Canadian Studies Announcements

In this issue:

Dr. Debra Thompson to Open Fall Colloquium

Canadian Studies is pleased to announce that Professor Debra Thompson, a leading scholar of comparative politics of race, will give our first fall colloquium lecture (date TBA). Born in Canada, Dr. Thompson received her Ph.D. from the University of Toronto. She later moved to the United States, where she taught at several universities. Dr. Thompson recently returned to Canada, where she is currently an associate professor in political science at McGill University.

Professor Thompson’s research focuses on the relationship between racial inequality and political structures in democratic societies. She is currently working on two books: one exploring the global appeal of the Black Lives Matter movement, and the other examining the persistence of racial inequality in Canada. The Globe and Mail recently published an essay by Dr. Thompson on her experiences being Black on both sides of the Canada-US border, which can be read online here.

Canadian Government Aid for Students Affected by COVID-19

The Government of Canada is offering a Canada Student Emergency Benefit (CSEB) grant to assist Canadian students at institutions in Canada and abroad (including UC Berkeley and other U.S. institutions) who are experiencing financial hardships due to COVID-19. Applicants are eligible if the are a Canadian citizen/permanent resident, and are 1) currently enrolled in a post-secondary program, 2) have applied to a program that begins before February 1, 2021, or 3) graduated from such a program in December 2019 or later.

We highly encourage all our affiliates to share this information with any students who might benefit. Read the full qualifications and apply here.

Canada Week is Coming! Here’s What Going on in the Bay

In honor of the upcoming Fête nationale du Québec (June 24) and Canada Day (July 1), the Canadian Studies Program is pleased to highlight some Bay Area celebrations for Canadians. If you have an event that you would like us to highlight in our next newsletter, please let us know! #CanadaDayInTheBay

Canada Week at the Digital Moose Lounge

June 24-July 1

The Digital Moose Lounge, a social networking club for Canadians living in the San Francisco Bay Area, is celebrating Canada Week with a wide variety of online activities: French lessons for children, virtual tastings of Canadian wines, and a discussion of Canada’s peculiar “third national sport”, curling.

Visit the Digital Moose Lounge’s website for an up-to-date list of scheduled activities.

Virtual Canada Day Celebration

July 1

Celebrate the 153rd anniversary of Confederation with Canadians and friends around the world! Tune in on July 1 to celebrate Canada’s rich history and culture in a virtual Canada Day celebration hosted by Connect2Canada. Post your celebration to social media with the tag #CanadaDayUSA, and be sure to tag @Connect2Canada.

Learn more at Connect2Canada, or at the Canada Day Across America Facebook page.

Commemoration Day Sunrise Service

July 1, 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. PT

The Royal Canadian Legion – US Branch #25 of the San Francisco Bay Area will be hosting a solemn service recognizing the contributions of Newfoundland and Labrador to Canada’s armed forces. The date commemorates Battle of Beaumont-Hamel in 1916, where over 700 members of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment were killed on the first day of the Somme Offensive during WWI. The service will be webcasted at 6:00 and 10:00 a.m., and will last approximately 45 minutes.

For more information, please visit the Royal Canadian Legion’s website.

Canadian Studies Program

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Canadian Studies Announcements

In this issue:

IN THE NEWS

New Research From Affiliate Economist David Card: Employer Policies and the Immigrant-Native Earnings Gap

A new discussion paper co-authored by Canadian Studies faculty affiliate David Card, a professor of economics at UC Berkeley, argues that hiring and wage decisions made by individual firms are largely responsible for the immigrant-native wage difference in Canada.

The research, which was published by the IZA Institute of Labor Economics and is currently undergoing peer review, used longitudinal tax data to study the impacts of firm-level pay scales on immigrants’ economic success. Rather than considering just the skills or productivity of immigrant workers, the authors take into account the hiring and salary practices of firms to understand pay gaps for immigrants in Canada. The study found that 20% of the gap between immigrant and native earnings could be attributed to the decreased chance of an immigrant being hired at a highly-paying firm. This was particularly noticeable for immigrants from developing countries who lacked a university education, who made 40% less on average than native-born Canadians. However, immigrants with a university degree from these regions exhibited the largest percent wage growth over time, and experienced rapid career advancement, which the paper argues demonstrates delayed recognition of initially-discredited skills. The findings align with previous research that suggests that firms’ wage-setting policies widen inequality both between and within groups.

Read the whole study here (PDF file).

Virtual Exhibit Honors Canada’s Women Artists

Earlier this year, A New Light: Canadian Women Artists opened to the public in the Embassy of Canada’s art gallery in Washington, D.C. Featuring 38 works by 27 exceptional Canadian women artists, the all-female exhibition is part of a broader commitment to showcase works illuminating Canada’s diversity, both with regard to genres of media and artists’ backgrounds. After the exhibition the artwork, on long-term loan from The Global Affairs Visual Art Collection, The Canada Council for the Arts, and Scotiabank Fine Art Collection, will move from the gallery to find a home in prominent locations throughout the Embassy.

To offer a safe way to experience the art during the global COVID-19 pandemic, the gallery was relaunched as a virtual exhibition, on display until the end of August. Explore the gallery from home, and begin the tour here.

Pictured artwork: Jin by Meryl McMaster (2010).

