Tag Archives: Canadian Studies Program UC Berkeley

Happy new year! New events & new elections

Leave a reply

A newsletter from one of our fellow Canadian organizations in the Bay Area.

Canadian Studies Announcements

In This Issue:

Upcoming Events

• Check out our slate of spring events:

• Next event: “The ‘Illusion’ of Childcare Reform: Childcare, Taxation, and Social Policy in Post-WWII Canada”

• Plus, a preview for the rest of the semester!

News from Canada

• PM Trudeau Resigns as Canada Faces Uneasy Relations with the United States

• Opinion: “Memo to Trudeau’s Successor: Make Canada Count Again”, by Jeremy Kinsman

External Events

• Rediscovering Édouard Roditi: The 20th Century of a Dazzling Mind

• Distant Early Warning: The Arctic Under Siege | Photographs by Louie Palu

UPCOMING EVENTS

The “Illusion” of Childcare Reform: Childcare, Taxation, and Social Policy in Post-WWII Canada

Tues., Jan. 28 | 12:30 pm | 223 Philosophy Hall | RSVP

The recent introduction of the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care program, known as C-WELCC, has brought renewed attention to the history of childcare policy and politics in Canada. Recognized as the culmination of decades of advocacy for universal, accessible, high-quality, and inclusive childcare, C-WELCC has been transformative for many Canadian families. The initial years of its implementation have also been tumultuous. Many ask how a “universal” program can be achieved or sustained when perplexing issues remain: what about the role of private operators? How can we ensure an adequate and qualified workforce when wages are not adequately addressed in the plan? How will capacity be created to deliver services to all who need it?

History reminds us that Canadian governments have often dealt with perplexing social policy issues by using the tax system. Indeed, critics of C-WELCC often insist that its challenges are insurmountable, and that it would be more effective to give parents more tax credits than to publicly fund a childcare system. But is it? This presentation, inspired by a need for informed debate about the future of childcare policy in Canada, looks backward to consider the relationship between the tax system and childcare policy in post-WWII Canada. It does so by focusing on the Child Care Expense Deduction (CCED), introduced in 1971. The CCED, while it is often relegated to footnotes in histories of Canadian childcare, had a significant impact on the childcare policy landscape in the decades after its introduction, and has a lot to tell us about the kind of childcare services that develop when policymakers lean on the tax system to deliver social policy objectives.

About the Speaker

Dr. Lisa Pasolli is an associate professor in the Department of History at Queen’s University, Ontario. Her research explores the history of childcare, women and gender, and social policy in 20th-century Canada. Her published works include the monograph Working Mothers and the Child Care Dilemma: A History of British Columbia’s Social Policy, published by UBC Press in 2015. She is currently one of the investigators on the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada-funded Partnership Grant “Reimagining Care/Work Policies”, a multi-year and multi-disciplinary program examining childcare policies as well as parental leave and employment policies.

If you require an accommodation to fully participate in this event, please let us know at least 7 days in advance.
Plus, Save the Date for these Other Upcoming Events:

  • February 18: Dr. Laura Madokoro (Carleton University) will discuss her recent book, Sanctuary in Pieces: Two Centuries of Flight, Fugitivity, and Resistance in a North American City, which uncovers Montreal’s history as a haven for people seeking refuge.
  • February 25: Representatives of the Wolastoqey Nation in New Brunswick will discuss their ongoing litigation for title to millions of acres of unceded territory in one of Canada’s largest-ever Indigenous land claims. Panelists will include Chief Patricia Bernard (Madawaska Maliseet First Nation) and Renée Pelletier, lead external lawyer on the case.
  • March 11: Historian Dr. Benjamin Hoy (University of Saskatchewan) author of A Line of Blood and Dirt: Creating the Canada-United States Border across Indigenous Lands, will discuss his recent research how the process of demarcating and enforcing the border affected communities on both sides.
  • April: A special panel of academics, politicians, and pundits will discuss the upcoming Canadian federal election and the state of the Canada-United States relationship.
  • May 6: Grad student Hildebrand Fellows Nadia Almasalkhi and Britt Leake will present their Canadian Studies-funded research, exploring the effectiveness of Canadian immigrant integration and its functionality as a multicultural state.

NEWS FROM CANADA

PM Trudeau Resigns as Canada Faces Uneasy Relations with the United States

Last week, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau officially announced his intent to resign as Prime Minister of Canada and step down as head of the Liberal Party. Trudeau’s decision comes in the face of mounting criticism and inter-party dissatisfaction with his leadership. The end of his nine-year term leaves a void in Canadian politics as the country faces an increasingly unfriendly international climate and domestic discontent over deep-seated economic problems.

At the press conference, Trudeau announced that he will prorogue Parliament, freezing all parliamentary business until March 24. This will buy the Liberal Party some time to elect a new leader, as Trudeau has no clear successor. Whoever is chosen will likely be a sacrificial lamb, as recent polling shows the Conservative Party on track for a decisive majority with a 23-point national lead.

