Frequently Asked Questions

• Writing support
• Learning Support Workshops
• Learning Support Sessions 
• Career support 
• Co-operative Education 
• The Centre for Student Academic Support 
• 10 Helpful Study Tips 
• Standards and guidelines for the conservation of historic places in Canada
• Canadian Register of Historic Places
• Admissions
• Awards, Scholarships & Financial Assistance

• Centre for indigenous initiatives
• Aboriginal Lounge (Telephone: 613-520-5622)
• Centre for Aboriginal Culture & Education

The following table provides our MA and PhD Program Guidelines and related forms. We have also provided a link to the Faculty of Graduate and Post Doctoral Affairs (FGPA)’s website.

CDNS 5501 Decolonizing Canada: Cultural Politics and Collective Identities (Online Synchronous)

Instructor:

Course Descriptor: In this interdisciplinary graduate seminar, we explore the possibilities and limitations of the concept of “decolonization” in what is now known as Canada. We begin by addressing the notion of Canada as a settler-colonial nation and discuss what is meant by “decolonization.” We move on to interrogate the continuities and differences between the colonial origins/development of Canada and contemporary “multicultural” society — specifically in terms of the construction, reification, and management of race, collective identities and territories.

View the Course Descriptor for more info.

FYSM 1450 Indigenous Reclamation and Resurgence
Fall term of this full year, 1.0 credit course.
Restricted to students within the IESP program. 

Instructor: Lane Bourbonniere

Course Descriptor:  This course is designed to challenge students on several levels by applying both academic and personal experience and knowledge. It will challenge each student and provide a safe environment to learn and exchange ideas.  This course will be about student well-being-participation-engagement-achievement.

CDNS 4901 A/ INDG 3901 A/ARTH 3809/4005   Selected Topics: Visual Storytelling

Instructor: Carmen Robertson

Description: 

CDNS 5403 Heritage Conservation and Sustainability in Canada — IN Person
This course is cross-listed with CDNS 4403

Instructor: TBD

Course Descriptor: Theory, principles, practices and policy of heritage conservation in Canada and around the world. Connections with environmental, social and economic sustainability are explored.

CDNS 5401 Heritage Conservation: History, Principles, and Concepts

NOTE: This course is being offered over two nights but students need to register only once into crn 30873.
in person on Tuesday evenings 1735-1925 and
online synchronous on Wednesday evenings 1735-1825

Instructor: Jerzy Elzanowski

Course Descriptor: In light of global struggles against climate disaster, racial discrimination, disease, misinformation, and war, CDNS 5401 is changing.  I am preparing a new course that aims to theorize the impacts of these and other struggles on heritage conservation, while maintaining a sense of hope and joy.

I’ll be updating the following Google Doc as the course description takes shape: https://bit.ly/CDNS_5401_Fall_2024_Description

CDNS 5201 F/ ENGL 5804 F/ WGST 5902 A — Critical Perspectives on Canadian Feminism /
Studies in Canadian Literature I / Advanced Topics in Women’s and Gender Studies — In person

Instructor: Jennifer Henderson

Course Description: This course takes a historical materialist and intersectional approach to the ‘Women’s Liberation’ movement of the 1970s, as we look at recent scholarship on the rhetorics and affects of the movement and dig into its Canadian archive. Recent scholarship has been revising settled views of this moment of political eruption. Working with concepts of eventfulness, articulation, and ghostly trace, we question a progressivist view of history that would assume either our own relative advancement or the finishedness of this past.

Read the full Course Descriptor.

CDNS 5102 F / GEOG 5600 F/ PECO 5501 B – Indigenous Politics and Resurgence in Canada/Empire and Colonialism — In Person

Instructor: Emilie Cameron

Course Description: This course focuses on the geographic articulations of empire and colonialism. We will begin by engaging with some key theoretical approaches to empire and colonialism both within and beyond the discipline of geography, including feminist, Indigenous, antiracist, Black, Marxist, and post-structuralist approaches. Next, we will consider a range of “sites” of colonial and imperial formation, including land, territory, the body, and the non-human. In the third part of the course we will focus on forms of resistance, resurgence, and decolonization, as well as emerging scholarship that both questions the limits of past approaches to the study of empire and aims to conceptualize imperial, colonial, and decolonizing processes in new ways.

CDNS 5003 B / ENGL 5120 F — Special Topics in Canadian Studies — In Person 

Title: Small-Press Publishing In Canada

Instructor: Jody Mason

Course Description: A book arts workshop that will be conducted in the Book Arts Lab in MacOdrum Library and taught with the assistance of Master Printer Larry Thompson, the course brings together the history and theory of small-press activity in Canada with experiential learning activities that will help us to think in material terms about small-press objects and their production processes.

Read the Course Descriptor.

CDNS 5003 / ARTH 5218 / CLMD 6103 – – Selected Topics in Canadian Studies–In Person

Title: Museum Studies and Curatorial Practice: Interrogating Indigenous Curatorial Practice

Instructor: Carmen Robertson

Course Description: Pathways toward articulating Indigenous aesthetics emerge from deep considers of cultural epistemologies and ontologies of Indigenous arts. Because this is an emergent area of study within the Academy, few scholarly readings exist and as a result we will consider written texts from a variety of sources.

Read the full Course Descriptor.

CDNS 5002 F Interdisciplinary Methods / GEOG 5003 F – Critical Approaches to Qualitative Inquiry — In Person

Instructor: Patricia Ballamingie

Course Description: this course will survey issues raised by problem-directed methodologies.

Read the Course Descriptor.

CDNS 5001 MA Core Seminar: Conceptualizing Canada — In Persoon

Instructor:Richard Nimijean

Course Descriptor: This course is designed to equip you with a basic understanding of the mechanics, ethics, dilemmas, and rewards of scholarly research on Canada : asking a research question, reviewing the field, planning a project in terms of research, methodology, and organization of findings.

