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To.. .......... .MembersofSenate 

Subject ?

Canadia.Studie 

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The attached paper represents a recommendation from the Academic Planning 

Committee for the establishement of a program in Canadian Studies. The 

paper has been circulated to departmental chairmen and through them to their 

respective faculty members for information and comment. 

Brian Wilson 

:ii

att. 

RECOMMENDATION: 

That a program in Canadian Studies be established and incorporated into 

the Division of General Studies. 

BACKGROUND DATA: 

The Forces Which Gave Impetus to the Development of this Proposal: 

This proposal arises directly out of a basic concern on the part of 

many of the faculty at this University that Simon Fraser, growing as 

rapidly as it did and recruiting faculty from all over the world, does not 

present as much of the Canadian cultural experience to its students as is 

desirable. In recent years there has developed in this country a fresh and 

valuable kind of Canadian consciousness. In part this consciousness is 

revealed in an increased interest in Canadian studies as evidenced by more 

offerings and larger enrolments in Canadian courses, by more conceptions 

or actual births of Departments of Canadian Studies in Crnada and in the 

United States, by the founding 

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recently of two more Canadian University 

Presses, by the founding and success of the Journal of Canadian Studies, 

and by the recent advocacy of the C.A.U.T. for Canadian course content. 

The general object of these* developments is to bring Canadian and non- 

Canadian students to an understanding of the Canadian cultural heritage. 

Unfortunately, this University has not kept pace with these developments. 

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The following extract is taken from a "Report on the Present State of 

Canadian Studies at Simon Fraser University", presented to President 

K.T. Strand on 19th November 1969 by a group of twenty-four faculty 

members who were concerned about the lack of Canadian content courses 

being offered at the undergraduate level: 

"The working group is concerned that Simon Fraser is not adequately 

fulfilling its function as a University within the Canadian milieu. 

Several fields of study, among them Canadian literature in both 

English and French, Canadian history, geography, sociology, economics 

and ecology find their terms of reference within the nation that this 

University serves. Our concern is that these studies are not stressed 

as they might be at Simon Fraser University." 

"The University has a responsibility to provide students with an 

understanding of their own culture and country. If the University 

does not actively accept this social role, but rather constitutes itself 

as marginal to the local and national community, if it does not provide 

an education with roots in the society, the result is not only a serious 

cultural impoverishment for the student but also a neglect of one of 

the University's basic functions, that of providing an adequate education 

for its Canadian students." 

* See "Canadianization and the University" C.A. U.T. Bulletin, October, 

1969, 

pp.

42-43. 

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"For these reasons, we would like to point out the scarcity of under- 

graduate course offerings in the field of Canadian Studies. ( You will 

note that there are only eleven total Canadian content courses offered 

in the entire University, and of these only four are outside the 

Department of History.) At the moment we do not offer full courses on the 

Canadian economy or society. Furthermore, Canadian literature (English 

wtd French) is not given as regularly as is customarily the case at Canadian 

universities. There are no specific Canadian content courses offered in 

either the Faculty of Science or Education. Without exception, all departments 

should be offering more Canadian content courses. Furthermore, the calendar 

does not indicate the real limitations of our present programme since 

many courses are listed but are offered infrequently." 

"We would respectfully remind Sente that Universities across Cnada 

are attempting to fulfill their responsibilities to the national 

community and suggest that Senate review Departmental course offerings 

encouraging an increased emphasis on Canadian Studies. Finally in order 

to remedy outstanding deficienc.es 

and to establish interdepartmental 

programmes, we would urge Senate to establish a programme of Canadian 

Studies." 

We could best summarize the forces which gave impetus to this proposal 

as a desire on the part of concerned faculty for students to be able to 

come to "know themselves" as Canadians. Ourbasic premise is that Canada 

is unique because of the unique set of problems which have developed 

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from its law, its cultural pluralism, its history, its geography, its 

government, its way of coping with survival and expansion. Equally, 

of course, some of these problems Canada shares with other industrialized 

countries and some Canadians share with all mankind. Since Canadian 

higher education generally concentrates on these problems which Canada 

shares with others, a clear need exists in post-secondary education 

for examination of the uniqueness of Canada and Canadians. The extent 

to which Cnnadians are aware of their identity as Canadians depends on 

the degree and breadth to which they comprehend their unique problems and 

are willing to contribute to their solutions. 

Thus we see the Canadian Studies concept rooted in the pluralistic, 

multicultural and bilingual mosaic of our society. Even though Canada 

exists in a community of nations with similar aspirations its unique 

character may responsibly be examined academically without descending 

to petty nationalism or excessive parochialism. 

We intend, in this proposal, to expand on the earlier "Report" and 

hopefully to provide direction for discussion leading to the immediate 

implementation of a Canadian Studies Programme at Simon Fraser 

University. 

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OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME: 

A. Primary Objectives: 

1.

The Development of a Comprehensive Under-Graduate Canadian-Oriented 

Curriculum at Simon Fraser University. 

The purpose being to enable the student to enlarge his knowledge of his 

own society. Such a Programme would help students to discover a real 

and vital Canada for themselves; to appreciate the aspirations and value 

systems of other individuals and groups; to develop an awareness of the 

complexities and challenges in contemporary Canadian society; and to 

become more intelligently concerned with the welfare of their country. 

By providing such a Programme at Simon Fraser we would be meeting a 

clearly recognized need of the Canadian community inasmuch as a recent 

study of civic education across Canada has revealed gross inadequacies 

in the quality of training students receive in social studies, history and 

civics courses at the secondary school level.* 

Canada has an acknowledged shortage of qualified Canadian academics in 

the social sciences, literature, history and geography at both the 

secondary and university level. As these studies are vital to the 

future cultural development of Canada, it is important that they be 

stressed in universities across the country. Furthermore, the 

establishment of a Canadian Studies Programme at Simon Fraser would 

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menn that there was at least one functioning programme in each of the 

major geographic regions in the country: Mount Allison University in 

the Maritimes; Carleton University in Central Canada; St. John's College, 

University of Manitoba in the Canadian mid-west; and Simon Fraser 

University on the Pacific Coast. 

