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Course Focus
Following is a focus on some of the Center’s most innovative courses, many of which take students to Canada as part of a true “field” experience. Read about these courses, their impact on the students, and the innovative faculty that have truly internationalized the UW student experience.
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Summer Quarter 2009 Québec Studies: An Urban Studies Perspective Fritz Wagner, Landscape Architecture |
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Spring Quarter 2009 Field Course to Québec Fritz Wagner, Landscape Architecture |
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Winter Quarter 2009 |
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Winter Quarter 2009 |
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Fall Quarter 2008 |
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Fall Quarter 2008 SISCA 600: Readings in Québécois History and Identity Syllabus Natalie Debray, Communication |
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Spring Quarter 2008 CFR 519: Conducting an Industry Performance Review Dorothy Paun, Forest Resources |
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Spring Quarter 2008 SISME 420: International Humanitarian Law Rick Lorenz, Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies |
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Spring Quarter 2008 UrbDP 470: Introduction to Urban Design Daniel Abramson, Urban Design and Planning |
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Winter Quarter 2008 SOC WF 405: Fieldwork Seminar Stanley de Mello, Social Work |
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Winter Quarter 2008 COM 478: Intercultural Communication Natalie Debray, Communication |
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Fall Quarter 2007 ENVIR 496: Special Topics: Comparing/Contrasting Two Rural Forest-Based Communities Thomas Hinckley, Forest Resources |
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Summer Quarter 2007 L ARCH 495: Comparative Urban Planning and Urban Design Fritz Wagner, Landscape Architecture |
Summer Quarter 2009
Québec Studies: An Urban Studies Perspective
By Professors Fritz Wagner and Regent Cabana
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| "I greatly appreciated the opportunity to travel to Québec to experience the geographical layout and culture of the cities of Montréal and Québec City and of the province as a whole. It is always beneficial to use study tours to gain knowledge to apply to our current studies and gain perspectives on different issues that we are facing in our own living environment." - Gilbert Wong (left in photo), graduate student in Landscape Architecture |
During our study tour this summer, in the province of Quebec, we visited two cities – Montréal and Québec. In each city, a number of professors, government officials and other urban experts gave lectures and tours. The course examined similarities and differences between US and Québec cities. We looked more particularly at current urban issues confronting communities in Québec. We studied the physical layout of cities, urban design and urban growth, problems related to the environment, governmental institutions as well as historical, social and cultural factors specific to Quebec cities. Students wrote a paper on a topic related to urban issues encountered in Québec.
The course also introduced the logic of comparative research in the social sciences and applied its theory and methodology to the study of Québec cities as compared to US cities. Its multidisciplinary and comparative character developed the ability to interpret and understand urban changes, changing demographics, and to analyze appropriate and sustainable strategies and policies to address urban problems in Québec and the US. Students gained a better understanding of economic, political, social, and cultural differences between Québec and the US.The course also helped them better understand the diversity of the contemporary urban world in Québec and the US and the importance of the social-cultural factors specific to each region and city in finding solutions to common urban problems. By the end of the course, students were more conversant in cross-border urban issues in Québec and the US.
Spring Quarter 2009
Field Course to Québec
by Fritz Wagner, Professor
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| Fritz Wagner, Landscape Architecture (center), with students and faculty from the NEXOPOLIS research seminar in Québec City in May 2008. NEXOPOLIS is a consortium of six universities from Canada, the US, and Mexico. Students spend one quarter or semester abroad studying urban issues and problems from an urban planning perspective. |
Fritz Wagner is Research Professor and Chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture and manages the Northwest Center for Livable Communities in the College of Built Environments. He has a long-standing interest in French-speaking Canada.
Fritz Wagner visited Montréal and Québec City this spring to discuss with faculty his Summer 2009 class to Québec. Because Canada's national and provincial urban and regional planning laws differ considerably from those in the US, it is important for US students to understand these differences and how they have created different living environments for Canadians. Moreover, the urban and rural forms developed from the various Canadian laws have, in many instances, created more sustainable and livable communities from the perspective of many urban critics. Students of urbanism need to understand these differences in planning US cities and how the Canadian regulations could possibly be used in the US context.
