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.

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

WEBSITE | EMAIL | DONATE

Canadian Studies Announcements

In This Issue:

News from Canada

• Former prime minister Brian Mulroney dies at 84

Program News

• One week to Big Give! (March 14)

Upcoming Events

• Come from Away: Newfoundland and Labrador’s Food Security Dilemma

Academic Opportunities

• Call for papers: Florence Piron Day: Bridging Open Science and Local Knowledge
• Summer Hildebrand Graduate Fellowship applications now open

External Events

• Critical Understanding of Canada in the World: Breaking Through

NEWS FROM CANADA

Former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney Dies at 84

Brian Mulroney, who served as Canada’s 18th prime minister from 1984 to 1993, died Thursday after a fall at his Florida home. He was 84 years old. Prime Minister Trudeau announced that the premier will have a state funeral, as tributes poured in from leaders across Canada and around the world.

Mulroney’s tenure was marked by strong personal leadership and a tenacity that led him to great political highs and lows. The Globe and Mail eulogized him as Canada’s “last great prime minister“, noting that while the scope of his ambitions sometimes outran his abilities, he was nevertheless one of few leaders with a genuinely historic legacy. Mulroney oversaw a significant restructuring of the Canadian economy. A native of Quebec, Mulroney attempted to bridge the divide between French and English Canada at a time of heightened tension, expending significant political capital on failed constitutional reforms that ultimately brought down his government.

Among Mulroney’s most significant legislative accomplishments were his economic liberalisation programme and efforts to increase ties with the United States. He negotiated and passed bills that promoted free trade with the US, most importantly NAFTA. He also privatized major crown corporations such as Air Canada and Petro-Canada, and introduced the national goods and services tax.

Mulroney’s other successes include his strong environmental record. He passed national laws and secured international treaties to curb pollution, and created eight new national parks. He also advocated for strict international sanctions against South Africa’s Apartheid government. And in one of his final acts as Prime Minister, he signed the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, establishing a separate Inuit territory in the largest Indigenous land claim settlement in Canadian history.

The latter part of Mulroney’s premiership was consumed by his unsuccessful attempts to resolve long-simmering questions about Canadian federalism. When the Canadian Constitution was Patriated in 1982, the government of Quebec refused to sign, arguing that the Federal government did not address the province’s concerns. Mulroney attempted to resolve this standoff with the Meech Lake Accord of 1987, specifically addressing key Québécois objections. However, he failed to obtain unanimous approval from the other provinces before the ratification deadline. This rejection only increased Québécois separatism, and damaged Mulroney’s political standing.

Mulroney attempted to rectify this failure with the more comprehensive Charlottetown Accord in 1992, which would also have established Indigenous self-government and reformed the Senate. However, despite having this time obtaining unanimous provincial agreement on the proposal, Mulroney decided to hold a national referendum on the Accord, where it was soundly defeated by Canadian voters. This defeat marked the end of Mulroney’s political career.

Mulroney’s grand visions were reflected in his party’s political fortunes under his tenure. He led the Progressive Conservatives to a landslide victory in 1984, winning three-quarters of seats in Parliament, the second largest in Canadian history. He was also the first Conservative prime minister since John Macdonald to win a second majority government. However, the failure of his constitutional reforms and general economic malaise destroyed his popularity, which reached a record low of 12% by the end of his term. Mulroney resigned as prime minister just before a historic rout of his Progressive Conservatives in the 1993 election. The party suffered one of the worst electoral losses in history, keeping only two of the 169 seats they had won in 1988.

Nevertheless, while Mulroney’s legacy is mixed, it was inarguably transformative; and while subsequent governments were often keen to distance themselves from his policies, his most significant legislative accomplishments remain in place today.

PROGRAM NEWS

Big Give is Next Thursday, March 14!

In just ten days, the Cal community will come together for the 10th annual big Give, Berkeley’s annual fundraising extravaganza! Help us mark this milestone by showing your support for Canadian Studies. We’re a donor-supported program, which means your generosity will help fund our public lectures, undergraduate student research, and community events – even this newsletter! So if you believe in the value of Canadian Studies, mark your calendars to pledge your support next week!

UPCOMING EVENTS

Come from Away: Newfoundland and Labrador’s Food Security Dilemma

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

This presentation illuminates past and current complexities of Newfoundland and Labrador’s unique food system. Following confederation with Canada in 1949, the province’s once-abundant fisheries fed North America to the point of over-exploitation, creating both cultural and food system disruption. Currently, most food is imported into the province and transported by ferry, including produce from California’s Central Valley. Though hunting is prevalent in rural communities, high priced, pre-packaged, and processed food, rather than fish, are the dietary mainstay. Recent efforts to expand agricultural production within the province would improve local control over the food system. This would ostensibly be more expensive than most imported foods, given the province’s short growing season and relatively small, diffusely located population. Yet financially supporting such endeavors might be justifiable to facilitate a basic human right to access and produce food.

