Canadian Studies at the Millennium: The Journey Continues

Abstract

The JCS was established to provide for the multidisciplinary study of Canada that would contribute to greater self-understanding and national consensus. This founding purpose remains compelling. Globalization threatens to drain Canadian content from Canadians’ experiences. Canadian Studies’ development fractured a shared experience of Canada and weakened its sense of national purpose. Canadian Studies’ renewal must, first, adopt a comparative framework to establish where Canada “fits” in the globalized world. Second, interdisciplinarity must speak in a national discourse and to the Canadian Studies agenda. Third, it should reconnect to its activist roots. Fourth, Canadian Studies must confront received wisdom and challenge traditional approaches.