News & Events
Spring 2012
Who "Owns" the Arctic?: An International and Interdisciplinary Conference
The conference videos are available here.
Photos from the conference are available here.
The Magestic Arcti: photos by Brooks de Wetter-Smith are available here.
Professor John Thompson invited to the University of Saskatchewan
Professor John Thompson, former chair of the Duke History Department and Director of Canadian Studies, has been invited to the University of Saskatchewan as a Visiting Fellow in the Fall of 2012. Thompson is retiring this summer after a distinguished career at McGill and Duke Universities. He will return to Duke to teach a Canadian History course in the Spring of 2013.
During his visit, Thompson will give a lecture in Prof. Waiser's Prairie History survey class about the political culture of the northern plains on both sides of the border and a public lecture to the Saskatoon community on his current book project on baseball history. He will speak to MFA students in the Writing program about his experience writing "Heritage Minutes" and his work writing popular history for television and film audiences. Heritage Minutes, also known officially as Historical Minutes: History by the Minute, are sixty-second short films, each illustrating an important moment in Canadian history. They appear frequently on Canadian television and in cinemas before movies.
University of Saskatchewan historian Bill Waiser is sponsoring this visit with a Linking Fellowship grant from the Interdisciplinary Centre for Culture and Creativity. Prof. Waiser, well known for his books on Saskatchewan and Native history, and his wife, Dr. Marley Waiser, an environmental scientist who works on aquatic ecosystems, were Visiting Canadian Studies Scholars at Duke in February and March of 2011, and will be returning to Duke in March 2013.
The Duke Center for Canadian Studies hopes to continue faculty exchanges with the University of Saskatchewan in the future.
Dick Gordon speaks with Mary Simon, who grew up in a rural trading post and now represents 55,000 Canadian Inuit. Simon participated in the "Who Owns the Arctic?: An International and Interdisciplinary Conference" on March 28, 2012.
A talk by Prof. Patrick Leroux*, as part of the Wednesdays at the Center Series
April 11| 12:00pm | John Hope Franklin Center, Rm 240
Sponsored by The Center for Canadian Studies with support from the Office of Global Strategy and Programs
*See below for the biography of Professor Leroux.
Associate director Stephen Kelly responds to questions posed by Duke Magazine (March-April 2012 issue).
Fuqua MBA students selected to participate in the Canadian Leadership Orientation Program at the Tefler School of Management at the University of Ottawa.
Congratulations to Matthew Hartley and Scarlett Harrod, who are among twenty students from top U.S. MBA programs selected to participate in a week long, all-expenses paid program at the Tefler School of Management at the University of Ottawa.
The State of Things with Frank Stasio
Frank Stasio interviews Michael Byers and Susan Crate about the Arctic. Byers and Crate participated in the "Who Owns the Arctic?: An International and Interdisciplinary Conference." on March 28, 2012.
Top 5 Reasons to Care about the Arctic
Apurva Dave with Duke's Ocean Policy Working Group discusses the future of the Arctic.
Steve Kelly, Associate Director of the Center for Canadian Studies writes an op-ed piece featured in
the Opinion Pages of The New York Times.
Steve Kelly, Associate Director of the Center for Canadian Studies is intereviewed by Sun Network in Canada.
Why Americans should love Canadian oil
Steve Kelly, Associate Director of the Center for Canadian Studies shares his thoughts on oil and gas in an
op-ed article published in The Globe and Mail.
Who "Owns" the Arctic?: An International and Interdisciplinary Conference
This conference will explore diverse issues related to Arctic energy, resource management, and security from U.S., Canadian, Russian, Western European, and other perspectives.
March 28 | 2 - 6pm | FedEx Global Education Center | UNC - Chapel Hill
Organized by the Center for Slavic, Eurasian and East European Studies at UNC - Chapel Hill and
the
Center for Canadian Studies at Duke University.
Top 5 Reasons to Explore Quebec Culture
Jane Moss, director of the Center for Canadian Studies, offers her Top 5 reasons to explore Quebec!
"Where the river meets the sea: on the road in contemporary Quebec cinema"
A talk by Prof. Katherine Roberts*, as part of the Wednesdays at the Center Series
January 25 | 12:00pm | John Hope Franklin Center, Rm 240
Sponsored by The Center for Canadian Studies with support from the Office of Global Strategy and Programs
*See below for the biography of Professor Roberts.
