British Association for Canadian Studies Newsletter
BACS E-NewsNovember 2011 - supplement   
In This Issue
Canada-EU Free Trade Agreement Conference
New Academic Relations Officer!.
Contemporary Developments in Aboriginal Issues
Viveca Abrahams
World Film Locations: Vancouver..
BACS Conference 2012
Where is Québec in Canadian Studies?
About BACS

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The British Association for Canadian Studies acts as a forum for Canadianists in the UK and holds an annual conference at Easter each year. BACS publishes a Newsletter twice yearly and the British Journal of Canadian Studies is produced by Liverpool University Press.
 
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::

Canada-EU Trade Agreement Conference

Macdonald House, Grosvenor Square, London, UK
18 November 2011

Since 2009, diplomats from Canada and the European Union have been in negotiations to produce a comprehensive trade agreement known as CETA. For people in the EU, the agreement would provide improved access to the Canadian market, a relatively small but prosperous country. For Canadians, CETA is perhaps even more important, for it provides alternatives to export dependency on the United States.

The negotiations have been protracted and have involved eight rounds of bargaining. For a chronology of the process, see here. For press coverage, see herehere, and here. For a recent C.D. Howe Institute study on the agreement, "Go Big or Go Home: Priorities for the Canada-EU Economic and Trade Agreement", see here.

With the recent conclusion of the ninth round of negotiations and an expected agrement in 2012, it is now a good time for academics to discuss the agreement and its implications for Canadians and Europeans. Therefore a small conference about CETA has been organized. It will take place at Macdonald House in London, UK on 18 November. [Nearest Tube Station: Bond Street]

Programme: Canada-EU Trade Agreement Conference

1pm Brian Parrot,  Minister Counsellor (Commercial and Economic), Canadian High Commission. Welcome statement.

1.10pm Stefania Paladini, Coventry Business School, "FTAs: An Overview"

1:30pm  Alan Hallsworth,  Portsmouth Business School, and Tim Rooth, University of Portsmouth, "Protecctionism and Prudence: Historical Perspectives on CETA"

2:00pm Malcolm Fairbrother, Lecturer in Global Policy and Politics, University of Bristol, "Canadian Trade Policies from the FTA to the CETA: Myths and Facts"

2:30pm Andrew Smith, Coventry University. "Applying the Concepts of Cultural Distance and Imagined Communities to Understanding Canadian Economic Diplomacy"

3:00pm COFFEE BREAK

3:15pm Robert Hage, (retired Canadian diplomat), "Changing Canada: the Canada-EU Free Trade Agreement."   (20 minutes for presentation, 10 minutes for Q&A)

3:45pm Roundtable Discussion

4:15pm Conference Ends. Closing remarks by Michael Kandiah, King's College, University of London.

If you are interested in attending, please RSVP Andrew Smith before 15 November 2010.

This conference has been generously supported by Coventry University, the London Canadian Studies Association (LoCSA), and the Canadian High Commission.

New Academic Relations Officer!

At the Canadian High Commission (CHC), Alexandra Jenkins has taken post as Academic Relations Officer. She will be responsible, among other things, for relations with BACS, relations with the UK Canadian Studies academic community, and liaison regarding the DFAIT 'Understanding Canada' programme. She has joined the High Commission from the UK Higher Education International Unit, based at Universities UK, where she was previously working on European and international higher education policy.

She can be contacted by email and tel: 0207 258 6691.

 

Contemporary Developments in Aboriginal Issues


British Association of Canadian Studies' Aboriginal Studies Circle

at the University of Leeds Centre for Canadian Studies, Leeds (UK)

1st February 2011

The British Association of Canadian Studies is pleased to announce a one day colloquium of its Aboriginal Studies Circle. Many diverse indigenous populations around the globe have been the victims of marginalization as they confront the  vast array of issues resulting from both historical injustices and contemporary global challenges. This colloquium seeks  to bring together academics and other professionals with an interest in indigenous studies to discuss the broad issues  that affect indigenous peoples both in Canada and elsewhere.  Through building an interdisciplinary network, it is hoped  that discussions of the challenges facing indigenous peoples can be drawn from the periphery of contemporary political,  social, cultural, and legal discourses and brought into the mainstream.

