Canadian Studies Announcements

In This Issue:

Canadian Studies News

• A welcome message from program director Hidetaka Hirota

News From Berkeley

• Canadian guest conductor to open Berkeley Symphony’s 2025-26 season

Academic Opportunities

• Edward E. Hildebrand Graduate Research Fellowships

• Rita Ross Undergraduate Prize in Canadian Studies

Upcoming Events

• Back-to-School Open House

External Events

• Silicon Valley Terry Fox Run

• Berkeley Symphony: Visions of Elysium

• Kim’s Convenience at ACT San Francisco

PROGRAM NEWS

A Message from Our Director

Dear friends,

As director of the Canadian Studies Program, it is my pleasure to welcome you warmly to the fall semester.

Canadian Studies is the home for all friends of Canada at UC Berkeley. We are a diverse and dynamic community, exploring all aspects of Canada and its role in a changing global landscape. We welcome students from every discipline and background, and offer opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students.

But we also aim to make Canadian Studies a space for connection, linking Canadians and friends of Canada both on-campus and across the wider Bay Area. I would like to issue a special welcome to those new students joining us from Canada. I invite you to join us at our special open house for students next week – see details below.

As usual, we are also planning a great slate of talks and panels for this semester. We’ll address some of the most pressing questions of the current Canada-US relationship, as well as share the diverse voices and experiences that have shaped modern Canada. More details will be forthcoming shortly, so keep watch for our emails!

We look forward to getting to know you better, and hope to see you at an event soon!

Sincerely,

Hidetaka Hirota Director, Canadian Studies Program

Thomas Garden Barnes Chair in Canadian Studies Associate Professor of History

NEWS FROM BERKELEY

Canadian Guest Conductor to Open Berkeley Symphony’s 2025-26 Season

A Canadian leader in the world of classical music will visit the Bay Area next month to open the Berkeley Symphony’s 2025-26 season. As reported in Berkeleyside, acclaimed conductor Dina Gilbert will conduct the season’s opening concert, Visions of Elysium, on September 14.

Gilbert will use her visit to highlight the work of the contemporary Canadian composer Samy Moussa. The concert is named after his piece “Elysium”, which will open the performance.

Gilbert, who is from Montreal, has received critical acclaim for her energy, presence on the podium, and the breadth of her repertoire. She is currently principal conductor of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens and associate conductor of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal.

In addition to premiering more than 40 works by Canadian composers, she has reached thousands of children with her interactive and participative Conducting 101 workshops across Canada.

Gilbert also has a Berkeley connection: she was a student of longtime Berkeley Symphony conductor Kent Nagano, who led the symphony for over three decades.

Composer Samy Moussa, whose music will open the concert, shares a connection with Berkeley and Gilbert through Nagano, who conducted Moussa’s first symphony, Concordia, at its premiere at the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. Moussa, who is also from Montreal, is an alumnus of the Université de Montréal and completed postgraduate music study at the Munich Conservatory.

ACADEMIC OPPORTUNITIES

Canadian Studies’ signature Hildebrand Fellowship provides support for Berkeley graduate students of any citizenship whose work focuses primarily, or comparatively, on Canada. The Fellowship provides up to $5,000 per semester to fund direct travel and research expenses.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Applications should be submitted at least one month before the start of any proposed travel.

The Rita Ross Prize recognizes an outstanding undergraduate research project related to Canada, produced for a UC Berkeley class or independent study project. The competition is open to any UC Berkeley undergraduate student in good academic standing, in any college or discipline.

One $300 cash prize is awarded to a student who has produced a superior undergraduate research paper or other original project that engages with topics, people or events related to Canada. The prize is awarded at the end of the spring semester.

UPCOMING EVENT

Back-to-School Open House

Tues., Sept. 2 | 12:00 pm | 223 Philosophy Hall | RSVP

The Canadian Studies Program invites you to kick off the fall semester with a back-to-school meet-and-greet for students! Get to know more about our program and meet other students with Canadian connections while enjoying a complimentary lunch on us.

