Lunch and Learn Event with Author and Professor Kim Richard Nossal
On January 13th, MISC hosted a book launch for Dr. Kim Nossal, professor in the Department of Political Science and the Centre for International and Defence Policy at Queen's University. This "lunch and learn" style event featured a presentation by Dr. Nossal about the topic of his latest monograph, Charlie Foxtrot: Fixing Defence Procurement in Canada.
"The Colonial Problem: An Indigenous Perspective on Crime & Injustice in Canada" with Lisa Monchalin
On Friday, February 24th, the Indigenous Studies program hosted a presentation and book launch with author and criminologist Lisa Monchalin, the first Indigenous woman in Canada to receive a Ph.D. in Criminology, completed in 2012 at the University of Ottawa. She speaks nationally and internationally about her academic work, in an effort to effect change and seek justice for Indigenous peoples, presenting the findings of her most recently published book at McGill.
View photos of the event here.
"What is Social Licence?": A Panel Discussion by Grand Chief Edward John, Terry Beech, Susannah Pierce, and Harry Swain, moderated by Candis Callison
On March 14th, 2017, the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada hosted an event on "Social Licence" at the Musqueam Cultural Centre Gallery in Vancouver. This event featured a panel discussion on the subject of social licence - what it is, how and under what circumstances it is obtained, who grants it, and what its scope and limits are.
Since he took power, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made a point of saying that for projects such as pipeline construction to proceed, their proponents need to obtain not just political, legal, and regulatory approval, but also the additional element of “social licence” - but what that consists of has become a matter of high-stakes disagreement across the country.
View photos from the event here.
2017 Eakin Lecture by Dr. Allison Harell:
Free Speech in a Multicultural Democracy
The 2017 Winter Eakin Lecture, titled 'Free Speech in a Multicultural Democracy', took place on March 21 and was given by Allison Harell, the 2017 Visiting Eakin Fellow in Canadian Studies. Harell is also an Associate Professor of Political Science and Research Chair in the Political Psychology of Social Solidarity at UQAM.
Citizens in diverse, multicultural democracies are often faced with balancing support for individual rights with other equally compelling goals, like security and social inclusion. How do citizens react when values clash? The Eakin Lecture focused on if and when citizens in Canada and the United States are willing to limit free speech and other civil liberties and for whom, with a special focus on the role diversity plays in these judgements.
View photos from the lecture here.
Book Talk with Jatinder Mann:
The Search for a New National Identity
On June 8th, 2017, the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada was delighted to host Jatinder Mann for a presentation of his new book, The Search for a New National Identity: The Rise of Multiculturalism in Canada and Australia, 1890s-1970s.
In addition to his most recent book, Professor Mann has published numerous articles in interdisciplinary journals, and is also the sole editor for a collection contracted with Palgrave Macmillan entitled Citizenship in a Transnational Perspective: Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. He has held visiting fellowships and professorships at the Australian National University, Carleton University, and the Victoria University of Wellington, and he received his doctorate in history at the University of Sydney in 2011. Jatinder was also a recipient of an International Postgraduate Award at the University of Sydney for his doctoral research, and was awarded the Endeavour International Postgraduate Research Scholarship by the Australian government. Read his interview with the McGill Reporter here and view photos from the event here.
"French Canada’s Impact in the First World War",
a lecture by Desmond Morton
The McGill Institute for the Study of Canada held a special event in honour of Dr. Desmond Morton, Hiram Mills Emeritus Professor and Founding Director of the Institute (1994-2001). Accompanied by several distinguished speakers, Professor Morton presented a lecture entitled "French Canada’s Impact in the First World War". The September 14th event simultaneously celebrated Professor Morton's invaluable contributions to Canadian Studies, as well as his 80th birthday.
Following the lecture, MISC also announced the Desmond Morton Undergraduate Student Award, which shall be given to the student judged to have written the best essay in a Canadian Studies (CANS) course.
Click to view:
Video | Photos | McGill Reporter Coverage
2017 Fall Eakin Lecture: "The Awful Death of James Sutherland" and Other Stories from Fur Traders' Journals by George Colpitts
The 2017 Eakin Lecture, held on on October 5th, examined the richness of fur trade records before early 19th century accounting reforms in the industry began changing journal writing traditions. Whether left by traders of the London-based Hudson’s Bay Company, or by those working in Montreal with the North West Company, such journals were a central part of an overarching accounting system in the 18th and early 19th centuries. To support their accounts, traders left a rich legacy of miscellany, narratives, and stories that, if approached on their own terms, widen our understandings of a trader’s experience, as well as environmental, Indigenous, business, and colonial history.
George Colpitts is a professor in the Department of History at the University of Calgary and the 2017 Fall Visiting Eakin Fellow at MISC. Read his interview with the McGill Reporter or view photos from the lecture here.
2017 Fall Mallory Lecture presented by Veronica Strong-Boag: “Where was Democracy? The Case of Woman Suffrage in Canada” (Wednesday, November 1st)
In 2017, Canadians lament the democratic deficit. That’s nothing new. Democracy has always had a hard time. Federal franchise debates from 1885 to 1920 chronicle that failure. World War One’s enfranchisement of most women signalled the single greatest extension of electoral rights but political power in Canada barely shifted. As BC Asian and Indigenous voters everywhere would also discover, expanded voters’ lists did not guarantee democracy.
Veronica Strong-Boag, F.R.S.C., is Professor Emerita at the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice/Educational Studies of the University of British Columbia.
A video recording of the lecture is available here.
2017 Cundill Prize Lecture in History, presented by Thomas W. Laqueur: "Why we have cared for the dead body - from the paleolithic to the present and in between”
The McGill Faculty of Arts, with the assistance of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada and the Department of History, organized the annual Cundill Prize Lecture in History, presented by the acclaimed cultural historian and 2016 prize recipient, Professor Thomas J. Laqueur from the University of California - Berkeley. The lecturehighlighted much of Professor Laqueur's research as presented in his award-winning book,The Work of the Dead: A Cultural History of Mortal Remains. Drawing from a vast range of sources—from mortuary archaeology, medical tracts, letters, and art through the ages, the book offers a compelling and richly detailed account of how and why the living have cared for the dead, from antiquity to the twentieth century.
A cocktail reception followed the lecture at the McGill University Faculty Club.