 Keynote Speakers:

�         Prof. Joy Hendry  (Anthropology, Oxford Brookes University)

�         Dr. Colin Samson  (Sociology, University of Essex)

�         Dr. David Stirrup  (Literature, University of Kent)

�         Dr. Roy Todd  (Sociology, University of Leeds)

Call for Papers:

Proposals for 20-minute papers, to be presented in either English or French, are invited from any single disciplinary or multidisciplinary perspective including those which offer an informed view of Canada in comparative contexts.  Broader possible approaches might include papers on:

*  Indigenous peoples and a new history?

*  Methodological and theoretical approaches.

*  Self-determination and indigenous politics.

*  Indigenous economic self-sufficiency.

*  Indigenous law/ law and Indigenous peoples.

*  Indigenous resource management & land claims.

*  Environmental pressures on indigenous populations

*  Indigenous languages.

*  Indigenous health.

*  Visual culture/film & Indigenous literature, art & culture.

This should not, however, be taken as an exhaustive list, and we welcome proposals for papers dealing with all varied interpretations of the theme.

Email abstract(s) of 200-300 words; and brief CV(s) (must include title, institutional affiliation & address(es)  by the 30 November 2011.

The Idea Exchange:

The Idea Exchange Session will consist of individuals at a table who are willing to spend 5 minutes to share experiences of something they are passionate about in terms of research or teaching and learning. Like a 'show and tell' but with a  small group of people (2/3 max) sat a table listening to how you use a research or teaching and learning  methodology/software/hardware/resource and giving them the chance to sign up/have a go/ask questions. We hope to  have as many Idea Exchanges as possible running concurrently during this Session so as to maximise coverage and allow  people to personalise their teaching, learning and research. This is an ideal opportunity for people who do not wish to  present a full conference paper to share something that they are particularly passionate about and to gain constructive  feedback. If you wish to sign-up to present an idea then you will be acting as a facilitator in order to get people engaged  and familiar with your topic within 5 minutes - think guide on the side rather than sage on the stage! To register to  present an idea exchanges please send a title for your session to the e-mail address below.

Registration: You can register to attend the colloquium as an audience member. 

Enquiries and proposals to: c/o Thomas Snell, Tel: 44 (0) 191 222 6379  Email. Address: rm 2.32, School of Modern Languages, Old Library Building,  Newcastle University, NE1 7RU.

 

Viveca Abrahams

Many colleagues will recall that former academic Bill Lawton was succeeded in Academic Relations by Viveca Abrahams. Viveca thus became the point of contact with Canada House for British Canadianists and an enthusiastic supplier of advice and insights. Viveca had many years of experience with the British Council - notably in Hungary - and brought her extensive experience to her new post.

 

Not all will be aware that in May, 2009, she tragically became ill with a suspected brain tumour which, typically, she refused to give into: many times returning to work or bravely attempting to do so. Sadly she has lost her battle with illness and died in early October 2011. Following a private family funeral and cremation on Friday October 21st, her family kindly hosted friends and colleagues to celebrate her life. The fitting venue was the Duke of Cambridge in Islington as it had been Viveca's local pub for some 25 years. Friends - many from her Canada House and/or British Council days - turned out in numbers to remember her. A short speech by a British Council colleague made it clear that her cheerful forthrightness and fiesty disposition were of longstanding: all fondly recalled tales of Viveca being Viveca in various locations across the globe. She will be sadly missed.