While elections are not technically required to be called before October, they will likely occur much sooner as it is unlikely that a Liberal government will survive the confidence vote that will follow Parliament’s reopening. The Liberals do not have a majority of seats, and cannot rely on support from any other party. Jagmeet Singh, leader of the New Democratic Party (NPD) and a former Trudeau ally, has already announced that he will vote to bring down the government, stating that the Liberals “do not deserve another chance.”

The antipathy Trudeau faces today is a stark reversal from the widespread admiration he enjoyed at the start of his tenure. When first elected, Trudeau was seen as the fresh face of Canada’s liberal values. His youth and optimism made him an international icon of Canada and won him fans around the world. His major policies achievements included increased childcare spending, legalization of marijuana and medical assistance in dying (euthanasia), and the implementation of a national carbon tax. He also signed the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and negotiated the CUSMA trade treaty that replaced NAFTA. Canadians also largely approved of his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, Trudeau’s domestic popularity has steeply declined in the last few years, and today, he holds an abysmal 22% approval rating with Canadian voters. His political star has dimmed as major structural issues have become more apparent in Canada’s economy, particularly around housing and immigration. The country continues to struggle with low productivity, high costs, and low salaries. The exploding cost of housing has raised discontent across the country, and made homeownership essentially unattainable for large sections of the Canadian population. And while Trudeau’s welcoming immigration policy boosted Canada’s overall GDP, per-capita GDP has remained essentially flat for the last decade and even declined for the last six quarters. These issues have contributed to a breakdown of Canada’s positive consensus on immigration. Trudeau, formerly a strong champion of using immigration to grow Canada’s economy, announced in October that the government would limit new admissions in the face of increasing political backlash.

Trudeau’s resignation comes at a potentially dangerous time for Canada to be without leadership. The country faces a chilly international climate, including major ongoing disputes with India and China. However, the largest concern will be Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Trump has threatened Canada repeatedly in recent weeks, beginning with a commitment to implement a steep 25% tariff on all Canadian products as soon as he is inaugurated next week. More troublingly, he has also repeatedly expressed a desire for the US to annex Canada, called the border “artificial”, and stated that he would consider using “economic force” to coerce a union. Canada is heavily dependent on the US for trade and security, and any hostile actions by its southern neighbor would be devastating to the country’s economy.

Trump’s comments have prompted near-universal condemnation in Canada, and a rare show of unity from Canada’s political leadership. Trudeau issued a forceful response, saying there is “not a snowball’s chance in hell” that Canada would join the US. He was joined by NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, who affirmed that Canada is “not for sale” and that Canadians would “fight like hell to defend it”. Even formerly Trump-friendly parts of the Canadian Right have taken umbrage against his latest statements. Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre insisted that Canada will “never be the 51st state” and pledged to strengthen the country by rebuilding Canada’s military.

Opinion: Memo to Trudeau’s Successor: Make Canada Count Again, by Jeremy Kinsman

In his newest op-ed in Policy Magazine, Jeremy Kinsman, a former diplomat, UC Regents’ Scholar and past Canadian Studies speaker, argues that Canada’s need for a robust foreign policy is more urgent now than ever. Canada needs strong diplomatic leadership that must not only persuade the US of the importance of an interdependent North American community; it must also strengthen its ties with other democracies and allies around the world to be able to stand on its own. Kinsman argues that while Trudeau said the right things, the substance of his policy failed to materialize. Canada has a chance to become a leader for sovereign, liberal democracies – if Trudeau’s successor can back up words with actions.

EXTERNAL EVENTS
Rediscovering Édouard Roditi: The 20th Century of a Dazzling Mind

Tues., February 4 | 5:00 pm | 4229 Dwinelle Hall

Dr. Robert Schwartzwald (Université de Montréal) and Dr. Sherry Simon (Concordia University) will discuss their recent publication, Worldwise: Édouard Roditi’s Twentieth Century. The book explores the life of critic, poet, translator, and essayist Édouard Roditi. Born in Paris, Roditi was a perceptive social analyst whose outspoken views irritated American, Soviet, and French authorities by turns. From his Jewish roots, his work as a translator for the Nuremberg Trials, French decolonization, contributions to LGBTQ culture, and essays on contemporary writers, Roditi’s writings are a unique account of a life lived at the flashpoints of history and at the margins of society, providing acute and unsparing observations of literature and political events.

This event is sponsored by the Department of French and is cosponsored by the Canadian Studies Program, the Jewish Studies Program, and the departments of English and History of Art.

Distant Early Warning: The Arctic Under Siege | Photographs by Louie Palu

Thurs., Feb. 6 | 6:00 pm | 121 North Gate Hall | RSVP

The Reva and David Logan Gallery of Documentary Photography proudly presents the opening reception and presentation of “Distant Early Warning: The Arctic Under Siege” by Canadian documentary photographer and filmmaker Louie Palu.