The field trip allowed Fritz to discuss details of the class with faculty members of the University of Laval and the University of Montréal. The discussions firmed up the course content on the comparative aspects of urban planning and design. This course adds yet another vehicle for curricular content enhancement at the Canadian Studies Center. While at the University of Laval, Fritz also gave a lecture on the cultural context of urban planning and design. It was well received.
This research trip was funded, in part, by funding from the Center’s Title VI grant, US Department of Education, Office of International Education and Graduate Program Services.
Winter Quarter 2009
Social Work Sojourn to Vancouver, British Columbia
by Stan de Mello, Professor and Morna McEarchern.
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| Students in SOC WF 312/405 spent a day in Vancouver visiting social service agencies and gaining a greater understanding of Canada-US differences in social welfare policy. At the end of the day the students relaxed at the Katmandu Café in Vancouver’s East Side where the owner introduced them to how food is a key component of social activism. |
Stan de Mello has been offering an annual student study-in-Canada opportunity to undergraduates in the School of Social Work since 2005. This year 27 students in SOC WF 312/405 Social Work Policy Practice/Fieldwork Seminar, travelled to Vancouver on 19 February 2009 where they visited numerous social service agencies. This year the courses were co-taught with Blake Kaiser, School of Social Work and Morna McEachern, doctoral candidate, School of Social Work. Morna is also serving as this year’s chair for the annual Canadian Studies Graduate Student Symposium.
Last month seniors from the School of Social Work headed to Vancouver to explore the differences between US and Canadian social services. The two of us, and Blake Kaiser, also with Social Work, accompanied the students.
We were met in Chinatown by Hayne Wai, a University of British Columbia instructor and President of the Chinese Historical Society. He gave us a walking tour of historic Chinatown while sharing his personal history with the students. Hayne introduced us to Alex Liu, executive director of Strathcona Employment Assistance Services, an agency that serves immigrant and refugee population immigrants in the Greater Vancouver. Alex, who is legally blind, described the complexity of being a immigrant with a disability in a leadership role in the Chinese community. We lunched in Chinatown at a vintage Vancouver Chinese village-style restaurant. During lunch Patsy George, CM, OBC, MSW, an inspirational social worker and community activist, spoke to the group. She encouraged the students to frame their daily social work practice within a larger global context.
Next we drove to the Native Education Center. We were welcomed with traditional First Nation singing. Our group was treated to bannock and tea and a tour providing the history of the school. The students exchanged ideas and gifts. The warm welcome, music, art, and architecture (the school is modeled on the traditional long house), were enhanced with moving personal stories. Kathleen MacKay, a social worker who leads a domestic violence prevention at Vancouver Hospital, also spoke to the group.
Finally, we had dinner at the Katmandu Café, on Commercial Drive. Owner Abi Sharma prepared a Nepali feast and described how his café serves as a community action center. An inspiring speech over dinner by David Cadman, Vancouver City Councillor, enlightened the group on issues of social and environmental sustainability and of community organizing and activism on a city-to-city level worldwide.
The students have been creating photo voice essays about the field trip describing how social services are organized and delivered quite differently in Canada. This trip provided a great opportunity to witness a direct international comparison.
This project was supported, in part, by funding from a Canadian Studies Center Program Enhancement Grant, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada.
Winter Quarter 2009
Arctic Sovereignty: A Ten-Week Crash Course
by Patrick Lennon, Student
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| The Task Force students were extremely fortunate to attend a lecture by former Nunavut premier, Paul Okalik, at a Carleton University alumni event during the Fact-Finding Mission to Ottawa. From left, front row, Nadine Fabbi (co-faculty), Jamie Stroble, Paul Okalik, Alison McKay, Patrick Lennon, Gus Andreasen, Andrew Schwartz. Back row, from left, Marta Schwendeman, Naama Sheffer, Julia Troutt, Kristen Olson, and April Nishimura. Mike Pinder Photography |
Patrick Lennon is a newly-minted alumnus of the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. He was one of 13 International Studies students enrolled in SIS 495C Task Force on Arctic Sovereignty taught by Canadian Studies Center Associate Director, Nadine Fabbi and Center Affiliate, Vincent Gallucci, Aquatic and Fishery Sciences. After graduation, Patrick plans to work and consider his options for graduate school.