Read the full Course Descriptor.

FYSM 1409 A Controversies and Social Change in Canada Today–In Person
This is term 1 of a full-year 1.0 credit course.

Instructor: Robyn Green

Course Descriptor: The story of Canada is often told through the acts of elected officials who have shaped provincial, national policies and legislation as well as Canada’s role in the international sphere. Viewing Canada through this lens does not account for how powerful social movements located in anti-racism, Indigenous sovereignty, disability justice, fat liberation as well as queer and trans liberation have contested the formation and influence of nation-state.

CDNS 4500 Canada And the World–In Person

Instructor: Richard Nimijean

Course Description: In this research-based seminar, students will examine Canada’s role in the world and how Canadian governments over the year have acted globally and tried to shape Canada’s image in the world and how others see Canada. We will explore the politics of branding Canada and learn how Canada’s role globally has an important domestic dimension.

Course Descriptor

CDNS 4403 A Heritage Conservation and Sustainability in Canada – in person
This course is offered at the graduate level, as CDNS 5403, with different requirements.

Instructor: Heather Thomson

Course Descriptor: Theory, principles, practices and policy of heritage conservation in Canada and around the world. Connections with environmental, social and economic sustainability are explored.

CDNS 4020 – Injury, Memory and Redress in Canada – In Person

Instructor: Orly Lael Netzer

Course Description: Students will examine the politics of redress and (re)conciliation in Canada, including the ways in which historic wrongs, trauma and injury are re(imagined) and memorialized.

CDNS 3000  A– Situating Research in Indigenous Studies and Canadian Studies – In Person

Instructor: Gale Franklin

Course Descriptor: Students examine the underlying research design and methods of selected works in order to reflect on the political, ethical and intellectual conequences, possibilities and limitations of a variety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary resarch practices.

Read the full Course Descriptor.

CDNS 3620 Canada-US Relations — Online Synchronous

Instructor: TBD

Course Descriptor: This course is a comparative, interdisciplinary examination of the Canada-US relationship, focusing on Canadian perspectives. We will look at key issues that define and influence the relationship, including:

• Anti-Americanism and values differences between the countries;
• Economic and defence/security integration; and
• Cultural similarities and differences

Read the full Course Descriptor.

CDNS 2510 Memory and History in Québec — ONLINE Synchronous

Instructor: TBD

Course Descriptor: This fully online second year course is intended to provide students with a broad understanding of the narrative of Quebec history, incorporating the main themes that continue to shape Quebec’s culture and especially its relationship to memory, especially since “Je me souviens” is its motto. Experiential learning activities including research and creative projects are an essential part of the curriculum.

Read the Course Descriptor.

CDNS 2301 Immigrants, Migrants and Diasporas – In Person

Instructor: Orly Lael Netzer

Course Description:  The course examines dynamic relations in the interplay between drivers, agency, material and ideological boundaries and territories. We study the state’s role and international conventions that regulate migration and distinguish between refugees, people seeking temporary international protection, seasonal or temporary workers, permanent migrants and diasporas through the policy categories. 

Read the Course Descriptor.

CDNS 2001 A Canada and Global Issues – (Online Synchronous)

Instructor: Timothy Browne

Course Descriptor: This course introduces students to the interdisciplinary study of Canada and Canadians as global actors, examining key global issues that Canada is addressing. We look at how Canada approaches global issues and reflect on how these issues affect Canada and Canadians.

Read the full Course Descriptor.

CDNS 1101 Power, Places and Stories in/of Odawang/Ottawa – In Person

Instructor: Orly Lael Netzer

In this course we will explore historic and contemporary Odawang/Ottawa through stories, monuments, and locations. Attuned to local, national, and global perspectives of the city, we will interrogate the politics of place-making, asking who shapes the story of a place, for whom, and how.

Review the Course Descriptor.

CDNS 1001 Introduction to the Study of Canada (online: combined course)

Instructor: Richard Nimijean

Course Descriptor: This course examines various approaches to the study of Canada. Students will learn about the rise of interdisciplinary Canadian Studies as an academic discipline, how it has evolved, and the different approaches to study Canadian issues.

Read the full Course Descriptor.

Financial assistance is based on several features. It can be based on GPA, merit, and program enrolment. You can find a list of possible financial assistance on our Awards and Funding tab. Moreover, Carleton has a robust Awards and Financial aid office in which more information is provided on how to apply for financial assistance to fund your education.

MA Applicants are required to hold an Honours B.A. (or the equivalent), normally with an A- average, in a subject area related to Canadian Studies. Possession of the minimum entrance standing is not in itself assurance of admission into the program. In addition to transcripts and letters of reference, application packages will include a statement of interest and a representative academic writing sample.

The requirement for admission into the joint Ph.D. program is a master’s degree (or equivalent), with at least an A- average (10.0 G.P.A.) in Canadian Studies or one of the disciplines represented by the School. Applicants should note, however, that meeting the admission requirement does not guarantee admission to the program. In addition to transcripts and letters of reference, application packages will include a statement of interest outlining the applicant’s proposed area of doctoral research and a representative academic writing sample.

For both Ph.D. and MA programs, we recommend applicants explore the webpages of faculty members in advance of applying to discuss the program’s specifics, their application, and the potential for supervision. SCS faculty research areas, related courses, and publications are described on their individual SCS webpages. Applicants interested in the heritage conservation specialization, in particular, should contact appropriate faculty members to discuss this specialization.

You can find a list of our faculty members and their research under our People tab.

The process to apply is straightforward and done online. Our graduate admission office takes you step-by-step on how to apply.

There are several things consider when calculating tuition fees. For more detailed information, please visit our Student Accounts Receivable website.

