writer Michael Ondaatje will visit the Bay Area this month to talk about his new poetry collection, A Year of Last Things. One of the Globe and Mail’s most anticipated books of 2024, the collection is Ondaatje’s long-awaited return to poetry. In pieces that are sometimes witty, sometimes moving, and always wise, we journey back through time by way of alchemical leaps, unearthing writings by revered masters, moments of shared tenderness, and the abandoned landscapes we hold on to to rediscover the influence of every border crossed. From Sri Lanka to the California coast and his beloved Canadian rivers, Ondaatje casts a brilliant eye that merges memory with the present, in the way memory as the distant shores of art and lost friends continue to influence everything that surrounds him.

This event is hosted by the Institute for Leadership Studies at Dominican University of California and Book Passage. A copy of the book will be included with ticket purchase.

Canadian Studies Program

213 Philosophy Hall #2308

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Canadian Studies Program | Univ. of California, Berkeley213 Philosophy Hall #2308Berkeley, CA 94720

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