During this past fall quarter, I was faced with the question that awaits every student in International Studies – which Task Force do you want to take? Task Force is our senior capstone project, where we work in groups to write a policy paper about a current issue. When I looked at the list of choices, one jumped out at me immediately – Arctic Sovereignty. It was a topic that I didn’t even know existed, but it encompasses several of my interests including international law and human rights, particularly the rights of indigenous peoples. And so, after an interview in which I correctly answered the entry exam question, that Stephen Harper is the Prime Minister, not President, of Canada, it began.
Most of us came to the course with little knowledge of the Arctic region. We received a brief but intensive introduction to the issues through a series of readings assigned over winter break. In the first weeks of the quarter, our group discussed the issues we had learned about and how we wanted to split up the topics. I was assigned, along with Emily Epsten, to write the chapter on North America and the Arctic. Canada and the United States both have significant interests there, so Emily and I dove in to the wealth of information from governments, academics, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). We chose to focus on the Northwest Passage, which runs through Canada’s Arctic archipelago, and is slowly opening to increased shipping as ice cover melts. The US and Canada dispute the legal status of the Passage, so we thought it would make the most interesting case study for our chapter.
Our thoughts about the Northwest Passage were supported when we visited Ottawa, Canada, as a part of the course. Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade funded this fact-finding mission for the students of the Task Force to enable us to meet with a variety of diplomats, government officials, and NGOs to learn more about their perspectives on Arctic sovereignty issues. While on the Ottawa trip, we heard about the Northwest Passage from every embassy we met with, as well as several Canadian federal departments. This made Emily and I even more certain that although the Northwest Passage is not a dispute that could turn violent, it is certainly the hottest issue for North America in the Arctic.
The Ottawa trip definitely refined our thoughts on the issue, because of the broad variety of perspectives we heard. But the trip was an amazing experience beyond just that. I had never been anywhere so cold, for starters! But we also learned a great deal about Canadian culture and politics. I have Canadian family, which is a large part of my interest in the topic of Arctic sovereignty, but even having grown up visiting Canada often, there was a lot to learn in this beautiful, bilingual capital city.
Since the trip, which took place at the end of January, we have all worked feverishly to write our chapters that, combined, created a 300-plus page report on how to resolve competing interests in the Arctic. Climate change, as it is impacting the Arctic, will affect the rest of the world, so we should all be involved in dealing with it. This course was a great introduction to the problem, and is a good start for exposing more Americans to what is going on in the North.
Task Force has been part of the International Studies major since the program’s inception in 1982. It operates much like a Presidential Commission or other investigating group whose object is to arrive at a set of policy recommendations. Arctic Sovereignty was one of seven Task Force issues offered in Winter Quarter 2009 and only the second Task Force to offer a fact-finding mission abroad to facilitate “on the ground” research. This program was funded, in part, by a grant from Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada and by a Title VI Grant, International Education Programs Service, US Department of Education.
Fall Quarter 2008
SMA / SISRE 555 Comparative Marine Business in the North Pacific
by Vlad Kaczynski, Professor
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| Professor Vlad Kaczynski (far left) and several of the students in the course SMA / SISRE 555: Comparative Marine Business in the North Pacific. From left, Ellis Moose, Jennifer Harkins, Anthony Kenne, Dawn Golden, Heather Lapin, Alisa Praskovich, and Jongseong Ryu. |
Professor Vlad M. Kaczynski is with the School of Marine Affairs and the Ellison Center for Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies, and is an Affiliated Faculty with the Canadian Studies Center. He specializes in comparative socio-economic and strategic studies of marine resource use and human activities in the ocean space. His specific interests have to do with polar issues, particularly with respect to changes taking place in the Arctic Ocean.
Marine economic relations in the North Pacific among Canada, Japan, Russia, and the US contribute to growing international economic integration, enhanced commercial cooperation, and collaboration in finding positive resolutions to emerging ocean resource use problems in the northern seas and coastal regions. The Arctic Ocean is increasingly an integral part of such relations and adds to their complexity.