AFFILIATE EVENT

Chesterfield Chat: Personal Finances During COVID-19 and Cross-Border Considerations for Canadians

Panel | June 10 | 4:00 p.m. | Online – RSVP required

New panelist added June 8

The Digital Moose Lounge and Royal Bank of Canada are hosting a webinar providing financial advice for Canadians living and working in the Bay Area during COVID-19.

The panel will be moderated by David Stewart, current Canadian Studies Advisory Board chair and DML board member. Other speakers will be Heather Pelant, partner at Baker Street Advisors; Alain Forget, head of sales and business development at RBC USA; and Matt C. Altro, president and CEO of Cross Borders Advisors.

Learn more and register here. For more information, please contact the Digital Moose Lounge directly at programs@digitalmooselounge.com.

Canadian Studies Program

213 Moses Hall #2308 WEBSITE | EMAIL

Canadian Studies Announcements

In this issue:

Fallon Burner Wins Rita Ross Prize in Canadian Studies

We are pleased to announce that Fallon Burner is the 2020 recipient of the Rita Ross Undergraduate Prize in Canadian Studies. Named in honor of our program’s longtime associate director, the prize recognizes outstanding original research on a Canadian topic by a UC Berkeley undergraduate student.

Ms. Burner’s winning project, “Healing Through Language: Revitalization and Renewal in the Wendat Confederacy”, was undertaken as a year-long capstone honors thesis for Berkeley’s history department, and was partially sponsored by Canadian Studies. The thesis examines the history of the languages of the Wendat Confederacy, showing the vital role that language plays in the Indigenous community, how its history is tied to issues of erasure and survival, and the role that language revitalization projects have in addressing transgenerational trauma. It also advocates for increasing Native voices in the field of history, and suggests ancestral language proficiency is a key aspect of this process.

Ms. Burner, herself a Wendat descendant, accordingly made learning to speak Wendat a central goal of her project. During her research, she conducted oral histories with members of the Wendat community at several locations, most notably at the Wendake Reserve in Québec. She also attended a First Nations Language Keepers Gathering in Saskatoon to discuss Indigenous language programs with representatives from other Canadian Indigenous communities. Ms. Burner presented the results of her research at a special panel hosted by Canadian Studies in late April, where it drew significant interest.

Now an official Berkeley graduate, Ms. Burner will be continuing her research at the University of Saskatchewan next year under Dr. Kathryn Labelle. She expressed her “profound gratitude” to Canadian Studies for providing “crucial funding in the early stages of this project”; in return, we extend our warmest congratulations to Ms. Burner for her excellent scholarship, and wish her well in her continued academic endeavours.

AFFILIATE EVENT

Chesterfield Chat: Personal Finances During COVID-19 and Cross-Border Considerations for Canadians

Panel | June 10 | 4:00 p.m. | Online – RSVP required

The Digital Moose Lounge and Royal Bank of Canada are hosting a webinar providing financial advice for Canadians living and working in the Bay Area during COVID-19.

The panel will be moderated by David Stewart, current Canadian Studies Advisory Board chair and DML board member. Other speakers will be Heather Pelant, partner at Baker Street Advisors, and Alain Forget, head of sales and business development at RBC USA.

Learn more and register here. For more information, please contact the Digital Moose Lounge directly at programs@digitalmooselounge.com.

Canadian Studies Program

213 Moses Hall #2308 WEBSITE | EMAIL

Canadian Studies Announcements

In this issue:

Hildebrand Scholar Desirée Valadares Wins Tanur Prize for Visual Sociology

Canadian Studies is pleased to congratulate UC Berkeley graduate student Desirée Valadares, who won the third prize in the Rachel Tanur Prize for Visual Sociology. Hosted by the Social Science Research Council, the award recognizes students in the social sciences who incorporate visual analysis in their work

Ms. Valadares’ photograph, “Absent Presence: Residential Barracks at Manzanar National Historic Site“, was taken during dissertation research funded in part by the Edward Hildebrand Award. The project compares historic preservation issues at several sites related to the WWII-era internment of people of Japanese descent in Canada and the United States. The photograph selected depicts the site of Manzanar Internment Camp in California, where over 10,000 Japanese-Americans were imprisoned between 1942-45. It conveys the haunting presence of a site that still conveys a powerful legacy despite of a lack of physical remains.

Desirée Valadares is currently pursuing a doctorate in architecture at UC Berkeley, with a focus on historical preservation, legal geography, and critical ethnic studies. For more information on her work, please visit her academic profile.

New Short Fiction from Faculty Affiliate Beth Piatote

A short story by Berkeley professor Beth Piatote was published Sunday in the Spokane Spokesman-Review’s as part of their “Summer Stories” series, commemorating the 40th anniversary of the eruption of Washington’s Mount St. Helens. The piece, entitled “Rumblings”, portrays how a chance encounter brings two strangers to a passionate but ultimately ruinous finale.

Professor Piatote is an associate professor of Native American studies, specializing in Native American literature and Nez Perce language revitalization. She is Nez Perce, and an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. She published her first short story collection, The Beadworkers, in 2019.

Read the full piece online at The Spokesman-Review.

Canadian Studies Program

213 Moses Hall #2308 WEBSITE | EMAIL