The WCFIA Canada Program Seminar is off the record, free and open to the public, and chaired by Professor Gérard Bouchard, the 2008-09 William Lyon Mackenzie King Visiting Professor of Canadian Studies. The seminars listed below are subject to change, and more may be added at a later date.

All seminars, unless otherwise noted, will be held in Tsai Auditorium, Room S010, CGIS South, 1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

Spring 2009

Monday, February 9, 4-6 p.m.
Inter-Ethnic Relations in Québec: The 'Accommodations Crisis' and the Bouchard-Taylor Report
Gérard Bouchard
WLMK Chair, professor of sociology, University of Québec, and Charles Taylor, professor of philosophy, emeritus, McGill University.

Discussants:
Christopher Bail, WCFIA Graduate Student Associate
Eric Kaufmann, Belfer Center Fellow, Kennedy School of Government

Monday, February 23, 4:30-5:30 p.m.
The Current and Future Priorities of Québec for International Relations with the United States
The Hon. Jean Charest
Premier of Québec

Diversity Seminars

Six Public Lectures on the Democratic Management of Ethnic Diversity: Canada, the Netherlands, England, the United States, Québec and France

In most of the Western world, nations have been destabilized lately by new forms of immigration. As opposed to the familiar patterns of the past, many newcomers nowadays are not prepared to relinquish their culture, or to quickly assimilate to the traditions, rules and ways of the host society. In parallel, a growing sensitivity to human rights has led to the criticism and, often, the rejection of old authoritative models of forced assimilation. As a result, Western nations have been challenged to cope, and the responses, so far, have ranged between broad options: Either to change and adapt the old policies, or to reinforce them. In this context, heated debates have emerged over basic issues such as: the nature and future of the social link, the patterns of collective integration and its philosophical underpinnings, the fate of national myths and narratives, the place of religion in public life, and so forth. In order to feed a comparative reflection upon those major topics, the Diversity Seminars offer the opportunity to review six case studies illustrative of the variety of both the situations and the responses to the diversity challenge.

Thursday, February 26, 4-6 p.m.
Charles Taylor (Canada)
Professor of philosophy, emeritus, McGill University

Monday, April 13, 4-6 p.m.
THIS IS A RESCHEDULED EVENT
Frank Lechner (The Netherlands)
Professor of sociology, Emory University
Note: This seminar will be held in the Bowie Vernon Room, WCFIA, 2nd floor, CGIS Knafel, 1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

Thursday, March 5, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.
Ethno Religious Assertiveness out of Racial Inequality
Tariq Modood (England)
Professor of sociology, politics, and public policy, University of Bristol (UK)
Note: This seminar will be held from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., in the Bowie Vernon Room, WCFIA, 2nd floor, CGIS Knafel, 1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

Monday, March 9, 4-6 p.m.
Diversity and its Discords
Nathan Glazer (The United States)
Professor of sociology, Harvard University
Note: This seminar will be held in the Belfer Case Study Room, Room S020, CGIS South, 1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

Thursday, March 12, 4-6 p.m.
Between Multiculturalism and Assimilation
Gérard Bouchard (Québec)
WLMK Chair, professor of sociology, University of Québec

Monday, March 16, 4-6 p.m.
Pierre Rosanvallon (France)
Professor of political history, Collège de France
Note: This seminar will be held in the Bowie Vernon Room, K262, CGIS Knafel, 1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

Monday, April 6, 4-6 p.m
Topic: Tales from the Frozen North: Success Co-existing with Failure in Health and Human Development
Clyde Hertzman
Director, Early Learning Project, University of British Columbia
Note: This seminar will be held in the Bowie Vernon Room, WCFIA, 2nd floor, CGIS Knafel, 1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

Fall 2008

Tuesday, October 14, 9 p.m. - 1 a.m.
LIVE BROADCAST - CANADIAN FEDERAL ELECTION
Note: This event will be held in Cambridge Queen's Head, Memorial Hall, Cambridge, MA 02138

Wednesday, October 15, 4-6 p.m.
The Three Faces of Canadian Identity
Philip Resnick [bio]
Professor of Political Science, University of British Columbia
Note: This seminar will be held in Tsai Auditorium, Room S010
CGIS South, 1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

Thursday, October 23, 4-6 p.m.
Multiculturalism, Anti-Multiculturalism and Post-Multiculturalism: New Debates on Citizenship and Diversity in Western Societies
Will Kymlicka [bio]
Canada Research Chair in Political Philosophy at Queen's University
Note: This seminar will be held in Room S020, CGIS South, 1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

Monday, December 1, 4-6 p.m.

Truth and Consequences: Aboriginal Reconciliation in Canada
Bruce Granville Miller
Professor of Anthropology, University of British Columbia

Native Sovereignty and Identity
Roger L. Nichols
Professor of History and American Indian Studies, University of Arizona

Contemporary Indigenous Issues in Quebec: Collective Memory and the Colonial Legacy
Denys Delage
Professor of Sociology, Laval University, Quebec

Note: This seminar will be held in K262, the Bowie Vernon Room, CGIS Knafel, 1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

SPRING 2009

Monday, February 9
Inter-Ethnic Relations in Quebec: The "Accommodations Crisis" and the Bouchard-Taylor Report
Roundtable Discussion
Location: TBA

Monday, February 23
Jean Charest
Premier of Quebec
Topic: TBA
Location: TBA

Diversity Seminar Program

Six Public Lectures on the Democratic Management of Ethnic Diversity: Canada, the Netherlands, England, the United States, Québec, and France

Thursday, February 26
Charles Taylor (Canada)

Monday, March 2
Frank J. Lechner (Netherlands)

Thursday, March 5
Tariq Modood (England)

Monday, March 9
Nathan Glazer (U.S.)

Thursday, March 12
Gérard Bouchard (Québec)

Monday, March 16
Pierre Rosanvallon (France)

Note: the Diversity Seminar Program Lectures are from 4-6 p.m., in Tsai Auditorium, CGIS South, 1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

Contact Information

Clayton, Helen