Canadian Studies Announcements

In This Issue:

Program News

• New Hildebrand Fellow Jessica Jiang studies historical interactions between Indigenous and Chinese communities in the Pacific Northwest

• Reminder: Register to vote before April 22!

Upcoming Events

• Generating Sustainable Indigenous AI

Other Events

• Holloway Poetry Series: Cecily Nicholson

PROGRAM NEWS

New Hildebrand Fellow Jessica Jiang Studies Historical Interactions Between Indigenous and Chinese Communities in the Pacific Northwest

The Canadian Studies Program is pleased to announce Jessica Jiang as a recipient of an Edward E. Hildebrand Graduate Research Fellowship for Summer 2025.

Jessica is a PhD candidate in the Department of Ethnic Studies, with a designated emphasis in women, gender, and sexuality studies. Her research takes up the late-nineteenth-century Pacific Northwest borderlands as a site where Indigenous dispossession and Chinese exclusion emerged as intertwined processes through the building up of the Canada-US border. Examining encounters between Chinese migrants and Indigenous nations in the aftermath of the US Chinese Exclusion Act, her dissertation considers how seemingly minor instances of contact or border crossing had transnational policy implications, while the closing of the border in turn had intimate consequences for Indigenous and Chinese borderlands residents. Her Hildebrand Fellowship will provide support for her to conduct archival research in Victoria, Vancouver, and the British Columbia interior.

Jessica holds a BA in ethnic studies from Brown University. Her work has been published in Kalfou: A Journal of Comparative and Relational Ethnic Studies.

Reminder: Register to Vote Before April 22!

Canadian citizens resident abroad are eligible to vote by mail in the upcoming federal elections on April 28! To qualify, you must be over 18 years of age and have lived in Canada at some point in your life.

To receive a ballot from Elections Canada, Canadians abroad must apply in advance to be added to the International Register of Electors. Click here to register by April 22. If you have previously been added to the Register, you will automatically receive a ballot at the mailing address on file with Elections Canada.

For more information, visit www.elections.ca or contact the Consulate General of Canada – Consular Services at sfran@international.gc.ca or (415) 834-3180.

Vector image of Canadians with flags by Freepik.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Generating Sustainable Indigenous AI

Friday, April 11 | 4:00 pm | UC Berkeley | RSVP

Michael Running Wolf and Caroline Running Wolf, co-founders of First Languages AI Reality (FLAIR) will discuss their work to revitalize endangered Indigenous languages through artificial intelligence (AI) and immersive technology. The project is housed at Mila, Canada’s foremost AI research institute. FLAIR partners with multiple Indigenous communities across the Americas to drive the next chapter in Indigenous language reclamation. In addition, the project envisions a future where Indigenous people attain technological sovereignty while addressing data ownership issues and systemic barriers to Indigenous AI. Their work researching an automatic speech recognition system for highly polysynthetic languages has been recognized with multiple awards, including the 2024-25 The Tech for Global Good award and the Patrick J. McGovern AI for Humanity Prize.

About the Speakers

Michael Running Wolf (Northern Cheyenne and Lakota) was raised in a rural prairie village in Montana with intermittent water and electricity. Naturally, he has a Master of Science in computer science, was an engineer at Amazon’s Alexa, and former faculty at Northeastern University. Michael is an AI ethicist who envisions an Indigenous future where Indigenous communities, alongside reclaiming their languages, attain technological sovereignty while addressing data ownership and systemic barriers to Indigenous AI. He co-founded and is Board President of IndigiGenius, a nonprofit in the USA dedicated to increasing the representation of Indigenous people in computer science. Among other awards, Michael has received an MIT Solve Fellowship, the Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, and the Centri Tech Social Justice Innovation Award. He is currently pursuing his PhD at McGill University.

