CANADIAN-NIGERIAN WOMEN’S RIGHTS ENGAGEMENTS: NATURE, ATTAINMENTS, PROBLEMS, PROSPECTS

Take Aways

Canada's sesquicentennial 2017 has offered a platform, in both the public and academic spheres, to investigate the country and its history over the past 150 years. Yet numerous events, often celebratory in nature, have been underscored by longstanding preconceptions, myths, and ideologies that have long been the backbone for understanding "Canada" as a country. In the process, many lesser-known voices and narratives that have contributed to Canada's formation have received scant attention. The conference I attended, "Untold Stories of the Past 150 Years" organized by the Centre for Canadian Studies at University College Dublin (UCD), sought to destabilize common notions of what Canada is, was, and can be by giving a voice to untold stories, in the process contesting those that have been foundational in establishing a "Canadian" national identity. As the conference's original call for papers states, its objective was "to consider what stories about Canadian history and national identity remain untold or only partially told—and to consider why?" Consequently, the exhibition's theme supplemented the guiding objectives of UCD's Centre for Canadian Studies, which aim to promote research and teaching in the field of Canadian Studies, encourage interdisciplinary research activities, to develop Canadian Studies research in Ireland, and to foster international connections.

The three-day conference was organized by the Centre's Craig Dobbin Chair of Canadian Studies, Linda M. Morra, and Director, Paul Halferty, and funded by a combination of the Craig Dobbin Chair endowment, UCD's College of Arts and Humanities, Bishop's University, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. My paper, entitled "'An Artist's View of Tattooing': Aba Bayefsky in Toronto and Yokohoma, 1978-1986" was included in one of the conference's opening panels, "Disrupting Normative Bodies and Gendered Discourses," and investigated a series of tattoo themed paintings produced by Toronto-based artist and Member of the Order of Canada, Aba Bayefsky. The session also boasted a number of rich papers by my co-panelists, including a theoretically rigorous presentation by Kit Dobson (Mount Royal University) on gendered bodies in relation to Canada's 2005 Civil Marriage Act, most notably in the context of Gender Failure, a collaborative writing and performance project. On the other hand, Kristi Allain's (St. Thomas University) paper examined recent Canadian media representations of curlers, arguing that discussions of the sport and its athletes largely draw from comparable discussions on what Alain terms "hockey-style masculinity." My final co-panelist, Rebecca Draisey-Collishaw (Memorial University), explored how gender and sexuality are simultaneously sounded and silenced via editing decisions in CBC Radio's program Fuse.

The conference's second day hosted further thought-provoking panels, most notably "Blind Angles in Canadian (Cultural History)." According to Martha Langford (Concordia University) in her paper "History and Counter-History in the Untold Story of Photography in Canada," although there is no "grand narrative" of Canada's photographic history, there nevertheless exists an idea of it. The central problem, therefore, is how to categorize and assess the varied stories that have contributed to such an idea. In a humorous yet thorough paper the panel's second speaker, Eric Lehman (University of Trent), considered the circumstances surrounding the regulation of Al Razutis's film And Now a Message from our Sponsor by the Ontario Censor Board—citing a 1911 law known as the Theatres Act—after it was screened at a film festival in Peterborough, Ontario. Moving from visual culture to science, Michael Laurentius (York University) argued in his paper "Our Atomic Past: Revisiting a Forgotten Canada" that atomic science and technology have played a pivotal role in influencing Canada's sociocultural and physical landscapes.

Throughout the conference's three days many panels and papers focused on Indigenous experience, cultural production, and history. This included panels such as "Urban Indigenous Experiences," "Indigenous Aesthetics," "Re-telling Riel," "Indigenous Re/mediations," "(Indigenous) Women, Violences, and Genres of Telling," and "Cultures of Redress." Such panels were further complimented via a keynote lecture given by Deanna Reder (Cree-Métis), Associate Professor in First Nations Studies at Simon Fraser University. Reder's presentation, "Not Simply Recovered, Read, and Told: Recuperating Indigenous Narratives," was particularly resonant given my own work engaging with archival sources and demonstrated how Indigenous literatures challenge national identity and scholarship, in the process arguing for new ways of discovering, reading, and thinking about Indigenous literatures. Continuing a similar line of inquiry, on the second day the conference's dinner hosted a number of Indigenous story tellers. This event was organized by Kim Anderson (Cree/Métis) and saw Maria Campbell (Cree/Métis), Sylvia Maracle (Mohawk), and Rene Meshake (Anishnaabe) present oral histories to a highly engaged audience.

Aside from conference panels and other speaking events, "Untold Stories" allowed me the opportunity to network with other scholars involved in the field of Canadian Studies from across a wide geographic area and included individuals from Canada, Europe, and Asia. More importantly, by participating in this conference I gained feedback on my paper, which can be put to use in my larger doctoral program. During the conference, I also made other scholars aware of the Canadian Studies Network (CSN), creating an awareness of the organization in an international context, which will ideally solicit international scholars to attend Canadian Studies conferences in Canada.

The Calotte Academy is a unique conference experience. For the past 24 years, attendees have participated in a week-long symposium that travels through the north Calotte region of Europe (Finland, Norway, and Sweden) and northern Russia to discuss issues and research related to the arctic. Participants include a mixture of graduate students and young and established scholars in different disciplines, as well as researchers from civic organizations who come together to share their work and perspectives. The conference is also different as each speaker presents their research and then has 20 minutes of discussion dedicated to their talk rather than a general question period at the end of each panel. This format proves to be useful, especially for students, as the discussion results in valuable feedback on their research.

This year I had the opportunity to participate in the conference that took place in Rovaniemi, Salla, and Inari, Finland, Apatity, Russia, and Kirkenes, Norway from May 31 to June 7. This is the story of my journey. On the evening of May 31, participants arrived in Rovaniemi and attended a reception where we were welcomed by the conference organizers and the city mayor. Sessions formally began on June 1 (day 1) at the University of Lapland campus. Papers were presented on the broad topics of energy, security, international cooperation, and science diplomacy. Day two took place at the city hall in Salla, Finland, where we were again welcomed by the mayor. There was one paper presented on the topic of human capital in Salla before we began our trek to Russia.