In recent years, the extraordinary retreat of Arctic sea ice has focused renewed attention on the Arctic Ocean as a potential waterway for marine operations, both coastal and regional, and on the possibility of trans-Arctic navigation. With the acceleration of climate change in the Arctic, there is a growing emphasis on studies of marine resources and shipping as they play a vital role in protecting strategic interests of the Arctic coastal states, including Canada, US, Russia, Norway, and Denmark. Each nation must now define and defend its sea borders or claims to sea bottom areas in the Arctic Ocean, including off-shore oil and gas deposits, waterways, coastal lands, islands, and other natural assets.
Recognizing the importance of the region in UW’s academic curriculum, the Ellison Center for Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies and the Canadian Studies Center in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, along with the School of Marine Affairs, launched a graduate research seminar entitled “Comparative Marine Business in the North Pacific” in 2005. The seminar discusses the increasing economic interdependence between countries, changing business opportunities, and strategies adopted by the North Pacific coastal states, and also responds to student demands for more business-oriented courses.
The seminar attracts students from fields as diverse as Political Science, Geography, Global Trade, Transportation and Logistics Studies, Marine Affairs, and Russian Studies. Students develop research skills and study Pacific and Arctic issues while taking into consideration the role of Canada, as well as Canada’s marine relations with the US and other countries.
During Fall Quarter 2008, Meaghan Brosnan, Marine Affairs, studied potential climate impacts on the accessibility of Arctic energy resources and on boundary issues between the US and Canada. Susan Albrecht, International Studies, researched the Canadian Port of Prince Rupert, arguing that transport from this small Canadian community via rail to the US Midwest and Chicago would be considerably shorter than from US ports. Ellis H. Moose and Alisa L. Praskovich, Marine Affairs, also discussed the competitive edge of the Port of Prince Rupert in comparison to other ports, including Yokohama (Japan), Vostochnyi (Russia), and Tacoma.
The course was a great success, offering UW students the opportunity to expand the scope of their research to encompass the Arctic region, as well as to consider Canada’s unique role in the dialogues and disputes over Arctic shipping routes.
Fall Quarter 2008
SISCA 600 Readings in Québécois History and Identity
by Natalie Debray, Lecturer
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| Canadian Studies FLAS students attend the first inaugural Foreign Language and Area Studies Reception for the Jackson School of International Studies. From left, Erin Maloney, FLAS Fellow, Ethnomusicology, French; Daniel Hart, Chair, Canadian Studies; Dvorah Oppenheimer, Administrator, Jackson School; Tim Pasch, FLAS Fellow, Communication, Inuktitut; Julia Miller, FLAS Fellow, Linguistics, Dane-Zaa. |
In Fall Quarter 2008, Natalie Debray, Communication and former FLAS Fellow, provided an independent study to 2008-09 FLAS Fellow, Erin Maloney, Ethnomusicology to enable Erin to gain enhanced language acquisition while developing a stronger foundation in Québec history and culture.
This course examined key readings in Québécois identity construction, paying particular attention to the Québec-France relationship and how this has played in role in Québec nation-building efforts since the 19th Century. This course also provided definitions and concepts germane to Québec identity construction as discussed by significant scholars in the field of Québec studies, including La Survivance, Québecois de Souche, Pure Laine, La Conquete, among others. The aim of the course was to provide a foundation on which to build further research in Québec culture and identity. The course combined seminal readings in both French and English. Discussions of the readings were held in French.
Spring Quarter 2008
Graduate Research Team Explores Sustainability Performance in Canada, the US and Beyond
by Dorothy Paun, Professor and students Sean Cappello, Katie Fulkerson, Laura Pollan, Ravi Manghani, Carolyn Chen, Angie Gaffney, Brianna Noel Hughes, Eric Knoben, Violeta Orlovic, Elizabeth Tran, and Emil Morhardt.
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| Dorothy Paun and CFR 519 students. Front row: Professor Dorothy Paun, Katie Fulkerson, Liz Tran, Ravi Manghani. Back row: Violeta Orlovic, Laura Pollan, Sean Cappello, Carolyn Chen, Angie Montgomery, Brianna Noel Hughes, and Eric Knoben. |
Dorothy Paun's annual spring quarter research seminar, College of Forest Resources 519: Conducting an Industry Performance Review, provides a forum for UW students to affect positive change. Students unite under a common interest to explore financial, environmental, and social responsibility business activities and performance. The team includes undergraduate, master, and PhD students majoring in business, environmental science, law and a Hubert Humphrey Fellow.
