Call for Papers: Diversity in/of/around Canada - Interdisciplinary Approaches to Canadian Diversity

Nachwuchsforums der Gesellschaft für Kanada-Studien - Emerging Scholars Forum of the Association for Canadian Studies - Forum des Jeunes Chercheur-se-s de l'Association d'études canadiennes

“Diversity is Canada’s Strength”—the title of Justin Trudeau’s address in London on 26 November 2015 —poignantly summarizes many Canadians’ self-image and how Canada presents itself to the world. In a time of increasingly xenophobic, antagonistic and racist tendencies, the idea of diversity seems promising. Generally, diversity has always been a key component of Canadian society, beginning with the culturally diverse Aboriginal peoples, whose history reaches back more than 12,000 years. In the course of European expansion, colonialism and migrations, one could argue that Canada’s population has become ever more heterogeneous. Today, a diversity of religions, ethnicities and identities, the French and English dualism, as well as modern migration phenomena and subsequent diversity management by regional and federal governments invite reflections on societal diversity in Canada—to name only a few aspects.

The concept of diversity remains contested not only as an attempt of describing the social realities of a heterogeneous population, but also as part of political, social, educational, historical and business practices.
Thus, the conference “Diversity in/of/around Canada” offers a forum for constructive discussions and networking among emerging scholars. Participants are invited to present their ongoing research on topics related to diversity in Canada and exchange and discuss their ideas with colleagues and interested guests.

We invite advanced master students and doctoral students of all research fields connected to Canadian Studies to submit proposals in English, French, or German. Participants are called upon to propose either a short conference presentation (12 minutes) or a poster based on their master’s thesis or dissertation topic.

Possible subjects include, but are not limited to

• Diversity in Canadian politics and Canada’s international relations

• Relations of identity and diversity in Canadian society, politics or history

• Historical dimensions and developments of diversity in Canada

• Anthropological perspectives on diversity in Canada

• (Translations of) diversity in Canadian literature, film and other arts

• Diversity in Canadian (cultural) geography

• The relevance of diversity conceptions for Canadian Indigenous Studies

• (Handling) diversity of language and communication in Canada

Please submit your proposals, either an abstract for your conference presentation (max. 250 words) or a description of your planned poster presentation (max. 150 words), as a PDF. Please include a short CV (max. one page). Please send your proposals to enning[at]uni-trier.de and schira[at]uni-trier.de by May 30, 2021.
Successful proposals must be clearly relevant to both the conference topic as well as Canadian Studies. Papers and posters should be suited for an interdisciplinary audience. They may present works in progress or published research results. You will hear back from us at the beginning of July 2021.

The conference will be held on-site at the University of Trier unless the development of the coronavirus pandemic hinders meeting in person—we will update participants on all changes.

For more information: https://www.eventbrite.de/e/nachwuchstagung-diversitat-invonum-kanada-2021-tickets-124974061783