Palu has made over 40 trips to the Arctic since the early 1990’s, resulting in over 200,000 photographs, documenting the transformations taking place in this vast and isolated region. As polar ice melts, countries are scrambling to stake claims on untapped resources and new trade routes. With support from a Guggenheim Fellowship and National Geographic magazine, Palu examines the growing geopolitical tensions in the polar region and the changing life for Indigenous Inuit people amidst the warming of the planet. Read more about Palu’s challenges photographing the Arctic in GUP Magazine.

This event is sponsored by the Berkeley School of Journalism. An RSVP is required, and a suggested donation of $10 is requested from attendees.

Canadian Studies Program

213 Philosophy Hall #2308

WEBSITE | EMAIL | DONATE
Canadian Studies Program | Univ. of California, Berkeley 213 Philosophy Hall #2308 | Berkeley, CA 94720 US

Season’s Greetings from Canadian Studies! ☃️

Leave a reply

A newsletter from a fellow Canadian organization in the Bay Area.

Canadian Studies Announcements

In This Issue:

Holiday Wrap-Up 🎁

  • A message from our Directors
  • The complex legacy of Canada’s “oldest Christmas carol”
  • Holiday recipe: The bûche de Noël, Québec’s Yule log cake

❄️ Happy Holidays from Canadian Studies! ❄️

Dear friends,

As we wrap up another year, we extend our warmest greetings to our friends both north and south of the border. We hope that this holiday season is filled with joy, laughter, and family, and that you have the time to enjoy a bûche de Noël or a pot or two of maple taffy!

We are truly grateful for your support. Canada and the U.S. have a special relationship, yet as we look forward to the new year, we predict our work will be more important than ever as that relationship enters a new phase. Your engagement will be critical to forging connections that strengthen that bond through cultural and academic exchange. We are already hard at work scheduling speakers for next semester who can illuminate overlooked and intriguing topics in Canadian Studies. We look forward to a new year where we can celebrate that richness together, and honor the unbreakable ties between our two countries.

Thank you for being an invaluable part of the Canadian Studies Program family. We wish you a merry Christmas, a happy Hannukah, and a bright New Year!

See you in 2025!

Richard A. Rhodes and Hidetaka Hirota

Program Co-Directors

CANADIAN CULTURES

The Complex Legacy of Canada’s “Oldest Christmas Carol”

Any Canadian who attends a holiday concert is likely to hear a rendition of the well-known carol commonly known as The Huron Carol, or ‘Twas in the Moon of Wintertime. A staple of Canadian Christmas music for over a century, it is often touted as “Canada’s oldest Christmas carol”. It is as well-known for its beautiful melody as for its unique portrayal of a “First Nations” Nativity. The song has been celebrated in Canadian postage stamps, cards, and books, and become internationally known as a symbol of Canadian culture. Yet the song’s history reveals a complex legacy that shows the often painful and ambiguous ways that European settlers and Indigenous inhabitants interacted in the lands of modern Canada, as well as the contradictory ways that Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians assess that legacy today.

Image: 1977 Canada Post “Jesous Ahatonhia” stamp. Source: Postage Stamp Guide..

The song now called The Huron Carol dates back to the 17th century. It was originally a simple Nativity carol called Jesous Ahatonhia (“Jesus is born”), written in the Wendat (formerly called Huron) language. Traditionally, it is believed to have been penned in the early 1640s by the French Jesuit missionary St. Jean de Brébeuf. Brébeuf worked at the mission of Sainte-Marie-Among-the-Hurons, in the Wendat’s territory in southern Ontario. Unlike some other missionary groups, the Jesuits pursued a policy of “cultural accommodation”, under which missionaries adapted their messaging and practices to local customs. Brébeuf, a talented linguist, had quickly learned the Wendat language and conducted a detailed ethnography of the Wendat people with the intent of finding cultural similarities that would facilitate conversions. As the Wendat were particularly fond of music, he considered songs to be a particularly effective method of catechism and wrote many in their language.

Image: Portrait of St. Jean de Brébeuf by R. G. Thwaits. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Unfortunately, the French mission brought disaster on the Wendat. European diseases decimated the population, while conversions caused religious divisions that weakened social bonds. Furthermore, the competition between the French and English for beaver pelts spread to their Native allies, inflaming tensions between the Wendat and the Iroquois Confederacy. In 1649, only a few years after Jesous Ahatonhia was written, the Wendat Confederacy was destroyed in a large-scale attack by their Iroquois enemies. (Brébeuf himself was captured and ritually killed during the assault.) The survivors scattered, with some seeking French protection outside Quebec City. There, the refugees established a new village (today’s Wendake Reserve), where the first written reference to Jesous Ahatonhia was made in 1688.

For almost three hundred years, Jesous Ahatonhia remained an obscure song sung only in Wendake. The Wendat notary Paul Tsawenhohi Picard published a French translation in 1899, but it never achieved much popularity.

