Canada Matters

Here's a clip from the hockey game
HockeyGame.mp4

I'm excited to announce that, at 4:00 pm on Friday September 25th, award-winning Canadian writer Joseph Boyden will be reading at Memorial Lounge in Waterman.
The author of a short story collection Born With a Tooth , novels Three Day Road and Through Black Spruce , and his recent biography of Métis leaders Louis Riel and Gabriel Dumont, Joseph Boyden has quickly ascended the ranks to be one of Canada's most widely read writers working today. His novel Three Day Road (2005) won the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, the CBA Libris Fiction Book of the Year, the Amazon.ca/Books in Canada First Novel Award, and in the US was also featured as a pick on the Today Show book club. In 2008, his second novel, Through Black Spruce, won the Giller Prize, Canada's most prestigious fiction prize.
Born and raised in Toronto, Boyden completed an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of New Orleans and then returned to the northernmost regions of Ontario where he worked for two years in the James Bay region as a Professor of Aboriginal Programs. His time there working with the Mushkegowuk Cree, not to mention his own Métis ancestry, have made the land and people of this region his "muse and obsession" and the setting for much of his work. Today he divides his time between Northern Ontario and New Orleans where he and his wife, novelist Amanda Boyden, are currently Writers in Residence.
Joseph and Amanda will both be reading at the Burlington Book Festival on September 26th, but I've managed to arrange for Joseph to do a reading at UVM at 4 pm at the Memorial Lounge. I've taught his novel Three Day Road to hundreds of students over the last three years in courses ranging from English 180 and 182 to my TAP class. It's an extraordinary book and I think this will be a great opportunity for students to hear him read and to ask him questions about his work.

For more information on Joseph Boyden and his work, see his website at http://josephboyden.com.
Reviews of Through Black Spruce: "Powerful and powerfully told. . .Much of this novel reflects its crisp, poetic title…Will speaks with the straight-faced good humor of Louise Erdrich's Nanapush…in the novel's most moving section, Will flees to live along in wilderness few people ever even see. It's an experience beautifully rendered in the raw poetry of Boyden's prose."
—The Washington Post

“Anguished, angry Uncle Will’s revenge drama is almost perfect in pitch and execution. Tragedy and comedy unspool together in a startlingly casual manner when Will speaks, they way they do in life.  When Boyden is at his best, as he often is here, he is matchless.”
—The Minneapolis Star TribuneThe min
Reviews of Three Day Road: "Joseph Boyden's Three Day Road is a brilliant novel. You will suffer a bit, but it's overwhelmingly worth the voyage."
—Jim Harrison

"Three Day Road  is a devastatingly truthful work of fiction, and a masterful account of hell and healing. This is a grave, grand, and passionate book."
—Louise Erdrich

With the help of Vermont's wonderful Green Mountain Curling Club, we recently ran our inaugural Canadian Studies curling trip. This will, we hope, become an annual tradition for our program. Curling, as you may know, is an extremely popular sport in Canada and Canadians are often the team to beat in international competition. So, there's no better way to understand Canadians and their obsession with curling than by giving this addictive sport a try.

With the help of the Global Village Residential Learning Community, we recently took 23 students and faculty for a Learn to Curl workshop put on by the Green Mountain Curling Club. As you'll see from this video, a great time was had by all. Most of the students were from Global Village, with about half a dozen of them representing Canada House.

We're already working on our programs for next year, and Canada House and curling will be a big part of our plans.

Wednesday, April 22

DONALD R. BROWN MEMORIAL LECTURE IN POLITICAL THEORY: "THE ESSENTIALIST CRITIQUE OF MULTICULTURALISM." Will Kymlicka, Canada Research Chair in Political Philosophy, Queen's University, Canada and senior research fellow, Nuffield College, Oxford.

Memorial Lounge, Waterman Building. 3:30 p.m.

A BECKONING COUNTRY OPENING RECEPTION

5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. — Marble Court at the Fleming Museum

Hosted by President Daniel Mark Fogel and Rachel Kahn-Fogel. In celebration of the quadricentennial anniversary of French explorer and cartographer Samuel de Champlains travels to the lake that bears his name, this exhibit examines the features of the Champlain Valley landscape through the objects and art created from and inspired by them. University Concert Choir performs. Exhibit continues through Sept. 20.

Admission Fee: Regular Admission at the door. Free to UVM.