Caroline Running Wolf, née Old Coyote (Crow) is a language activist and XR producer dedicated to supporting Indigenous languages and data sovereignty. Caroline serves on multiple advisory boards where she champions the inclusion of Indigenous knowledges. As co-author of the Indigenous Protocol and Artificial Intelligence Position Paper and in speaking engagements, Caroline is an advocate for Indigenous data sovereignty, data justice, and AI ethics. She co-founded and serves as treasurer of IndigiGenius. Her PhD research at the University of British Columbia partners with Kwakwaka’wakw communities and explores applications of immersive technologies (AR/VR/XR) and artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance Indigenous language and culture reclamation.

This event is cosponsored by the Language Revitalization Working Group.

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

OTHER EVENTS

Holloway Poetry Series: Cecily Nicholson

Thurs., April 10 | 5:30 pm | 315 Wheeler Hall

The UC Berkeley Department of English invites you to a reading with this year’s Holloway Lecturer in the Practice of Poetry, Cecily Nicholson.

Cecily Nicholson is an assistant professor in the School of Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia. She is the author of four poetry books, and her work has received awards including BC’s Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize, the Governor General’s Literary Award for poetry, and the inaugural Phyllis Webb Memorial Reading Award from the Poetry in Canada Society. Her most recent work, Crowd Source, considers the diurnal movement of crows. Her poetry addresses issues of social and environmental justice, including the displacement of Black and Indigenous Canadians.

Canadian Studies Program

213 Philosophy Hall #2308

WEBSITE | EMAIL | DONATE

Canadian Studies Announcements

In This Issue:

Program News

• New Hildebrand Fellow Sophie Helpard studies social benefits of sports funding

News from Canada

• Canada is holding elections on April 28; here’s how to get involved

Upcoming Events

• Generating Sustainable Indigenous AI

• Save the date for two special election events!

Other Events

• SF Bay Area Canadian Community Town Hall

• Canadian Heritage Hockey Night: Leafs vs. Sharks

• Canadian Movie Night: Une langue universelle

PROGRAM NEWS

New Hildebrand Fellow Sophie Helpard Studies Social Benefits of Sports Funding

The Canadian Studies Program is pleased to announce Sophie Helpard as a recipient of our Edward E. Hildebrand Graduate Research Fellowship for Spring 2025.

Sophie is a Master of Public Affairs student at the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley. Her research studies the positive societal impacts derived from investment in sport and recreation programs in Canada. Her Hildebrand Fellowship will support her capstone project, a policy benefit-cost analysis on the impacts of increasing federal funding to Canada’s national sports organizations. Specifically, she will seek to quantify the social impact of these expenditures, and whether increased funding leads to general improvements across a variety of health and wellbeing measures. Her fellowship will fund travel to Canada to conduct fact-finding interviews with sport organizations and other stakeholders.

Sophie received her honours specialization in political science from Huron University College and Western University, where she worked as the Director of Government Relations before pursuing her master’s degree.

NEWS FROM CANADA

Canada is holding elections April 28; here’s how to get involved

On Sunday, Canadian prime minister Mark Carney announced that snap elections will be held next month, on April 28. The announcement kicks off a five-week campaign, at the end of which the Canadian public will decide whether Carney’s Liberal Party – or his Conservative opponents led by Pierre Poilievre – is best equipped to lead the country during a period of multiplying international and domestic crises.

The question of how to handle US president Trump and his tariffs – not to mention threats of outright annexation – has overshadowed all other issues in Canadian politics and made the race unexpectedly competitive. Until just two months ago, the governing Liberal Party seemed headed for a historic defeat, with the Conservatives holding a 25-point lead in polling. That lead has now evaporated, as many voters question whether Poilievre is too friendly to Trump to effectively oppose him. The two parties are now running neck-and-neck, with the Liberals currently holding a slight polling lead.

But while Trump may dominate the daily news, the next Canadian PM will also have to deal with a host of domestic problems ranging from a housing and affordability crisis; increased discontent over immigration; wildfires and climate change; and a softening economy that is heavily dependent on the United States. The Conservatives hope to tie Carney to unpopular outgoing PM Justin Trudeau, and argue that the Liberal’s handling of these issues is to blame for Canada’s stagnant – if not declining – quality of life.

Canadian Studies will be hosting two special events for this election – a watch party and a roundtable panel analyzing outcomes. Read below to find out more!