It was not until 1926 that the song unexpectedly rose to national prominence, after the Canadian journalist Jesse Edgar Middleton published his popular English adaptation (“‘Twas in the moon of wintertime”), which soon became a staple of the Canadian Christmas repertoire. Middleton’s lyrics were entirely new, with only general similarities to the Wendat original. His version depicts the Nativity through a romanticized European view of Native culture. It depicts Jesus born in a bark lodge wrapped in animal pelts, replacing the shepherds with hunters and the Magi with chiefs. It also uses the term “Gitchi Manitou” to refer to God – an Algonquian phrase with no relevance to the Wendat. This reflected a contemporary fascination among white Canadians for supposedly “vanishing” Indigenous cultures – albeit one with little room for living Indigenous people.

Image: J. E. Middleton. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Today, the song is widely known and sung across Canada through dozens of recordings and numerous translations. The Middleton version has been sung by Canadian celebrities like Sarah McLachlan, as well as by foreign singers like Burl Ives (of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer fame.) Nevertheless, as Canada grapples with Reconciliation, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians are re-assessing how and whether they continue to perform The Huron Carol. Middleton’s lyrics in particular have been criticized as stereotypical, but others question the ethics of singing the song at all given the history between Canada’s Indigenous people and Christian missionaries.

For today’s Wendat, opinions are divided on the song’s continued prominence both within and outside their culture. For some, it remains a well-loved Christmas tradition and a way to connect with their ancestors. Others view it as a relic of a painful colonial legacy that tried to erase their traditional beliefs, and a sort of “false culture” written by an outsider. At the same time, for decades Jesous Ahatonhia was the only time that many community members could hear the Wendat language long after it was lost for daily use. Most are excited at the renewed interest by singers across Canada in learning the song in its original language.

There have also been attempts to update the lyrics for the era of Reconciliation. Composer Sarah Quartel commissioned Wendat singer-songwriter Andrée Lévesque-Sioui to write new “decolonized” lyrics for the song, that explore the legacy of colonialism and a hope for a better future. This new version has been equally controversial in Wendake, with some defending the original and others hoping the song will just go away.

Despite the controversy, the song has historically been popular with Indigenous artists from elsewhere in Canada, who appreciated its Indigenous imagery. Singers have performed the song in languages including Inuit, Mi’kmaw, and Cree. Notably, the Cree singer Tom Jackson has toured Canada for almost four decades with an annual holiday charity concert called the “Huron Carole“, raising money for local food banks. If anything, the debate shows the mixed approaches and responses of Canadians of all backgrounds as the country confronts its colonial past and searches for the best way to move forward together.
Also check out: “Northern B.C. teacher translates popular Christmas songs into Dakelh language“: The CBC reports on an Indigenous language teacher working with Tribal elders to preserve an endangered language by adapting popular holiday songs.

Holiday Recipe: The Bûche de Noël, Québec’s Yule Log Cake

For many Québécois, the holiday season wouldn’t be complete without the traditional bûche de Noël, or “Yule log”. Unlike its English counterpart, however, this edible log isn’t one you’ll want to burn. Formed from a chocolate Swiss roll filled with jam or cream, this cake is shaped into a log and often decorated with powdered sugar “snow”, berries, and marzipan or merengue mushrooms. They are frequently served for dessert at the réveillon, a lavish feast that traditionally followed the midnight Christmas mass and continued until dawn.

Canadian Living offers a number of variations on this traditional cake sure to please a variety of palates. Or, try this chocolate-cherry recipe from Canadian Baking Show Holiday Week star baker Vandana Jain.

Interested in learning more about the réveillon? Read Montreal-based celebrity chef Chuck Hughes’ reflections on his own family traditions, and learn his recipe for oysters mignonette.

Image source: Wikimedia Commons.

Canadian Studies Program

213 Philosophy Hall #2308

WEBSITE | EMAIL | DONATE
Facebook  Twitter
Canadian Studies Program | Univ. of California, Berkeley 213 Philosophy Hall #2308 | Berkeley, CA 94720 US

Tomorrow: Reviving Ojibwe in Ontario; Trudeau, Trump, and Tariffs

Leave a reply

A newsletter from one of our fellow Canadian organizations in the Bay Area.

Canadian Studies Announcements

In This Issue:

Upcoming Events

• Efforts at Indigenous Language Revitalization at Bkejwanong

News from Berkeley

• Record-holding Canadian swimmer to join Cal swim team

News from Canada

• Trudeau pays Trump surprise visit amid threat of tariffs

Academic Opportunities

• Call for Submissions: Examining Canada’s Approach to “Refugees” across Two and a Half Centuries (1770-2023)

EVENT TOMORROW

Efforts at Indigenous Language Revitalization at Bkejwanong

Tues., Dec. 3 | 12:30 pm | 223 Philosophy Hall | RSVP

Neebnookwe ndazhnikaaz, Bkejwanong ndoonjibaa.

Summer Sands-Macbeth, Neebnookwe, has dedicated herself to preserving and transmitting her community’s ancestral language of Nishnaabemwin, an Ojibwe dialect spoken in the southern Great Lakes.

