Centre for Canadian Studies - Modules

Craig Dobbin Professor Modules:

ENG32470 - Climate Change & the Canadian North, Autumn 2020/2021

Until recently, the Arctic was perceived as an eternal, unchanging physical and imaginary landscape, the ultimate North in a northern nation. Canadian representations of the North reflected the vast unchanging whiteness of the Arctic in the imagination with works such as Glenn Gould’s “Idea of North” and concepts like Louis-Édmond Hamelin’s nordicité defining both the conditions of being northern and the states of mind produced by the North. Climate change has transformed the Arctic, both in reality and in the imagination, from a land of eternal ice and snow to a fragile environment in need of protection. In this seminar, we will study the impact Arctic climate change is having on Canadian culture.

ENG10190 - Imagining Canada: An Introduction to Canadian Studies, Spring 2020/2021

This module introduces students to Canada by examining its social, cultural, economic and political development. It examines the nature and character of Canadian institutions, communities, values and cultures. Through a variety of texts and lectures, it explores how Canada emerged as a diverse and multicultural nation from the earliest times to the present day. When Europeans arrived in what is today Canada, they encountered indigenous societies with which they initially collaborated but that relationship changed as Europeans became colonizers and settlers. Indigenous culture (past and present) is one aspect of Canada considered in this module that will also include conflict (and accommodation) between the dominant British and French cultures as well as the impact of new immigrant cultures. The module will also consider the development of political culture and regionalism as well as changing relationship between state and citizen in Canada’s development. Throughout much of its history Canada has felt it had to be vigilant about the impact of the American influence on its culture and this module also considers how the state has attempted to both protect and promote Canadian identity and culture.