Do you want to make your voice heard in this election? If you are a Canadian citizen resident abroad, you may be eligible to vote by mail! You must be over 18 years of age and have lived in Canada at some point in your life.

To receive a ballot from Elections Canada, Canadians abroad must apply in advance to be added to the International Register of Electors. Click here to register. If you have previously been added to the Register, you will automatically receive a ballot at the mailing address on file with Elections Canada.

For more information, visit www.elections.ca or contact the Consulate General of Canada – Consular Services at sfran@international.gc.ca or (415) 834-3180.

Vector image of Canadians with flags by Freepik.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Generating Sustainable Indigenous AI

Friday, April 11 | 4:00 pm | UC Berkeley | RSVP

Michael Running Wolf and Caroline Running Wolf, co-founders of First Languages AI Reality (FLAIR) will discuss their work to revitalize endangered Indigenous languages through artificial intelligence (AI) and immersive technology. The project is housed at Mila, Canada’s foremost AI research institute. FLAIR partners with multiple Indigenous communities across the Americas to drive the next chapter in Indigenous language reclamation. In addition, the project envisions a future where Indigenous people attain technological sovereignty while addressing data ownership issues and systemic barriers to Indigenous AI. Their work researching an automatic speech recognition system for highly polysynthetic languages has been recognized with multiple awards, including the 2024-25 The Tech for Global Good award and the Patrick J. McGovern AI for Humanity Prize.

About the Speakers

Michael Running Wolf (Northern Cheyenne and Lakota) was raised in a rural prairie village in Montana with intermittent water and electricity. Naturally, he has a Master of Science in computer science, was an engineer at Amazon’s Alexa, and former faculty at Northeastern University. Michael is an AI ethicist who envisions an Indigenous future where Indigenous communities, alongside reclaiming their languages, attain technological sovereignty while addressing data ownership and systemic barriers to Indigenous AI. He co-founded and is Board President of IndigiGenius, a nonprofit in the USA dedicated to increasing the representation of Indigenous people in computer science. Among other awards, Michael has received an MIT Solve Fellowship, the Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, and the Centri Tech Social Justice Innovation Award. He is currently pursuing his PhD at McGill University.

Caroline Running Wolf, née Old Coyote (Crow) is a language activist and XR producer dedicated to supporting Indigenous languages and data sovereignty. Caroline serves on multiple advisory boards where she champions the inclusion of Indigenous knowledges. As co-author of the Indigenous Protocol and Artificial Intelligence Position Paper and in speaking engagements, Caroline is an advocate for Indigenous data sovereignty, data justice, and AI ethics. She co-founded and serves as treasurer of IndigiGenius. Her PhD research at the University of British Columbia partners with Kwakwaka’wakw communities and explores applications of immersive technologies (AR/VR/XR) and artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance Indigenous language and culture reclamation.

Canadian Studies is marking the upcoming election with two events that you won’t want to miss!

First, on April 28, join fellow Canadians (and fans of Canadian politics) for an election night watch party on the Berkeley campus. We’ll provide food, plus commentary from guest experts as the results come in!

We’ll also be hosting an election roundtable featuring representatives from all of Canada’s major political parties. We’ll discuss the issues that are motivating voters, and what the election results could mean for the future of US-Canada relations.

More information is forthcoming, so stay tuned!

OTHER EVENTS

SF Bay Area Canadian Community Town Hall

Tues., March 25 | 10:00 am | Online | RSVP

Join the Consulate of Canada in San Francisco for a Canadian Community town hall where the Consulate team will provide an update on the current state of Canada-U.S. relations and facilitate an informal discussion on community engagement opportunities to support Canadian interests in California.

Please Note: If you are interested in attending, please register for the waitlist. Additional tickets will be released as spots become available.

This event will be held under Chatham House Rule.

Canadian Heritage Hockey Night: Leafs vs. Sharks

Thurs., March 27 | 5:00 pm | San José, CA | Buy tickets

The Digital Moose Lounge invites you to the ultimate hockey night as the Leafs face the Sharks in a spirited rematch! Enjoy a VIP experience in the Terrace Suites featuring catering by Augie’s Montreal smoked meats and poutine, as well special fan experiences and post-game pictures with the Sharks’ Canadian players.

