Activities held in 2009
March: Historical Consciousness Seminar
Our program of events for 2009 opened on 10 March with a seminar at UOW on ‘Historical Consciousness and History-Making: Preliminary Findings from a Canadian National Survey and Some Australian Comparisons’.
The presenters were Jocelyn Létourneau, Canada Research Chair in Quebec’s Contemporary History, Laval University, and David Northrup, Associate Director, Institute for Social Research, York University. The discussant was Paula Hamilton, Co-Director, Australian Centre for Public History, University of Technology, Sydney.
The seminar explored the commonalities and differences between American, Australian and Canadian studies on the importance of the past, and how people engage the past in their daily lives. It discussed the ramifications of these studies for museum professionals, heritage workers, film-makers and anyone who presents history to the public.
April: Funding from the Government of Canada
CCAS received grants totalling $15,000 CDN from the Government of Canada, under the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade’s Understanding Canada Program. Grants included a Program Development Grant to support a range of activities over the next 12 months and a Student Mobility Support Program Grant.
May: Visit by Canada Research Chair in the Culture of Childhood
CCAS supported a visit to UOW by Professor Mavis Reimer, Canada Research Chair in the Culture of Childhood at the University of Winnipeg. Professor Reimer was in Wollongong to work with Dr Debra Dudek, CCAS Deputy Director and Lecturer in the UOW School of English Literatures and Philosophy, on a project on ‘Homelessness and Social Justice in Australian and Canadian Children's Literatures’. This project was supported by a University Internationalisation Committee International Links Grant.
July: PhD Travelling Scholarships Awarded
Having successfully applied for a grant under the Government of Canada’s Student Mobility Support Program Grant, CCAS awarded three $3500 Travelling Scholarships to PhD students enrolled at the University of Wollongong:
- Jennifer Heath of the Faculty of Informatics travelled to the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) in Oshawa, Ontario, in October 2009. While there, Jennifer ran a survey which is part of her comparative PhD study of Canadian-Australian general public views regarding secondary uses of medical data.
- Stephanie Kermode of the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, will to travel to Nova Scotia in January 2010, where she will spend three weeks working with Professor Martin Gibling, a respected fluvial geomorphologist, at Dalhousie University. This will provide valuable input to her PhD project, which will assess the impacts of predicted 21st century sea level rise on the lower Shoalhaven River.
- Catherine Wormald of the Faculty of Education travelled to Vancouver to attend the 18th World Conference on Gifted and Talented Education from 3 – 7 August 2009. While in Canada, Catherine also met with key Canadian researchers in order to understand why students who are gifted and also have a learning disability are not being identified in schools, and therefore not being provided with appropriate educational programs.
August: Visit of Professor Amy Mullin
CCAS supported the participation of Professor Amy Mullin, Chair of the Department of Philosophy, University of Toronto at Mississauga, in an International Conference on Vulnerability, Agency & Justice hosted by the Centre for Agency, Values and Ethics at Macquarie University, from 13-15 August. On 17 August Professor Mullin presented a seminar at UOW on ‘Children’s Development and Exercise of Autonomy’. The seminar was jointly sponsored by CCAS and the Philosophy Program in the UOW School of English Literatures and Philosophy.
August: Q & A Panel at the Possible Worlds Canadian Film Festival
On 24 August, CCAS Director, Professor Luke McNamara, chaired a Q & A session following the screening of ‘Before Tomorrow’, a film made by the Arnait Video Productions collective in Igloolik, Nunavut, which screened as part of the Possible Worlds Canadian Film Festival 09. Panellists included Inuit actor and filmmaker, Natar Ungalaaq, and Dr Ernie Blackmore, from UOW’s Woolyungah Indigenous Centre.
September: Performing Poetry Event
On 30 September CCAS combined with UOW’s Literature Identity & Culture research group, to support an event called ‘Performing Poetry’ at the Wollongong City Library. Several poets read from their own poetry, including Wadi Wadi elder Aunty Barbara Nicholson, celebrated Caribbean poet Olive Senior and local poet Paul Sharrad. There were also readings by students, UOW staff, members of the South Coast Writers’ Centre and friends.
October: Another Successful All Canada Day
CCAS hosted its annual All Canada Day at UOW on Wednesday 7 October, in co-operation with the Canadian High Commission and the UOW Study Abroad and Exchange Office.
The purpose of the day is to increase awareness among UOW students and staff about the opportunities that exist to make connections with Canada, whether in terms of study, teaching or research. Of particular relevance to academic staff members was the presentation by Mr Tony McKittrick, Manager, Academic Relations and Education Marketing, Canadian High Commission, on opportunities to access Canadian sources of research funding, including via the Government of Canada’s Understanding Canada Program. For students, an exchange seminar on studying in Canada was presented, and an information booth involving representatives from the Canadian High Commission, Study Abroad and Exchange and STA Travel, answered students’ questions. The day closed with an afternoon tea, which provided staff from the Canadian High Commission with an opportunity to meet informally with CCAS members, other UOW staff and Canadian students currently studying at UOW.
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