Sessions on day 3 were held at the Kola Science Centre in Apatity, and many of the presenters were researchers at the Centre. Their talks provided a great deal of information on the state of the northern Russian resource and energy sector. Day four was a travel day and we left Apatity for Kirkenes, Norway, making a brief stop in Murmansk and Nikel, Russia. The editor of the Barents Observer joined us for this leg of the trip and acted as a tour guide, providing a great deal of information on the military and resource sector in this part of Russia.

The Barents Secretariat hosted our sessions on day 5 in Kirkenes, Norway, where there were more presentations on the themes of the environment, the military, security, and human and social capital.

Our final day of talks took place in Inari, Finland on June 6, where I presented my own paper on "National Security Policies and the Consequences for Yukon Exports" at the Sami Education Centre. This was an excellent opportunity to gain feedback on my work and to promote Canadian Studies (and the CSN) to an international audience. Finally, we returned to Rovaniemi on June 7 where we said our goodbyes and began our voyages home.

During my time with this group, I was able to make new connections with both Canadian and international scholars who share a similar research interest. As well, participants from other countries brought forth different perspectives on issues, while also demonstrating the similarities between Canada and our arctic neighbours. This conference was an amazing experience and I highly recommend it to anyone who studies the north.

This conference was organised at the Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis, by the Centre d'études et de cooperation canadiennes (CECC), in partnership with the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), the International Council for Canadian Studies (ICCS), and the Government of Canada. It proposed to focus "primarily on current breaks with tradition or changes which have taken place within roughly the past 40 years." Exploration of future impacts of these changes, as well as comparative perspectives, was encouraged.
I participated in this conference with a presentation entitled "Diversity in Question: Canadian Discursive and Structural Responses" -- it explored Canadian state responses related to the management of cultural pluralism, in the context of sustained worldwide departure from multiculturalist approaches to immigrant integration and citizenship education. I argued that: a) following signs of social contract fragmentations and contestations, we witness a strong advent of nation-state institutional legitimation politics; b) transformations in the discourse and structures of Canadian multiculturalism underpin these larger nationalist politics and aim at reconfiguring the relation between the state, ethnic communities, and territory in a national security context.
My participation was possible through the financial support provided by the Canadian Studies Network, in particular the Graduate Student Support Fund, which I acknowledged and made known to the larger conference audiences during my presentation and afterwards. Unfortunately, my participation was limited by a series of official flight delays and issues, which had me arrive in Nice a day and a half later than initially planned. I consequently missed the opening keynote speech by Dr. Jocelyn Létourneau (« Le Québec : la révolution silencieuse »), as well as the first full day of conference.
The conference program included a total of thirty-six presentations, from a variety of disciplines and on topics ranging from Canadian foreign policy, trade, literature, Francophone movements, immigration, political party landscape etc. There were both established professionals, as well as graduate students, mainly from France and Eastern Europe, delivering 15 minute presentations, in a collegial, open environment. A large number of presentations dealt with Québec issues, Francophone literature, and religion, and the majority of them were held in French. Even though I was sorry that most of the sessions on topics directly relevant to my research (immigration, national identity, foreign policy) were delivered the day before my arrival, I found the second-day presentations very informative and I welcomed the perspectives on Canada stemming from research conducted, for the most part, outside it. They were carefully put together and signaled transformations within the social, political, economic, and cultural spheres in Canada and Europe.
Of these, I highlight the critical lens through which discourses of immigration in Europe, and to a less extent in Canada, were unpacked by Kalina Bratanova and Rositsa Ishpekova in their presentation, "Immigration Political Discourse in Bulgarian and Canadian Newspapers," as well as the cosmopolitan implications of the concept of human security in Romalie Murphy's essay "'Over All Nations Is Humanity': the Idea of Human Security in Canada's Past." Michel Bock's presentation, « Rupture ou mutation? Les représentations identitaires de la francophonie canadienne minoritaire après 1969 », also drew my attention. While the relations between Anglophones and Francophones were well documented, the presentation focus simplified and essentialised the majority-minority social milieu; in particular, the perspective on 'national duality' risked reinforcing colonial discourses, sidelining Indigenous peoples and their role within the Francophone communities in Canada. This aspect was anthropologically touched on in Bernadette Rigal-Cellard's contribution, « Les mutations du champ religioux au Canada, l'évolution du catholicisme chez les Autochtones depuis les années soixante »; she revealed hybrid forms of Catholicism among the Indigenous, ending the conference on a highly appreciated note.
Overall, the conference was a good opportunity to connect with academics from Europe and share knowledge of the dynamics in Canada. The particular location helped in creating a relaxed atmosphere, conducive to dialogue and exchange. The effort by the organisers to proceed with the conference in the immediate aftermath of the funding cuts to the Understanding Canada program is laudable. From a critical perspective, with few exceptions, the conference (at least the second day) lacked interdisciplinary analyses; historical approaches were prevalent, which largely confined the presentations to descriptive frames and left the issue of future implications unaddressed. However, some of these impacts on Canadian society were shortly addressed in the Q & A sessions. I was glad to engage in debates with the conference participants and to reflect on each other's views and criticisms in a constructive manner. There are certainly tensions in the understanding of Canada, largely stemming from different research locations [including access to resources, (inter-)disciplinary training etc.]. These tensions are worth further exploring in such conferences, where academics and professionals from a variety of backgrounds come together, not the least through the support of organisations like the CSN-REC.

It is with great appreciation that I write this conference report, documenting my participation in the recent "Understanding Canada/Concevoir le Canada" conference held at the University of Trier, Germany from Thursday July 4th to Saturday July 6th, 2013. At this conference, I was able to present a paper entitled: "Understanding Immigration: A Perspective from a smaller level of scale". The conference included afternoon discussions of Thursday, three panel presentations on Friday, and two on Saturday, with the addition of two keynote addresses, and a variety of academic and social activities throughout the weekend.