PhD

MA

The MacOdrum Library’s database portfolio includes CURVE which is Carleton’s institutional repository collecting, preserving and providing open access to the academic, research output and creative works of Carleton faculty and scholars.

• SCS Viewbook
• 2023-24 Grad Student Handbook  Use this Handbook as your first resource for questions about your program.
• SCS MA Program Guidelines
• SCS PhD Guidelines
• Graduate Professional Development
• The School’s Interdisciplinary Studies Librarian for Canadian Studies is
  Martha Attridge Bufton, Blog: Talk out loud 
• Explore available study spaces in the Library: Graduate Study Spaces  AND Group Study Rooms

Indigenous and Canadian Studies Grad Community

The Indigenous and Canadian Studies Grad Community (ICGC) is a grad student organization in the School of Canadian Studies which represents graduate students to the department and at the Carleton Graduate Students’ Association. The ICGC plans events, hosts workshops, and advocates for students. Elections for the executive council are held every September.

If you are interested in getting involved please email icgcofficial@gmail.com or find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ICGC.Carleton. Details for our events are circulated via email to all graduate students and will be posted on the floor.

• Health and counseling
• Wellness
• Student Experience
• Paul Menton Centre

Use of Traditional Medicines on 12th Floor, DT

For complete details regarding the procedures for use of traditional medicines on campus follow this link

DT 1212 is an Approved Space.  If you plan to have an event in DT 1212 with traditional medicines that produce smoke, please complete the Use of Traditional Medicine – Request for Permit.  You must submit the request at least five business days in advance of your event.

DT 1216 is NOT an Approved Space.  To use DT 1216, you will need to submit a request at least 10 business days in advance of your event.

In order to reduce the number of inquiries regarding the smell of smoke in buildings, on the day of the event, you will need to post a notification sign indicating the location will be used for Indigenous ceremonial purposes. 

Contact Donna.Malone@carleton.ca to coordinate.

Elder Protocols

For guidelines for Working with First Nations, Inuit and Métis Elders follow this link:

• https://carleton.ca/indigenous/resources/guidelines-for-working-with-elders/
• Useful Links

PhD

MA

The MacOdrum Library’s database portfolio includes CURVE which is Carleton’s institutional repository collecting, preserving and providing open access to the academic, research output and creative works of Carleton faculty and scholars.

Financial assistance is based on several features. It can be based on GPA, merit, and program enrolment. You can find a list of possible financial assistance on our Awards and Funding tab. Moreover, Carleton has a robust Awards and Financial aid office in which more information is provided on how to apply for financial assistance to fund your education.

• Health and counseling
• Wellness
• Student Experience
• Paul Menton Centre

• Centre for indigenous initiatives
• Aboriginal Lounge (Telephone: 613-520-5622)
• Centre for Aboriginal Culture & Education

• Writing support
• Learning Support Workshops
• Learning Support Sessions 
• Career support 
• Co-operative Education 
• The Centre for Student Academic Support 
• 10 Helpful Study Tips 
• Standards and guidelines for the conservation of historic places in Canada
• Canadian Register of Historic Places
• Admissions
• Awards, Scholarships & Financial Assistance

• SCS Viewbook
• 2023-24 Grad Student Handbook  Use this Handbook as your first resource for questions about your program.
• SCS MA Program Guidelines
• SCS PhD Guidelines
• Graduate Professional Development
• The School’s Interdisciplinary Studies Librarian for Canadian Studies is
  Martha Attridge Bufton, Blog: Talk out loud 
• Explore available study spaces in the Library: Graduate Study Spaces  AND Group Study Rooms

Indigenous and Canadian Studies Grad Community

The Indigenous and Canadian Studies Grad Community (ICGC) is a grad student organization in the School of Canadian Studies which represents graduate students to the department and at the Carleton Graduate Students’ Association. The ICGC plans events, hosts workshops, and advocates for students. Elections for the executive council are held every September.

If you are interested in getting involved please email icgcofficial@gmail.com or find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ICGC.Carleton. Details for our events are circulated via email to all graduate students and will be posted on the floor.

The following table provides our MA and PhD Program Guidelines and related forms. We have also provided a link to the Faculty of Graduate and Post Doctoral Affairs (FGPA)’s website.

Use of Traditional Medicines on 12th Floor, DT

For complete details regarding the procedures for use of traditional medicines on campus follow this link

DT 1212 is an Approved Space.  If you plan to have an event in DT 1212 with traditional medicines that produce smoke, please complete the Use of Traditional Medicine – Request for Permit.  You must submit the request at least five business days in advance of your event.

DT 1216 is NOT an Approved Space.  To use DT 1216, you will need to submit a request at least 10 business days in advance of your event.

In order to reduce the number of inquiries regarding the smell of smoke in buildings, on the day of the event, you will need to post a notification sign indicating the location will be used for Indigenous ceremonial purposes. 

Contact Donna.Malone@carleton.ca to coordinate.

Elder Protocols

For guidelines for Working with First Nations, Inuit and Métis Elders follow this link:

• https://carleton.ca/indigenous/resources/guidelines-for-working-with-elders/
• Useful Links

MA Applicants are required to hold an Honours B.A. (or the equivalent), normally with an A- average, in a subject area related to Canadian Studies. Possession of the minimum entrance standing is not in itself assurance of admission into the program. In addition to transcripts and letters of reference, application packages will include a statement of interest and a representative academic writing sample.

The requirement for admission into the joint Ph.D. program is a master’s degree (or equivalent), with at least an A- average (10.0 G.P.A.) in Canadian Studies or one of the disciplines represented by the School. Applicants should note, however, that meeting the admission requirement does not guarantee admission to the program. In addition to transcripts and letters of reference, application packages will include a statement of interest outlining the applicant’s proposed area of doctoral research and a representative academic writing sample.