Thursday, April 23

"Reforming Health Care: A Single Payer or Consumer Driven Solution," a debate featuring Arnold Kling, Cato Institute, and Robert Kuttner, editor of The American Prospect. Moderated by Emerson Lynn, editor of the St. Albans Messenger. A reception follows immediately. ADA accommodations: 656-5665.

4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. — Davis Student Center - The Grand Maple Ballroom

Friday, April 24

k.d. lang, "The Watershed Tour"Flynn TheatreFriday, April 24 at 8 pm
Tickets still available

Canada House returns for another academic year!

Canada House

Program Directors: Prof. Paul Martin (English) and Prof. Pablo Bose (Geography)

If you ask the average American about Canada, you’ll find that most know very little about this mysterious land north of the U.S. Despite being by far the United States’ largest trading partner and sharing much history and geography with the United States, Canada remains in the eyes of many Americans, a place of cold weather, polite citizens, and the world’s best hockey players.

In Canada House we explore these myths and help to dispel them through learning all that we can about our northern neighbors and, whenever possible, spending time in Canada, just 45 minutes to the north of UVM. Members of Canada House attend and organize Canadian-themed events, such as Canadian movie nights, guest speakers, dinners, and our highly popular “Learn to Curl” workshop.

Most important, though, Canada House is about having a great time as we learn and share all that we can about this interesting and often-overlooked country just a short drive away. With the success of the Canadian Thanksgiving dinner organized by Global Village and our new connections with the Green Mountain Curling Club, we have some exciting traditions to build upon for next year.

Canada House for 2009-2010 will be comprised of two suites, housing a mixture of new and returning students. Arts & Sciences first-year students who sign up for Prof. Paul Martin's English 005 TAP class on Canada or Prof. David Massell's TAP class on Canadian history are particularly encouraged to apply as are students pursuing a Major or a Minor in Canadian Studies.

An impromptu Canadian Studies panel discussion on the Canadian parliamentary crisis

Welcome to the first in what we hope to be a series of online panel discussions on Canadian issues. The associated faculty of the University of Vermont's Canadian Studies program spend a lot of time talking about these issues in our classes and amongst ourselves. We hope that by moving some of these conversations to our blog that we might reach people outside our classes and the university, while showcasing some of the things we do in Canadian Studies. We would love to hear your thoughts on these issues as well. Just click on "comment" at the end of this entry to add your two cents on these issues.

Over the last week, the Canadian parliament has been plunged into disarray. Just six weeks after Canada's fall election, the parliament hit an impasse that saw the Prime Minister lose the confidence of a majority of Canada's elected Members of Parliament and the country's three opposition parties sign an accord that would see them propose a joint coalition government to be formed by the Liberal and New Democratic parties -- a coalition that would need the support of the members of the Bloc Québécois, a party whose primary goal is for Quebec to separate from the rest of Canada, to stay afloat.

Earlier today, the Governor General of Canada granted Prime Minister's request to prorogue parliament until late January when the Conservatives will unveil their next budget. Whether one agrees with that or not, it certainly sets a dangerous precedent where a Prime Minister whose government has lost the confidence of the House of Commons can avoid losing a confidence vote by shutting down the country's parliament until things cool down. It will be an interesting December and January in Canada, to say the least.

Here's the question I asked my colleagues a couple of days ago before we knew exactly what would happen. As the end of the semester is one of the busiest times for all of us, only two of us have had a chance to respond. I anticipate being able to add the opinions of other colleagues here in the coming days.

What is your reaction to the potential fall of the Conservative government in Canada and its replacement by a coalition of the Liberal, New Democratic and Bloc Quebecois parties? Do you think this will actually happen or will Canada be thrown into another election? What effect might this historic event have on Canada/US relations?

Dr. Pablo S. Bose, Assistant Professor of Geography, UVM:

My initial response to the possibility of a NDP-Liberal coalition is one of cautious optimism. The minority governments run by the Conservatives in the last and just-started parliaments were not terribly effective, in large part due to the highly centralized--some might say authoritarian--style of Stephen Harper and the overwhelming power wielded by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). This continues a problematic trend that was particularly visible during the years of the Chretien Liberal government and is a disturbing and frankly undemocratic consolidation of power and control over a wide-ranging set of government affairs and policy. The current political controversy has arisen out of the PMO's tendency to act very much as though it was in charge of a parliamentary majority and did not need to make compromises with opposition forces that could overthrow the minority government with a loss-of-confidence vote. Harper and his finance minister Flaherty's miscalculation was one of of inserting unrelated partisan measures within a recently released "economic update" which contained no economic stimulus plans during a global fiscal crisis, but rather a political stimulus for all of the opposition parties -- NDP, Liberals, Bloc and Greens alike -- to unite in the face of continued (and in this instance unprovoked) assault. The Tories are now in full retreat and are rolling out an ad campaign decrying the "undemocratic" grab by the opposition for power. Opportunistic and potentially unwise it may be (after all, can the NDP and Liberals co-exist in a coalition? Will the Bloc really sit on its hands for a full year and support from outside?), but there is nothing remotely undemocratic about a coalition of left-of-centre parties replacing the Conservatives. Various government ministers and Tory activists are scrambling to insist that the "will of the people" rejected Dion's Liberal party as government -- and they are correct. But less than 40% of the country voted for the Conservatives. 60% voted for the opposition and that is precisely the coalition that they will receive -- not Dion's Liberal government, but an NDP-Liberal Coalition with Bloc outside support. A parliamentary system does not preclude the possibility of coalition governments; the fact that there has not been one in Canada in nearly a century does not mean they cannot exist.

Moreover, Canadians should not be afraid of a coalition government; such is the norm in other parliamentary systems in countries such as Israel and Italy. In the 2004 elections in India, the then-ruling right-of-centre National Democratic Alliance was defeated by a left-of-centre coalition (the currently governing United Democratic Front), supported by Marxist and Communist parties that were nevertheless outside of the government itself. Are such coalitions unwieldy and fraught with tensions? Absolutely, but perhaps that is the best thing for a truly representative democracy. Majority rule and stability are not in and of themselves an ultimate political goal. In certain situations they may indeed be antithetical to democracy in its deeper sense. Whether or not a Coalition Government in Canada comes to pass is yet to be seen -- can the NDP and Liberals live with one another, will the Liberal leadership hopefuls be able to keep their knives out of one another's backs long enough to work together, will Michelle Jean heed the clear desire of the Canadian electorate NOT to have another election, will the Tories be able to beg and wheedle their way out of a mess they have concocted for themselves out of sheer arrogance, pettiness and vindictiveness? But surely a coalition government deserves a chance in Parliament -- it certainly can be no worse than the dysfunction we have seen over the last year.

Dr. Paul Martin, Assistant Professor of English / Director, Canadian Studies Program, UVM:

Let’s get one thing straight from the start. I’m not a political scientist, a specialist in the history of Canada, or an expert in constitutional law. Nevertheless, as a Canadian who spends his days teaching American students about Canadian literature and Canadian culture in a broad enough sense to include regular discussions of Canada’s history and political system, the developments of the last week or so have been riveting.

For Canadianists in the US, this fall’s federal elections in both countries have already given us a rare opportunity to help our students understand the differences between the Canadian and American systems by watching them both in action simultaneously. My American students, despite a great enthusiasm for Obama’s ascent in particular, were exhausted by the length of the US presidential campaign which, for some, had already been well underway when they were still in high school. The students, then, were surprised – astonished even – that a Canadian election could be called in September and already be done and over with by mid-October, three weeks before the November 4th election in the US.

Placed side by side with the US election though, and this US election in particular, our own federal election seemed anything but exciting. As Canadian satirist Rick Mercer noted earlier this year before Super Tuesday in the US, our particular batch of party leaders in Canada this year seemed less interesting than the choices Americans were presented with this year:

And speaking of Hillary, when it comes to casting, we can't touch them. Here we are, we think of ourselves as this progressive, diverse nation and yet there's big bad backwards America and who's running for the big job? A woman, a black man, a Libertarian, a Mormon with big hair, and some dude who was in a bamboo cage in Vietnam for five-and-a-half years. Meanwhile in Canada, we're gearing up for yet another race between a pudgy white guy and a skinny white guy and some other white guy. Which may go a long way to explain the other big difference between Canada and USA politics these days: in America in this race, young people are engaged. In Canada - they're choosing none of the above.

Mercer called it correctly, as when our election happened this past fall, we had the lowest voter turnout in Canadian history, with about 58% of Canadians showing up to vote. That’s still a higher turnout than one has had in recent American elections, but a clear sign that Canadians were anything but inspired or energized by the possibility of any one of Canada’s party leaders. With the Liberal party in disarray and the potential to gain seats in Quebec, a majority government should have been within reach of the Conservative Party, but they failed to convince much of Canada that they deserved anything more than a slightly larger minority government than they achieved in the previous election. It was, as Globe and Mail columnist Roy MacGregor told 109 students and faculty from UVM and Saint Michael’s College this past October, an election in which every party lost. What was most revealing, MacGregor argued, was that more Canadians chose not to vote than voted for any one of the five main political parties.