The conference opened with a welcome address by the President of the Nachwuchsforum Gesellechaft fur Kanada-Studien (GKS), Dr. Ursula Lehmkuhl. Dr. Lehmkuhl welcomed everyone to the conference, noting the special tenth anniversary celebration of young scholars gathering to attempt to further their understanding of Canada. The majority of participants speaking in the conference were doctoral students or young researchers, though many in attendance were faculty of the University of Trier, and members of the GKS board. The emphasis on the conference was both challenging current threads of knowledge, and recognizing the new and innovative work of young scholars.

Following introductions, Dr. Paul Morris delivered a lecture, which offered a suggestion that Canada is entering a 'post-ethnic' period of multiculturalism, as shown using literary and historical examples to demonstrate how this paradigm has been reached. Following the introductory lecture (which spurred lively and challenging discussions), a traditional German barbecue took place on the campus, allowing for participants and audience members to further any previous conversations in a more relaxed atmosphere.

Friday's conference sessions opened with a discussion on indigenous discourses on Canada's past, present and future. In this panel, a paper on the role and mythology of Canada's promotion of the 'Viking discovery' of Canada, and more recent media presentations of Attiwapiskat, both demonstrated that there continues to exist a hierarchical distinction between Canada's indigenous history and reality, and its non-indigenous history and reality.

Following this, a French language panel on Quebec's minority status in Canada took place. In this panel discussion, the relationship between Quebec and indigenous peoples was discussed, as well as Quebec's feminist poetry, and the internal/external perceptions of the province.

The final panel of the day discussed various themes in Canadian literature, including space and place, and dreaming and memory. These papers all shared an approach of using Canadian literary case studies to work through theoretical questions about space and memory; authors discussed include Thomas King and Robert Arthur Alexie.

Friday's keynote address was given by Professor Graeme Wynn, and looked at the historical settlement of Canada's east coast as being transcultural. In his talk, professor Wynn challenged participants by suggesting that transculturalism is not something new in Canada.

Friday evening brought two conference social activities. The first was a walking tour of Trier. Trier is Germany's oldest city, and was once an important trading port during Roman empire. This tour included the "Porta Nigra", Trier's oldest building, which rested in the town square sitting around 1800 years old. It is also included pointing out Roman baths and ruins, the basilica, and the involvement of Trier in World War II. Following the walking tour, the Canadian Embassy sponsored a traditional German dinner, which took place in a beautiful wine cellar. Here, conference attendees and board members ate dinner while further discussing the day's events. It was here that I had the opportunity to discuss the 'state' of Canadian studies with some of the GKS board members, learning of how program-funding cuts in Canada have an international impact abroad. Here, I discussed the purpose and activities of the CSN-REC, and encouraged a number of individuals to visit the website for opportunities.

Saturday's panel presentations brought another round of challenging and lively discussions. The first panel covered topics of Canadian art history that dealt with the artwork of the 1950s, and the literature of Richler, and his writing on Jewishness in Canada. Following these talks, my presentation took place.

My paper challenged approaching settlement from a federal level of scale, and used local examples from Windsor, Peterborough, and London Ontario to demonstrate how the local might subvert federal program aims. The paper was well received, and sparked a good discussion later with Professor Paul Morris, who earlier presented on multiculturalism.

At the conference, I was one of only a handful of Canadian scholars presenting. It was enlightening to hear perspectives of approaching Canada from a more international perspective, both in terms of how Canadian studies courses are taught, and in terms of how Canada is understood (through legislation, literature, and history, for example). This was also the first conference that I participated in as a panelist outside of Canada, which added to my excitement and enjoyment of the conference. Again, I thank the Canadian Studies Network for their support in my participation in this conference.

The l'Association française d'études canadiennes (AFEC) held their 41st annual conference at the Université Rennes 2 in Rennes, France, from 12-15 June, 2013. This year's conference theme was Mémoire(s) canadienne(s) /(Re)constructing Memory in Canada. I was fortunate to have received a grant from the Canadian Studies Network-Réseau d'études canadiennes to attend and present my research at this conference.

La conférence était organisée par le Centre d'études canadiennes de l'université Rennes 2 et le Centre de recherches historiques de l'Oust, en partenariat avec le Centre d'études canadiennes de l'université d'Angers et l'Institut d'études canadiennes de l'université d'Ottawa. La conférence a réuni des rechercheurs de France, Hongrie, Espagne, Autriche, Brésil, et le Canada, qui travaillent sur différents projets sur la mémoire au Canada. Sessions de la conférence ont été structurés autour des variantes de thème Mémoire(s) canadienne(s), qui ont compris Mémoire des lieux et lieux de mémoire, Mémoire(s) et identité(s), Le livre: mémoire de l'Histoire, et Diversité des vecteurs mémoriels. J'ai inclus une copie du programme de la conférence avec ce rapport.

The conference opened on the afternoon of June 12th with the annual general meeting of l'Association française d'études canadiennes. This was followed by the conference's inaugural talk given by Yves Frenette from the University of Ottawa, and a reception for conference attendees. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend that day's events, as my flight from Toronto to Paris was diverted to Brussels due to ongoing labour strikes at Charles de Gaulle airport. As a result, I did not arrive in Rennes until late on the 12th. Conference sessions took place on June 13th and 14th. Presentations covered a diverse range of topics that addressed the conference theme of Reconstructing Memory in Canada. A summary of a few of the papers presented reveals the breadth of research presented at the conference.

Alexandre Turgeon de l'Université Laval a présenté sur la méthodologie d'utiliser Twitter comme un moyen de suivre les usages de la mémoire sur les médias sociaux. Nathalie Kermoal de Université de l'Alberta a discuté la murale Grandin à Edmonton qui est devenu un
lieux de contestation publique pour la ville. La presentation de Yves Denéchère de l'Université d'Angers a examiné les mémoires des adoptions d'enfants québècois en France depuis les années 1960, et le processus de ces personnes à retrouver leurs histoires.

