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Parting words from former FLAS fellow Ellen Ahlness

January 11, 2022

Former FLAS fellow Ellen Ahlness (Inuktitut, 2018-2021) recently shared the following words about her experiences with the Canadian Studies Center:

“I credit my experiences with the Canadian Studies Center, and the Arctic and International Relations program, as shaping my path to where I am today. The faculty, staff, and graduate students in the center are proficient and dedicated people who prompt similar commitments to excellence in the students and visiting faculty who work with them. Most importantly, it is managed by truly inspiring people, the kind of leaders who demonstrate what it means to be someone who finds purpose, joy, and success in what they do. On the professional side, the ethnographic and Indigenous-centric methods, in addition to language training, that I learned in courses and center programming were integral in preparing me for my current research job in the federal government. On the personal side, the friendships made over years of center language courses together have been, and continue to be, invaluable.” — Ellen Ahlness, PhD, Political Science, 2021