So, the Conservatives wound up in power for a second time under Stephen Harper and, in spite of promises to start a new era of cooperation and civility in the House of Commons, went on the offensive last week and, in an “economic update” stated that instead of injecting more money to stimulate the economy as we see other countries doing right now in the face of the rapidly growing economic crisis, that instead the government would cut back on spending by, among other things, eliminating the public subsidies to all political parties, limiting the ability of govt. employees to sue the govt. in pay equity cases, and freezing the ability of public sector workers to go on strike. I think these ill-advised moves even caught most of his party off-guard. They galvanized the opposition parties to such a degree that they signed an accord that would see the government defeated in a non-confidence motion and a coalition of the Liberal and NDP parties present themselves to the Governor General as a viable alternative government. The devil in the details of this accord is that the other signatory is the sovereigntist Bloc Québécois party, who would not be part of the coalition but who would promise not to defeat that government on a confidence vote.

The logistics and precedents for such a move is hard for Canadians to wrap their heads around, let alone for many American undergraduates. The possibility of an NDP/Liberal coalition (which I cautiously support) coming to power perhaps as early as next week has left them somewhat bewildered and bemused. The only reason Harper has been able to get away with what he has in the last two years, including the most recent (and perhaps pointless) election, is the ineffectiveness of the current opposition and again this may allow him to escape the wrath of the Canadian public who seem quite divided between those who can’t wait to see Harper get his comeuppance and those who can’t imagine seeing Stéphane Dion, who Canadians clearly did not want to see become their leader, as Canada’s next Prime Minister.

After seeing Harper’s television address to the nation on Wednesday night, in which he showed no regret for hist ill-conceived economic update and offered no insight into what he will ask the Governor General to do to resolve this crisis, it seemed as if the coalition might stand a good chance of persuading Canadians to support the coalition. Then came the video response from Stéphane Dion who would lead the new coalition. Or, rather, it didn’t come. It was so late in arriving to the networks that CTV didn’t even show it and CBC had its broadcasters kill time as they waited and wondered what was going on. When the video arrived, it looked as if Stéphane Dion shot it himself using the webcam on his computer and it did anything but persuade Canadians that they would be in better hands. Sadly for those of us who would like to see a coalition of the Liberals and NDP take power, for most Canadians this will come down to the lesser of two evils. No matter what the Governor General decides this week, a great number of Canadians will be outraged at the decision to either bring in a coalition, allow parliament to be suspended until the new year, or call an immediate election.

Whatever happens over the coming days and, potentially, weeks, this is a fascinating time to be in the Canadian Studies classroom, regardless of whether you’re a student or faculty member.

UVM recently posted a job advertisement for a tenure-track position in French with a primary focus on Quebec literature and culture. If you know of anyone who might be interested, please pass this along:

Tenure-track Assistant Professor of French with specialization in Francophone literature, to include a primary focus on research/teaching on Quebec. Interest/ability also to offer courses on other Francophone literatures desirable. Native or near-native ability in French required. Strong commitment to undergraduate teaching of language and literature. Ph.D in hand by appointment date (August 2009).The successful candidate will be expected to undertake an active program of research or creative activity that leads to publication and presentation in peer-reviewed scholarly outlets and, where available, to seek extramural funding for that research. Excellence in teaching and scholarly publications required for tenure. Applications may be made by mail or online, and are to include cover letter, CV, and 3 letters of recommendation.   The College is committed to fostering and affirming an inclusive, multi-cultural, multi-ethnic environment for its students, staff and faculty; in the cover letter, candidates are requested to include a description of how they can contribute to the College's goals in this area.

To apply by mail, send all materials to Gayle R. Nunley, Chair, Department of Romance Languages, University of Vermont, 517 Waterman Building, Burlington, VT 05405. To apply online: Fill out application at www.uvmjobs.com. Search for the position using department name (Romance Languages) only. Attach cover letter and CV to the application. Have the letters of recommendation mailed to Gayle R. Nunley, Chair, at the address listed above. Inquiries: Joyce Boyer (joyce.boyer@uvm.edu or 802-656-1368).