Fiona Mc-Mahon from l' Université de Bourgogne explored selected writings of Robert Kroetsch and the Canadian long poem. Eszter Szenczi de l'Université de Budapest spoke about Métis autobiographies and their use as a means of healing. I presented a paper on the contested landscape of the memory of the Cape Breton Miners' Museum, the research of which was drawn from my doctoral work in Canadian Studies at Trent University.

Conference organizers also planned several exciting social events during the conference. On the evening of June 14th, we had an interesting guided visit of the Parlement de Bretagne. On June 15th, organizers also hosted a day-long excursion to the sea side town of Saint-Malo.

The conference provided an excellent opportunity to connect with international scholars conducting research on Canada. I also had the opportunity to speak with many attendees, including several graduate students, about the CSN-REC and the organization's activities and programs. In particular, this conference helped me to connect with several Quebec scholars who were also presenting at the conference. I am grateful to the CSN-REC for supporting my travel to this conference, allowing me to participate in such an engaging international Canadian Studies conference.

From November 10-13th, 2011, I had the pleasure of being one of two Canadian students selected to attend the 20th European Seminar for Graduate Students in Canadian Studies. This year, the conference was held in the city of Groningen, The Netherlands. As a Canadian in Groningen, the first thing you notice is not the architecture or the canal, or even the incredibly post-modern Groningen Museum, but rather the bike culture that thrives in this northern city. Of course, the Netherlands is well known for its emphasis on cycling, but as a university town Groningen appears to be particularly saturated with bikes, bike racks and cyclists.
During the first evening participants were greeted by James Lambert, the Canadian Ambassador to the Netherlands. As one of the Canadians in attendance, I tried not to deconstruct the ambassador's underscoring of the importance of "branding" Canada to the world. In the days leading up to the seminar, I was fearful that an uncritical look at the nation-state might manifest itself at the seminar; to my pleasant surprise, the Ambassador was the only one who made attempts to do so.
Throughout the two days of the seminar I was truly amazed by the variety of interesting Canadian Studies research being conducted (in both French and English!) by graduate students across the world. A Russian student at the University of Edinburgh is conducting a socio-legal comparison of the French Civil Code in Quebec, Louisiana and Suisse Romande. That Quebec has a different legal foundation from the rest-of-Canada is something that can often be overlooked by Canadians. Two students from Germany presented on First Nations literature and US-Canadian border stories, respectively. Discussions with these students, over a traditional Dutch dinner provided by the Canadian Studies Student Platform at the University of Groningen, led to insights into Canadian Studies in Germany and the debate in that country over the use of the term genocide. A student from Brazil introduced me to the artistic works of Jim Logan through her analysis of the shared aspects of his work with that of Tomson Highway. Students from Poland, Spain, and Romania demonstrated the profound impact Canadian literature has had on the world through presentations on Margaret Atwood and Sarah Rhul; Uma Parameswaran; Alice Munro and Carol Shields; and Leonard Cohen.
Canadian students attending the seminar became aware that in the nineteen years prior there had not been participants from Canadian universities. As a result, I believe we made a conscious attempt to not take up too much space at the seminar. That being said, there was clearly a benefit to having Canadian students in attendance as there were moments where we were able to provide constructive criticism and information that may not have otherwise been available.
Thanks to the support of the Canadian Studies Network/Réseau d'études canadiennes the seminar provided me with an opportunity to share my research and engage with emerging Canadianists from around the world. Friends were made and ideas exchanged; the future of Canadian Studies abroad appears to be a bright one.

In October 2012, I attended the Central European Association for Canadian Studies' (CEACS) 6th triennial conference held at Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia. The conference was sponsored by CEACS and Comenius University with the support of the Canadian Embassy and several local businesses. The title of the conference was "Democracy, Diversity, Dignity: The Canadian Space," and papers presented throughout its three day program covered a broad range of subjects relating to these general themes.

The three keynote presentations that began each day of the conference illustrate the breadth of topics discussed. Antonia Maioni from McGill University in Montreal presented the opening keynote address discussing the health of the Canadian healthcare system. Her paper, delivered in French but with information presented via Powerpoint in English, was titled "La Santé du Système de Santé Canadien: Choix et Avenirs." For the second keynote presentation, Daniel Coleman from McMaster University in Hamilton delivered a paper titled "A Conversation that Couldn't Happen: Copway, Traill, and the Failure of Indigenous-Settler Dialogue." In this paper, Coleman examined the literary work of George Copway (Kah-Ge-Ga-Gah-Bowh in Anishnaabemowin), and Catherine Parr Traill to illustrate common structural limitations to Indigenous/non-Indigenous relations in Canada both historically and in the present. The final keynote lecture, "Capabilities, Well-Being and Multiculturalism: A New Framework for Guiding Policies," was presented by Susan Hodgett from Ulster University in Northern Ireland. Hodgett described a pilot project examining the use of an integrated capabilities framework to assess the success of multicultural integration.

Following each keynote lecture, conference participants had the opportunity to attend a diverse series of panel presentations. Each session had four concurrent panels, with at least one in each being presented entirely in French. On the first day, I attended one panel on Canadian fiction with three papers examining the work of Sui Sin Far, Roy Kiyooka and Korean Canadian short fiction writers respectively, and another panel on Canada's foreign policy and current economy. On the second day, I attended another panel addressing Canadian literature, this time with a focus on Indigenous authors, and one that examined various aspects of multiculturalism and the integration of immigrants into national societies. Finally, on the last day, I attended a panel that variously discussed literature, art and mythology.

My own paper addressed representations of multicultural nationalism in Canadian museums, drawn from research undertaken for my PhD dissertation. I had the pleasure of presenting on a panel with Michael Devine from Acadia University, who spoke about his experience of creating political theatre in Croatia, and Tomáš Pospíšil, who discussed Atom Egoyan's recent films.