Note: The speaker will also share Newfoundland and Labrador artwork and handicrafts at the in-person presentation.

About the Speaker

Dr. Catherine Keske is a professor of management of complex systems in the School of Engineering at UC Merced. She is an agricultural economist and social scientist who studies sustainable food, energy, and waste systems. Prior to joining UC Merced in 2017, she was associate professor of environmental studies (economics) in the School of Science and the Environment at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Her research on food security and Newfoundland and Labrador includes an edited book, Food Futures: Growing a Sustainable Food System for Newfoundland and Labrador, and “Economic feasibility of biochar and agriculture coproduction from Canadian black spruce forest” published in Food and Energy Security.

This event is cosponsored by the Berkeley Food Institute.

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

ACADEMIC OPPORTUNITIES

Submission deadline: March 15, 2024

Nukskahtowin at the Athabasca University, in partnership with the Association science et bien commun and the UNESCO Decade for Indigenous Languages, invites paper submissions to celebrate the 3rd annual “Florence Piron Day” on April 26.

This interdisciplinary conference will examine the intellectual and scientific heritage of Florence Piron (1966-2021) between question of (i) ethics, (ii) Open Science and Open Access, (iii) participative research and collaboration with local communities, (iv) critical pedagogy, (v) local knowledge and their potential to contribute to local sustainable development, (vi) cognitive justice, (vii) the métissage of knowledge, democracy, decolonial studies, citizen science and participatory research, etc.

Submissions should include an abstract of no more than 500 words and a 100-word biography identifying key institutional affiliations and key scholarly contributions. For the conference terms of reference and to make a submission, please click here.

Deadline: April 1, 2024

Are you a graduate student interested in doing research in Canada? Make the most of your summer break by applying for a Summer 2024 Edward E. Hildebrand Graduate Research Fellowship! Applications are open to UC Berkeley graduate students in any discipline whose work focuses primarily or comparatively on Canada. This fellowship is meant to cover travel and research costs, with an award maximum of $5,000.

Friends of the program are asked to help forward this information with your networks. Please visit our website for more information and full eligibility criteria.

EXTERNAL EVENTS

Tuesday, March 5 | 11:30 am PT | Online | RSVP

Brock University (Ontario) is hosting a free online panel discussing Canada’s contemporary foreign policy. Speakers will include Aaron Ettinger (Carleton University), on “Diversity, Pedagogy, Canadian Foreign Policy”‘; Breanna Kubat (Carleton University), on “Pearsonian Nostalgia: Rethinking the Rhetoric of Canadian Internationalism Under the Trudeau Liberals”; and Rebekah K. Pullen (McMaster University), “Do you Hear What I Hear? Considering the Dissonance of Canada’s Silence on Nuclear Disarmament and its Character on the World Stage”. The panel will be moderated by Liam Midzain-Gobin (Brock University).

Canadian Studies Program

213 Philosophy Hall #2308

WEBSITE | EMAIL | DONATE

Canadian Studies Announcements

In This Issue:

Program News

• Former director Irene Bloemraad to join the University of British Columbia
• Save the date: the Big Give is March 14!

Upcoming Events

• Conference on Proto-Algonquian
• Come from Away: Newfoundland and Labrador’s Food Security Dilemma

External Events

• Modest Livelihood with a Live Score by eagles with eyes closed
• Seeing It All: Changing the World One Photo at a Time

Irene Bloemraad Appointed President’s Chair in Migration at the University of British Columbia

It is with very mixed emotions that the Canadian Studies Program announces that former program director Irene Bloemraad will be leaving Berkeley at the end of the current academic year. Professor Bloemraad has accepted a new position at the University of British Columbia. As recently announced by UBC, she has been appointed President’s Excellence Chair in Global Migration, beginning July 1, 2024.

While we are happy for Irene and the opportunities that this new position offers her, her departure will leave a hole in our Canadian Studies community here at Berkeley. Professor Bloemraad directed the Canadian Studies Program for ten years, ending her directorship just last year. During that time, she played a critical role in stabilizing and growing the Program. She oversaw a broad restructuring of the Program’s governance and finances, and implemented numerous community partnerships that continue to bear fruit today. In addition to her academic and organizational talents, she is a personal friend to many in our community, and we will miss seeing her around campus.

At UBC, Dr. Bloemraad will hold appointments in the Departments of Political Science and Sociology. She will also serve as the co-director of the Centre of Migration Studies in the Faculty of Arts and will continue to co-direct the Boundaries, Membership and Belonging program of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, a Canada-based global research organization.

Canadian Studies would like to thank Professor Bloemraad for her service not just to the Program, but to Berkeley as a whole. While we are certainly sad that she is leaving, we know that she will remain a committed friend. We look forward to working with her to build connections with UBC and develop further avenues for collaboration. We hope that you will join us in wishing her well in her new position!

Save the Date: The Big Give is March 14!