This is your chance to:

• Connect with Canadian students and friends of Canada
• Discover research funding for Canada-related projects
• Learn about upcoming events, like our lunch talks, conferences, and Canadian Thanksgiving celebration!

Please RSVP here if you plan to attend. We look forward to seeing you next week!

EXTERNAL EVENTS

Silicon Valley Terry Fox Run

Sun., Sept. 14 | 9:30 am | Palo Alto, CA | Learn more

Honor the legacy of Terry Fox as you follow in his footsteps to raise money for cancer research! Join the Eh Team – Run for Terry, proudly sponsored by the Government of Canada, the Canadian Consulate in San Francisco, and the Digital Moose Lounge. Join with your fellow Bay Area Canadians running, walking, and biking to continue Terry’s efforts of finding a cure for cancer. Darrell Fox, Terry’s brother, will make an appearance as the guest of honor!

Sun., Sept. 14 | 4:00 pm | Berkeley, CA | Buy tickets

The Berkeley Symphony opens its 2025-26 season with a concert conducted by Montreal’s Dina Gilbert. She invites audiences on a quest for transcendence that spans from tranquility to triumphant heroism. The evening opens with an otherworldly vision of Elysium, the paradisiacal afterlife of Grecian heroes, by Canadian composer Samy Moussa. The concert will also include pieces by Tchaikovsky, and Alyssa Weinberg before concluding with Beethoven’s monumental Symphony No. 3 (“Eroica”), a bold declaration of humanity’s aspiration toward an ideal world. Featuring Gabriel Cabezas on solo cello.

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!

Canadian Studies Program

213 Philosophy Hall #2308

Website | LinkedIn | Email | Donate

Canadian Studies Announcements

In This Issue:

Canadian Studies News

• Program director Hirota makes first official trip to Canada

Academic Opportunities

• Deadline extended: ACSUS-Enders Graduate Fellowship in Canada-US Relations

• Financial support – research stays at IRI, Concordia University for faculty & doctoral students

External Events

• Silicon Valley Terry Fox Run

• Kim’s Convenience at ACT San Francisco

PROGRAM NEWS

Professor Hidetaka Hirota made his first official trip to Canada last week in his capacity as director of the Canadian Studies Program. Professor Hirota travelled to Toronto to participate in a dissertation defense in the History Department at the University of Toronto as an invited external examiner. There, he met Canadian Studies Advisory Board member Kathryn Exon Smith and Hildebrand fellow Allison Evans for dinner. After enjoying good food and conversation, they took a walk through Cabbagetown, the city’s historical neighborhood. During his stay, Professor Hirota also met with two senior scholars in Canadian studies, Professors Franca Iacovetta and Ian Radforth, who both study labor and immigration history. It was an intellectually and socially exciting trip, and our director can’t wait to return!

ACADEMIC OPPORTUNITIES

Deadline Extended: ACSUS-Enders Graduate Fellowship in Canada-US Relations

Deadline: August 15

The Association of Canadian Studies in the United States (ACSUS) is seeking nominees for the ACSUS-Enders Graduate Fellowship in Canada-US Relations, generously supported by the Thomas O. Enders Endowment.

This fellowship supports advanced scholarship by US graduate students conducting research in Canada on topics that enhance understanding of the Canada-US relationship. It offers a $5,000 grant to fund 4-6 weeks of research at a Canadian university, research site, or business during the 2025-2026 academic year.

The award is only open to US citizens or permanent residents. For more information and to apply, please click here.

Financial Support – Research Stays at IRI, Concordia University for Faculty & Doctoral Students

Deadline: September 12

The Immigration Research Initiative (IRI), based in the Department of Political Science at Concordia University, Montreal, is pleased to share two distinct calls for applications for 2026:

• A financial support program for in-person stays at Concordia, open to assistant professors, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty on sabbatical.
• A doctoral visiting fellowship, offering support for a three-month stay at Concordia, open to PhD students.

Both programs provide financial support and the opportunity to engage with IRI’s research activities while developing a project related to immigration, ethnocultural diversity, and national identity. For questions or to apply, please email iri@concordia.ca.

