Canadian Studies Announcements

In this issue:

UPCOMING EVENT

Panel Discussion: Models for Repatriation of Indigenous Cultural Property from First Nations, Canada

Tuesday, February 8 | 12:30 pm | Online | RSVP here

How can repatriation be built from mutual respect, cooperation and trust? North American museums and institutions have historically engaged in the collection and categorization of Indigenous cultural property and knowledge without the consent or active involvement of Indigenous people. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) was enacted in 1990 to return Native American “cultural items” to lineal descendants and culturally affiliated American Indian tribes, Alaska Native villages, and Native Hawaiian organizations. Despite this and further state legislation, many institutions including the University of California, have obfuscated or denied repatriation claims. Across the border, the Canadian government does not currently have legislation addressing the repatriation of Indigenous Ancestors and cultural heritage, but is working to create national support for repatriation through legislation Bill C-391. Some Canadian provinces have passed repatriation acts or provincial museum polices that have facilitated the return of ancestors and belongings. This panel discussion seeks to learn from what is being done in Canada. What is the cultural and nuanced work that builds successful repatriations? How can repatriation and indigenizing the institution from within preserve and strengthen tribal cultural heritage?

Join Canadian Studies affiliate Sabrina Agarwal (Professor of anthropology and chair of the UC Berkeley NAGPRA Advisory Committee) in conversation with Dr. Louis Lesage (Director, Nionwentsïo Office, Huron-Wendat Nation), Lou-Ann Neel (Curator and Acting Head of Indigenous Collections and Repatriation Department, Royal BC Museum), and Michelle Washington (Repatriation Specialist, Royal BC Museum) to explore these questions and hear about their experiences in repatriation.

Image: Kwakwaka’wakw house posts from British Columbia in the Hearst Museum of Anthropology, UC Berkeley.

New Faculty Affiliate Daniel Aldana Cohen Studies Politics of Climate Change

Canadian Studies is pleased to welcome professor Daniel Aldana Cohen, an assistant professor of sociology, as our newest program affiliate.

Professor Cohen joined the Berkeley faculty in July 2021. He completed his undergraduate schooling at McGill University, where he was also editor of the McGill Daily, and received a master’s and doctorate in sociology from New York University. He is also an Azrieli Global Scholar with CIFAR, a Toronto-based organization that provides support for outstanding early-career researchers studying the most important questions facing science and humanity.

Professor Cohen’s research focuses on the politics of climate crises, investigating the intersections of climate change, housing, political economy, social movements, and inequalities of race and social class in the United States and Brazil. He conducts comparative qualitative research on social movements and elite climate policymaking, as well as creating equitable, practical pathways to a low-carbon emissions future.

Professor Cohen is director of the Socio-Spacial Climate Collaborative, or (SC)², a hub for critical social science research on climate change, and is a founding co-director of the Climate and Community Project. He has served as a policy advisor to several nonprofits and American political campaigns. His writing has appeared in publications including Nature, The Guardian, The Washington Post, Jacobin, and Vox, and he co-hosts the Dissent magazine affiliated podcast Hot & Bothered: A Climate Podcast for the 99%. He co-authored the book A Planet to Win: Why We Need a Green New Deal (2019), and is currently working on his next book, Street Fight: Climate Change and Inequality in the 21st Century City. Professor Cohen can be found on Twitter at @aldatweets.

EXTERNAL EVENTS

Canadian Minister of Northern Affairs Dan Vandal: Building a Strong, Sustainable North

Friday, February 4 | 10 am PT | Online | RSVP here

The Government of Canada, Indigenous peoples, and 6 territorial and provincial governments came together to develop Canada’s Arctic and Northern Policy Framework, a transformative vision of the future where northern and Arctic people are thriving, strong and safe. The Framework includes goals relating to eight overarching themes—people and communities, strong economies, comprehensive infrastructure, environment and biodiversity, science and Indigenous knowledge, global leadership, safety, security and defence, and reconciliation. It incorporates regional and distinctions-based lenses while integrating domestic and international dimensions. Canada’s Minister of Northern Affairs, Daniel Vandal, will discuss federal, Indigenous, and community-driven partnerships and programs to address short-term and long-term climate change adaptation and mitigation, supporting healthy ecosystems in the Arctic and North in a conversation by moderated by Jothsna Harris.

Book Talk: Bootlegged Aliens: Immigration Politics on America’s Northern Border

Friday, February 18 | 12 pm PT | Online | RSVP here

Join Professor Ashley Johnson Bavery for a discussion of her new book, Bootlegged Aliens. The book explores immigration on America’s northern border before World War II, situating Detroit, Michigan as America’s epicenter for unauthorized immigration. In this industrial center, thousands of Europeans crossed the border from Canada each year, prompting nativist backlash and complicating the labor politics of the automobile industry. This event is jointly hosted by the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies at UC San Diego and UCLA Center for the Study of International Migration. UCLA professor Tobias Higbie will join as a discussant.

Ashley Johnson Bavery is assistant professor of history at Eastern Michigan University. Her work has appeared in the Journal of Urban History and the Journal of American History and her book, Bootlegged Aliens: Immigration Politics on America’s Northern Border (2020) won the First Book Award from the Immigration and Ethnic History Society.

Tobias Higbie is a professor of history and labor studies at UCLA, the chair of the Labor Studies and the associate director of the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment. His research explores social movements, migration, and the politics of community in the United States. Higbie’s most recent book, Labor’s Mind: A History of Working Class Intellectual Life (2019), recovers the social world of self-educated working people and the politics of working-class identity during the early 20th century.

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