Sands-Macbeth grew up on Bkejwanong (Walpole Island First Nation) in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the border with the USA. Walpole Island is a Three Fires Confederacy community (Chippewa, Ottawa and Pottawatomi). Nishnaabemwin has been in decline since the 1970s, and today only about 20 first-language speakers still live on the island. However, Sands-Macbeth was surrounded by the language and culture of her parents, both of whom were fluent speakers of Nishnaabemwin. Her mother, Reta Sands, Naawkwegiizhgokwe, has devoted her life to the support and preservation of Nishnaabemwin on Walpole Island.

After a sojourn of several years in the United States, Sands-Macbeth moved back to Walpole Island in 2005 and has spent the last decades engaging in language revitalization efforts in her community. Her talk will share aspects of her work and the outcomes so far. She will discuss impact from intergenerational trauma and the effects of the Indian Act on suppression of Indigenous languages, as well as resilience and resurgence as it relates to Indigenous language revitalization work on Walpole Island.

Summer Sands-Macbeth is a coordinator for the Indigenous Teacher Education Program (ITEP) at Queen’s University, Ontario, where she is currently enrolled in the World Indigenous Studies in Education (WISE) master of education program. She is an Indian Day School survivor. She holds a bachelor’s in physics from UC Santa Cruz and a bachelor’s in education from the University of Ottawa.

NEWS FROM BERKELEY

Record-Holding Canadian Swimmer to Join Cal Swim Team

A record-setting member of Canada’s national junior swim team will be joining the Golden Bears in Fall 2026. Halle West, of Winnipeg, announced her verbal commitment to UC Berkeley last month as part of the Class of 2030.

Halle has represented Canada at several international competitions, including the 2024 Junior Pan Pacific Championships and the 2023 World Junior Championships. Halle currently holds a Canadian age-group record for women’s 100 meter breast, after breaking a 35-year-old record at the 2023 New Year’s Invitational.

Halle joins her sister, Mia West, who is a current member of Cal’s Women’s Swimming & Diving team. Mia previously won silver and bronze medals at the 2024 Speedo Canadian Championships, as well as three bronze medals at the 2023 World Junior Championships. She was also named champion in 200 butterfly at the 2022 Canada Games.

The West sisters’ parents are also accomplished swimmers. Both are former Olympians: their mother, Riley, competed for Canada in the 1996 Summer Olympics, while their father, Bo, was a member of the Danish national team.

NEWS FROM CANADA

Trudeau Pays Trump Surprise Visit Amid Threat of Tariffs

On Friday, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau made an unannounced visit to Florida to have dinner with US president-elect Donald Trump and members of his incoming administration. The visit, which took place at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, makes Trudeau the first G7 leader to meet with Trump since the election. The meeting comes after Trump threatened to impose 25% tariffs on all imports from Canada and Mexico until both countries control what he called an “uncontrolled” flow of drugs and migrants into the United States.

The proposed tariffs represent a serious threat to Canada’s economy, which is highly dependent on foreign trade. About 75% of Canada’s exports go the United States, and certain sectors, such as oil & gas and automotive exports, are even more reliant on US consumers. While some argue that Trump’s position on tariffs is a negotiation tactic, Trudeau is taking Trump seriously: “When he makes statements like that, he plans on carrying them out”.

Both Trump and Trudeau reported a “productive” conversation after the dinner, although neither offered many specifics. Trudeau underscored his ability to work with Trump during his first term, despite an occasionally tense relationship between the two leaders. Trump has previously denounced Trudeau “two-faced” and “very dishonest and weak”; nevertheless, an anonymous official described the meeting Friday as “very friendly, very positive.”

Sources indicate that one of Trudeau’s key objectives was to decouple Canada from Mexico in the Trump’s mind. Canadian officials have bristled at what they consider an “unfair” comparison between the two countries, and say that the expansion of the “border crisis” narrative to the US-Canada border is not supported by facts.

Canada’s ambassador to the United States, Kirsten Hillman, said Sunday that she believed Trudeau had managed to convince Trump that the Canada-US border was fundamentally secure. Hillman pointed out that the US border agents seized a mere 43 pounds of fentanyl coming from Canada last year. And while attempted illegal crossings from Canada have increased in recent years, Hillman noted that the 23,721 migrants caught entering the US from Canada last year was less than half of the 56,530 migrants apprehended entering from Mexico in October alone.

Regardless, Canadian officials have been quick to assure the incoming administration that they are willing to increase border security. Public safety minister Dominic LeBlanc, who attended the meeting with Trump, suggested the federal government would make unspecified additional investments in border control. And as an example of security cooperation, Ambassador Hillman pointed to a controversial deal that Trudeau signed with President Biden last year to tighten rules around asylum-seeking and expand deportation eligibility for refugee claimants.

Nevertheless, the Canadian government is preparing for any eventuality. Trump’s proposed tariff regime would unravel one of the key achievements of his last administration, the Canada-US-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). Officials have begun exploring the possibility of retaliatory tariffs, which Canada had enacted prior to the signing of CUSMA in 2018. And Canada’s thirteen provincial leaders met last month to discuss the possibility of an alternate solution, such as Canada pursuing a bilateral trade agreement with the US that excludes Mexico.

