The Canadian Studies Program is pleased to introduce our undergraduate research apprentices for Spring 2024: Andrea, Lillian, and Dennis!
Under the supervision of Canadian Studies program director Richard A. Rhodes, the three students are working to develop a student-led "Intro to Canada" course. The class will give undergraduates an overview of Canadian society, history, and culture that is accessible to both Americans and Canadians. It will also engage with the challenges of defining "Canadian identity" in a nuanced and multifaceted way.
The students were selected through the Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program (URAP), which connects students with faculty mentors across campus working on specialized research projects. Each of the students demonstrated a passionate interest in Canada and talents in organization, leadership, or independent research.
This initiative is intended to expand teaching on Canada at UC Berkeley, which has long been only sporadically available. The Canadian Studies Program is not a teaching unit, so past courses on Canada at Berkeley, such as those taught by Canadian Studies founder Thomas G. Barnes, have relied on the initiative of specific faculty members and approval by outside departments.
The "Intro to Canada" course, as envisioned, will revive the spirit of Professor Barnes' classes, while modernizing the content and structure. The finished product is expected to be run through Berkeley's DeCal program. DeCals are student-led courses overseen by tenured faculty and offer real university credit. Intended to "democratize" education at Berkeley, they often cover subjects not included in the traditional curriculum. Additionally, the bottom-up nature of DeCals allows them to be particularly flexible and responsive to student interests. And because the course can be taught be undergraduates, it could be offered without relying on the availability of specific faculty.
Of course, our URAP apprentices are just at the beginning of their research process; nevertheless, we expect that if things go well, we will be able to pilot this course as early as Spring 2025. We look forward to bringing you future updates!