The Canada Program, made possible by the William Lyon Mackenzie King endowment, presents rich intellectual opportunities for Canadian studies at Harvard: graduate and undergraduate courses offered by distinguished visiting Canadian scholars across the social sciences and professional schools, dissertation grants for Harvard graduate students, thesis research and travel funding for Harvard undergraduates, a vibrant seminar series of esteemed Canadian guest speakers, and an annual faculty-led conference.

The endowment was established in 1967 following a campaign spearheaded by David Rockefeller, who wished to honor William Lyon Mackenzie King (1874-1950), a great friend of his father, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. A Harvard graduate, King was deputy minister of labour in Canada when, in 1914, he was recruited as an industrial consultant tasked with brokering an agreement between management and labor workers at the Rockefeller-controlled Colorado Fuel and Iron Company. According to Harvard's Directory of Named Chairs, a dispute between management and labor had resulted in “a long, bitter and bloody strike against the company.” And, “[w]hile Rockefeller hoped King would help extricate his company from a labor dilemma which he believed had been badly handled, he had a larger purpose in urging the Rockefeller Foundation to use the Colorado situation as a means of recommending a plan of broad application to industrial relations generally.” King managed the situation, helped amend public perception of Rockefeller, and produced a book for the Foundation, Industry and Humanity (1918). After a time as industrial adviser to a number of American utility and extraction firms, King returned to Canadian politics, where he took leadership of the Liberal Party and went on to serve Canada as prime minister for a collective 22 years.

In 1967, the president of the University of Toronto, Professor Claude T. Bissell, was named the first William Lyon Mackenzie King Visiting Professor of Canadian Studies. Michael Bliss, the distinguished Canadian historian, author, and former University of Toronto professor, was Bissell's research assistant at the time. Their year at Harvard was, Bliss recently noted, “one of the happiest years of our lives.”

Ruth Phillips, professor of art history and Canada Research Chair in Modern Culture at Carleton University, is the 2009–2010 William Lyon Mackenzie King Chair. Professor Phillips, appointed through the Harvard Department of History, will be teaching “The Museum in Settler Society: Imperialism, Nationalism, Pluralism” (fall 2009) and “Visual Culture, Translation, and Indigeneity in the Great Lakes” (spring 2010). Professor Phillips will also chair the Canada seminar series and organize a research conference in spring 2010.

In 2009–2010, the Canada Program is also hosting the first William Lyon Mackenzie King Research Fellow, Alison Mountz, assistant professor of urban geography from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. Professor Mountz teaches two courses through the Department of Government: “Fire and Ice? Border Politics and Governance of Immigration in Canada” (fall 2009) and “Political Geography” (spring 2010).

In 2009–2010, the program is granting more than $50,000 to fund dissertation research for six graduate students—some of whom are engaged in research concerning government, law, sociology, education, and urban design—who are known as Canada Research Fellows.

Gérard Bouchard, professor of sociology at the Université du Québec at Chicoutimi, was the 2008–2009 William Lyon Mackenzie King Visiting Professor of Canadian Studies. In May 2009, Professor Bouchard organized the conference “Whither National Myths: Reflections on the Present and Future of National Myths.” And in spring 2009 the Program, with Harvard's Department of Government, co-hosted the Canadian political philosopher Charles Taylor.

The Canada Seminar, chaired by the William Lyon Mackenzie King Visiting Professor, offers presentations by public figures, scholars, artists, and experts in various fields, and provides a forum for the lively exchange of ideas on a wide range of issues. Guest speakers of the seminar have included former prime ministers Pierre Trudeau and Jean Chrétien, Hall of Fame hockey player and former Toronto Maple Leaf President Ken Dryden, Supreme Court Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella, and film director and producer, Norman Jewison.

The director of the Weatherhead Center is the program's faculty chair.

Related Links

• 2009–2010 Canada Program Affiliates
• Canada Seminar
• Funding: Canada Program Fellowships for Dissertation Research
• Funding: Canada Program Undergraduate Thesis Research Grants
• William Lyon Mackenzie King Chairs
• 2008-2009 Canada Program Research Fellows