We offer degrees in Canadian Studies at the B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. levels. Canadian Studies students graduate with a broad, interdisciplinary perspective on Canada, its people and its central issues. A degree in Canadian Studies prepares students to participate knowledgeably in addressing urgent and longstanding problems in Canada.
The study of Canada is about the politics, culture, society, history, and geography of a space that is many things. Canada is a nation-state; it is the ancestral homeland of Indigenous peoples; it is a place of arrival and re-rooting; it is a set of diverse regions and competing projects.
In Carleton’s Canadian Studies program, students learn to think about Canada from different angles and in the process become adept at combining the methods and perspectives of different disciplines. Some of the issues that you’ll tackle include: relationships between settlers and Indigenous peoples; processes of colonialism, decolonization, and reconciliation; challenges of identifying and preserving heritage; tensions between urban and rural Canada; conflicts over land and natural resources; Canada’s history and present of systemic racism; Canadian national identity and multiculturalism, social movements; attempts to define and produce Canadian culture; and Canada’s participation in the world. Our program will challenge you to think about these issues in critical and creative ways.
In our departmental interactions as well as in our teaching and our research, we seek to create a welcoming space of listening and of mindful, mutually respectful and generous dialogue.
Career Paths
Journalism, law, historic sites, politics, museums and archives, public service and planning, policy analysis or advice, teaching, communications, community and not-for-profit organizations, research and consulting, foreign service, private business and NGOs.
Courses
Times and locations of courses are published in the Public Class Schedule
Official Calendar Course Descriptions are available in the Undergraduate Calendar