For both Ph.D. and MA programs, we recommend applicants explore the webpages of faculty members in advance of applying to discuss the program’s specifics, their application, and the potential for supervision. SCS faculty research areas, related courses, and publications are described on their individual SCS webpages. Applicants interested in the heritage conservation specialization, in particular, should contact appropriate faculty members to discuss this specialization.

You can find a list of our faculty members and their research under our People tab.

The process to apply is straightforward and done online. Our graduate admission office takes you step-by-step on how to apply.

There are several things consider when calculating tuition fees. For more detailed information, please visit our Student Accounts Receivable website.

The Middle East in Canadian foreign policy and national identity formation – Jeremy Wildeman

Abstract: While often overlooked, the Middle East has been a pivotal geographical and discursive space in Canadian foreign policy and national identity formation. The region was the birthplace in the 1950s of Canada’s liberal internationalist foreign policy identity, Pearsonianism, and the national myths associated with it. The Middle East also appears to be where Pearsonianism was by the mid-2000s superseded by a more realist foreign policy approach, centred on key bilateral relationships with Western countries and a shared sense of Western civilisation. For reasons tied to identity formation and how Canadians perceive their place in the world, the Middle East is therefore a highly contested space in the domestic arena and a site of deep divisions today. With the support of three contemporary case studies—Palestine and Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Iran— and a consideration of Canada’s own settler coloniality and ties to an imperial legacy, this paper explores how Canadian ties to the Middle East have shaped and continue to shape Canada’s foreign policy, national identity, and perceived place in the world.

 Biography: Jeremy Wildeman (PhD-Exeter) is a Fellow at the Human Rights Research and Education Centre, University of Ottawa, and Centre for the Study of Democracy and Diversity, Queen’s University. He is a lecturer at Queen’s, Trent, and Carleton, and previous ESRC-GCRF award holder at the University of Bath. He guest-edited the Canadian Foreign Policy Journal 2021 special issue ‘What Lies Ahead? Canada’s Engagement with the Middle East Peace Process and the Palestinians’, now a Routledge book.

When a Pandemic Meets an Epidemic: How COVID-19 has Affected Treatment Access Among Individuals Struggling with Opioid Use – Laura Polakova

Abstract: The corona virus (COVID-19) pandemic has exacerbated the opioid crisis while also introducing novel challenges to treatment access and equity. In fact, ever since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Rapid Access Addictions Medicine (RAAM) clinic at the Royal Mental Health Centre and moved treatment to online modalities and restricted in person walk-in visits. The RAAM clinic was initially designed as a low barrier clinic for individuals grappling with substance use, but since the onset of COVID-19 treatment accessibility has become problematic for many. This study examines how the presenting problems and demographics of the population attending the RAAM clinic have changed before and after the onset of the pandemic.

 Biography: Laura Polakova is a second year MA student in experimental psychology at Carleton University. I also did my honors undergraduate degree here at Carleton, majoring in psychology and philosophy. My research area is within the realm of substance use but I also have special interests in moral and political psychology.

Profit Over People? The Implementation of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canadian Provinces – Perri Mazurkewich

Abstract: This paper focuses on the inaugural National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, and assesses why some specific Canadian provinces did not recognize the day as a statutory holiday. This paper is guided by questions of economic justifications in the role of these provincial governments’ decision to not implement the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation as a statutory holiday. Existing literature suggests that Canadians’ views of immigration changed based on the national economy, and ideas about perceived economic threats change how racialized persons are viewed. This gives insight into how Canadians privilege “the economy” over race relations, and how economic concerns trump concerns about reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. This term paper addresses a gap in the literature surrounding how perceived economic needs are privileged over implementation of a national statutory holiday, and reconciliation in Canada as a whole. I analyzed discourse from the Premiers of Alberta and Quebec, as these provinces explicitly cited economic concerns as their justification for not implementing the day as a statutory holiday. This indicates that perceived economic needs may be used to excuse inaction in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action.

Biography: Perri Mazurkewich is a first year masters student in the Political Science department with a strong interest in political media. My undergraduate degree is in Political Science from the University of Lethbridge, and my undergraduate/honours thesis uses intersectionality as a theoretical lens to focus on how political satire during the SNC-Lavalin affair used Jody Wilson-Raybould’s race and gender as the punchline.

The Ethics of Queer Archives: Curatorial Practice’s Responsibility to Celebrate, Preserve, and Make Accessible – Callie Melter

Abstract: This paper compares archival projects that celebrate queer life (like The ArQuives) with material holdings at Library and Archives Canada that trace the purging of those suspected of “homosexual activity” from the Canadian Armed Forces from the 1950s-1990s. My paper identifies and assesses archival practices in order to examine the ethical considerations that institutions make when curating archives of queer life. Taking an historical and archival approach, I ask how historical documents that trace queer trauma can be reclaimed by archival projects so that queer archival materials are under the stewardship of the queer community and so too contribute to the makeup of that community.

This project is motivated by the nation-wide class action lawsuit that was launched in 2016 against the Canadian Government by survivors of the LGBT Purge. The Complainants argued that they had been unfairly excluded from their duties as Civil Servants based on the grounds of their participation in homosexual behaviour. When a settlement was reached in 2018 in favour of the Complainants, a not-for-profit corporation was established in order to manage a portion of the funds that were awarded to survivors for the work of reconciliation and memorialization. This corporation, The LGBT Purge Fund, is working to collect, preserve, and make accessible approximately 11,000 pages of archival material that the Canadian Government was obligated to turn over as a part of the settlement. These documents contribute to a larger picture of LGBT+ life in Canada and will be the object of focus for this paper.

 Biography: Callie Metler is a second year PhD candidate in English Literature. Her research interests include women’s autobiography, comics, and archive studies. Since completing her comprehensive exams on Gay and Lesbian literature in November, she has been researching for her dissertation which will examine archives of queer life in Canada.

