The Friday Files - news to inform and inspire
Did you ever ask yourself how the humble brown beaver, or the majestic moose, came to be great Canadian icons? Alice Higgs might know! This week we invite you to join us in congratulating one of Sheffield University's newest PhDs, Dr. Alice Higgs, whose uniquely Canadian research offers the first systematic study of the fictional representation of animals in Canadian literature since 1960. It examines the way in which literary accounts of animal lives, and human relationships with them, open up new ways of understanding Canadian settler identity and settler-Indigenous relations.
To do this, Alice explored a diverse range of Canadian literatures, such as settler fiction, war fiction, immigrant fiction and First Nation fiction, to examine how the multicultural makeup of Canada’s literary canon produces different ways of approaching animals.
The authors in focus are Farley Mowat, Margaret Atwood, Marian Engel, Timothy Findley, and Gail Anderson-Dargatz. The thesis develops a theoretical framework that draws from a diverse range of material, from Donna Haraway to Susan Sontag to Kim TallBear, and analyses the determining force of specifically settler Canadian perceptions of space and critical reconfigurations of established knowledge about animals and human encounters with them. The thesis advocates for a centering of Indigenous knowledge and a move towards care and empathy in establishing human-animal relations and determining environmental policy in Canada.
Thanks to Canada-UK supporters interested in this field of research, we have provided Alice with a PhD scholarship since 2017. Speaking to us recently about her award, Alice said, "not only has this award been instrumental in allowing me to carry out the research, but the research community that you are introduced to through the Foundation has been astounding. There are so many events to get involved in and to broaden your awareness of the Canadian research projects happening here in the UK. The Foundation has been an excellent support to me and I'm very grateful to have received this award for my research."
For more information about Alice's research or supporting scholars like Alice, you are warmly welcomed to be in touch.
The Canada-UK Foundation is delighted to collaborate with the British Museum on their upcoming exhibition "Arctic: culture and climate", on view from 22 October. We are pleased to make available a small number of private Friends, Members and Family tickets for the morning of October 28. 2020. On this morning, we will be showcasing the Arctic Alive map, a gigantic circumpolar map designed to provide a stimulating look at the Arctic region in an interactive manner. Sure to engage children and adults alike, Arctic Alive has now been seen by more than 70,000 UK school children who have learned about the Canadian Arctic.
Kiliii Yuyan (b. 1979), Umiaq and north wind during spring whaling. Inkjet print, 2019. © Kiliii Yuyan.
Warmest thanks to the British Museum for making these complementary tickets available to our readers and Canadian community. Please register via the Foundation or the British Museum.
For more information on the British Museum’s Arctic exhibition, click here, and for more information about the Canada-UK Foundation’s Arctic Alive map please visit our dedicated website. UPDATE: Local regulations around COVID may impact this event, so we ask that you please verify conditions on October 27.
"Decolonizing is a lot like the word healing. It is different for everybody, everyday, there is no final end point, and it is not easy. Nobody knows exactly what it looks like, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't work towards achieving it" says Ta7talyia Michelle Nahannee. Nahanee, a member of the Squamish nation, is preparing for "Unpacking Systemic Racism: Decolonize First", a Hollyhock workshop about truth, reconciliation and healing and we're excited to join the learning programme.
Hollyhock, a Canadian retreat centre based on Cortes Island, British Columbia, offers programmes designed to bring life to their vision -- that we live in right relations with ourselves, each other, and nature, and understand the deep interconnection between these.
Speaking of the Unpacking Systemic Racism workshop, Nahanee explains further, "colonialism refers to dominion over peoples and dispossession from their territories, while neocolonialism refers to ongoing economic, political and social oppression... moving beyond neocolonialism means moving beyond saying, 'well that happened a long time ago, it has nothing to do with me. I didn't have any control over what my Ancestors said or did.' " As we all continue to learn how to create a more just and equal society, teachings such as these provide important perspectives, and we urge you to check them out.
Learn more about Hollyhock's upcoming online Canadian education programmes here. Learn more about the intensive Decolonize First workshops here.
Over the next few weeks, we look forward to introducing you to our trustees and volunteers. In the spotlight this week is the Chair of our Board, William Swords. William is a senior business leader with over 30 years of international banking experience, predominantly with Canada’s Scotiabank where he led their Corporate Banking origination and risk management activity in Europe. William is also the immediate past President of the Canada-UK Chamber of Commerce, current Vice President and Co-Chair of their International Trade Forum, Chair of the Canada-UK Foundation, a Corporate Director and a Fellow of the Institute of Directors. William is a sought-after speaker on trade, commerce and banking topics. In his spare time William loves to sail, ski, and follow rugby, and reluctantly has had to accept that he can only beat his son in the first sport because that involves a lot of sitting down!