EXTERNAL EVENTS

Silicon Valley Terry Fox Run

Sun., Sept. 14 | 9:30 am | Palo Alto, CA | Learn more

Honor the legacy of Terry Fox as you follow in his footsteps to raise money for cancer research! Join the Eh Team – Run for Terry, proudly sponsored by the Government of Canada, the Canadian Consulate in San Francisco, and the Digital Moose Lounge. Join with your fellow Bay Area Canadians running, walking, and biking to continue Terry’s efforts of finding a cure for cancer. Darrell Fox, Terry’s brother, will make an appearance as the guest of honor!

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!

Canadian Studies Program

213 Philosophy Hall #2308

Website | LinkedIn | Email | Donate

Canadian Studies Announcements

In This Issue:

News from Berkeley

• Hildebrand Fellow Andrew Zhao explores legacy of residential schools on local voting patterns

• Hildebrand Fellow Lydia Mathews probes British Columbia’s public health campaign against prostitution

Academic Opportunities

• Postdoctoral Position in Migration Studies, IRI (Concordia University)

NEWS FROM BERKELEY

Hildebrand Fellow Andrew Zhao Explores Legacy of Residential Schools on Local Voting Patterns

The Canadian Studies Program is pleased to announce that returning graduate fellow Andrew Zhao has received an Edward E. Hildebrand Research Fellowship for Summer 2025.

Andrew is a PhD student in the Department of Political Science, studying how identity and questions of who we are intersect with politics.

Andrew’s Hildebrand Fellowship will support a project exploring the long-term political effects of Canada’s Indian residential school system. 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 residential schools affect the politics of their surrounding communities? Andrew’s current project focuses on this political legacy. Specifically, it investigates whether residential schools embedded anti-Indigenous beliefs in nearby communities that persist to this day. Fellowship funds will support visits to several Canadian archives that contain school records and testimony, as well as French-language interpretation of school administrators’ personal papers.

Andrew holds a BA in political science and philosophy from the University of Toronto, where he received the Suzanne and Edwin Goodman Prize as the top graduating student specializing in political science. Before coming to Berkeley, he worked for several years in public opinion research.

Hildebrand Fellow Lydia Mathews Probes British Columbia’s Public Health Campaign Against Prostitution

Previous Hildebrand recipient Lydia Matthews has also received a Summer 2025 Fellowship to continue exploring the history of public health and social belonging in Canada.

Lydia is a PhD candidate in the Department of History. Her research focuses on the intersections of gender, public health, and immigration at the turn of the 20th century. She is particularly interested in public health campaigns against prostitution and how such campaigns, in conjunction with various hygiene reform projects, helped to delineate a transnational understanding of social citizenship.

Lydia’s research will explore connections between the Canadian National Council for Combating Venereal Diseases (CNCCVD) and American attempts to eliminate the spread of sexually transmitted diseases during World War I. Her research will center on local anti-prostitution efforts and their enforcement in British Columbia at both the municipal and provincial level. The Hildebrand Fellowship will support her travel to Ottawa to conduct archival research at the Library and Archives Canada, as well as to the Vancouver City Archives and Vancouver Police Museum & Archives.

Lydia holds a bachelor’s degree in English and history from Vassar College and master’s degrees in women’s and gender studies and history from Brandeis University.

ACADEMIC OPPORTUNITIES

Postdoctoral Position in Migration Studies, IRI (Concordia University)

Application deadline: August 1, 2025

The Immigration Research Initiative, based in the Department of Political Science at Concordia University in Montreal, is pleased to announce a two-year postdoctoral position. The postdoctoral researcher will work under the supervision of Dr. Antoine Bilodeau, contributing to various projects within the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF) program, Migrant Integration in the Mid-21st Century: Bridging Divides. Researchers specializing in migration studies and/or behavioural studies (in any social science discipline) with experience in advanced quantitative research are invited to apply. Applicants may start from September 2025 (negotiable).

This position requires bilingualism (French and English) as well as advanced skills in quantitative analysis. Please click here for more information. For questions regarding this position, please contact Ludmilla Moindrot-Zilliox at iri@concordia.ca.

Canadian Studies Program

213 Philosophy Hall #2308

Website | LinkedIn | Email | Donate