2.

The Establishment of a Solid Inter-Disciplinary Programme at Simon 

Fraser University. 

Thus enabling the student to enlarge his knowledge of his own society 

from a number of disciplinary perspectives. We propose that the 

Canadian Studies Programme should be designed to provide our students 

with the intellectual skills to use such disciplines as geography, 

sociology, cultural anthropology, political science, history, economics, 

and English and French literature in the study of Canada. Through the 

medium of the Cnadian Studies Programme, seven departments in the 

humanities and the social sciences (hopefully there would be contributions 

from the Faculties of Science and Education in the near future) would 

cooperate to offer a Minor Programme which would be interdisciplinary 

in emphasis but which at the same time would enable the student to maintain 

a firm base in the discipline of his choice; the eventual offering of a 

major will be dependent upon student demand. Our present course offerings 

provide the basis for an interdisciplinary programme. Assuming that additions 

will be made with time, Simon Fraser has the opportunity of developing a 

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* What Culture? What Heritage? The Ontario Institute for Studies in 

Education, 1958. 

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strong and original programme which will not duplicate present offerings 

at any other University in the Province. 

It should be emphasized that Canadian 

Studies 

benefit by integration 

to an extent not found in contemporary British or American studies. 

Canadian Studies are closely interconnected. For example, Canadian 

literature is basically regional, strongly historical and often sociolog- 

ical in nature. For this reason, a student majoring in Canadian literature 

or sociology requires a thorough knowledge of Canadian history and 

geography. Such an inter-disciplinary programme would be of great service 

to all the Departments concerned. The skills and attitudes of the 

particular disciplines are respected; they are brought into a relationship 

in which one set of skills and attitudes supports and extends the range 

of another. 

B. Secondary Objectives: 

1.

Integration of the University into the Community 

The Programme should enable Canadians other than University students to 

become aware of themselves as Canadians. In the future the programme 

envisages going beyond the bounds of the degree-oriented curriculum. 

The role of the individual citizen as a decision-maker on issues of 

vital national interest is determined by his awareness of his Canadian 

identity. Canadian businesses, governments, and churches also need 

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people educated in this way, and require personnel and facilities for 

retraining and upgrading opportunities. Thus the Programme should 

include the capacity to provide opportunities of this kind. We look 

forward to introducing a supplemental programme of extension or 

evening sessions at some point in the not too distant future. We are 

convinced that the two programmes will support, reinforce, stimulate 

and inspire each other as the members of one programme utilize the services 

provided by the other, or as when academic andn,on-academics meet to share 

their skills on a common project. Such a programme of community-oriented, 

adult-centred education would attract additional resource personnel 

who are available in the metropolitan area. 

2.

Integr'tion of Faculty with the University 

Up to now Canadian problems have been explored in the various disciplines, 

with little apparent communication between the various groups in this 

academic community. A Programme of Canadian Studies will encourage 

faculty with a common professional interest in Canada and Canadian 

culture to co-ordinate their academic efforts in a more stimulating 

environment. In such an atmosphere artifical departmental barriers 

will be broken down and inter-disciplinary conversations will occur to 

a far greater extent than is the case at present. 

ORGANIZATION: 

Administrative organization will consist of a part-time coordinator and 

a Coordinating Committee composed of a representative from each of the 

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"core departments", i.e. departments in which Canadian Content 

courses are offered. The coordinator will report directly to the 

Dean of the Division of General Studies. The Coordinating Committee 

through its coordinator/director will advise the Dean of the Diisn 

on: admission of students to the Program, *curriculum, budget require- 

ments and candidates for degree.* 

IMPLEMENTATION' 

The Spring semester of 1971: 

The nucleus of the Programme at this stage would be the staff currently 

at Simon Fraser who teach Canadian oriented courses, and would include 

existing calendar listings of courses with (i) total Canadian content, 

and (ii) partial Canadian content (407 or more). During this period, 

the Coordinating Committee will undertake the following: 

a) Coordinating academic planning for Stage II by 

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Liaison with departments and their curriculum representatives, 

ii) Establishment of two interdisciplinary courses to be implemented 

under Stage II at the 200 and 400 level. 

b) Selection of a search committee to find a coordinator/faculty member 

for Stage II. 

c) Library acquistions for the Programme. 

d) Public relations with other Canadian Universities and the Community. 

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It should be emphasized that we consider Stage I of the Programme to be 

an extended feasibility study, examing the role and value of Canadian 

Studies within the University and the Community. Before deciding on 

the final details of Stage II, we propose to hold an exploratory seminar 

on the establishment of a Major Programme of Canadian Studies at the 

undergraduate level. 

LONG TERM: 

If student and societal demand proves the viability of this program, 

we hope eventually to establish a major in Canadian Studies. For the 

immediate future, however, we are proposing the establishment of a minor 

in Canadian Studies to be taken in conjunction with a major in a 

recognized discipline. Under either the major or minor we feel that this 

tie to a major in a recognized discipline is essential so that the student 

may have the benefit of a programme which is inter-disciplinary in 

emphasis but which at the same time allows him to maintain a firm base 

in the discipline of his choice. Furthermore, the eventual double major 

will ensure that Canadian Studies does not become an end in itself but 

will remain an integral part of the undergraduate education of this 

University. 

* It is recognized that some of these responsibilities will come only 

if a major in Canadian Studies is eventually approved. 

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