Canadian Studies Announcements

In This Issue:

Upcoming Events

• Panel Discussion: 2025 Canadian Federal Election

• 2025 Canadian Federal Election Watch Party

Other Events

• A Shifting Global Order: Unpacking US-Canada Relations in Uncertain Times

• Superintelligent Agents Pose Catastrophic Risks: Can Scientist AI Offer a Safer Path? (Richard M. Karp Distinguished Lecture)

• Francophonie nord-américaine : entre diversité et fierté linguistique

UPCOMING EVENTS

If you require an accommodation to participate in an event below, please let us know with as much advance notice as possible.

Wed., April 16 | 12:30 pm | IGS Library, 109 Philosophy Hall | RSVP

Canadian Studies invites you to join us Wednesday for a lively panel discussion on Canada’s upcoming Federal elections. Representatives from Canada’s major political parties will discuss key issues affecting the election landscape, and how developments in the United States have radically shifted the dynamics of the race. Panelists include:

Justin Meyers, a Senior Policy Advisor at Nelson Mullins. He works as a lobbyist in Washington, DC, focusing on US-Canada trade and energy issues.

David Murray, who served as Director of Policy for Conservative PM candidate Pierre Poilievre. He is Senior Vice President at One Persuasion, a national political strategy firm.

Cheryl Oates, who served as deputy chief of staff to Alberta premier Rachel Notley and has worked as a campaign manager for the NDP in Alberta and Saskatchewan. She leads the Western Canada practice for the strategy firm gt&co.

Jordan O’Brien, a cofounder and partner of the public relations and consulting firm Porter O’Brien. He worked for the Government of New Brunswick for ten years, including as chief of staff and deputy minister in the Office of the Premier.

Dr. Tamara Small, a professor of political science at the University of Guelph. She is a leading expert in Canadian politics, with a research focus on digital politics.

This event is cosponsored by the Consulate General of Canada in San Francisco, The Porter O’Brien Agency, and the Institute of Governmental Studies.

Mon., April 28 | 5:00 pm | IGS Library, 109 Philosophy Hall | RSVP

Join friends from the Bay Area’s Canadian community for a live viewing party as we await results from Canada’s 45th Federal general election. Who will be the next Prime Minister, and what’s in store for US-Canada relations? Come and exchange predictions and punditry with others who share a passion for Canadian politics! We’ll provide refreshments and expert commentary. This event is open to all, but RSVPs are required.

This event is cosponsored by the Consulate General of Canada in San Francisco and the Institute of Governmental Studies.

OTHER EVENTS

A Shifting Global Order: Unpacking US-Canada Relations in Uncertain Times

Tues., April 15 | 2:00 pm PT | Online | RSVP

In an era marked by geopolitical friction and economic uncertainty, the relationship between the United States and Canada stands at a critical juncture. In this thought-provoking discussion, speakers will discuss the historical foundations and contemporary tensions shaping this complex bilateral relationship through a global studies lens. The program offers essential insights into how international dynamics, economic policies, and historical contexts intersect to shape bilateral relations, providing an essential forum for understanding the stakes of cross-border diplomacy.

Speakers include Laurie Trautman, director of the Border Policy Research Institute at Western Washington University (WWU); and Andrew Holman, director of Canadian Studies at Bridgewater State University.

This talk is sponsored by the Global Studies Center at the University of Pittsburgh and the Border Policy Research Institute at WWU.

Superintelligent Agents Pose Catastrophic Risks: Can Scientist AI Offer a Safer Path? | Richard M. Karp Distinguished Lecture

Tues., April 15 | 4:00 pm | Calvin Lab | RSVP

The leading AI companies are increasingly focused on building generalist AI agents: systems that can autonomously plan, act, and pursue goals across almost all tasks that humans can perform. Despite how useful these systems might be, unchecked AI agency poses significant risks to public safety and security, ranging from misuse by malicious actors to a potentially irreversible loss of human control. In this talk, Yoshua Bengio will discuss how these risks arise from current AI training methods.

Following the precautionary principle, Bengio and his colleagues see a strong need for safer, yet still useful, alternatives to the current agency-driven trajectory. Accordingly, they propose as a core building block for further advances the development of a non-agentic AI system that is trustworthy and safe by design, which they call Scientist AI. This talk will be followed by a panel discussion from 5-6 p.m.

Yoshua Bengio is a full professor in the Department of Computer Science and Operations Research at Université de Montréal, as well as the founder and scientific director of Mila and the scientific director of IVADO. He also holds a Canada CIFAR AI chair. Considered one of the world’s leaders in artificial intelligence and deep learning, he is the recipient of the 2018 A.M. Turing Award, considered the “Nobel Prize of computing.” He is a fellow of both the U.K.’s Royal Society and the Royal Society of Canada, an officer of the Order of Canada, a knight of the Legion of Honor of France, and a member of the U.N.’s Scientific Advisory Board for Independent Advice on Breakthroughs in Science and Technology.

This talk is sponsored by the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing.

Francophonie nord-américaine : entre diversité et fierté linguistique

Jeudi, 17 avril | 16:00 HAE | En ligne | RSVP

The American Council for Québec Studies, en partenariat avec le Centre de la francophonie des Amériques, vous invite à un webinaire sur la langue et la diversité linguistique avec Bianca Richard et Gabriel Robichaud.

Peut-on imaginer qu’une comédienne acadienne et qu’un comédien acadien, vedettes d’une série à succès (À la valdrague), primés en théâtre et en littérature, puissent parler mal ou ressentir de l’insécurité linguistique?

Dans Parler mal, Bianca Richard et Gabriel Robichaud explorent cette « malédiction » et se penchent sur l’état de l’expression de la langue franco-canadienne, plus particulièrement acadienne. Ne manquez pas cette occasion d’échanger sur la vitalité et les défis du français en Amérique du Nord.

Canadian Studies Program

213 Philosophy Hall #2308

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