Canada and the US share more than a long-standing, substantial bi-lateral trade relationship, and both share a concern about sustainability. As noted by Pettenger (2007), the Canadian government advocates that “no one country, acting alone, can solve the problem of climate change, but by working together towards a common goal the nations of the world can successfully address the challenge.” To explore cross-cultural dimensions of US and Canadian approaches to sustainability performance reporting, a pilot study was done in 2007. Two primary findings emerged: Canadian firms scored higher social responsibility performance while US firms scored higher environmental performance. Encouraged by these cross-cultural differences, the 2008 research seminar was designed to broaden the context of inquiry to include firms from around the world.
Increasing acknowledgement of climate change, emerging economies, population growth, and consumer awareness and activism have coalesced to make even the most conventional businesses think about new approaches like sustainability. Sustainability is meeting the current needs of people, businesses, and organizations without compromising Earth’s capacity to provide for future generations. This requires balancing environmental stewardship, financial prosperity, and social responsibility, an integration called the “triple bottom line.” Sustainability, previously considered more an ethical issue, has become a “business” issue. Businesses may be hesitant about adopting sustainable initiatives without sufficient information on financial implications like profitability and shareholder value. This research uses a triple bottom line approach in hopes of providing new business insights as well as incentives for more sustainable business practices.
Over the past two years, Dr. Paun’s research has worked on building a quantitative model of triple bottom line performance in order to provide a foundation for operationalizing the constructs of financial (e.g., return on equity, gross profit margin, debt to equity) social responsibility (e.g., occupational health and safety protection, employee equal opportunity, anti-corruption practices, community development and investment), and environmental performances (e.g., renewable energy use, recycling programs, water and waste reduction). The primary goal of her model is to investigate whether sustainable business practices influence corporate financial returns, and, if so, how (i.e., positively or negatively).
The 2008 spring quarter research seminar is in collaboration with Professor Emil Morhardt, Director of the Roberts Environmental Center at Claremont College. Morhardt developed the Pacific Sustainability Index (PSI), an assessment instrument for sustainability performance. From this PSI sample, we chose a sub-sample due for data access and consistency. Our sample consists of 78 firms from 18 countries (Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, and the US) and twelve industries (banking and insurance, chemicals, computing and office equipment, electronics, energy, food, forest products, metals and mining, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, transportation, and utilities).
The research findings, if analyses suggest correlations among financial, environmental, and social performance, could provide incentives for corporations to deepen commitments to business practices that lower environmental impacts, enhance corporate social responsibility, and improve shareholder value.
Spring Quarter 2008
Canada: Morality and Justice in the 21st Century
by Shirley Henderson and LinhPhung Huynh
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| Professor Andy Knight (front row), Political Science, University of Alberta, provides Canada’s perspective on humanitarian law in Professor Rick Lorenz (back row) course, SISME 420 International Humanitarian Law. Rick and Andy are joined by the members of the “Canada Team.” From left: Shirley Henderson, LinhPhung Huynh, Erina Aoyama, and Fiona Gillan. |
Morality and justice are frequently discussed norms in SISME 420, a UW course about International Humanitarian Law. Not coincidentally, Canada’s role in promoting humanitarian values has been part of this discussion. Canada is a world leader in promoting and establishing institutions that foster international humanitarian norms, including the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the Ottawa Convention to ban landmines.
Erina Aoyama, Fiona Gillan, Shirley Henderson, and LinhPhung Huynh did extensive research on Canada’s leadership in the aforementioned international institutions for their SISME 420 class presentations. As part of their research, the students met with Professor Andrew Knight of the University of Alberta. Professor Knight stressed Canada’s strength as a “norm entrepreneur.” He stated that Canada is heavily involved in many organizations, treaties, and conventions that promote human security as a norm. This is especially important as human security becomes increasingly threatened by the changing face of conflict in the 21st century, leaving women, children, and the unarmed vulnerable.