Quebec Film Series
January 31 | Route 132 | Griffith Theater | Bryan Center | 7:00pm
Sponsored by The Center for Canadian Studie and The Program in Arts of the Moving Image
Route 132 | 113 mins
Louis Bélanger (2010)
This film tells the story of two old friends - Gilles (François Papineau), a college professor, and Bob (Alexis Martin), a small-time crook. The two reconnect by chance at a time when Gilles is trying to cope with the death of his son. Together they come up with a plan to knock off several banks in the countryside. As they leave Montréal and set out on Route 132, they visit several of Gilles's family members who have also suffered losses. In a surprising reversal, the two friends switch roles - Gilles, throwing all caution aside, and Bob, taking on a more respectable role. The exchange between the two characters and the contrast between the city and country combine to diminish the sentimentality of the story and create a comical tone. This film was shown at the Cannes, Kalamazoo (MI), Montréal, Palm Springs, Toronto, and Waterville (ME) Film Festivals. Route 132 received three Genie Awards and won a Jutra Award for Best Music.
January 30 | Heartbeats | Griffith Theater | Bryan Center | 7:00pm
Co-sponsored by The Center for Canadian Studies and The Program in Arts of the Moving Image
Les Amours Imaginaires | Heartbeats | 95 mins
Xavier Dolan (2010)
This film presents a very modern love triangle. Two good friends - Marie (Monia Chokri) and Francis (Xavier Dolan) - meet Nicolas (Niels Schneider) at a dinner party and both become romantically interested in him. Critics and audiences alike praised this second feature film by the twenty-something director of the smash 2009 hit J'ai tué ma mère (I Killed My Mother). Shown at the Cannes, London, Rotterdam, and Toronto Film Festivals, Heartbeats received four Canadian Genie Awards, the Youth Prize at Cannes Film Festival, and was the winner of the Jutra Award for the Most succesful film outside of Québec.
January 23 | Incendies | Griffith Theater | Bryan Center | 7:00pm
Co-sponsored by The Center for Canadian Studies,The Program in Arts of the Moving Image, DISC, and DUMESC
Incendies | 130 mins
Denis Villeneuve (2010)
Based on Wajdi Mouawad's stage play, Incendies, and adapted by the award-winning director Denis Villeneuve and Valerie Beaugrand-Champagne, this film tells the story of twins who journey to the Middle East to fulfill their mother's last wishes. The journey leads them to the discovery of their mother's past during the 1970s Lebanese Civil War, a father thought to be dead, and an unknown brother. It is an emotional journey that tests their strength, courage, and understanding. Incendies received ten nominations and eight Canadian Genie Awards, nine Québec Jutra Awards, and was Canada's nominee for Best Foreign Film Oscar in 2010.
Fall 2011
Former Director of Canadian Studies Passes Away
Dr. Clark R. Cahow, a former Director of the Center for Canadian Studies, passed away on December 14, 2011. Aftre serving in the military during World War II, he was admitted to Duke University where he received his A.B, B.D, A.M, and Ph.D. He was the Registrar at Greensboro College until returning to Durham and Duke 1960. He was the Associate Registrar from 1960 to 1969 and became University Registrar in 1969, a position he held until he became Director of Canadian Studies in 1986.
During his Duke career, Dr. Cahow wore many hats, often simultaneously. In addition to the position of University Registrar, he was Director of Admissions (twice), Vice Provost for Admissions and Financial Aid, a full professor in the Department of History specializing in U.S. and Canadian Constitutional History, and Director of Canadian Studies. He continued to teach as Professor Emeritus until retirement in 2002, as his abiding love in his chose profession was always his students Many of his students stayed in touch over the years, sharing their personal and professional successes with him.
A Staged Reading by David Yee and Q&A Session
David Yee, of Chinese and Scottish ancestry, was born and raised in Toronto. In addition to being a playwright, Yee is an actor and Artistic Director of fu-Gen Asian-Canadian Theatre Company.