Dismantling the Euro Canadian school system and rebuilding an inclusive learning environment with equitable Indigenous perspectives and knowledge within the curriculum – Jamie McCullough

Abstract: I am interested in researching racism in education and the need to create space for Indigenous knowledges within the Euro Canadian education system. The education system in Canada was originally established for the success of a white middle-class society, while all other classes and races either conformed through manipulation and pressure or were altogether excluded through barriers of language, class and lived experiences. Indigenous people were forced to attend residential schools where they were stripped of their culture, language, family, and identity. The relationship between Indigenous people and the school system has strong elements of resistance, abuse, trauma, neglect, and loneliness. Non- Indigenous educators who are teaching Indigenous education, must be prepared to relearn the historical truths of intergeneration trauma from the residential school era, to build authentic and inclusive spaces for Indigenous youth in schools. For the education system to create safe spaces, the school structures must be dismantled and rebuild through the lens of critical pedagogy.

Critical pedagogy works to decontextualize Eurocentric epistemologies and to seek social justice, fairness, and equality in education. Critical theory and critical pedagogy both have the potential to transform traditional pedagogy. The education system needs transformational changes from all levels, including government and community, to promote an authentic learning environment. Critical pedagogy works to deconstruct dominant power dynamics and anthropocentric views, which will require stepping outside of the framework of education and dismantling the colonial view of education and its relationship to progress and modernity. Taking a critical lens to education means looking at the sites of education and how they hold power, distribute knowledge, and reproduce ‘social norms’ that become normalized through repetition.

 Biography: Jamie McCullough is in her third year of the SICS PhD program and working on her dissertation proposal. She is interested in race and racism in education and inclusive pedagogy. Her research will seek to produce resources that will assist non-Indigenous educators teaching Indigenous studies. In her career, she is the director of programs at Experiences Canada and has built a strong network of educators across Canada, whom will be involved in her research in an advisory role. She is a wife, aunt, sister and proud mom to 4 children.

Resisting Colonial Extractive Research Methods: An Argument for Critical Discourse Analysis – Katherine Morton Richards

Abstract: Too often within settler-colonial academia, Indigenous people and communities are treated as “sources” of data, available for harvesting and settler analysis. Even in work that seeks to be with and for Indigenous people, there is an all-too-common pressure for research to be extractive in nature. Over the course of several years, this pressure to be extractive clashed with my intentions as a settler colonial researcher interested in exploring the meaning-making found within Indigenous-state relations and their symbols in Canada. In this manuscript, I discuss not only the decision based on the current political climate and shifting research priorities to end my PhD research field work, but also offer an assessment of critical discourse analysis as a less oppressive method for studies of settler colonialism.

This assessment of critical discourse analysis and also what remains of my abandoned project read together as an exploration of what alternative data collection may look like for settler-colonial researchers combatting the pressure to be extractive in settler research involving Indigeneity, colonialism, and Indigenous-state relations.

Biography: Katherine (she/her) is a settler researcher, originally from unceded Coast Salish territory who know works, lives, and researches on unceded Mi’kmaq territory and traditional territory of the Beothuk. Katherine teaches in law and society, sociology, political science, and history in the areas of Indigenous-State relations and Indigenous identity. She is ABD in her PhD program and holds a MA in Political Science. Katherine’s research interests include intersections between gender and Indigeneity, colonial violence, place making, hitchhiking, and ugliness as a political category.

A Digital Ethnography of Canada’s Multicultural Festivals: The Code-Switching and Facebooking practices of Francophone Musicians – Michelle Thompson

Abstract:  My research explores the way francophone musicians and singers who perform in Canada’s ‘multicultural’ festivals use their Facebooking practices and other strategies such as Code-Switching to promote their work, participate in Canada’s cultural economy, and discuss decolonialism and gender equality. Ultimately, the festivals they perform in are both providing a space for the representation and getting together of BIPOC communities, and re-producing Canada’s image as a diverse welcoming nation and the commodification of culture.

 Biography: I’m a PhD Candidate in my 5th year at SICS. My research interests include social media, Canadian identities, and questions about Canada’s official languages and the representation of francophones. I’ve published several peer-reviewed articles on topics such as the use of ICTs as knowledge and competency-building tools and disruptive agents, and Canada’s francophone minority communities. I also have a Master’s degree in Information Science from the University of Toronto.

Women in the War: Indexing in times of COVID – Rebecca Murray

Abstract: The Second World War (SWW) was the first time women officially served in the Canadian military in capacities other than nursing, breaking into roles historically held by men.  A multi-year project to index an accession of government photographs from the SWW era in an effort to identify servicewomen began as an effort to help family members identify their ancestors in photographs held at Library and Archives Canada.  It has become so much more.  The experience of reviewing half a million photographs has challenged and broadened my own historical study and knowledge.  Furthermore, the experience of working on this project before and now during a global pandemic has been in and of itself an experience worthy of a second look, including but not limited to asking questions about access to and use of primary sources in research.  This paper will describe the evolving project workflow, look at preliminary results, and discuss access to and use of primary sources in the (re)construction of historical narratives.

 Biography: Rebecca Murray is a Senior Archivist in Reference Services at Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa, Ontario.  She holds an MA in Canadian Studies from Carleton University (2012).  Her initial interest in the contributions of servicewomen in the Second World War was inspired by her grandmother’s service in the Royal Canadian Air Force’s Women’s Division.  Rebecca is a voracious reader (find her on #bookstagram @beccareads2021), a little free library steward, mum to two kids and one adorable poodle.