Canada and other medium-sized states are rallying the world around these moral standards. In contrast to the United States’ use of hard power, Canada believes in the effectiveness of soft power, motivating others through ideas, values, and persuasion. This is an important lesson for the future of US foreign policy as soft power is proving itself increasingly effective, showcased in the achievements of the ICC and the Ottawa Convention.
Professor Andy Knight’s visit was made possible by funding from the University of Alberta and the Center’s US Department of Education, Title VI grant.
Spring Quarter 2008
Urban Design and Planning Course Studies Vancouver Models
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| Vancouver city planners and community leaders take their Seattle counterparts and UW students in the Urban Design and Planning course on a tour of Vancouver's historic Chinatown. |
Dan Abramson, Assistant Professor in Urban Design and Planning, led his class in Urban Design and Planning 470: "Introduction to Urban Design," to the Historic Chinatown of Vancouver, BC, on Friday-Saturday, April 25-26. Sixteen out of 20 enrolled students in the course attended, most of them at the Masters level. The class was accompanied by representatives from the City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, the Seattle Chinatown-International District Preservation and Development Authority, and the International District Housing Alliance, as well as postdoctoral visiting scholar from Israel.
The activity was the latest in a series of exchanges Professor Abramson has coordinated between the Chinatown communities of Seattle and Vancouver, and groups of students from the UW. The exchanges have focused on how preservation and revitalization planning and policy for historic Chinatowns in North America can better include the perspectives and experience of ethnic Chinese immigrant associations.
On this exchange, UW and Seattle visitors toured a number of Vancouver's historic Chinatown Society Buildings, heard presentations by the Society owners, by the Vancouver city planning staff on policy for Chinatown, and by Canadian architects Sandra Moore and Inge Roecker on preservation and rehabilitation design strategies for the buildings. The Canadians completed this round of the exchange by visiting Seattle in early June and making presentations to a larger Seattle audience.
This field course to Canada was made possible, in part, from a Center Program Enhancement Grant, Foreign Affairs, Canada.
Winter Quarter 2008
School of Social Work Course to Canada, Stan de Mello, School of Social Work
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| School of Social Work students pause for a group photo in Vancouver where they were able to compare Canadian social work approaches with US models (far right, Stan de Mello). |
Stan de Mello teaches in the School of Social Work and takes students on regular field trips to Canada (British Columbia and Alberta) to explore social work practices across the 49th parallel. Stan is interested in community-based practice in First Nations communities and cross-cultural social work in Canada. The course is co-taught with Blake Kaiser also with the School of Social Work. As a clinical social worker Blake has a keen interest in how social work practice has evolved in Canada. She has been involved in several field trips to Vancouver that have enriched her teaching and research interest in cross-border social work practice.
This past Winter Quarter Blake Kaiser and I took 21 students from the School of Social Work to Vancouver, British Columbia, on a field trip. We wanted the students to explore the multicultural roots that bind our two nations and to compare social work approaches across the 49th parallel.
After crossing the border we headed to Chinatown where we were met by our host, Hayne Wai, President of the Historical Society of Chinatown. Hayne is an instructor with University of British Columbia’s School of Social Work and is on the faculty of Education. In addition, he has been a long-time community activist in Vancouver. This was a historically opportune time to visit Chinatown as one hundred years ago Vancouver was rocked by race riots. The city was founded in the early 1900s as destination for Asian and European communities who arrived to make a new life. (Of course, First Nations people were already well established on the West Coast.) The riots were the result of a history of anti-Asian sentiment. For example, the Asiatic Exclusion League protested the presence of migrants from China, Japan and India. In 1907 the Labour Day weekend march rapidly deteriorated into violence and extensive property damage in Chinatown and Japantown. The origins of these riots can also be traced to Bellingham where earlier five hundred Punjabi workers were attacked by white protesters in an effort to drive them back into Canada.
Our group was able to retrace some of the key sites of the riot and visit Shanghai Alley and Canton Alley that were the economic and cultural centers of the early Chinese community. Hayne described how subsequent waves of Asian migration (including a moving account of his own family’s experiences) left unique contributions to the social and cultural fabric of the city. At the same time the stress and strains of multiculturalism have given rise to the ongoing challenges to both Canadian-born and immigrant populations. Our tour continued with a wonderful lunch in Chinatown and then a visit to the eastside of the city and a tour of Britannia Community Center, a multi-purpose social service facility. Once again we examined how contemporary social services approaches have been mediated by our respective social, cultural and political contexts. Our visit concluded with a dinner at the Katmandu Café where we heard from Vancouver Hospital social worker Kathleen Mackay, explaining how the hospital works on issues of domestic violence within a multicultural context.
