Canadian Studies at Trent

Canadian Studies at Trent ALAN WILSON The scene is familiar: a group of Canadian studies instructors enters a common room or faculty lounge before a working lunch; eyes turn, and the amused chatter begins. "Here comes the maple leaf squad"; "The House Un-Canadian Affairs Committee is in session"; "Don't they make a fine Canadian study!" Such friendly, even tolerant, banter is complemented by the stony silence of the True Disciplinarians, or by the whispered jibes of department chairmen who grumble that patriotism is the last refuge of the empire builders in an age of cutbacks. Canadian studies practitioners in many universities have become accustomed to encountering walls of amused contempt, scholarly indignation, or administrative jealousy. My own initial response was: "Interdisciplinary studies? Oh yes, that comes up about every twelve years, but fortunately its shelf life is short.'' I respect the critics, having shared most of their skepticism myself. They deserve an explanation of why once single-minded disciplinarians and tepid nationalists have found rewards in Canadian studies programmes. In this paper I speak largely of developments at Trent University, and I am not attempting to make a general case for "area studies." Jacques Barzun's criticism of area studies will stand: It produces what is called a ''vaudeville course," which has never taught anyone anything. The experts don't mesh, the students are bewildered and feel no central responsibility - they might as well attend a Forum....! detect a false practicality in the scheme of Area Studies ....A poor teacher trying to give European history is at least propped up by the textbooks he has chosen....But there are no textbooks in area studies and it may be a long time before a good one in each region can bewritten.l Barzun's strongest criticism of area studies Journal ofCanadian Studies Vol. 15, No.3(Automne1980Fal/) is that often one cannot penetrate to the level of intuitive knowledge of a foreign area where local values and cultural traits may challenge the foreigner 's understanding and sympathy. "It is bad enough when a friend asks what he should pack in his suitcase for a trip abroad; when he asks how to furnish his mind, wisdom stutters and is silent."2 Canadian studies, however, need not be the exercise in superficial cultural geography that Barzun dismisses so readily and so correctly. Canadian students in recent years have often reflected the usefulness of wide travel both in and beyond this country. The so-called 'mature student' forms an increasing proportion of our classes, as do 'stop-outs.' Although their experience may do little more than support Dr. Johnson 's observation that the only thing broadened by travel is the seat of one's pants, many older students are seeking some synthesis of their living and working experiences across Canada. They· also bring a sense of urgency about the country's state, its regions, and themselves. Even recent secondary school graduates have often worked and travelled widely in their summers and, with some introductory knowledge at first hand, they thirst for a more systematic evaluation of Canada's many regions and cultures. Their experience runs counter to Barzun's judgement that in most area studies courses, "The synthesis will not represent the instructor's mind but the imagined needs of very diverse students.''3 Canadians, like Americans , experience great territorial fluidity in their job patterns: the children of bank managers, service personnel, skilled welders, federal civil servants, resource scientists and technicians, even of the under-employed, may travel thousands of miles in their early years. Many experience directly the cultural differences of major areas from east to west, and increasingly from south to north. Such comprehensive geographic and cultural exposure frequently raises questions in their minds, questions for which they are often surprisingly well equipped to explore some possible answers. They are clearer in their ideas and in their curiosity than we may anticipate, and at Trent we have frequently taken their suggestions for curricular direction. Moreover, many of their 39 questions may not even be posed within the formal courses offered by a specific academic department . One argument for Canadian studies at the graduate school level may be that it may...