The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on the potential of the internet for many aspects of daily life, from health to education. For Canadian Studies affiliate Dr. Heather Hudson, however, this knowledge is nothing new: she says communication technology as a lifeline for many communities for a long while. Dr. Hudson’s research over the past few decades has largely centered on communication technology in rural and remote areas, including Indigenous communities in Canada.
Dr. Hudson completed her B.A. at the University of British Columbia, and her M.A. and Ph.D. at Stanford. She has taught at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of San Francisco, and is currently affiliated with the Institute of Social and Economic Research at the University of Alaska Anchorage. In 2015, Dr. Hudson was a Sproul Fellow with the Canadian Studies Program and a Visiting Scholar in the School of Information. She described her time at the University of California, Berkeley as having been highly collaborative and interdisciplinary, and credits her experiences in the Canadian Studies Program as being helpful in extending her network across the university. We sent current Hildebrand scholar Kimberly Huynh to catch up with Dr. Hudson, to learn more about her work and current research projects.
What are you currently working on?
My interests for a long time have been how people can use communication technology for development, especially in rural and remote areas. At the moment, I'm primarily working with some Canadian Indigenous organizations in trying to get better broadband for remote communities in the North. I've helped them as an advisor and consultant. I’ve also been an expert witness before the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.
I'm very interested in comparing developments in Canada and in Alaska in terms of communication policy and access to technology, and internet, especially in broadband. I've also done some work with the Internet Society on a review of what we know about the impact of broadband for Indigenous communities. And I'm continuing to do some work with them on some projects: one in Hawaii and one in a village in the Northwest Territories in Canada.
The other part of what I've been doing is on Indigenous people as providers of information services, especially in Canada. I’m working with a group called the First Mile Connectivity Consortium, and their goal is to help small and Indigenous organizations provide services in their community so they can be providers and not just consumers. So some of them are running their own community ISPs and cell service, and collaborating with government agencies to provide distance education and telemedicine for remote communities. They have developed innovative solutions instead of relying on big outside companies that don't have an incentive to extend services there or to hire and train local people.
Could you share a bit more about the importance of internet access in Indigenous communities?
In Canada, many Indigenous students from remote communities must go away to a high school in a distant town or city and do not finish high school. Often they drop out, and therefore don’t have the qualifications to apply for jobs or training. With access to the internet, as adults they can finish high school in their communities. Alaska is a little different. In Alaska, any community with at least 10 school-age students must offer K-12 education. So the schools are there, but there are very few teachers to cover all the grades. Online supplemental material, whether it's AP courses or languages or science or music–subjects that aren't available in the village–help high school students complete and enrich their studies. Telemedicine has been very important in Alaska for a long time. Research on a NASA experiment to get reliable voice service to Alaska village clinics was the first project I worked on in Alaska after grad school. So telemedicine is nothing new in Alaska. It's just interesting to see how it's finally taking off elsewhere, and how important reliable connectivity is for health services in Alaska and northern Canada during the coronavirus pandemic. I have written a book called Connecting Alaskans on communications in Alaska which also has some content on the Canadian North.
How have your experiences with the Canadian Studies Program impacted your work?
The John A. Sproul Fellowship fellowship was a great opportunity. In addition to receiving a Sproul Fellowship, I was also a fellow at the School of Information so it was a very useful combination because the I-School does a lot of work in communication, information policy, and new technology applications and effects. The Canadian Studies program had connections with other researchers interested in the North, and in other fields in Canadian Studies that I was interested in but hadn't specialized in. So I think the resources of the Canadian Studies, the I-School, the Law School, Public Policy school, as well as the Canadian Studies colloquia, helped me extend, connect, keep up to date, and make new connections. It's not only the people in Canadian Studies who've had an impact but also the friends of Canadian Studies who come to talks and other events. The Canadian Studies program was also a way to get involved with the Canadian consulate in San Francisco and their staff and resources.
What is an interesting facet of your work that you would like to share with friends of the Canadian Studies Program?
What people seemed most interested in when I gave talks at Berkeley was Canada’s experience in communication. The Arctic is getting a lot of attention in involving Indigenous people in not only using technologies but also getting the skills to invest in or manage their own services, and to get skilled jobs in technology and communication. There are interesting comparisons with Alaska where I've spent a lot of time with other parts of the North, including northern Scandinavia. I’ve also done research and planning on communication projects in developing regions of sub-Saharan Africa, the West Indies, and the South Pacific.
Do you have any advice or suggestions for students at UC Berkeley?
Cast your net wide. As an undergrad, it's a great opportunity to try to explore and see what you're interested in. Even if you know which field you think you want to pursue, try classes to explore other subjects or to complement your major. And attend public lectures by Berkeley faculty and visiting scholars. Canadian Studies talks and activities are an excellent example. Once you get to graduate school, you're digging deeper in your field, but there are still opportunities to reach out and explore.