October 27 | 7:30pm | Bryan Center, Rm 127 (Rehearsal Studio, behind Sheafer)David Yee's visit is made possible with the assistance of the department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies,
the Asian American Alliance, the Asian Students Association, the Center for Canadian Studies, the department of English, the program in Sexuality Studies, the Theater Studies department, and the Program in Women's Studies at Duke University.A Conversation with Chris Sands
Christopher Sands is a Senior Fellow at Hudson Institute, where he specializes on Canada and
U.S.-Canadian relations, as well as North American economic integration.
October 5 | 4:00pm | John Hope Franklin Center, Rm 240 | Read articleSponsored by the Center for Canadian Studies
"Exploring violence comitted by women: Karla Homolka as a case study"
A Talk by Professor Sylvie Frigon*, part of the Wednesdays at the Center Series
September 21 | 12:00pm | John Hope Franklin Center, Rm 240 | iTunes U podcastSponsored by the Center for Canadian Studies and the Program in Women's Studies at Duke
*See below for a brief biography of Professor Frigon.
Visiting Canadian Scholars
Stephanie Bolster, Concordia University
Stephanie Bolster's first book, White Stone: The Alice Poems, won the Governor General's Award and the Gerald Lampert Award in 1998 and appeared in French in 2007. She has also published two other poetry collections, Two Bowls of Milk and Pavilion, and recently completed a fourth, which draws much of its inspiration from zoos. She has published several chapbooks, including Past the Roman Arena and the Cedars of Lebanon, Biodôme, Inside a Tent of Skins, Portraits of Alice, and Three Bloody Words. Her poems, essays, and book reviews have appeared in many literary magazines and poetry anthologies in Canada and abroad. Bolster is the editor of The Ishtar Gate: Last and Selected Poems by the late Diana Brebner and The Best Canadian Poetry in English 2008, and co-editor of the recent anthology Penned: Zoo Poems. Raised and educated in Vancouver, she now lives in Montreal and teaches creative writing at Concordia University.
Sylvie Frigon, University of Ottawa
Sylvie Frigon holds a Ph.D. from the Institute of Criminology at the University of Cambridge, UK. She is professor of the Department of Criminology at the University of Ottawa. She has co-edited (with Michèle Kérisit) a collection of essays entitled Du corps des femmes: Contrôles, surveillances et résistances (2000) at the University of Ottawa Press. In 2002, she also edited a special issue on women and confinement in Canada for the journal Criminologie entitled Femmes, enfermemement au Canada: une décennie de réformes at the University of Montréal Press and a book L'homicide conjugal au féminin: D'hier à au'jourd'hui published in 2003. In 2006, she also published a novel entitled Écorchées on the issue of women in prision. This first fiction is being adapted to the theatre.
She has recently completed three research projects: 1) with Chris Bruckert on the social and professional re(integration) of women in conflict with the law; 2) on employment and women and with Véronique Strimelle; and 3) for Status of Woman Canada on the issue of mental health of women during and after imprisionment. Her book on dance, the body and imprisonment with Claire Jenny, choreographer and director of the Parisian dance company "Point Virgule" was published in 2009. Her children's novel "Ariane et son secret," on a little girl's quest for her mom who is in prison was published in 2010. Professor Frigon has been awarded the Faculty of Social Sciences' Teaching Excellence Award (2010-2011).
Professor Frigon will spend two weeks at Duke in mid-September.
Louis Patrick Leroux, Concordia University
Dr. Louis Patrick Leroux is an associate professor in both the Department of English and Département d'études françaises at Concordia University in Montreal. He is a member of the Hexagram Institute for research/creation in media arts and an Artist-in-Residence with Matralab. He is also the founder and animator of the Montreal-based international Working Group on Cirque/circus research.
He earned his Ph.D. in Theatre from the Université de Paris III-Sorbonne nouvelle after having obtained a DEA from the same institution, a DESS in Arts Management from the École des Hautes Études Commerciales de Montréal, and a BA in Theatre and French Literature from the University of Ottawa.
His academic research has focused on self-representation in Québec drama, cultural discourse, and the Cirque du Soleil. Dr. Leroux has published widely in journals such as L'Annuaire théâtral, Cahiers de théâtre JEU, alt.theatre, Québec Studies, Spirale, and Voix et images. In 2010, Concordia awarded Dr. Leroux its Emerging Scholar Award in the Strategic Cluster "The Person and Society." He was also awarded the 2010 Prix Jean Cléo Godin for exceptional scholarship in theatre and performance studies published in French.
