Canadian Studies is an interdisciplinary field, attracting students from a wide variety of disciplines and backgrounds. It is exciting and innovative, with a critical perspective on Canadian policy, culture, and social values in a rapidly changing pluralistic society.
Our MA and PhD programs put Indigenous Studies and Canadian Studies —including Critical Heritage Studies— in conversation. In this unique interdisciplinary space, we address questions of:
the history and present of settler colonialism and Indigenous resistance; the discourses, institutions and practices that construct “Canada”
Indigenous sovereignty and governance; urban Indigeneity; Indigenous epistemologies and ontologies; Indigenous and Black feminist theorizing and methodologies; Queer Indigenous Two-Spirit identities; contemporary Indigenous art history and curatorial studies
the politics of language, identity, race, and nation in Canada and Quebec; diasporic worlds within and beyond the settler nation-state; local and global scales and strategies of decolonization
Indigenous and settler cultural and spatial heritages; sustainable heritage conservation; cultural heritage and climate change; public memory, alternative archives and emotional geographies
Our MA in Canadian Studies offers three streams: coursework, research paper, or thesis. We also offer the option to do specializations in:
Our PhD in Canadian Studies allows you to develop your own research agenda within Canadian Studies, Indigenous Studies, or a combination of the two. Explore the areas of research expertise among our faculty members and the research projects of current students and recent graduates. The PhD program is offered jointly between the School and the Frost Centre for Canadian Studies and Indigenous Studies at Trent University.
The PhD program includes the option of a Collaborative Specialization in Political Economy. See details.
Indigenous and Canadian Studies Graduate Community
The ICSGC is the student-run organization that fosters social contact, mutual support, and mentoring among graduate students in the School. It organizes activities as well as an annual research symposium.
Graduate Professional Development
Carleton offers professional development resources and programs to help you improve your skills and plan your career trajectory. To learn more, visit the Graduate Professional Development website.
International Students
Please contact the Graduate Supervisor with any questions about MA or the PhD Program before submitting your application. We are happy to consider international applications; however, international fees can be prohibitive and the funding we can access to support international students is very limited.
The deadline for all applications, including referee letters, is February 1st. Apply online.
Our faculty engage in research and teaching across a number of thematic areas including Heritage Conservation; Culture, Memory, and Place; Nation-building, Nationalisms, and Nation-branding; Indigenous Studies; Social Justice: Voice, Power, and Policy; Critical Settler Studies; Gender and Sexualities; and Identity, Representation, and Performance. In the emerging global economy, the development of Canada-centred knowledge has become even more relevant and in demand. What better place to study Canada than in Ottawa?
The Indigenous and Canadian Studies Grad Community (ICGC) is a grad student organization in the School of Indigenous and 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 can be found on the SICS Event Calendars on this page and are circulated via email to all graduate students.
“An Archive of Settler Belonging: Local Feeling, Land, and the Forest Resource on Vancouver Island.”
Cain, Matt.
2019.
“What Shadows We Are, and What Shadows We Pursue”: A Study of Edmund Burke’s Influence on Canadian Political Culture.”
Chamberlin, Amy.
2022.
“Storying Living Memories about Indian Day Schools: Transforming Reconciliation.”
Felepchuk, William.
2022.
“Burial Places, White Supremacy, and Racial Necrogeographies in Eastern North America.”
Hoelke, Charlotte.
2019.
“I’m a Mountain Biking Vampire Witch From the Future!”: Queer Decolonial Killjoys in Queer Studies and Politics.”
Leibel, Miranda.
2022.
“Writing our Wrongs: ‘Justness’, Accountability, and Transparency in Provincial Child Death Inquiries in the Context of Neoliberal Settler Colonialism.”
Thompson, Michelle
2022.
“Material and Digital Identity Negotiation of Francophone Music Artists: Decolonizing Diversity-Focused Festivals in Canada.”
Valentine, John.
2016
“Football, Nationalism, and Protectionism: The Federal Defence of the CFL.”
MA
Bruni, Nathan.
2021.
“A Foundation of Hate: Linking Canada’s History of Settler Colonialism to Contemporary Canadian Right-Wing Extremist Groups.” (MRP)
Creba, Alison.
2018.
“ON SITE’: A heritage approach to working with and working through the demolition/deconstruction site: The case of Honest Ed’s/Mirvish Village.” (MRP)
Gray, Casey.
2018.
“Sites of Grave Meaning: the Heritage of Human Remains on the Rideau Canal.” (Thesis)
Kitzul, Kirk.
2018.
“I am Canadian, I am Colonial: Settler Moves to Complicity’.” (MRP)
Kubat, Breanna.
2021.
“Pearsonian Nostalgia: A Critical Examination of the Utility of Nostalgia as a Political Discourse in the 2015 Rebranding of the Liberal Party of Canada.” (MRP)
Lee, Sabre.
2019.
“Ngij and The Chenoo: Storying Disenfranchisement in the Indian Act.” (MRP)
Mallon, Jack.
2021.
“Colonial Idol and Criminal Effigy: Anti-colonial iconoclasm in twenty-first-century Canada.” (MRP)
Monatch, Monique.
2018.
“Digital Technology in Indigenous Culture.” (MRP)
Moran, Sidney.
2020.
“The Residential School “Monster”: Indigenous Self-Determination and Memory at Former Indian Residential School Sites.” (Thesis)
Murray, Nansen.
2020.
“Averting heritage loss by expanding conservation treatments: Defining policy for materials salvage for reuse and ruination, at Keno Hill, Yukon Territory, Canada.” (MRP)
Pelky, Victoria.
2021.
“Constitutionally Conflicting Bilingualism in Canada: An Analysis of Three Provincial Approaches to Separate French Education Following the Implementation
of the Official Languages Act.” (MRP)
Roussel, Garth.
2018.
“The Potential for Harm Reduction as a Strategy to Combat the HIV Crisis Affecting First Nations on Reserves in Saskatchewan.” (MRP)
Steed, Avery.
2020.
“Challenging the Narrative of Environmental Conservation: The Algonquin Land Claim and the Anti-Indigenous Politics of the Ad Hoc Committee to Save Algonquin Park & The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters.” (MRP)
Sun, Kelvin.
2021.
“Chinese Canadians and Our Sense of Belonging: Formal and Informal Barriers to Belonging in Canada.” (MRP)
Van de Sande, Janna.
2019.
“From Research “on” to Research “With”: A Historical Overview of Ethics Guidelines for Research with Indigenous Peoples.” (MRP)
Vaugn, Courtney.
2019.
“Reclaiming the Rapids: Evaluating the Reconciliatory and Decolonial Potential of Private Land Return.” (Thesis)
Zanussi, Darren.
2018.
“Podcasts as Pedagogy: Irreconcilable Indigeneity and Conciliation through Digital Spaces.” (MRP)
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.
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.