Trailhead to Decolonization: The Use of Indigenous and Multidimensional stories as a starting point to decolonization – Amanda Zotto

Abstract: The deconstruction of colonial ideologies involves a tremendous shift in the way the we think and the tearing down ideals that we once followed. One way to ignite the undertaking of decolonization in Canada can be through the process and maintenance of these four stages: Understanding (being knowledgeable about past and current events without prejudice), Accepting (realizing that there is an unbalanced power dynamic), Acknowledging (recognizing that there are different points of view outside what is considered the standard rhetoric) and Respecting (the ability to value Indigenous ways, knowledge and beliefs). All four of these stages revolve around Indigenous History, the truth, and the consequences of the historical process and are important features for future Reconciliation. These steps could be the first in a complex and ongoing process used in decolonization from a non-indigenous perspective.

Indigenous Memoirs from Canada offer people a personal perspective into intergenerational trauma, healing, resistance, the resurgence of their culture…and much more. These testimonials provide readers with historical evidence and are primary sources that can provide alternative records of past events. The timelines of the memoirs can be followed and analyzed with other historical texts. While the latter can provide readers with information, the reader might not easily be able to relate or empathize with what they are reading. In a sense, we are desensitized to the things we read. Memoirs can give the reader an intimate view into past events and provide the feelings of empathy.

This paper explores two memoirs written by residential school survivors from different areas of Canada: They Called Me Number One: Secrets and Survival at an Indian Residential School by Bev Sellars and Broken Circle: The Dark Legacy of Indian Residential Schools by Theodore Niizhotay Fontaine.  The use and benefits of memoirs can provide contrast to what is considered to be official and accepted historical data. This process allows us to add a layer of human complexity to the narrative of the events told from a non-indigenous perspective.

Biography: My name is Amanda Zotto and I am a student at The University of Valencia located in Spain. My past is a mixture of The United States, Canada and Europe as I have ties to all three places. I grew up in the U.S. until I was 16 and moved to Canada for my last year of high school to a small city called Prince Rupert. Living there, I was a witness to the many prejudices, misconceptions and judgements that Indigenous people face and have faced. My goal is to work hard to decolonize myself and to then find non-invasive ways in which to help other people do the same.

A Political Philosophy of Indigenous-Settler Solidarity in the Context of Blockades – Aisling Gilmour

Abstract: During the winter of 2020, there was an unprecedented proliferation of blockades across ‘Canada’ as part of an Indigenous-settler solidarity movement against the invasion of Wet’suwet’en territory and in support of Indigenous self-determination. Emerging literature has studied the blockades and anti-colonial solidarity movement from the viewpoint of anti-fascism, resurgence, and media representation (Hume and Walby 2021; Shaw 2020; Simpson 2021). My MA thesis uses the methods of interview and textual analysis in order to examine the ways participants understood Indigenous-settler solidarity as a future-oriented praxis and to ask about their relation to decolonial, anti-capitalist and feminist concepts, as well as to bring clarity to specific political-conceptual problems we may encounter therein. My focus is on the questions of: what a politics of decolonial and anti-capitalist feminist solidarity means in practice, and what makes the praxis of solidarity sustainable? I aim to articulate the social visions and demands on praxis implied in specific movement slogans (“Reconciliation is dead” and “Land Back”) and approach the blockades as an experimental site for negotiating four challenges tied to these slogans, namely: i) kinship relationality (including defending non-human kin) vs. its absence in settler politics; ii) colonizer-colonized dichotomies and decolonization struggle vs. intersectionally-informed solidarity and struggle; iii) Indigenous place-based vs. leftist thinking about ‘the commons’; and finally iv) face-to-face relationality vs. grasping social totality. Ultimately, my research aims to produce knowledge towards protracted Indigenous-settler anti-colonial/anti-capitalist feminist solidarity praxis by developing the concept of emancipatory kinship as necessary to solidarity.

 Biography: Aisling Gilmour is an M.A. student in Indigenous and Canadian Studies at Carleton University. They are a settler from Ottawa, Ontario on unceded Anishinaabe territory, and their pronouns are they/them. In Winter 2020, they completed their B.A. in Philosophy and Indigenous Studies with a minor in Sexuality Studies, and see their current work as continuing research done during that degree. Some of their research interests include feminism, existentialism, Marxism, anti-colonial politics, and emancipatory social movements.

From Reconciliation to ‘Idle No More’: ‘Articulation’ and Indigenous Struggle in Canada – Matthew Robertson

Abstract: How do different discourses lead to changes in understandings of the world, identity, meaning and practice in Indigenous politics in Canada? This article introduces the poststructuralist theory of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe to Canadian Indigenous studies and demonstrates that it is a unique and effective theory for understanding this question. It finds that in the last few decades, two principal discourses regarding Indigenous peoples and colonialism have circulated in the Canadian body politic—namely, (1) “reconciliation” and (2) “Idle No More.” These discourses shape the identities of both Indigenous peoples and settlers, construct understandings of the world, and determine the meaning of related political struggle, leading to real world practice and politics. The reconciliation discourse has at times been effective at becoming a dominant discourse and has often been able to constitute the meaning of important terms such as ‘decolonization.’ It serves to pacify Indigenous resistance to colonialism. Counter-hegemonic discourses on reconciliation such as ‘Idle No More’ have been able to challenge that discourse. Academic literature, newspaper articles, YouTube videos, podcasts developed by Indigenous scholars, public letters and speeches delivered by Canadian politicians are analyzed to examine the utterances and enunciations of the two discourses.

Biography: Matthew Robertson is currently Intergovernmental Relations Lead with the Métis Nation of Ontario. He was previously Strategist for the Tripartite Self-Government Negotiations Department of the Manitoba Metis Federation. He holds a Master of Arts in Political Science from the University of Alberta and a Master of International Trade from the University of Saskatchewan. He resides in Toronto.

INDG 1011 Introduction to Indigenous-Settler Encounters–Late Summer: 4 July – 16 August
This is a fully ONLINE SYNCHRONOUS course.