The Department will begin reviewing applications on November 17, 2008 and interview candidates at the MLA Convention. Applications will be considered until the position is filled. The University of Vermont is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer. The Department is committed to increasing faculty diversity and welcomes applications from women and underrepresented ethnic, racial and cultural groups and from people with disabilities.

Dr. Jeff Ayres, Chair of Political Science at St. Michael's College and an adjunct Professor in UVM's Canadian Studies program, spoke to Vermont Public Radio today about the upcoming Canadian election. Check out that interview here.

It's been a long summer here at Canadian Studies. We spent much of June preparing for our move out of the lovely offices at 589 Main Street, our home for well over 20 years and a bit of a landmark for Canadians traveling through Burlington. After weeks of boxing and unboxing, not to mention sorting and purging materials dating back to the formation of our program in 1964, we are now comfortably set up in Old Mill. I am back in my office in the English Department, albeit with about 50% more stuff than I left with two years ago. The rest of our materials and our new administrator, Mary Lou Shea, are on the 5th floor of Old Mill in two offices belonging to the Area and International Studies Program. Canadian Studies is a core component of the Area and International Studies Program, which this fall will be renamed the Global and Regional Studies Program.

We have an exciting academic year ahead, starting with a visit to campus by renowned Canadian writer Alistair MacLeod on September 12th. Professor MacLeod will also be headlining this year's Burlington Book Festival. Our annual Ottawa Trip will run from October 23-25 and, as we did last year, we will be sending two busloads of students to the nation's capital. We have a full array of courses in History, Geography, English, French, and Political Science running this year, so make sure to check out our course listings on our website, which will be updated in the coming days.

Earlier this year UVM's decision to close our office on Main Street and to cut our funding drastically received a lot of attention in the media. Over the summer, I met people from all over Canada and the United States, including the Governor of Vermont himself, who had heard about this decision and expressed their concern to me. Contrary to what many people understood from this coverage, the Canadian Studies Program continues to exist and thrive. We have more courses, more student interest, and more campus activities underway than we have had in years and we are doing our best to make sure this continues. We have some new challenges to overcome, but these are not insurmountable. I think I speak for all of our faculty and staff when I say that we're looking forward to an exciting and busy 2008/09 academic year.

Dear friends,

Recently, the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences informed me that she intends to withdraw all funding ($35,000, which covers our staff and office costs) from the Canadian Studies Center on Main Street. The Dean's plan right now is to shut the office down on June 30 and to move our administrator to another job in the College. This money will be reallocated to areas that the College deems to be of higher priority.

Founded in 1964, the University of Vermont's Canadian Studies Program is one of the oldest, most respected programs in North America. It's reputation and long, productive history was what lured me to UVM five years ago and has continued to attract new tenure-track faculty such as Professors Amani Whitfield, Shelly Rayback, and Pablo Bose, all of whom are doing fascinating, cutting-edge research on Canada.

Although the University administration is justifying their cuts to our office with the argument that we only have three majors and two minors in our program and very few connected faculty, this does not accurately reflect the student and faculty involvement in our program. As of 2007-08, we have 10 tenured and tenure-track faculty and three lecturers teaching courses on Canada, and our program today is the strongest it has been in years. In the past year alone, our associated faculty from the departments of History, Geography, Romance Languages, English, Political Science and Anthropology taught 22 courses with either full or partial Canadian content, reaching close to 600 students.

Last year, 65 of our students and 15 Canadian Politics students from Saint Michael's College travelled to Ottawa as part of our legendary, annual field trip to Canada's capital, a trip that has run every year since the mid 1950s. Our program also hosts many high-profile events across campus, such as the visit to campus in October by the Grand Chief of the Council of the Quebec Crees, who spoke to a standing-room-only crowd at the Livak Ballroom about the relationship between the Cree and the Governments of Canada and Quebec whose massive hydro projects have flooded traditional lands in order to provide electricity to Quebec and much of New England.

The closure of our offices will, we believe, effectively end our chances of continuing to receive the Program Enhancement grant we receive each year from the Canadian Embassy in Washington. This year's grant was close to $10,000 and it is what allows us to run the annual student trip to Ottawa, and the many events we put on at UVM. It will also end the travel and research support we frequently give to our associated faculty, which often doubles what their home departments are able to provide.

