Testimonials

The School is such a wonderful family with the opportunity to build lifelong friendships with people from different cultures and histories, with like-minded views. I am appreciative of how the School encouraged students to network, get involved, and think critically.

Due to its small size, my fellow classmates and I had a much more interactive relationship with the profs and admin staff. These relationships will last a lifetime.

My courses helped in acquiring a deeper appreciation of a variety of cultural realities in Canada and provided a strong foundation for my work in marketing and public relations across the country.

I enjoyed my time in academia and I know that it has prepared me in a myriad of ways, but I’ve been struggling with the paradox of being over-educated and underqualified. I am excited to see what opportunities will be in store in the future and how my career with advance. I am very happy with the department I am currently working in, but I’d like to apply my advanced research and analysis skills more directly.

I enjoyed my experience in the department and program. I liked being in an interdisciplinary program because my academic interests are diverse and intersectional. I think that it is important to find passion in what you engage with in order for it to lead to a path you want because being in a program you dislike will not contribute positively nor will it encourage you to succeed.

I was going through a difficult time in my life while also pursuing my graduate degree at Carleton, and it was through the support of classmates, teachers/ supervisors, and counseling services on campus that I was able to cope and succeed academically.

Since graduating my life has become a bit quieter. I have worked in a few positions in the federal government, and I strongly support the departments’ mandates by supporting documentation services or supporting the legal rights of citizens. I have volunteered in my community supporting cultural and heritage programs. After graduating I wrote a blog post for NiCHE about my graduate experience.

I am presently working as an Assistant Professor in Community Health Sciences, a large research-intensive department that fosters interdisciplinarity as both a practice and a worldview. My research interests cross-disability studies, feminist and gender studies, cultural gerontology, and sociology.

My degree in Canadian Studies allowed me to pursue these diverse interests and prepared me to work in my current position. Canadian Studies exposed me to a wide variety of ways of knowing and understanding the world through the vibrant faculty and students. My time in the department also allowed for opportunities to plan graduate student conferences, as well as work and teach broadly in other departments.

Pursuing an interdisciplinary graduate education can be intellectually stimulating as well as challenging as you learn across backgrounds and terminologies that often compete. Canadian Studies provides an important arena to have these discussions and to take pause over previously unquestioned assumptions. The small size and collegiality of the department open up opportunities for student leadership, teaching, and mentorship that can be difficult to find in larger departments.

Canadian Studies prepared me for graduate school and to work in various fields such as the non-profit sector, government, museums, and more. The degree gives you critical thinking skills, allows for the development of creative thought, and much more. I would recommend the program as it is a really diverse degree that is a great fit for those with diverse interests like culture, history, politics, and more. Because of the diverse topics covered you are constantly learning new material which is fun.

I work in the non-profit sector spreading civic education among Canadian youth and the greater public. I create tools and campaigns that educate young Canadians about the importance of being active citizens in their communities, I challenge them to know more about their country and shape them to participate in their democracy.