Instructor: Samantha Stevens

In this course, students will be introduced to the historical and contemporary political and social encounters surrounding the relationships between Indigenous peoples and settlers in so-called Canada. We will explore these relationships beginning around first contact through to current events and struggles.

Read the full Course Descriptor.

CDNS 5003A  Selected Topics in Canadian Studies: this is an in-person course.
TITLE – – Labour, In and Against the Settler Colony

This course is cross-listed with PECO 5501; PSCI 5501; SOCI 5504; and SOWK 5703. 

Schedule: Monday and Wednesday 1805 – 2055 in RB 3110

Instructor: Phil Henderson

Course Descriptor: This course studies the relationships between organized labour and settler colonial regimes; it is divided into three sections. 1) theories of settler colonialism and imperialism; 2)  the political economy of settler colonialism; and 3) a consideration of the role that organized labour has played in anti-colonial struggles in settler contexts around the world. Read the full Course Descriptor.

CDNS 3700 Constructing and Contesting Memory in Canada- this is an Online Synchronous course

Schedule:  Tuesday and Thursday 1805-2055

Instructor: Brittney Bos

Course Descriptor:  Over the past five years, concerns about national “memory” have dominated headlines around the world: from the toppling of monuments to the repatriation of artifacts, questions about memory are increasingly dominating popular discourse. What do we collectively remember and why? Who decides and who has the power to contest these memories? Should our community memories remain static or change with the times? What happens when historic memories no longer fit with our present-day values?

Read the full Course Descriptor.

CDNS 2001  Canada and Global Issues – ONLINE Synchronous course

Schedule: Tuesday and Thursday 1805-2055

Instructor: Timothy Browne

Course Descriptor: This course introduces students to the interdisciplinary study of Canada and Canadians as global actors, examining key global issues that Canada is addressing. We look at how Canada approaches global issues and reflect on how these issues affect Canada and Canadians.

Watch this space for the Course Descriptor.

CDNS 1001 Introduction to the Study of Canada – ONLINE Synchronous course

Schedule: Monday and Wednesday 1735-2025

Instructor: Samantha Stevens

Course Descriptor: CDNS 1001 “Introduction to the Study of Canada” is a 6-week intensive summer course that delves into the essence of studying Canada, offering a comprehensive examination of its history, politics, culture, and role in the global context. Through a critical and interdisciplinary lens, students will engage with the diverse narratives and perspectives that define the Canadian experience.

This summer course is designed to enrich students’ understanding of Canada, fostering a nuanced appreciation of its identity and the various forces that shape its society and place in the world.

Read the full Course Descriptor.

CDNS 5402 Heritage Conservation: Theory in Practice

Instructor: Susan Ross

Course Descriptor: Who should decide what is heritage? What tools –from basic strategies to creative approaches– help facilitate difficult conservation decisions? How do established practices address shifting ideals? How can decolonizing research methods expand the work of heritage and conservation?

Students in this graduate seminar study the application of critical theories in research methods, professional practice, community action and political engagement. Read the full Course Descriptor.

FYSM 1450 Indigenous Reclamation and Resurgence
Winter term of this full year, 1.0 credit course.

Instructor: Lane Bourbonniere

Course Descriptor:  This course is designed to challenge students on several levels by applying both academic and personal experience and knowledge. It will challenge each student and provide a safe environment to learn and exchange ideas.  This course will be about student well-being- participation-engagement-achievement.

CDNS 3570 Racialization and Resistance

Instructor: Joanis Sherry

Course Descriptor: Deconstructing the category of ‘race’ and understanding the experiences and impacts of racialization and systemic racism in Canada and Québec.

Read the full Course Descriptor.

CDNS 3020 Practicing Research in Indigenous Studies and Canadian Studies

Instructor: Amy Fung

Course Descriptor: This course will provide an opportunity for students to deepen their understanding of research through hands-on skills and practices relevant to Indigenous and Canadian Studies.

From learning general and foundational information on the language of research, participants will have an opportunity to deeply engage with the fundamentals of researching in the humanities and social sciences

Read the full Course Descriptor.

CDNS 1001 Introduction to the Study of Canada

Instructor: Richard Nimijean

Course Descriptor: This course examines various approaches to the study of Canada. Students will learn about the rise and evolution of interdisciplinary Canadian Studies as an academic discipline and encounter key concepts for studying Canadian issues.

Students will see how interdisciplinary teaching and research differ from traditional academic disciplines, producing a stronger and richer explanation of Canadian phenomena.

Read the full Course Descriptor.

CDNS 5700 W / GEOG 5005 A — Changing Dynamics of the Canadian North / Global Environmental Change: Human Implications – IN Person

Instructor: Karen Hebert

Course Description:  This course will explore a range of interdisciplinary social science perspectives on global environmental change. Course content will examine the drivers, features, and implications of socioecological processes including climate change, biodiversity loss, and various forms of environmental degradation, as well as how these are being experienced, contested, engaged with, and transformed in sites around the world. Readings and discussions will involve case studies that address topics such as natural resource extraction, shifting dynamics of environmental protection, and struggles over proposed climate crisis solutions.

CDNS 5501 Decolonizing Canada — ONLINE Synchronous

Instructor: TBD

Course Description: In this interdisciplinary graduate seminar, we explore the possibilities and limitations of the concept of “decolonization” in what is now known as Canada.

CDNS 5402 W / ARCH 5002 A   Heritage Conservation: Theory in Practice

Instructor:  Susan Ross

Course Description: This is a core course for students in the M.A. in Canadian Studies (Concentration in Heritage Planning and Studies), and the Graduate Diploma in Architectural Conservation. It is also open to graduate students in architecture, engineering, public history, art history, curatorial studies, anthropology, environmental studies and many other related fields.