Needless to say this cut will have a profound impact on the shape of our students' education and on the research and teaching done by the individual faculty members associated with our program. This decision is something that will affect all of us in one way or another. Given our proximity to Canada and its importance in Vermont's history, economy and daily life, this will also most certainly be a major embarrassment to the University of Vermont. Canada does matter to our students and faculty, and it's important that it continue to have a strong place at our state's flagship university.

Over the last several weeks, I've kept things quiet about this decision as we tried to negotiate a compromise solution and demonstrate the need for the continued presence of the office and support staff that enables us to run all of these programs. These attempts appear to have been unsuccessful. Unfortunately, our attempts to persuade the administration are now turning to the media, a move that, as an untenured professor at UVM, I have chosen not to direct. Although I have recently spoken to a Burlington Free Press reporter who called for information as part of a story they are doing on our program, this statement on my blog will be my primary contribution to this effort. I will provide information about our program to those who ask, but I will leave the rhetoric to my fine, tenured colleagues and to all those in the UVM community who are upset about this decision.

Finally, I'd like to add that, although I disagree strongly with this decision and the arguments being made to justify it, I have great respect for the people currently leading the College of Arts and Sciences and the University of Vermont. I realize that Dean Miller and Provost Hughes are faced with difficult decisions every day and I believe them when they tell me that this was one of them. I remain hopeful, though, that a compromise can be reached that will see us keep our well-utilized space and support staff that are so crucial to the continued success of our program.

If you would like to offer your support, I encourage you to leave your comments below and/or contact the offices of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Provost, or the President.

Respectfully,

Paul Martin

(The first part of my new series on why Canadian Studies is an important part of the University of Vermont)

2009 marks the quadracentennial of the arrival of Samuel de Champlain in our area. A new exhibit at the Boston Public Library entitled "Champlain's America: New England and New France" will be traveling to Vermont next year as part of these celebrations. As this article from the Boston Globe points out, the legacy of the French exploration of this part of North America is often overlooked and overwritten by the dominant mythology of the Pilgrims' "founding" of New England.

Our own André Senécal is an expert in the life of Samuel de Champlain and will be one of our faculty in high demand throughout 2009.

Here's an interesting excerpt from the Globe article:

NEW ENGLANDERS GROW up imbibing certain creation myths, most of which relate to how unbelievably historic we are. It all started here, and entire businesses -- the vending of tricorne hats, for example -- depend on the tight control of information relating to the beginnings of America -- the Revolution, and the Salem witch trials before that, and at the dawn of time, the Pilgrims, hacking their way into the forest primeval. Everything trails in their wake; or so we like to believe.

But is it possible that New England trails in someone else's wake? As in, the dreaded French? These disorienting thoughts will become harder to push away in 2008, as Quebec celebrates the 400th anniversary of its founding by Samuel de Champlain -- the explorer who found not only New France, but much of New England as well. Indeed, if a few things had turned out differently, we might all be bundled up in scarves and hats bearing the fleur-de-lys insignia of the New France Patriots.

By 1620, when the Pilgrims arrived on the Mayflower, Champlain had accomplished nearly everything for which he is famous. He had crisscrossed the Atlantic dozens of times (29 times before his death in 1635), he had penetrated deeply into the hinterland, and he had glimpsed -- and named -- most of the harbors, rivers, and capes that we rediscover every weekend of the summer. It is startling to return to his maps, and see the familiar contours of Cape Cod, Cape Ann, and Boston Harbor, all included as part of an American region that was anything but "New England." Given his natural inclination to roam, there is every reason to believe that Champlain might have started French settlements hundreds of miles to the south if he had been given more support from the French crown. As it was, he did a great deal more than most Americans realize to delineate the coastlines of Maine and Massachusetts, along with huge swaths of Vermont and New York.
[. . .] One of the great myths of American history is that the earliest settlers of New England came here by accident, not knowing where they were, and built a new society, far from anyone else. Champlain's map gives the lie to that legend. We cannot know exactly what they knew, but it does not seem implausible that copies would have reached the Pilgrims in their sanctuary in Leiden, not too far from Paris. William Bradford, the great Pilgrim chronicler, nearly gives away the secret when he first describes Cape Cod, and admits that "ye French & Dutch to this day call it Malabarr."

On October 25th at 4:30 pm, Grand Chief Matthew Mukash of the Grand Council of the Crees will speak about the history of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement and the recent agreement between the Cree people and the Canadian government.

