The International Council for Canadian Studies (ICCS) organized, in cooperation with the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies, an online interactive seminar series in Canadian studies this academic year. The objective was to enhance knowledge about Canada among emerging scholars and to provide them with an opportunity to engage in dialogue with international leaders in Canadian studies.
The seminar series was attended by ten PhD candidates from Canada, Spain, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, France and Italy. The seminars were presented by (in the order of appearance): Colin Coates from York University (Canada), Jane Koustas from Brock University (Canada), Jane Griffith from Toronto Metropolitan University (Canada), Smaro Kamboureli and Nick Mount from the University of Toronto (Canada), Maria Löschnigg from the University of Graz (Austria), Kerstin Knopf from the University of Bremen (Germany), John Maher from South East Technological University (Ireland), Charles Batson from Union College (US), Marcel Martel from York University (Canada) and Eva Darias-Beautell from University of La Laguna (Spain). The topics included settler colonialism, the history of Newfoundland, Francophone minorities in Canada, le Cirque Québécois, the ocean in Canadian literature, the Canadian short story, the Canadian city, and other issues connected with contemporary Canadian culture.
“We hope the seminar series will open new perspectives to a new generation of Canadianists and will invigorate international Canadian studies,” said organizer and ICCS President Anna Branach-Kallas.