Building on CDNS 5401* this graduate seminar/workshop format introduces students to diverse contexts of heritage planning practice, with an emphasis on the evolving values of places, and the ethical questions to consider in the protection and planning for regeneration of the built environment. Literature from critical heritage studies, sustainable heritage planning, cultural landscape and decolonizing research methodology inform the approach. *Please contact the instructor if you have not taken this companion course.

Read the Course Descriptor

CDNS 5400 W /4400 A / INDG 4901– Space, Landscape and Identity in Canada–ONLINE Synchronous

Instructor: Kenneth (Jake) Chakasim

Course Descriptor: Critical in its approach, this course brings into focus the contemporary role indigenous literature and design plays in the realm of indigenous space, landscape, and identity practices. Whether one is ‘tricked into believing’ or ‘mistreated to take action’, we can no longer escape the chaos, disorder, and destruction of indigenous landscapes and its supporting infrastructure (or lack thereof).

Read the full Course Descriptor.

CDNS 5301 / CLMD 6105 W / ENGL 5900 Y   Canadian Cultural Studies–In Person

Instructor: Orly Lael Netzer

Course Description: In this course we will contend with urgent socio-cultural challenges in Canada through contemporary approaches to the study of national culture on Turtle Island. Grounded in an understanding of “Canada” as settler-colonial and racialized, we will begin the course with the work of education scholar Dwayne Donald (Papaschase Cree descendant) who argues that colonialism is “an extended process of denying relationship” (“On What Terms Can We Speak?”).

Read the full Course Descriptor.

FYSM 1409 A Controversies and Social Change in Canada Today
This is term 2 of a full-year 1.0 credit course.

Instructor: Robyn Green

CDNS 4400 A/ 5400 W/ INDG 4901 C  Space, Landscape and Identity in Canada — ONLINE Synchronous

Instructor: Kenneth (Jake) Chakasim

Course Description: Critical in its approach, this course brings into focus the contemporary role indigenous literature and design plays in the realm of indigenous space, landscape, and identity practices. Whether one is ‘tricked into believing’ or ‘mistreated to take action’, we can no longer escape the chaos, disorder, and destruction of indigenous landscapes and its supporting infrastructure (or lack thereof).

Read the full Course Descriptor.

CDNS 3901B / FILM 2206 B Canadian Cinema — In Person
This course involves both a lecture AND a film screening scheduled on the same evening.
Students need only register into CDNS 3901 B; the screening component is linked to the lecture.

Title: Canadian Cinema

Instructor: TBD

Course Descriptor: A critical examination of Canadian cinema and media and how it relates to other aspects of Canadian culture.

CDNS 3560 Black Studies in Canada — ONLINE Synchronous

Instructor: TBD

Course Description: Theories and methods of Black Studies in Canada. Students could explore regional, national and/or transnational histories; anit-Blackness; racial capitalism; identities, experiences and cultures of Black Canada.

Read the Course Descriptor.

CDNS 3020 is being offered as CDNS 3901A during Winter 2025  – IN person

Practicing Research in Canadian Studies

Instructor: TBD

Course Description: This course engages with the practice of interdisciplinarity in Canadian Studies and builds on CDNS 3000. Approaches may include: mixed methods; authoethnography; research-creation; collaboration; and community based research.

CDNS 2400 Heritage Places and Practices in Canada– In Person

Instructor: Susan Ross

Course Descriptor:  This course, intended for students studying in the Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, Architecture and Engineering, will build on the lessons we can learn from Canadian, Indigenous and international theories, practices, and tools to continue to move the field ahead in stimulating and critical directions.

Read the Course Descriptor.

CDNS 2302/INDG 2302   Land, Water, Capitalism — In Person

Instructor: Julie Tomiak

Course Descriptor: This course provides students with the opportunity to study the political economy of settler capitalism and its consequences. Centering Indigenous ontologies, epistemologies, and ethics grounded in place, the course foregrounds Indigenous anti-capitalism. The role of Indigenous land, water, and relationality is discussed not only in terms of capitalist dispossession and destruction, but also with a focus on resistance, healing, and Indigenous futurities. Students will examine a range of case studies that will bring the contestations, complexities, and contradictions of capital accumulation and anti-capitalist struggles into focus.

Read the Course Descriptor.

CDNS 2300   Nationalism and Multiculturalism in Canada –  ONLINE Combined

Instructor: TBD

Description: This course is a critical examination of nationalism, colonialism, racialization, ethnicity, and multiculturalism in Canada. In this condensed blended asynchronous/synchronous course, students will explore belonging, citizenship, social inclusion/exclusion and inequality through a series of live and pre-recorded lectures, group discussions, testimonials, and contextual and experiential learning activities.

Read the full Course Descriptor.

CDNS 2002 Language, Culture and Power — IN Person

Instructor: TBD

Course Description: Students will study the relationship between language and power, politics, identity and culture in Canada. Using experiential learning methods including field trips, we will explore the interplays between power, language, and the constitution of social norms.

Each class will use a case study to examine the struggles over discourse and how we describe and understand the world.

Read the Course Descriptor

CDNS 2000 Debating Canada — In Person

Instructor: Orly Lael Netzer

Course Description: Over the past decades, scholars of cultural studies in Canada have demonstrated that the foundation of the nation-state and the continued development of national identity in Canada rely on three central myths: Peacekeeping turned Humanitarianism, Multiculturalism, and Reconciliation. In this course we will explore how debates about Canadian identity and culture are shaped through the dynamic tensions between the three foundational myths, and the shared thread of settler-colonialism which ties them together.

Review the Course Descriptor

CDNS 1101 Power, Places and Stories in/of Odawang/Ottawa – Winter term – In Person

Instructor: Orly Lael Netzer

Course Description: In this course we will explore historic and contemporary Odawang/Ottawa through stories, monuments, and locations. Attuned to local, national, and global perspectives of the city, we will interrogate the politics of place-making, asking who shapes the story of a place, for whom, and how.

Read the full Course Descriptor.