This event is co-sponsored by the Canadian Consulate and is sure to sell out, so buy your tickets early!

Canadian Movie Night: Une langue universelle

Thurs., March 27 | 6:00 pm | San Francisco, CA | RSVP

As part of the Francophonie month, the Alliance Française de San Francisco welcomes you for a very special screening: the Canadian movie Universal Language by Matthew Rankin! In this surreal comedy set in an alternate Persian-speaking version of Winnipeg, the lives of multiple characters interweave with each other in surprising and mysterious ways. Grade-schoolers Negin and Nazgol find a sum of money frozen in ice and try to claim it. Meanwhile, Massoud leads a group of increasingly befuddled tourists through the city’s monuments and historic sites. And Matthew returns home to visit his mother after quitting his meaningless job with the government of an independent Québec. The film was Canada’s official entry at the Oscars and was named to TIFF’s Top Ten films for 2024.

Canadian Studies Program

213 Philosophy Hall #2308

WEBSITE | EMAIL | DONATE

Canadian Studies Announcements

In This Issue:

A Message from Our Directors

• Big Give is this Thursday: Here’s why your gift matters.

Program News

• Program director Hidetaka Hirota to deliver immigration briefing to Congress

• Program affiliate Michael Barbour receives King Charles III Coronation Medal

Academic Opportunities • Call for ACSUS 2025 conference panel proposals

Event Tomorrow

• Indigenous Confinement on the Canadian Plains

Save the Date

• Special Colloquium on Indigenous AI, Language Reclamation & Data Sovereignty

Other Events

• Green Hydrogen and Indigenous Futures: Ethnographic Insights from Salish Elements

• Leanne Betasamosake Simpson | Theory of Water

• Canadian Heritage Hockey Night: Leafs vs. Sharks

• Canadian Movie Night: Une langue universelle

A MESSAGE FROM OUR DIRECTORS

Dear Michael,

This coming Thursday is Big Give, Berkeley’s annual day of giving. While we know there are many causes competing for your attention these days, we hope you’ll let us take a minute to explain why your donation makes a crucial difference for Canadian Studies.

For over 40 years, our program has invited Americans to think deeply about our relationship with our northern neighbor. We’re now in a moment when our work is more important than ever. Canada and the US are inextricably connected, yet Americans know little about Canada. Our public programming brings in fresh audiences to learn about Canada and its people; meanwhile, our research funding encourages students to make Canada a central part of their education. And our social events give Canadians and Americans of all ages a chance to connect and make friends.

But our program is donor-supported, which means that we can only undertake this work thanks to the generosity of our community. All of our activities, from research to public outreach, are made possible by friends and partners who believe in our mission and share our vision of making Berkeley a hub for Canadianist research in the United States.

So this Thursday, make a gift of any size to Canadian Studies. Your donation is a powerful affirmation of the value of cross-border dialogue, and a statement in support of US-Canada friendship. Our students, faculty, and friends thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

Hidetaka Hirota and Richard A. Rhodes

Program Co-Directors

Thomas G. Barnes Chair in Canadian Studies

PROGRAM NEWS

Program Director Hidetaka Hirota to Deliver Immigration Briefing to Congress

Program co-director Hidetaka Hirota is heading to Washington, DC this week to join a congressional briefing on US immigration policy. Professor Hirota will participate in a panel organized by the American Historical Association, titled “History of Deportation“, providing a historical perspective on US deportation policies and practices.

Professor Hirota is an expert in US immigration history, law and policy; nativism and xenophobia; and labor. His first book, Expelling the Poor, studied the deportation of impoverished Irish immigrants to Canada and Europe by northeastern US states before the US federal government started administering immigration in the late nineteenth century. His current projects include a study of the long-running tensions between nativist movements and demand for foreign labor, and a history of Japanese immigration to North America.