ACADEMIC OPPORTUNITIES
Call for Submissions: Examining Canada’s Approach to “Refugees” across Two and a Half Centuries (1770-2023)

Deadline: December 15, 2024

The journal Études Canadiennes/Canadian Studies is pleased to announce a special issue on Canada’s long-term approach to “refugees”, directed by guest editor Dr. Sheena Trimble (Université catholique de l’Ouest), in association with editor-in-chief Dr. Laurence Cros (Université Paris Cité).

The formal inclusion of “refugee” as a specific class of immigrants in the Immigration Act of Canada dates back only to 1976. Nonetheless, many older migrations could in fact be considered as refugee movements. The objective of this issue is to present a long-term perspective that compares and contrasts Canada’s approach to refugee admission, resettlement and integration during different periods of the country’s history. Contributions of theoretical reflection as well as concrete case studies are welcome.

Please click here to read submission guidelines for articles.

Canadian Studies Program

213 Philosophy Hall #2308

WEBSITE | EMAIL | DONATE
Canadian Studies Program | Univ. of California, Berkeley 213 Philosophy Hall #2308 | Berkeley, CA 94720 US

Tomorrow: “A New Hope” for Indigenous languages in pop culture 🌌

Leave a reply

A newsletter from a fellow Canadian organization in the Bay Area.

Canadian Studies Announcements

In This Issue:

Event Tomorrow

• Gi-ga-miinigoowiz Mamaandaawiziwin (May the Force be With You): A Star Wars Journey Towards Indigenous Language Revitalization

Academic Opportunities

• IRI Visiting Scholars Support Program

• Eakin Visiting Fellowship in Canadian Studies

Upcoming Events

• Efforts at Indigenous Language Revitalization at Bkejwanong

External Events

• Restoring the Rights of “Lost Canadians”

EVENT TOMORROW

Gi-ga-miinigoowiz Mamaandaawiziwin (May the Force be With You): A Star Wars Journey Towards Indigenous Language Revitalization

Tues., Nov. 19 | Noon | 223 Philosophy Hall | RSVP

The Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe) dub of the iconic Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, debuted in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada on August 8th, 2024, and to the rest of the world on Disney+ on October 27. It is the first major Hollywood film to be dubbed into Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe), and is an expression of the growing language revitalization movement that seeks to restore the Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe) language to the galaxy.

The project brought together three generations of a family who played critical roles in the production: producer Maeengan Linklater, lead translator Pat Ningewance, and Aandeg Muldrew, voice of Luke Skywalker. The three will share their perspectives and insights from the inception of the project, through the translation, creation of the guide track, dubbing, acting, and finally, the premiere event.

Please note this event will start 30 minutes earlier than usual.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Maeengan Linklater is Director of Operations at the Dakota Ojibwe Tribal Council (DOTC) in Manitoba and served as producer for the dub.

Pat Ningewance is a long-time translator and professor of the Ojibwe language at the University of Manitoba. She is also the mother of Maeengan and grandmother of Aandeg. She was the lead translator and was the head language expert of the project.

Aandeg Muldrew is a language teacher and assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Winnipeg. He helped with the translation and dub and voiced Luke Skywalker.

ACADEMIC OPPORTUNITIES

IRI Visiting Scholars Support Program

Deadline: December 15, 2024

The Immigration Research Initiative (IRI), located in the Department of Political Science at Concordia University in Montreal, is inviting applications for visiting researchers. IRI is seeking applications for 2- to 4-week research stays at Concordia University for 2025 in the field of immigration.

Priority will be given to projects focusing on Quebec and/or any other multinational states, but proposed projects may also focus on other case studies, including, but not limited to, countries, nations, or regions characterized by significant immigration.

Recipients will receive travel support and daily allowance of $200 CAD. Applicants must be in possession of a PhD and hold a current academic position at an institution outside of Quebec. To learn more and apply, click here.

Eakin Visiting Fellowship in Canadian Studies

Deadline: January 31, 2025

The McGill Institute for the Study of Canada (MISC) invites scholars to apply for the Eakin Visiting Fellowship in Canadian Studies for the 2025/2026 academic year.

The Fellowship is awarded for periods of one or two academic semesters to an active scholar focusing on studies related to Canada. It is awarded for periods of one or two academic semesters to a scholar, normally on sabbatical from their own academic institution. The Fellowship offers a stipend of $20,000 per semester.

The incumbent is expected to teach one undergraduate course in Canadian Studies at McGill University, deliver the Eakin Lecture (one Fellow per year), participate in the activities of the Institute, and pursue exchanges with colleagues at McGill and other institutions. To learn more and apply, please click here.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Efforts at Indigenous Language Revitalization at Bkejwanong

Tues., Dec. 3 | 12:30 pm | 223 Philosophy Hall | RSVP

Neebnookwe ndazhnikaaz, Bkejwanong ndoonjibaa.