In addition to the formal lectures and panel sessions, the conference also hosted two evening receptions. I was very grateful to have the generous support of the Canadian Studies Network-Réseau d'études Canadiens (CSN-REC), which allowed me to attend this conference. In light of the Canadian federal government's recent abolishment of the Understanding Canada programme, and thereby decreased funding for regional networks like CEACS, the CSN-REC's commitment to supporting international opportunities for interaction between scholars in Canadian Studies is especially important.

On March 9 and 10, I had the pleasure to attend the Eight Annual Trent-Carleton Graduate Conference in Peterborough, Ontario. This year's conference dealt with the economic, political, social and cultural shifts that Canada has been experiencing over the last years in a changing global context. The conference was titled: "Canada and the New World Order: The National Contexts of Global change". I travelled from Germany to present a paper on Canadian literary reactions to 9/11. In my paper, "Histoire, Mémoire et Espace : Nouvelle(s) Représentation(s) de la Frontière dans le Paysage Littéraire Canadien suite au 11 septembre 2001", I analyzed French-Canadian novels that explore the impact of 9/11 in a Canadian context.
During this interdisciplinary conference, which had a distinctive focus on Canadian current questions, papers on various subjects such as economics, politics, history, literature, immigration policy, international relations, Canadian identity and Aboriginal Studies, were examined. Each session was chaired by a member of a particular faculty from Trent and Carleton, an initiative which I personally found very enriching since it was an excellent opportunity to exchange and to network with faculty members along with graduate student colleagues.

Many participants came from Ontarian Universities: University of Ottawa, Frost Centre for Canadian Studies and Indigenous Studies at Trent, Nipissing University and University of Toronto. Some presenters came from other parts of Canada: University of Alberta, University of Manitoba and University of British Colombia.
The conference was held at Bagnani Hall, in downtown Peterborough, and started Friday afternoon after an introduction and a warm welcome from the organizing committee as well as from Julia Harrison, Director of the Frost Centre for Canadian Studies and Indigenous Studies at Trent University.

I will now give a brief outline of the conference in an attempt to show the variety and the richness of the topics presented. The conference began with a first panel dealing with "Organizational contexts" with papers looking at relations between communities and corporations, at neoliberalism and everyday life (with an interesting period of questions at the end featuring, among others, themes like "gender neutral language", "domestic violence", "new institutional structures in a new world order"), at "Resistance to Petroleum Production in Northeastern Alberta" and the relations between Aboriginal Peoples and companies.

The second panel introduced "historical reflections". A first very stimulating talk: from Comic books to graphic novels, how is this genre changing the world and which role does it play now in a global world? The second paper investigated the case of Raoul Léger on a historical perspective. The panel concluded with a case study: "Making History in Lawrence Heights", with a film showing students performing a play in which the classroom is seen as the first place of oppression and where attempts to remediate to this situation are suggested. The students become "involved" and active. From "spectateur" they become "spectactor".

In the evening, a reception had been organized for all participants where everyone had the opportunity to meet and establish contact as well as to share their project of research. I personally found this part extremely rewarding, it allowed me to ask questions, share my research and exchange points of view with Canadianists "on the ground". I was able to gain more insights on many contemporary aspects of global change in a specific Canadian context.
On the second day, a third panel opened up the discussion with a paper session on "Policy Perspectives" with themes on policies against full-face veils in Canada, and on the reform of the federal immigration policy. Another section was on "Critical readings", a literary section that looked at writings from Joan Barfoot, Sparkle Hayter, Roch Carrier and Annie Dulong. I would like to note that I held my presentation in French and that I had the pleasure to be asked questions and to receive feedback on my paper in both official languages.

A convivial lunch followed where presenters, faculty members and all other participants were again given the opportunity to explore new ideas and pursue their conversations. I made contacts with other students working on Canadian Literature and Canadian Cultural Studies. Thanks to many of the discussions, I was able to broaden my knowledge on different aspects of present-day Canadian issues. This will be beneficial for my research.
The program continued after lunch with two papers related to "International Relations": "A case study on the Federal Government's decision to refuse a lucrative offer from the UAE", with an aftermath analysis. Another fascinating paper followed on undersea landing cables: "Connecting the North". It was amazing to learn about the "making" of the Canadian Internet. The conference concluded with a last session on "Perceptions and representations" where the advantages of studying abroad were presented and the question asked: What does it mean to be a Canadian? The next paper considered the idea of an "Anti-exotic Canada" in the novels of Rawi Hage. Finally, in the last paper, "Canada's changing Character: Aboriginal Peoples, Newcomers, and the Future", also an excellent contribution, both historical aspects and current issues in the country were examined.

Following each session, there were many fruitful discussions. Many of the questions that were raised not only reflected a concern for History and the past but also a deep critical concern for the present and the future: How are things changing and how will Canada be dealing with those changes in the future?
All in all, the conference has shown that there are many ongoing research projects dealing with Canadian issues in a global world. At the same time, there still are many areas which need to be explored in order to gain a better understanding of those Canadian issues in the context of global changes.

J'aimerais remercier the Canadian Studies Network - le Réseau des Études Canadiennes pour avoir, par son soutien financier, rendu possible ma participation à cette conférence. Cette conférence qui aura su établir un lien entre Histoire, présent et avenir dans le but de mieux comprendre les enjeux actuels au Canada à l'ère de la globalisation.
Je tiens aussi à remercier le comité organisateur. Je le remercie pour son invitation, son aide financière ainsi que pour sa gentillesse et son accueil sur place. Peterborough : une ville où il fait bon travailler...et séjourner !