Professor Hirota was also interviewed in a Berkeley News article last week, “How Trump’s immigration policies compare to those of America’s past“. In the piece, he emphasizes the long-running thread of anti-immigrant sentiment in American politics, and how the current administration’s rhetoric builds on this older exclusionary discourse.

A special ceremony took place at the Canadian consulate in San Francisco this morning, honoring a close friend of the Canadian Studies Program. Dr. Michael Barbour received the King Charles III Coronation Medal in recognition of his services to the Royal Canadian Legion, Canada’s largest veterans’ organization. Dr. Barbour is the president of the Legion’s US Branch #25, representing Northern California. He has been an associate member of the Legion for nearly 30 years, and was elected president of Branch #25 in 2021.

The medal was presented by consul general Rana Sarkar. The consul general praised Dr. Barbour’s commitment to the Legion, and his success in reviving the branch. He noted Dr. Barbour’s outreach to other Bay Area Canadian groups, and to involve younger veterans and their families in the program. Our friends will recognize Dr. Barbour from our annual Canadian Thanksgiving dinner, where he regularly mans a Legion table.

The event was attended by several officers and members of Legion Branch #25, as well as representatives from the Consulate, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the Canadian Studies Program. The Canadian Studies Program congratulates Dr. Barbour and looks forward to our continued partnership with the Legion and the Consulate.

ACADEMIC OPPORTUNITIES

Call for ACSUS 2025 Conference Panel Proposals

Deadline: Saturday, March 15

The Association for Canadian Studies in the United States (ACSUS) reminds affiliates that panel and paper proposals for its 2025 biennial conference in Seattle are due on March 15. The submission portal and additional guidelines are available here.

For 50 years, ACSUS has worked to raise awareness and understanding of Canada and the bilateral Canada-US relationship. ACSUS receives strong governmental and institutional support in part because it has a strong reputation for the dissemination of high-quality research. ACSUS needs your help to continue this tradition in 2025!

EVENT TOMORROW

Indigenous Confinement on the Canadian Plains

Tues., March 11 | 12:30 pm | 223 Philosophy Hall | RSVP

In 1867, Canada broke away from Britain and began to chart a new path across the continent. As immigrants pushed deeper onto the prairies, the Canadian government began to devote far more attention to designing and implementing policies that would allow them to control and confine Indigenous people. Hunger forced the Cree, Metis, and Siksikaitsitapi onto reserves. Once there, Northwest Mounted Police officers restricted their mobility, limiting the ways they could hunt, fish, or visit relatives. Canadian prisons confined those who resisted assimilation. Collectively these approaches transformed the prairies – recasting them from a geography controlled by Indigenous nations to one dominated by the emerging Canadian state.

About the Speaker

Dr. Benjamin Hoy is an associate professor of history at the University of Saskatchewan. He received his BA from the University of Guelph and his MA and PhD from Stanford University. His current research examines the creation, demarcation, and enforcement of the Canadian-United States border between 1775 and 1939, exploring the extension of federal power and its uneven impact on disparate groups and Indigenous communities. His first book, A Line of Blood and Dirt: Creating the Canada-United States Border Across Indigenous Lands, received the 2022 Governor General’s History Award for Scholarly Research, Canada’s most prestigious historical prize.

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

SAVE THE DATE

Special Colloquium on Indigenous AI, Language Reclamation & Data Sovereignty

Friday, April 11 | Time TBD | UC Berkeley

Canadian Studies is excited to announce an upcoming special colloquium featuring two leading AI researchers who are combining cutting-edge technology with Indigenous knowledge frameworks. Michael and Caroline Running Wolf are co-founders of First Languages AI Reality (FLAIR), housed at Mila – Canada’s foremost AI research institute. FLAIR partners with Indigenous communities across the Americas to drive the next chapter in Indigenous language reclamation. The Running Wolfs will discuss their work to revitalize endangered Indigenous languages through artificial intelligence and immersive technology. In addition, the project envisions a future where Indigenous people attain technological sovereignty while addressing data ownership issues and systemic barriers to Indigenous AI. Their work has received multiple awards, including the 2024-25 The Tech for Global Good award and the Patrick J. McGovern AI for Humanity Prize.