Summer Sands-Macbeth, Neebnookwe, has dedicated herself to preserving and transmitting her community’s ancestral language of Nishnaabemwin, an Ojibwe dialect spoken in the southern Great Lakes.

Sands-Macbeth grew up on Bkejwanong (Walpole Island First Nation) in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the border with the USA. Walpole Island is a Three Fires Confederacy community (Chippewa, Ottawa and Pottawatomi). Nishnaabemwin has been in decline since the 1970s, and today only about 20 first-language speakers still live on the island. However, Sands-Macbeth was surrounded by the language and culture of her parents, both of whom who were fluent speakers of Nishnaabemwin. Her mother, Reta Sands, Naawkwegiizhgokwe, has devoted her life to the support and preservation of Nishnaabemwin on Walpole Island.

After a sojourn of several years in the United States, Sands-Macbeth moved back to Walpole Island in 2005 and has spent the last decades engaged in language revitalization efforts in her community. Her talk will share aspects of her work and the outcomes so far. She will discuss impact from intergenerational trauma and the effects of the Indian Act on suppression of Indigenous languages, as well as resilience and resurgence as it relates to Indigenous language revitalization work on Walpole Island.

Summer Sands-Macbeth is a coordinator for the Indigenous Teacher Education Program (ITEP) at Queen’s University, Ontario, where she is currently enrolled in the World Indigenous Studies in Education (WISE) master of education program. She is an Indian Day School survivor. She holds a bachelor’s in physics from UC Santa Cruz and a bachelor’s in education from the University of Ottawa.
If you require an accommodation to fully participate in one of the above events, please let us know at least 7 days in advance.

EXTERNAL EVENTS

Restoring the Rights of “Lost Canadians”

Thurs., Nov. 21 | 4:00 pm PT | Online | RSVP

What does it mean to be Canadian? The history of citizenship in Canada is complicated and, since Confederation, was denied to many as a result of archaic and obscure legislation that was particularly discriminatory against women, children, Asian and Indo-Canadians, and Indigenous peoples. Those whose citizenship was revoked or denied as a result are known as “Lost Canadians.”

Today, hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. qualify for Canadian citizenship, many unaware of their status as Lost Canadians. A new bill, Bill C-71, is before Parliament which could restore citizenship rights to those born abroad to Canadian parents also born abroad. The University of Washington’s Canadian Studies Center invites you to hear from Don Chapman, founder of the Lost Canadians movement, about the most recent developments in this fight to restore citizenship rights and amend the Citizenship Act.

Don Chapman, a University of Washington alumnus and former United Airlines pilot, discovered his own revoked citizenship status and began his fight to restore citizenship rights to himself and others. Chapman has been the inspiration and force behind the 11 Parliamentary bills to amend the Citizenship Act, with the result that Canadian citizenship has been granted to somewhere between one and two million people, retroactively. Are you one of them? The answer might surprise you!

Canadian Studies Program

213 Philosophy Hall #2308

WEBSITE | EMAIL | DONATE
Canadian Studies Program | Univ. of California, Berkeley 213 Philosophy Hall #2308 | Berkeley, CA 94720 US

Our spring course recommendations are here! 📣

Leave a reply

A newsletter from a fellow Canadian organization in the Bay Area.  And we appreciate the folks in the Canadian Studies Program at UC Berkeley once again being a Poppy distribution site (and for the shout out for our service this coming Saturday).

Canadian Studies Announcements

In This Issue:

News from Berkeley

• Now enrolling: Canadian courses for Spring 2025!

• Reminder: Pick up your 2024 Remembrance Poppies!

Academic Opportunities

• Berkeley Study Abroad Fair

• ICCS Graduate Student Scholarships

• Call for Papers: 27th Biennial ACSUS Conference

Upcoming Events

• Gi-ga-miinigoowiz Mamaandaawiziwin (May the Force be With You): A Star Wars Journey Towards Indigenous Language Revitalization

External Events

• Royal Canadian Legion Remembrance Day Service

• From Moose to Cattle? Exercising Indigenous Sovereignty in Climate Adaptation Projects

NEWS FROM BERKELEY
Now Enrolling: Canadian Courses for Spring 2025!

Are you an undergrad with an interest in Canada and a few open units in your schedule next semester? Canadian Studies invites you to check out our updated course recommendations. As an interdisciplinary program, we are pleased to highlight classes from a variety of disciplines, especially courses that reflect the diversity of Canadian Studies. Check out these three great courses, all led by one of our faculty affiliates!

Reminder: Remembrance Poppies Available!

In partnership with Royal Canadian Legion US Branch #25, the Canadian Studies Program is proud to serve as an official distributor of remembrance poppies. Interested persons may pick up their poppies at our office in 213 Philosophy Hall on the UC Berkeley campus, weekdays between 9am-4pm. While the poppy is free, the Legion gratefully accepts donations towards their Poppy Fund, which directly supports Canadian veterans and their families. Learn more about the Poppy Campaign here. You can also create a digital poppy honouring a loved one by visiting MyPoppy.ca.