On April 12 and 13, I attended the annual meeting of the Latin American Association of Canadian Studies in Havana, Cuba. There were attendees from Cuba, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, and Argentina. This was the tenth annual meeting, and it appears that the SEMINECAL and the national associations that support it are thriving. An interesting feature of the SEMINECAL, and one which represents the regional variation within this umbrella organization, is the variety of disciplines. There were papers on economics, literature, geopolitics, water, tourism, health, education, and migration. The Mexican association is the largest association in Latin America, and many of its members research North American trade relations. The Cuban association also has a stronger interest in economics and geopolitics. According to the co-organizer, Delia Montero, the Argentine and Brazilian associations have a stronger focus on literature. Nevertheless, the papers from the five Brazilian and Argentine students demonstrated that Canadian Studies plays a role in several disciplines in those countries.

I found the international perspective on Canada to be quite rewarding. A central theme in many of the students' papers was the greater degree of federalism in Canada compared to countries such as Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina. These too are federal states, but those central governments play a greater role in provincial spheres such as health, education, and resource extraction. Most presenters had spent between three and six months carrying out research in Canada, and they all appeared to have been supported by the ICCS or other Canadian scholarships.

I had quite a productive week in Cuba. I learned a great deal about several topics, received feedback on my own comparative paper about language policy in the schools of Ontario and Buenos Aires before the First World War, and forged important networks with students and professors in many countries. I met privately with both of the organizers of the conference, and I think that this will lead to future collaboration. I was invited to participate in the annual conference of the Mexican association in October. I also took advantage of my time in Cuba to help two North American historians in their archival odysseys in Cuba. A Canadian historian has hoped to access the archive of the Cuban foreign ministry in order to uncover more about Cuban interactions with the Canadian Left in the 1960s. I also tried to help an American historian secure the rights to a poem for his forthcoming book. My trip to the Nicolás Guillén Cultural Centre was unsuccessful, but it was an interesting adventure that led to some informative encounters with Cubans.

I was the first Canadian student to participate in this conference, and all the participants and the organizers were quite warm to me. They seemed to appreciate the broad range that a Canadian could offer to most of the subjects discussed, and I also had several conversations with fellow students during the breaks about their research and their interest in enrolling in a Canadian university or applying for a Canadian scholarship to carry out research. The organizers said they would like that a Canadian student attend future conferences as well. I would like to encourage the Canadian Studies Network and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade to continue to send a Canadian student to the annual SEMINCAL, and if possible, I think it would be advantageous if the CSN could also support a Latin American to come to our annual meeting. The overwhelmingly dominant language of the conference was Spanish, and I would strongly recommend that that be a key criterion in selecting a Canadian student. Two Brazilian students gave their papers in English, but all others were in Spanish. In the personal conversations during and after the conference, one could do well with English. Nevertheless, Spanish was an asset.

Overall, the growing interest in Canadian Studies in Latin America, which seems to benefit from the federal government's growing interest in economic relations with the region, is quite refreshing. Students and professors offer an interesting angle on Canadian Studies, often with a comparative approach that uses Canada as a model or counterexample for a key issue in the researcher's own country. I would like to thank the Canadian Studies Network and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade for giving me the opportunity to attend this interesting conference. I hope that this is the beginning of stronger ties between the Canadian and Latin American networks.

On November 10-13, 2011, I attended the 20th European Seminar for Graduate Students in Canadian Studies held at the University of Groningen in The Netherlands. I was selected by the Canadian Studies Network-Réseau d'études canadiennes (CSN-REC) as one of the two sponsored graduate students to attend and present at this conference. This annual conference brings together graduate students from all over the world who are working on various aspects of Canadian Studies. This year the conference hosted students from numerous European countries, Canada, Australia and Argentina. It was hosted and sponsored by the Association for Canadian Studies in the Netherlands, and was also sponsored by the European network for Canadian Studies, the University of Groningen's Canadian Studies Centre, and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada. For your information I have included with this report a copy of the conference program.

The conference opened on November 10 with a reception with James Lambert, the Canadian Ambassador to the Netherlands. After the reception we were invited to a public debate, hosted by the University of Groningen's Student Platform of the Canadian Studies Centre which was well attended by conference participants and students from the university. Conference presentations took place November 11-12, and covered a wide range of Canadian Studies topics. Although I do not have the space to examine each in detail, I will outline some of the more interesting papers presented over the two days.

Kelly Black, a first year PhD student in Canadian Studies at Carleton University, examined the coloniality of property in southern Vancouver Island, and how concepts of "property" formed part of a tightly controlled regulatory regime in British Columbia. Lucia-Mihaela Groso, a doctoral student in Rumania, examined issues of patriarchal terrorism and the language of violence in her presentation on the writings of Uma Parameswaran. The concept of the "duty to consult" in Canada's and Australia's legal systems was explored in Ashley Sisco's paper. A doctoral student from the University of Wallongong in Australia, Ashley is exploring ways to foster and improve consultation with Aboriginal groups in both countries. The construction of the Franco-Ontarien identity was examined in Floret Hofer's papers. Florent examined the ways in which Franco-Ontarien identity has been constructed since the 1960s, and he looked at important social, cultural and political moments in the construction of this identity. Natalie Robinson's presentation examined how Vancouver's "Hope and Shadow Project" has constructed a photographic archival history of the city's Downtown Eastside, and has worked to socially and culturally construct very particular images of that community.
On November 10, I presented my conference paper, "A Call to Arms: The Community Improvement Program and Canada's 1967 Centennial." Briefly, the paper examined the discourse used by Community Improvement Program organizers to promote citizen participation in centennial activities, raise awareness about the country's environmental state, and encourage civic beautification projects across the country. Branded as the "Centennial cure," it was broadly framed as a vehicle to beautify the country, tackle urban and rural blight, encourage civic improvements and promote ecological stewardship. The Centennial Commission used a carefully crafted discourse that encouraged individuals and businesses to participate in the program. This discourse drew upon notions of citizenship, as well as militaristic language that implored Canadians to become active "citizen soldiers" and "launch a massive offensive" on ugliness that, according to organizers, threatened to engulf the country. The paper examined how the program sought to create productive citizens whose civic improvement and beautification activities benefitted the Canadian state.