In reflecting upon their visit, students seemed impressed with the diversity and differences between our countries as well as many similarities that both enrich and challenge us.
“The trip was amazing! I was surprised at how large and culturally expressive their [Vancouver’s] Chinatown was especially as I am a resident of Seattle’s international district … What I found most useful … was the group talk we had … about the current status of Canada’s racial and political positioning.” – Joshua Johnson, student participant
“Prior to our visit I was completely unaware of the deep rooted history the Chinese have in Canada … I hope that what I have learned from this trip to Canada will continue to motivate me to become a better social worker and a better person.” - Suzanna Chen, student participant
Funding - This field course to Canada was made possible thanks to a Canadian Studies Center Program Enhancement Grant from Foreign Affairs, Canada.
Winter Quarter 2008
Evening Degree Course on Québec, Natalie Debray, Communication
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| "Professor Debray’s lectures and in-class discussions on Québec illustrated how language can shape histories and identities. It was moving to experience the evolution of our class from a textbook environment into a study of how people communicate their values and interact with one another… and what is at stake for those individuals, communities and nations." - James-Olivia Avigail, double major in Humanities and English in the Evening Degree Program |
Stan Natalie Debray earned her doctorate in Communication at the UW in 2007 and also holds an MA in International Studies. Her area of expertise is International Communication with an emphasis on media and cultural identity, intercultural communication, and communication and international relations. Her dissertation compared Canadian and Québécois media coverage of significant historic events to determine their influence on cultural and political identity. Natalie has received numerous awards including a Foreign Language and Area Studies award from the Center to study French and Québec culture and history.
How do Canadian and American citizens differ in their values? Is the French spoken in France the same as the French spoken in Québec? These are just some of the questions raised by students this quarter in the course, COM 478: Intercultural Communication.
The course examined the theoretical components of Intercultural Communication by putting the spotlight on our Canadian neighbors. The students are often quite surprised at how different Canadians and Americans really are. Through dynamic examples gleaned from my years traveling and researching Québec and Canada, I let the students know that we do not have to look very far to experience a completely different world. Multicultural and bilingual Canada is fertile ground for studying cultural diversity.
Set against the backdrop of globalization, the course examined the various ways that culture influences communication; how cultural identity is formed, and how this knowledge can foster an appreciation of diversity while creating savvy and culturally competent communicators. The students especially appreciated the lectures on history and language, where I used the concept of diaspora to illustrate how the vastly different histories of Canada and Québec contributed to the Canadian society that exists today – and the conflict that this has often engendered. For example, the students learned that Canada recognizes two distinct Canadian histories, one English and one French, and Canadians are often at odds over who really 'discovered' Canada.
The course also placed a particular emphasis on the importance of language and cultural identity. The students learned why the fight to preserve the French language in Québec is so important. Even Starbucks was no match for Bill 101 – the influential and strict language law designed to preserve the French component of Québec Society. The students were quite surprised to learn that homegrown Starbucks had to alter its well-known moniker if it wanted to open a store in historic Québec. Known as Café Starbucks Coffee, the coffee shop looks similar to one you would see in Seattle, but the French flair of its name gives some indication of the significance between language and culture.
For these students, mixing a little bit of history with a taste of cafe au lait has been a superb way to learn about Intercultural Communication.
Fall Quarter 2007
Environment Course to Canada, Tom Hinckley, College of Forest Resources
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| Funding – The course received significant funding from a National Science Foundation Grant, Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship entitled, “Multinational Collaborations on Challenges to the Environment,” and from a Center Program Enhancement Grant from Foreign Affairs, Canada. |
Professor Tom Hinckley spent seven days (September 16th to 22nd) with UW students exploring issues of land management and stewardship in the face of bark beetles, climate change, fire, invasive organisms, and legacies of failed or inappropriate land management approaches. These factors have combined to produce major environmental issues in both countries. However, the perception and solutions to these problems vary depending upon national and regional differences and how land is owned or allocated and managed. The course focused on the environment around Loomis, Washington and Kamloops, British Columbia where students had the opportunity to see these problems first hand and to talk with a wide variety of stakeholders.