Grand Chief Matthew Mukash is the elected leader of the the Grand Council of the Crees, the political body that represents the approximately 14,000 Cree of eastern James Bay and Southern Hudson Bay in Northern Quebec. In 1975, the Cree and the Canadian government signed the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement, the first modern land claims settlement in Canada. Over the years that followed, the two parties disagreed about how this agreement would be implemented and the Cree demanding that the Canadian government live up to their promises. Taking their story around the world, the Cree brought attention to the challenges faced by their people and the environment due to the massive hydroelectricity projects that flooded traditional lands. In July of 2007, after several year of out-of-court negotiations, the Cree came to an agreement with Canada's federal government that they hope will pave the way for a new relationship between both parties.

This event marks the second time a Grand Chief of the Grand Council of the Crees has spoken at the University of Vermont. Grand Chief Mukash's predecessor Ted Moses spoke at UVM in 2002.

Grand Chief Mukash's visit to the University of Vermont is sponsored by the University of Vermont's Canadian Studies Program, with support from the Canadian Embassy in Washington, DC and the UVM Area and International Studies Program .

For more information, contact Dr. Paul Martin, Director of the University of Vermont Canadian Studies Program at 656.8451 or Paul.Martin@uvm.edu

We'll be adding a few more specific details to our Ottawa itinerary in the coming week or so, but here is a pretty complete look at what we'll be up to while we're there.

Continue reading "Ottawa itinerary" »

SUNSHINE AND SHADOWS: AN AFTERNOON WITH STEPHEN LEACOCK

Performed by James B. DouglasTUESDAY, SEPT. 25th, 4:00 PMMann Auditorium, Trinity Campus, University of Vermont

"the most vivid recreation of Stephen Leacock we have seen... hilariously funny... captures the essence of Leacock's razor sharp wit"

The renowned Canadian actor James B. Douglas will be coming to the University of Vermont to perform an abbreviated version of his one-man play based on the life and work of the Canadian writer Stephen Leacock (1869-1944). Douglas has performed Sunshine and Shadows to rave reviews in Canada earlier this fall and takes the production to England in October. In his play we see the many sides of Stephen Leacock, who remains one of Canada's best-known writers and humorists. Following the one-hour performance, Mr. Douglas will be answering questions about his play and his own thoughts on Leacock and his work.

During Stephen Leacock's lifetime, works like Literary Lapses (1910), Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town (1912), and Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich (1914) were international bestsellers and remain in print to this day. A famed and much-loved professor of Political Economy at McGill University, Leacock wrote over 50 books, including many collections of humorous stories, biographies of Charles Dickens and Mark Twain, treatises on Canadian history and politics, and several textbooks on economics. Since 1947, The Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humor (which also includes a $10 000 prize) has been awarded annually to the best Canadian literary work of humor. A veteran of stage, screen and television, James B. Douglas has played over 150 major roles in Britain, Canada and the United States. Highlights include Bitos in POOR BITOS (Center Theater Group, Los Angeles), Sir Toby Belch in TWELFTH NIGHT (Old Globe Theater, San Diego), Paris in TROILUS AND CRESSIDA (Stratford Festival), Polo in A HATFUL OF RAIN (Princes Theatre, London) and especially the role of Pvt. Bamforth in THE LONG AND THE SHORT AND THE TALL (Montreal, Toronto and New York). He has also played roles in many television series and movies, including THE PSI-FACTOR, SOUL FOOD, ROAD TO AVONLEA (opposite Faye Dunaway), THE ASSOCIATES, DOC, THE HAIR CUT, CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE, MILLION DOLLAR BABIES, A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF CANADA and M.A.S.H. He has received Juno and Dora nominations and starred in the Oscar nominated film AFTER THE AXE. James is also a director/producer and dramaturge. He is the former Artistic Director of The Gryphon Theatre where he premiered WAR BRIDES - THE MUSICAL and directed his own adaptation of W.O. Mitchell's JAKE AND THE KID. Sponsored by the James and Mary Brigham Buckham Scholarship Fund, the Dept. of English, and the UVM Canadian Studies Program
For more info on the location of the Mann Auditorium, read the full entry below:

Continue reading "Sunshine and Shadows: An Afternoon with Stephen Leacock" »

The Canadian actor James B. Douglas will be performing an abbreviated version of his one-man play, Sunshine and Shadows, Tuesday, September 25th at Mann Auditorium.

Sunshine and Shadows is a one-man show on the life of Stephen Leacock.