Prior to my talk I was given 5 minutes to address conference attendees and organizers. I spoke about the CSN-REC, its mandate and brief overview of our activities to date. I also spoke about the 2011-2012 Trent-Carleton Graduate Conference, "Canada and the New World Order: The National Contexts of Global Change." I told conference attendees that the CSN-REC had a new international graduate students funding policy for those studying outside of Canada who wished to attend this conference. I directed them to our website so they could find out more (about our network in general!) and about this new policy which could help fund travel to the Trent-Carleton conference.

I am also pleased to report that I spoke individually with several students at the conference who are interested in pursuing graduate work in Canadian Studies in Canada. I was able to pass on information about various programs and universities and directed them to resources that they would find helpful, including the CSN-REC website.

It is worth noting that conference organizers were delighted that two Canadian CSN-REC sponsored students from Canada had attended the conference. Dr. Cornelius Remie mentioned our presence on several occasions throughout the conference, including during the opening reception with James Lambert, the Canadian Ambassador to the Netherlands, and during his opening remarks at the first day of the conference. Other organizers, including Dr. Jeanette den Toonder, Director for the Centre for Canadian Studies at the University of Groningen, and Dr. Conny Steenman-Marcusse, asked about the CSN-REC and our activities. Drs. Remie, den Toonder and Steenman-Marcusse, in particular, expressed their delight that about the CSN-REC's founding and were happy that two Canadian students were being sponsored by the organization. I would strongly recommend that we continue to heavily promote this conference and try to ensure that each year we have strong graduate student representation. Dr. Remie informed me that the European Association for Canadian Studies would be meeting in February, at which time a decision would be made as to when and where the next European Seminar for Graduate Studies in Canadian Studies would be held. He expected that, as with this year, the seminar will reserve two spots for those graduate students nominated by the CSN-REC to attend the European Seminar.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the wonderful reception we received from the University of Groningen's Student Platform of the Canadian Studies Centre. On Friday, November 11, after the day's plenary sessions, members of the Student Platform hosted a supper for all the conference attendees. The students prepared a traditional Dutch supper, which included lovely homemade waffles for dessert.

In conclusion, I believe that this experience certainly allowed me to share my research with a wider graduate student audience and to help build bridges with other students working in Canadian Studies. Just as important, however, the conference allowed Kelly and I to be very visible representatives of the CSN-REC community, and it allowed us to promote the organization's goals, mandate and interests at an international event, and we made important international connections with a wider community of graduate students.

Graduate Student Activities in other Countries

Unfortunately, none of the conference attendees sat as executive members of their home Canadian Studies Association organizations, and none were actively involved on any student caucuses or otherwise. However, I was able to glean some information from most conference attendees about what work their home Canadian Studies Association organization does for them. In addition, I have taken a look at a number of these associations online to see what resources are available for students.

Association for Canadian Studies in Australia and New Zealand (ACSANZ)

Website: www.acsanz.org.au

Currently there is no student representative at ACSANZ. Although ACSANZ advertises opportunities for students on their website, such as various postgraduate opportunities, an undergraduate essay prize in Canadian Studies, and a postgraduate travel award, there is no active graduate student caucus or dedicated activities supported by the association. Here is a link to the ACSANZ Undergraduate Essay award is here:
http://www.acsanz.org.au/forms/canadianstudies_essayprize.pdf

Ashley Sisco, a Canadian currently undertaking her PhD in Australia at the University of Wollongong, will keep in touch with me about the group's activities and specifically those opportunities that become available for students through this group.

Association for Canadian Studies in German-Speaking Countries (GKS)

Website: www.kanada-studien.org

Of all the European Canadian Studies associations I heard about, it seemed that the Association for Canadian Studies in German-Speaking Countries is by far the most active when it comes to student activities. In particular, it offers "Virtual Canadian Studies," which are a variety of online Canadian Studies courses that students may take which could go towards their degrees at their home university. Courses are offered in a wide range of fields including History, English, Geography, and Native Studies, through instructors at various German universities. Credits earned are for both undergraduate and masters level programs. Information about these virtual studies are found here: http://www.kanada-studien.org/angebote-fur-studierende/virtual-canadian-studies/

In addition, the association promoted international summer schools that take place at various universities in Europe in the field of Canadian Studies. The courses appear to be at the undergraduate level. This past year summer schools took place at universities in Austria and Lithuania that included instruction in fields of conflict resolution in civil society, and a course about the Americas. A link to the summer schools is found here: http://www.kanada-studien.org/angebote-fur-studierende/summer-schools/
The association also has a Young Scholar's Forum which offers a website forum that includes call for papers, news, information and a discussion forum. This Forum sponsors an annual graduate student conference. Next year's conference is titled "Border – Borderlands – Borderline: Spaces of Encounters in Canadian Studies," and will be held in Berlin June 28-30. In addition, at the 33rd Annual Conference of the Association for Canadian Studies in German-Speaking Countries (GKS), the Forum hosted a Young Scholar's Panel.
The Forum also sponsors an open forum (www.nachwuchsforum.net) intended to be a space for young Canadian Studies scholars for discussions and to exchanges ideas and news. It is interesting to note that their mandate for the forum is as follows:
It is designed as a platform where you may exchange ideas with other young scholars and find information about current Canadianist activities and events – both in German-speaking countries and internationally. With nachwuchsforum.net, we hope to strengthen existing networks between young Canadianist scholars and to give young scholars around the world an opportunity to easily access these networks, to start new ones, and to cooperate with other scholars working in similar fields or on similar projects.
The site receives support from Foreign Affairs Canada, and it is maintained by two members of the Young Scholars Forum. The site also features a list of members' current research projects. Here is a like to the research list site:
http:// www.nachwuchsforum.net/index.php?/wpages/wrapurl.html
It appears that the Forum also runs a separate newsletter just for students. I have sent an email asking that I be put on this list, and will report back about the newsletter content when I hear back from them.
I have contacted the students in charge of the site, hoping that I can become a member of this listserve to see what kind of activities they do with the Forum, and am hoping to hear back from them soon. I told them a bit about the CSN-REC, and that I was hoping to establish some links with their association.