OTHER EVENTS

Green Hydrogen and Indigenous Futures: Ethnographic Insights from Salish Elements

Tues., March 11 | 3:00 pm | 107 South Hall

In the Pacific Northwest, Salish Elements, an Indigenous-owned company, is working on a green hydrogen highway, redefining energy sovereignty while challenging green colonialism and capitalism through Indigenous self-determination. Based on ethnographic fieldwork, this talk explores how Salish Elements navigates global energy markets, settler-state policies, and community-led environmental stewardship. Moving beyond technical or economic framings of energy transitions, it highlights the political and cultural realities shaping the development of green hydrogen’s materialization.

Felix Giroux is a Trudeau Scholar and PhD candidate at the University of British Columbia, where he explores power and technology in the energy transition through an anthropological lens, focusing on green hydrogen in Canada. Affiliated with UBC’s Centre for Climate Justice, he brings a unique perspective shaped by his past as a social impact consultant and work in federal politics. A dedicated climate activist, Felix uses scholarship, art, and advocacy to drive transformative change in the climate space.

Leanne Betasamosake Simpson | Theory of Water

Thurs., March 13 | 5:00 pm | 315 Wheeler Hall

Theory of Water uses Michi Saagiig Nishnaabe consciousness to dismantle and think beyond the present moment. In the face of on-going genocides, extinct glaciers, police killings, children alone in cages at borders, the resurgence of fascist states, and a dying planet, Simpson asks what does it mean, as Rebecca Belmore asks us in Wave Sound, to listen to water? What does it mean, as Dionne Brand writes through her diaspora consciousness and by inventorying the quotidian disasters of our time, in her epic poem Nomenclature, “to believe in water”? Using Nishnaabe origin stories, poetry, and thinking alongside writers and artists, these essays turn to water as a generative space for worldmaking against empire, within the network of life that makes up this planet. Theory of Water immerses the reader into water as a liminal space resistant to regiment, and considers future formations for life beyond our current collective imaginings.

Leanne Betasamosake Simpson is a Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg scholar, writer, and musician. She is the author of eight previous books, including the novel Noopiming: A Cure for White Ladies, which was shortlisted for the Dublin Literary prize and the Governor General’s award for fiction. Leanne’s album, Theory of Ice, released by You’ve Changed Records, was released in 2021 and short-listed for the Polaris Prize, and she was the 2021 winner of the Prism Prize’s Willie Dunn Award. Her latest project Theory of Water will be published by Knopf Canada/Haymarket books in the spring of 2025. Leanne is a member of Alderville First Nation.

This event his hosted by the Department of Rhetoric and is cosponsored by the Canadian Studies Program.

Canadian Heritage Hockey Night: Leafs vs. Sharks

Thurs., March 27 | 5:00 pm | San José, CA | Buy tickets

The Digital Moose Lounge invites you to the ultimate hockey night as the Leafs face the Sharks in a spirited rematch! Enjoy a VIP experience in the Terrace Suites featuring catering by Augie’s Montreal smoked meats and poutine, as well special fan experiences and post-game pictures with the Sharks’ Canadian players.

This event is co-sponsored by the Canadian Consulate and is sure to sell out, so buy your tickets early!

Canadian Movie Night: Une langue universelle

Thurs., March 27 | 6:00 pm | San Francisco, CA | RSVP

As part of the Francophonie month, the Alliance Française de San Francisco welcomes you for a very special screening: the Canadian movie Universal Language by Matthew Rankin! In this surreal comedy set in an alternate Persian-speaking version of Winnipeg, the lives of multiple characters interweave with each other in surprising and mysterious ways. Grade-schoolers Negin and Nazgol find a sum of money frozen in ice and try to claim it. Meanwhile, Massoud leads a group of increasingly befuddled tourists through the city’s monuments and historic sites. And Matthew returns home to visit his mother after quitting his meaningless job with the government of an independent Québec. The film was Canada’s official entry at the Oscars and was named to TIFF’s Top Ten films for 2024.

Canadian Studies Program

213 Philosophy Hall #2308

WEBSITE | EMAIL | DONATE