 

Alan Hallsworth 

 

 

Call for Contributors -
World Film Locations: Vancouver

 

Editor Rachel Walls seeks suitable contributors for World Film Locations: Vancouver, a forthcoming addition to the World Film Locations series from Intellect Books. The city continues to play a central role in a multitude of films, helping us to frame our understanding of place and of the world around us. Whether as elaborate directorial loveletters or as time-specific cultural settings, the city acts as a vital character in helping to tell a story. These observations have inspired World Film Locations, a series which not only aims to explore how the cinema is helping to shape our view of the city, but also to examine the role of the city in film and how can we engage with various urban cultures through the medium of cinema.

 

Each entry in the World Film Locations series will explore and reveal the relationship between the city and the cinema by using a predominantly visual approach. Each book will be illustrated with evocative screen-grabs complimented by concise analysis of key scenes and essays that consider individual film-makers, themes and key historical periods relating to each individual city. As with other volumes in the series, World Film Locations: Vancouver will be comprised of 38 scene reviews (250 words) that discuss the content of a specific scene from a key Vancouver film, and 5 or 6 longer spotlight essays (800-1,000 words) that cover broader topics in more detail.

 

Vancouver is, of course, frequently used as a location for films that are set elsewhere. This World Film Locations entry will explore the paradox of Vancouver's 'runaway' films, exploring how scenes evoke a sense of place despite elements of fakery or non-specificity, as well as examining key Vancouver-situated movies by local and international filmmakers.

  

Further information

 

 

SUSTAINING CANADA:  Bear
Past, Present and Future
Envi
ronments

BACS 37th Annual Conference

Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge
2-4 April 2012

Enquiries and proposals to:
Jodie Robson, BACS Administrator
Further information is available from the Conference website 

Deadline: 20 November 2011

 

Where is Qu�bec in Canadian Studies?
La place du Qu�bec dans les �tudes canadiennes

School of Canadian Studies,
Carleton University
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

May 22, 2012

CALL FOR PAPERS

Thinking about Qu�bec's place in Canada was one of the major factors leading to the rise of the Canadian Studies movement. This drove scholarly research into questions of identity, federalism, cultural studies, marginalities, relations with Indigenous peoples, gender, and other areas that were reshaping Canada. However, forty years later, following intense national debates about official languages and multiculturalism, concern about Qu�bec's place in Canada has seemingly waned.
Our experience in teaching Canadian Studies outside of Qu�bec at the B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. level reveals that a growing number of students have little knowledge - historical or otherwise - of Qu�bec and its place in Canada. Moreover, the Canadian Studies curriculum and research literature often ignore questions of Qu�bec and the associated issue of the status of the French language in Canada.

Canadian Studies programs in Canada and abroad often compete with cultural studies programs (including Qu�bec Studies programs). Therefore, we wish to invite prominent scholars of Qu�bec Studies and Canadian Studies to address the question, "Where is Qu�bec in Canadian Studies?"

This bilingual conference seeks to bring together scholars and instructors, as well as directors and chairs of Canadian and Qu�bec Studies programs, from Canada and abroad, in order to renew Canadian Studies and build bridges between these two disciplines, which share institutions, instructors, languages, history, and geography.

Held on May 22, 2012, this one-day conference takes place just before the opening of the International Council for Canadian Studies Biennial Conference. Participants will be able to attend the opening night of the ICCS Conference on the evening of May 22.

Themes that may be addressed include (though are not limited to):
  • Reflections on how we teach and research Canadian and Qu�bec Studies
  • Pedagogical, intellectual, and institutional links between Canadian and Qu�bec Studies
  • The particular linguistic and identity dimensions of Canada, especially the National Capital Region
  • Political and policy dimensions of Canadian and Qu�bec Studies
  • Shared and separate lived experiences relating to Qu�bec's place in Canada
Presentations may be given in English or French. An interpreter will be present to facilitate discussions.

Please send an abstract of 250 words and a brief biography in English or French to  Richard Nimijean or Anne Trepanier by December 15, 2011.

Papers must be submitted by April 30, 2012, so that discussants have time to prepare comments. Conference participants will be encouraged to submit revised drafts for peer review by August 15, 2012 (publication details to follow).