French Association for Canadian Studies www.afec33.asso.fr
Although the French Association for Canadian Studies is quite active there appears to be no active student forum with this association, and there appears to be very little, if anything, done specifically targeted to students, and it appears from a perusal of their website that this is correct. The Association's website features many links, including calls for papers (including one for their 2012 annual meeting), various publications, and conference and travel bursaries. In 2010 the Association established out an annual prize for the best Canadian Studies thesis. Other than this, however, there appears to be no student forum or other activities specifically designed for students. I have signed up for the Association's newsletter, and once I have received a copy of it, I will report as to whether or not there are more activities specifically geared towards students.
Polish Association for Canadian Studies (PACS)
Website: www.ptbk.org.pl/Home,37.html
The Polish Association for Canadian Studies is based at Department of Canadian Studies, Institute of American Studies and Polish Diaspora at Jagiellonian University. There is no position on their executive council for a student representative, and there are no provisions in the Association's constitution for such a representative on their Board.
The Association offers several opportunities specifically geared towards students. This includes a "Library Grant" which funds travel and accommodation expenses for eligible Association members. The terms of the grant specifically note that the Association members, including BA and MA students are eligible. Although it does not specifically list that PhD students are eligible for this fund, there does not appear to be anything barring them from applying. The grant funds research in "any library that holds Canadian publications among its book collections." Applicants for the Library Grant have to include a profile and a description of their planned research, reasons for choosing their specific library, and the purpose of their research. Those who receive grants must then report back to the Association about their research and how the funds were used. The link for Library Grant is: www.ptbk.org.pl/Library_Grant,61.html
The Association also offers a prize for the best MA thesis. Unfortunately, the website information on this award is only in Polish. However, by the power of Google translator it appears that students studying a Canadian Studies topic in Poland are eligible for this annual award. The thesis can be written in English, French or Polish. The link for this prize is: www.ptbk.org.pl/PACS_Best_MA,62.html
The Association also offers a "Conference Grant" that covers travel expenses for Canadianists who attend conferences outside of Poland or to do research in libraries. Is appears that students are eligible to apply for this grant. The link for the Conference Grant is: www.ptbk.org.pl/conference_grant,60.html
I have also signed up for the Association's newsletter and will update you as to its contents, and whether there are specific activities for students reported in there. There has not been a newsletter posted to the website since 2009, and I am hoping that there has been a more recent one that has not made it on to the website. Unfortunately, the last yearly report posted to the Association's website was in 2006.
Finally, the Association features space on its website where "outstanding student essays on Canadian topics" are published. These papers are put on the website on the recommendation by course instructors. The link is: www.ptbk.org.pl/Students_essays,47.html

Association for Canadian Studies in Ireland (ACSI)
Website: www.canadianstudiesireland.com
Other than links to graduate awards, bursaries and opportunities listed on the ICCS website, there is very little here geared specifically towards students. From a perusal of the Executive Committee, it appears that there is no student representation on this relatively large executive committee.

British Association for Canadian Studies (BACS)
Website: www.canadian-studies.info
The Council for the British Association for Canadian Studies has a spot specifically reserved on for a "postgraduate representative." Will Smith, a graduate student at the University of Nottingham, is the current postgraduate representative on Council. His email is: aaxws@nottingham.ac.uk
BACS features various specialist groups within the association, but there are none specifically for students.
The Association offers "Travel Awards" which are open to full-time academic staff as well as postgraduate students. Applicants are required to demonstrate "that their visit is directly related to their actual or proposed teaching and/or research in Canadian Studies and that the Canadian content of this teaching or research is clearly identifiable."
The Association also awards the "Prix du Québec," which is two awards of £1,000 each, offered by the Québec Government Office in London and administered by BACS. One award is reserved for masters and doctoral students, and the second is awarded to researchers, academic staff, and postdoctoral researchers. The award is given to researchers based in the United Kingdom who are research issues about Quebce. The award provides funds to assist these researchers in travelling to Quebec to conduct research.

CONCLUSION:

Although I was disappointed not to have made direct contact at the conference with student representatives of other Canadian Studies organizations, I feel that I was able to glean solid information about various activities from speaking with students and by a looking at what is offered on various Canadian Studies associations' websites. Based on what I have learned through speaking with conference delegates and pursuing various Canadian Studies Association websites, I am making the following recommendations to the CSN-REC:

1. List of Current Research by Students: We invite student members to send in a description of the research and include it on a list on our website. This will help inform members and the public about the different work that is currently being undertaken at the graduate and undergraduate levels. Good examples of these are found on the various university sites. NICHE has also developed a good template for current research (http://niche-canada.org/nichememberdir )

2. Graduate Student Conference Panel: We consider having a separate session at our next annual general meeting for graduate students to present their work. Although we do have many graduate students presenting at conferences without being pegged into a panel session purely devoted to just graduate students, this may be something to consider for the UBC and the UPEI conference.

3. Library/Archival Find for Students: We consider instituting a library/archive fund to assist students in carrying out their research. Although we are still a relatively young association, a fund such as this one could go a long way in assisting students carrying out their research. We could start the fund off with a relatively small amount, say $500, and increase it from there, or perhaps consider giving out several grants in any given year.

4. Undergraduate Paper Award: To help involve our undergraduates more in our association, we establish a prize for the best undergraduate essay in any given year. We could publish the best essay on our website, and even have a small monetary award to accompany the prize. Acadiensis (and I'm sure other journals) do this every year.

5. Graduate Thesis Award: As some Canadian Studies associations have their own awards for the best thesis, we could consider a similar prize as well. This, however, may involve a lot of time and energy devoted to giving out an award.