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Over $2 million awarded to University of Washington-Western Washington University partnership to expand understanding of Canada and U.S.-Canada relations

September 29, 2018

In September 2018, the University of Washington Canadian Studies Center, which is housed at the UW Jackson School of International Studies, in partnership with the Center for Canadian-American Studies,Western Washington University (WWU), received over $2 million in Title VI grant funding from the U.S. Department of Education. The award includes a National Resource Center grant to strengthen teaching, research and outreach about Canada, and a Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowship grant for UW graduate students to study French and Indigenous languages spoken in Canada. The Center was one of six in the Jackson School to receive a Title VI grant.

One of the first Jackson School Task Force courses on Canada in 2011.

One of the first Jackson School Task Force courses on Canada in 2011. Students traveled to Ottawa to meet with representatives from the Government of Canada, Inuit organizations and Canadian scholars.

The Title VI grant program is administered by the International and Foreign Language Education office with the mandate to strengthen foreign language instruction, area/international studies teaching and research, professional development for educators, and curriculum development at the K-12, graduate, and postsecondary levels.

UW and WWU will use the funding to strengthen the minor in Arctic Studies, develop a new minor in Salish Sea Studies and faculty line in Indigenous studies of the Salish Sea (WWU), enhance study-in-Québec opportunities for students and educators and continue to develop curriculum materials for the study of the Inuit language.

“It is the strongest Canadian Studies program in the country, offering courses, training, field-based opportunities, study abroad opportunities that are not offered anywhere else,” wrote one official reviewer in their remarks on the Title VI grant proposal.

The Canadian studies centers at UW and WWU have received a Title VI grant since the mid-1980s. UW and WWU form the Pacific Northwest National Resource Center (NRC) on Canada, one of two Title VI funded NRCs in the country. The grant will fund the Center through the 2022 academic year.

Expanding Canadian studies
The proposal for enhancing Canadian Studies in Washington state and beyond was due in large part to the dedication of our many colleagues who proposed courses, research and programs to advance a better understanding of Canada and the Canada-U.S. relationship. The following lists those colleagues and their proposed activities.

Teaching/course development

  • Alexina Kublu, former Languages Commissioner for Nunavut, Canada, and Mick Mallon, linguist, instruction, ARCTIC 101, 102, 103: Inuktitut: The Inuit Language
  • Jason Young, UW Information School, instruction, ARCTIC 200: Indigenous Diplomacies and International Relations
  • Robert Pavia, UW School of Marine and Environmental Affairs, instruction, ARCTIC 391/HONORS 394: Climate Change – An International Perspective: Science, Art and Activism
  • Elena Campbell, UW Department of History, course development, History of the Circumpolar World
  • Myron Fryberg Jr., Northwest Indian College, development of area of concentration in Indigenous trade and economies in the Pacific Northwest, Tribal Governance and Business Management Program
  • Thomas Murphy, Edmonds Community College, instruction, Tribal Canoe Journey to Canada, Learn and Serve Environmental Anthropology Field School

Programs/educational materials/collections

  • Charlotte Coté and Dian Million, UW Department of American Indian Studies, conference support, The Living Breath of wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ: Indigenous Foods and Ecological Knowledge Conference
  • Augustine McCaffery, UW Graduate School, conference support, Native Organization of Indigenous Scholars Graduate Conference
  • Kathryn Bunn-Marcuse, UW Burke Museum, program support, First Nations Visiting Artist Program
  • Sarah Breslow, UW Center for Creative Conservation, research, Social Science for the Salish Sea: An Action-Oriented Research Agenda for Ecosystem Recovery
  • Russ Hugo, UW Language Learning Center, instructional materials, Inuktitut Training Module, Level 2; documentary video; Inuktitut website
  • Erica Dingman, Director, Arctic in Context, World Policy Institute, participation in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies’ International Policy Institute, Arctic Fellows Program
  • Jean-François Arteau, Kesserwan Arteau, Montréal, participation in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies’ International Policy Institute, Arctic Fellows Program
  • Consul General of Canada, Seattle, conference support, Arctic Capabilities Conference and annual lecture, Canada in the World
  • Government of Québec, Québec Government Office in Los Angeles, annual lecture, Québec in North America
  • Ryan Hauck, Global Classroom Program, World Affairs Council, professional development workshop, Emerging Issues in the Arctic Region
  • Ross Burkhardt, Boise State University, and Gary Wilson, University of Northern British Columbia, Pacific Northwest Canadian Studies Consortium, conference support, Annual General Meeting/Symposium
  • Morna McEachern, Northwest Canadian Studies Consortium, faculty professional development workshop support, Columbia River Treaty
  • Tamara Leonard, Center for Global Studies, Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, professional development program, Community College Master Teacher Institute
  • Hedwige Meyer, UW Department of French and Italian Studies, development of professional training workshop, Québec and Francophone Canada in the Classroom for UW in the High School faculty
  • Siôn Romaine, UW Libraries, Canada collections

In addition to our colleagues mentioned above, we would like to thank the following for their invaluable assistance: Robyn Davis, Dvorah Oppenheimer, Sarah Guthu, Monick Keo, Haley Taylor Manning, Joseph Choe, and the staff at the UW Office of Sponsored Programs.

About UW-WWU Canadian Studies Title VI Grant leadership
At the University of Washington, Professor Richard Watts, Department of French and Italian Studies, is the faculty director for the Canadian Studies Center and Principal Investigator of the Title VI grant, which are housed at the Jackson School. Dr. Nadine C. Fabbi serves as Managing Director; Marion Ferguson as Manager for the Corbett Scholarship exchange program and Robyn Davis, Director of Fellowships, manages the Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships.

At Western Washington University Christina Keppie serves as faculty director; Natalie Baloy as Assistant Director; Kyla Sweet as K-12 Educational and Curriculum Specialist; and Chuck Hart as Program Manager.