The students spent their first day walking into Horseshoe Basin in the Cascades and into the heart of the 2006 Tripod Complex Fire and in the remaining days met with 13 different stakeholders. On the Canadian side of the border representatives from the Kamloops Indian Band, the British Columbia Ministry of Forestry, the City of Kamloops Parks and Recreation, Sun Peaks Resort and the Thompson River University all provided presentations.
The breadth of the perspectives made a marked impact on the students. “I was inspired by John Jules,” said Joanne Ho, a graduate student participant from Forest Resources. (John Jules is the Director of Cultural and Natural Resources for the Kamloops Indian Band.) “I thought it was great how he looked at each issue as separate, and understood the complexity of how each issue is intertwined with the whole problem … In his words, there is something positive in everything if one chooses to see it that way. I am very impressed by that and inspired to think of ways to deconstruct borders, given the constraints we face.”
The course provided the students with insights into the challenges of decision and policy-making in a bi-national ecosystem and how differing Canadian and US values and laws can impact the effectiveness of environmental management.
Summer 2007
Urban Planning Course to Québec, Fritz Wagner, Landscape Architecture and Régent Cabana, Université Laval
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| Funding – This course was made possible, in part, thanks to funding from the Center's Québec Pacific Northwest Initiative Grant, Québec Government, Canada. |
Régent Cabana has more than 20 years of experience in international academic programs and international relations either as an officer for the foreign service of the Québec Government or as a coordinator of academic programs abroad. He is the Program Director of URBANA and NEXOPOLIS, two consortia of universities in Mexico, Canada and the United States that support student and faculty exchange programs abroad. ?The College of Architecture and Urban Planning is the recipient of a four-year Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE).
The six universities of this trilateral consortium include Université Laval in Québec City and Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada. The consortium NEXOPOLIS is developing a comparative program of study in the area of central city revitalization. The program allows students from the United States, Canada, and Mexico to become knowledgeable in the area of comparative urban studies with regard to central city revitalization and related issues while working toward completing their degrees in Mexico or Canada. The grant included a field course to Québec.
This past summer, Professor Fritz Wagner, Chair, UW Landscape Architecture, and I, and eleven UW students from diverse disciplines such as urban planning, landscape architecture and architecture studied a variety of urban issues in Montréal, Québec City and the Charlevoix region. We met professors, government officials and other urban experts for lectures, tours and discussions during a 10-day study tour of the province of Québec.
The course, L ARCH 495: Comparative Urban Planning and Design—Canada and the US, examined similarities and differences between cities in the two nations. The students looked more particularly at current urban issues confronting communities in Québec. They studied the physical layout of cities, urban design, urban growth, problems related to the environment, governmental institutions as well as historical, social and cultural factors specific to Québec cities.
By the end of the program, students had gained a new perspective of Québec and Canada as well as a better understanding of economic, political, social and cultural differences between the two countries—all key factors in making decisions relating to urban planning. They now possess a wider perspective from which to think creatively about solutions to improve urban living conditions in our neighborhoods, cities, regions, and countries. The students also gained access to a wide network of academic and professional contacts on urban issues in Canada and the United States better preparing them to enter the North American job market.
Congratulations to the following students Architecture?who received $200 scholarships from the Center’s Pacific Northwest Québec Initiative Grant, Québec Government, to participate in the program, Eriko Kawamura and Christopher Sung-Hey Kwong (Architecture); Becky Chaney, Brian Gregory, Christine Plourde and Eric Streeby (Landscape Architecture); Ming-Yi Hsu and Nicholas Kindel (Urban Design and Planning); Joyce Chen and Calder Danz (Anthropology); Myles Brenner (Political Science).
“Understanding how history (the relationship between French and English in Canada) has influenced the city structure and development is my biggest gain from this Québec Studies trip and will influence my future studies.” ?— Christopher Sung-Hey Kwong, Architecture
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