A playwright, producer, and director, he founded Ottawa's Théâtre la Catapulte and co-founded La nouvelle scène, a theatre production space. Over thirty of his plays, radio plays and film scripts have been performed at various venues in Canada. Selected published plays include Le Beau Prince d'Orange (Le Nordir, 1994; ADEL, 2008), Implosions (Le Nordir, 1996), Tom Pouce, version fin de siècle (Le Nordir, 1997, 2006), Le rêve totalitaire de dieu l'amibe (Le Nordir, 2003), Ressusciter (ADEL, 2004), Antoinette et les Humains (ADEL, 2004), Everything is True! (Delirium, 2006), Ludwig & Mae (Talonbooks, 2009), Se taire (Prise de parole, 2010).
His research-creation focuses on multidisciplinary theatre production and playwriting. While teaching at Concordia, he has held artist residencies at Théâtre du Nouvel-Ontario, Collective Sigh, and Matralab. At Matralab, he developed Dialogues fantasques pour causeurs éperdus (2007-08), Se taire in collaboration with Théâtre du Trillium in Ottawa (2008-09), and his current three-year (2009-12) Fond de recherches scientifiques (FQRSC)-funded research-creation project, "Hypertext and Perofrmance: A Resonant Response to Joanna Baillie's Witchcraft," a project he has undertaken in collaboration with faculty members from McGill University and Université de Montréal. He also holds a "nouveaux Chercheurs" FQRSC grant for research on the Cirque du Soleil's presence in America with its growing number of permanent productions.
Dr. Leroux supervises gradute students in English (literature and creative writing), French Studis (literature, research-creation, literary translation), Interdisciplinary Studies, and the Ph.D. in Humanities.
Kenneth Meadwell, University of Winnipeg
Kenneth Meadwell is Professor of French Studies at the University of Winnipeg, where he has served several terms as Department Chair. He holds degrees in French Literature from the Universities of Manitoba and Toronto. He has publised on experimental Quebec writers Réjean Ducharme, Gilbert LaRocque, and Marie-Claire Blais, as well as on western Francophone writers such as J.R. Léveillé and Nancy Huston. During his time at Duke, he will continue his research on "Otherness" and the francophone novel of Canada and plans to begin work on the use of memory in the construction of identity in the works of "écrivains migrants," such as Ying Chen.
Katherine Ann Roberts, Wilfrid Laurier University
A specialist in Canadian and Quebecois literature and culture, Dr. Roberts teaches in both the French and North American Studies programs at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario. She has published widely in scholarly journals on Quebecois women's writing, Quebec nationalism and more recently, on Canadian western writing and masculinity in 1960s North American film.
Her current research project "The Need for Here: Space and Place in North American Culture since NAFTA" explores manifestations of the local in recent Canadian and American narrative culture. Along with studies of the representation of the US-Canada border, new Canadian Western fiction and the trans-border imaginary of Pacific Northwest American writers, this project will involve an in-depth look at the Quebecois road movie.
Dr. Roberts will spend two weeks at Duke in January/February 2012.
Partnerships
The Center for Canadian Studies partners with the Raoul Dandurand Chair at the University of Quebec in Montreal.
Created in 1996 and attached to the Université du Québec à Montréal, the Raoul Dandurand Chair is a French-language research center offering a conducive environment for the pursuit of research and dissemination of findings, supporting the advancement of knowledge and the training of students in strategic and diplomatic issues. It has four centers: Center for United States Studies, Center for Peace Missions and Humanitarian Studies, Center for Geopolitical Studies, and Center for Middle East and North Africa Studies.
Créée en 1996 et située à l'Université du Québec à Montréal, la Chaire Raoul-Dandurand en études stratégiques et diplomatiques est une structure de développement et de diffusion de la recherche qui permet l’avancement de la connaissance et la formation des étudiants sur les questions stratégiques et diplomatiques. Elle compte quatre Observatoires : Observatoire sur les États-Unis, Observatoire sur les missions de paix et opérations humanitaires, Observatoire de géopolitique, Observatoire sur le Moyen-Orient et l’Afrique du Nord
