Canadian Studies Announcements

In This Issue:

Canadian Studies News

• Canadian students turn out for back-to-school welcome reception

Upcoming Events

• Student Research Showcase

• “The Soul and Its Demons in New France: Possession and Obsession in The Life of Catherine of Saint Augustine, a French Missionary in Canada”

• 8th Annual Canadian Thanksgiving Dinner

External Events

• Kim’s Convenience at ACT San Francisco

• Exploratorium After Dark: Dancing in the Sky

• San Francisco Fleet Week Air Show

PROGRAM NEWS

Earlier this month, the Canadian Studies Program kicked off the Fall semester with our annual welcome reception for Canadian students. We’re pleased to report it was a phenomenal success! We had a fantastic turnout, with over forty students joining us to share food, conversation, and community with their fellow Berkeley Canadians.

Our fall social was established after the pandemic with the intent of strengthening our student community. In addition to introducing new and returning students to the Canadian Studies Program, we’re growing our on-campus Canadian community: we’ve nearly doubled our attendance since last year! Attendees enjoyed the chance to meet so many other Canadians and friends of Canada, with many expressing pleasant surprise to see so many in attendance. We hope for an even bigger crowd next year!

UPCOMING EVENTS

Mon., Sept. 22 | 12:30 pm | 201 Philosophy Hall | RSVP

Learn about the research Canadian Studies funds through our Edward E. Hildebrand Graduate Research Fellowships, as recipients present overviews of their projects.

Measuring the Societal Benefits of Public Investment in Sport in Canada

Sophie Helpard, Master’s student, Public Policy

Sophie’s research examines how public investment in sport affects social welfare. Her fellowship supported her capstone project, a policy benefit-cost analysis on the impacts of increasing federal funding to Canada’s national sports organizations. It examines whether increased funding leads to general improvements in outcomes in wellbeing measures such as mental health, physical health, and labor productivity.

The Political Legacy of Indian Residential Schools

Andrew Zhao, PhD student, Political Science

​Andrew’s research explores the intersection of identity and politics. His fellowship supported a study on the long-term political impacts of Canada’s Indian residential school system on surrounding communities. The schools left a well-documented legacy of physical and psychological harm to survivors and their kin. But another legacy remains under-explored: how did the schools affect the politics and beliefs of nearby communities, and does that impact persist to this day?

The Soul and Its Demons in New France: Possession and Obsession in the Life of Catherine of Saint Augustine, a French Missionary in Canada

Tues., Sept. 23 | 5:00 pm | 3401 Dwinelle Hall

Part pre-hagiography, part autobiography, the Vie de Mère Catherine de Saint-Augustin (1671) alternates between the voices of Catherine and her biographer, the Jesuit Paul Ragueneau. The latter quotes extensively from the writings left by Catherine upon her death, in which she describes the diabolical attacks she claims to have experienced throughout her life. Ragueneau insists that God possesses Catherine – it is “only” that she is obsessed and besieged by demons. Catherine, who is experiencing a “martyrdom of love,” constantly questions what is driving her (God, demons, passions?), and interprets what she is experiencing as a way of keeping within her the “demons” that threaten to besiege New France at a time when the colony is in great uncertainty about its survival, and even its mission (political? economic? religious?). Both reflect on the tormented exchanges that take place between the outside and the inside, between the individual and the group. They question the alteration or even the dispossession of the soul, the difficulty of discerning what is driving us, and the intimate relationship that develops between an individual and “their” place.

About the Speaker

Anne Régent-Susini is professor of 17th-century French literature at Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris. She specializes in early modern religious discourse, rhetoric, polemics, the history of emotions, the writing of history and the history of pedagogy. She is the author of L’Éloquence de la chaire (Pulpit Eloquence), and Bossuet et la rhétorique de l’autorité (Bossuet and the Rhetoric of Authority).

This event is sponsored by the Department of French with the support of the France-Berkeley Fund and is cosponsored by the Canadian Studies Program, the Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion and the Renaissance and Early Modern Studies DE.

8th Annual Canadian Thanksgiving Dinner

Sun. Oct. 5 | 5:00 pm | Alumni House | Buy tickets

Canadian Studies is proud to partner with the Digital Moose Lounge to bring you a Canadian holiday tradition! Join us in celebrating the Bay Area’s Canadian community with a delicious turkey dinner and the chance to mingle with your fellow Canadians. Tickets include a classic Thanksgiving turkey dinner with all the fixings; a raffle with fabulous prizes; entertainment; and a chance to mingle with fellow Canadians from around the Bay!

EXTERNAL EVENTS

Kim’s Convenience at ACT San Francisco

Sept. 18-Oct. 19 | San Francisco, CA | Learn more

The hilarious and heartwarming, award-winning comedy drama that inspired the popular Netflix hit show is coming to SF! This feel-good play about a Korean family-run corner store is an ode to generations of immigrants who have made Canada the country that it is today. Mr. Kim works hard to support his wife and children with his Toronto convenience store. As he evaluates his future, he faces both a changing neighborhood landscape and the gap between his values and those of his Canada-born children. Playwright Ins Choi, who will also star in the production as the title character, calls Kim’s Convenience his “love letter to his parents and to all first-generation immigrants who call Canada their home.”

Kim’s Convenience opens at the American Conservatory Theater (ACT) Toni Rembe Theater on September 18. Thanks to our friends at the DML, you can click here or use code DML to save 20% on tickets!

Exploratorium After Dark: Dancing in the Sky

Thurs., Oct. 9 | San Francisco, CA | Buy tickets

The Exploratorium invites you to buckle in for an evening of mystery, adventure, and airborne entertainment! Prepare to be dazzled by a performance from Earth Circus, where jaw-dropping moves from acrobatic dancers will have you questioning gravity. Uncover the secrets behind aerobatics with the Snowbird squadron, Canada’s iconic flight demonstration crew. And don’t miss a special cabaret co-hosted with our friends at KQED, where stories of flight – from the world of winged arthropods to the death of a daredevil aviator – will inspire your curiosity to soar.

San Francisco Fleet Week Air Show

Oct. 10-12 | San Francisco, CA | Learn more

The Canadian Forces Snowbirds, the acrobatic squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force, will be participating in this year’s SF Fleet Week Air Show! Held annually between the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz, the air show attracts fans from all over the globe. The waterfront event, sponsored by United Airlines, is headlined by the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and is the only air show in the United States with a commercial airliner, the United 777, to perform a fully choreographed act. The Snowbirds will join this awe-inspiring performance to showcase the exceptional teamwork, skill, and dedication that defines members of the Canadian Armed Forces.

Canadian Studies Program

213 Philosophy Hall #2308

Website | LinkedIn | Email | Donate