It’s that time of year again! On March 14, join our community in showing support for Canadian Studies by making a gift during the Big Give, Berkeley’s annual day of giving. Canadian Studies is a donor-supported program, and your donation goes directly to support education and research about Canada. We’ll follow up with additional information on how you can multiply the impact of a gift of any size. Until then, mark your calendars – we hope to see you on March 14!

UPCOMING EVENTS

Saturday, March 2 | 9:30 am – 4:00 pm | 223 Philosophy Hall | RSVP

The Canadian Studies Program invites you to a one-day conference honoring the late David Pentland on the occasion of the posthumous publication of his Proto-Algonquian Dictionary. The conference will bring together scholars from across the United States and Canada to celebrate this significant milestone in Algonquian scholarship, and to celebrate Dr. Pentland’s life and career as a prominent scholar in the field of Algonquian studies.

Ever since Leonard Bloomfield published his groundbreaking 1946 sketch outlining the sound system and basic morphology of Proto-Algonquian, refinements of the details of sound change and the reconstruction of Proto-Algonquian has been a central part of Algonquian linguistics. But the close similarities among most of the languages has led to a plethora of proposed reconstructions that are often not fully consistent with one another. Pentland’s dictionary has been a long-awaited step forward, bringing a new level of rigor and consistency to the field. It will also be a springboard to a range of new questions about methodology, classification, and borrowing. And we cannot discount the window on Algonquian culture such a comprehensive work provides. Speakers at the conference will address these questions and more.

Details about the conference, including the speaker schedule, are available on our website. The conference is at no cost, but attendees must register by emailing canada@berkeley.edu.

Come from Away: Newfoundland and Labrador’s Food Security Dilemma

Tues., March 12 | 12:30 PM | 223 Philosophy Hall | RSVP

This presentation illuminates past and current complexities of Newfoundland and Labrador’s unique food system. Following confederation with Canada in 1949, the province’s once-abundant fisheries fed North America to the point of over-exploitation, creating both cultural and food system disruption. Currently, most food is imported into the province and transported by ferry, including produce from California’s Central Valley. Though hunting is prevalent in rural communities, high priced, pre-packaged, and processed food, rather than fish, are the dietary mainstay. Recent efforts to expand agricultural production within the province would improve local control over the food system. This would ostensibly be more expensive than most imported foods, given the province’s short growing season and relatively small, diffusely located population. Yet financially supporting such endeavors might be justifiable to facilitate a basic human right to access and produce food.

Note: The speaker will also share Newfoundland and Labrador artwork and handicrafts at the in-person presentation.

About the Speaker

Dr. Catherine Keske is a professor of management of complex systems in the School of Engineering at UC Merced. She is an agricultural economist and social scientist who studies sustainable food, energy, and waste systems. Prior to joining UC Merced in 2017, she was associate professor of environmental studies (economics) in the School of Science and the Environment at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Her research on food security and Newfoundland and Labrador includes an edited book, Food Futures: Growing a Sustainable Food System for Newfoundland and Labrador, and “Economic feasibility of biochar and agriculture coproduction from Canadian black spruce forest” published in Food and Energy Security.

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

EXTERNAL EVENTS

Modest Livelihood with a Live Score by eagles with eyes closed

Wed., Feb. 21 | 7:30 pm | BAMPFA | Buy tickets

A screening of the silent film Modest Livelihood, by Cree artist Duane Linklater (pictured left) and Brian Jungen, is accompanied by a new score performed by a trio of UC Berkeley student musicians. The score is written by eagles with eyes closed, a musical project consisting of Duane Linklater and Tobias Linklater, exploring the generative experience of watching films together as intergenerational collaborators, father and son, and two Indigenous artists. The screening will close out the exhibit Duane Linklater: mymothersside, which ends tomorrow. Space is limited, and tickets are required.

Seeing It All: Changing the World One Photo at a Time

Wed., Feb. 28 | 5:30 pm | San Francisco | Buy tickets

The Commonwealth Club invites you to join three Canadian women for a conversation on the power of images to change how we see the world, raise awareness about the most urgent environmental issues, and spark action. Seeing It All: Women Photographers Expose Our Planet is the latest publication from BigPicture and the California Academy of Sciences. Featuring more than 125 photos by female BigPicture award recipients and jurors, these incredible images present new perspectives of rarely seen animals, places, and conservation around the world.

Written by Canadian Studies board member Rhonda Rubinstein (Co-founder, BigPicture Natural World Photography; Creative Director, California Academy of Sciences), Seeing It All illustrates the extraordinary complexity of the natural world and exposes how we – humans, animals, and nature – are living together now. Panelists will also include Toronto-based photojournalist Jo-Anne McArthur (Founder, We Animals Media) and neuroscientist Dr. Indre Viskontas (USCF/San Francisco Conservatory of Music.) Tickets are available to attend both in-person and online; books will be available for purchase and signing.

Canadian Studies Program

213 Philosophy Hall #2308

WEBSITE | EMAIL | DONATE