ACADEMIC OPPORTUNITIES

Berkeley Study Abroad Fair

Wed., Nov. 13 | 12:00 – 4:00 pm | MLK Student Union Building | RSVP

Swing by Pauley Ballroom next week to learn how you can study abroad in Canada at Berkeley’s signature study abroad event for undergraduates. Options include an academic year exchange at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, and a summer internship program in engineering in Toronto. Join for some fun activities, giveaways, and opportunities to interact with Berkeley Study Abroad advisers, campus resources, and former study abroad participants. We look forward to seeing you there!
ICCS Graduate Student Scholarships

Deadline: November 24, 2024

The International Council for Canadian Studies (ICCS) is offering six scholarships to enable international (and Canadian) scholars at the graduate and PhD level to visit a Canadian (or international) academic institution for 4 to 12 weeks to conduct research for their thesis or dissertation in the field of Canadian Studies. The maximum amount of the scholarship is $4,000 CAD ($~2,866 USD).

Applicants must be at the thesis or dissertation stage and obtain the support of a faculty mentor at a Canadian university or research institution. Please click here to learn more about the fellowship and read the full application criteria.

Call for Papers: 27th Biennial ACSUS Conference

Deadline: February 1, 2025

The Association for Canadian Studies in the United States (ACSUS) will host its 27th biennial conference from November 13-16, 2025, in Seattle, WA. The conference is open to all proposals with a significant Canadian focus. ACSUS welcomes papers and panel proposals from students, professors, independent scholars, and practitioners on all diverse and critical perspectives related to the theme, “Canada: Spaces of Change.”

ACSUS is once again also inviting proposals from students at the undergraduate and graduate level to be part of its Emerging Scholars Colloquium. Emerging scholars accepted to the colloquium will receive guaranteed funding up to a maximum of $1,000 USD to help alleviate conference registration and travel costs.

Please click here to learn more about the conference and view the full call for papers.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Gi-ga-miinigoowiz Mamaandaawiziwin (May the Force be With You): A Star Wars Journey Towards Indigenous Language Revitalization

Tues., Nov. 19 | Noon | 223 Philosophy Hall | RSVP

The Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe) dub of the iconic Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, debuted in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada on August 8th, 2024, and to the rest of the world on Disney+ on October 27. It the first major Hollywood film to be dubbed into Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe), and is an expression of the growing language revitalization movement that seeks to restore the Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe) language to the galaxy.

The project brought together three generations of a family who played critical roles in the production: producer Maeengan Linklater, lead translator Pat Ningewance, and Aandeg Muldrew, voice of Luke Skywalker. The three will share their perspectives and insights from the inception of the project, through the translation, creation of the guide track, dubbing, acting, and finally, the premiere event.

Please note this event will start 30 minutes earlier than usual.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Maeengan Linklater is Director of Operations at the Dakota Ojibwe Tribal Council (DOTC) in Manitoba and served as producer for the dub.

Pat Ningewance is a long-time translator and professor of the Ojibwe language at the University of Manitoba. She is also the mother of Maeengan and grandmother of Aandeg. She was the lead translator and was the head language expert of the project.

Aandeg Muldrew is a language teacher and assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Winnipeg. He helped with the translation and dub and voiced Luke Skywalker.

EXTERNAL EVENTS

Royal Canadian Legion Remembrance Day Service

Sat., Nov. 9 | 11:00 am | Petaluma, CA | Learn more

Join US Branch 25 of the Royal Canadian Legion, representing the San Francisco Bay Area, for their annual Remembrance Day Service at Liberty Cemetery in Petaluma. Guests are welcome at the cemetery. The service will also be streamed live via Zoom; if you are unable to join in person, please register here to join the online feed. Please direct questions to US Branch #25 President Michael Barbour.

From Moose to Cattle? Exercising Indigenous Sovereignty in Climate Adaptation Projects

Tues., Nov. 12 | 12:00 pm | Harvard University | RSVP

Political ecologist and Hildebrand Fellow Mindy Price will discuss her new book project, Contested Icescapes, Land, Politics, and Change on an Arctic Agricultural Frontier. The book explores how marginal Arctic land is imagined as a new frontier for agriculture under climate change, and the implications for rural and Indigenous lands communities. In this talk, she will examine the political history of agriculture in Canada’s Northwest Territories, and its development alongside recent climate crises in the territory. She will focus on how two First Nations are transforming agriculture from a settler-colonial tool of assimilation into an exercise of Indigenous sovereignty.

Mindy J. Price is a William Lyon Mackenzie King Postdoctoral Fellow in the Canada Program at Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. Her research focuses primarily on how climate change and climate change governance (re)structure inequalities in race, class, and gender. Her current work at Harvard examines the governance mechanisms behind new agricultural land use policies in Alaska and the Northwest Territories.

Canadian Studies Program

213 Philosophy Hall #2308

WEBSITE | EMAIL | DONATE
Canadian Studies Program | Univ. of California, Berkeley 213 Philosophy Hall #2308 | Berkeley, CA 94720 US