(Stephen Leacock)

Dr. Harvey Amani Whitfield, Assistant Professor in History, was the featured guest on yesterday's episode of Vermont Edition, a weekly current affairs show on Vermont Public Radio. Professor Whitfield was interviewed about the history of blacks in Canada, a subject about which he has written extensively.

To listen to this excellent interview, you can access an mp3 of the broadcast here.

Professor Whitfield is the author of Blacks on the Border: The Black Refugees in British North American, 1815-1860, published in 2006 by the University Press of New England.

Earlier this year, a crew from Vermont Public Television came to film Paul Martin's English 182 class. Afterwards, they spoke with Paul and one of our Canadian Studies majors, Laura Pedro. They were filming a segment for part of a larger documentary on the connections today between Vermont and the province of Quebec.

The documentary is set to air on June 14 at 7:30 PM on VPT.

Here's the press release from VPT:

PRESS RELEASE
For release 6/6/07
Contact: Ann Curran at (802) 655-8059, acurran@vpt.org
or Jeff Vande Griek at (802) 655-8062, jeffv@vpt.org

Vermont-Quebec Relations on June 14 VPT Program

Vermont Public Television looks at life on both sides of the border
between Vermont and Quebec in “Good Fences, Good Neighbors,” a new
documentary followed by a live discussion Thursday, June 14, at 7:30 p.m.
Stories and interviews about everyday life, trade and tourism highlight
the documentary, and the challenges in all these areas since Sept. 11,
2001 are a common theme. Even viewers familiar with the issues may find
some of the information surprising.

(continue reading for more details)

Continue reading "Canadian Studies program featured in upcoming Vermont Public TV documentary" »

From today's Globe and Mail:

Canadians are more likely to read a book than attend a movie, and they're visiting art galleries and historic sites more. At least that's what appears to have been the case two years ago, according to an analysis released yesterday of a "social survey" of 10,000 Canadians completed by Statistics Canada in 2005.

The analysis by Hill Strategies Research Inc. of Hamilton found that, in 2005, 17.4 million Canadians 15 years of age and older -- or 66.6 per cent of that total population group -- read at least one book in the course of 12 months. In fact, about four in 10 Canadians read at least one book a month in 2005. By contrast, in that same period, 15.9 million Canadians (61 per cent) went out to see at least one movie in a theatre or at the drive-in.

Wow, this impresses me, although I would still like to see more Canadians reading. And, of course, we really don't know what they are reading. Nevertheless, the fact that we have 40% of Canadians reading at least a book a month is a good start. I think the question now is "What can we do to increase those numbers and encourage more people to read Canadian books?"

Does anyone out there know what the similar stats are for the USA?

Canada has most positive image worldwide: Survey
March 05, 2007
Associated press
LONDON – Israel, Iran and the United States were the countries with the most negative image in a globe-spanning survey of attitudes toward 12 major nations. Canada and Japan came out best in the poll, released Tuesday.

The survey for the British Broadcasting Corp.'s World Service asked more than 28,000 people to rate 12 countries – Britain, Canada, China, France, India, Iran, Israel, Japan, North Korea, Russia, the United States and Venezuela – as having a positive or negative influence on the world.

Israel was viewed negatively by 56 per cent of respondents and positively by 17 per cent; for Iran, the figures were 54 per cent and 18 per cent. The United States had the third-highest negative ranking, with 51 per cent citing it as a bad influence and 30 per cent as a good one. Next was North Korea, which was viewed negatively by 48 per cent and positively by 19 per cent.

Canada had the most positive rating in the survey, with 54 per cent viewing it positively and 14 per cent negatively. It was followed by Japan and France.

Back in October, we had one of our most successful Canadian Studies Ottawa trips ever. Students from UVM have been visiting Ottawa on our annual field trip for over 50 years now. We visit Parliament, The National Gallery, the Museum of Civilisation and we also usually attend an Ottawa 67s hockey game.

This year, the CBC caught wind of our trip and had us in twice to chat on CBC Newsworld (Canada's main 24-hour news network) about our experiences in Ottawa and the Canadian Studies program back at UVM.

Here are clips of both interviews:

Download the interview
with Amanda Hower and me from the morning of October 20, 2006.

Download the interview
with Calla Bischoff and me from the morning of October 21, 2006.

We all had a great experience at the CBC studios in Ottawa and it was exciting to be able to tell Canadians from coast to coast to coast about the UVM Canadian Studies program on live national television.