Canadian Studies in the United States: A New Frontier?

Extract

There are many indications of growing interest in Canada on American campuses: new interdisciplinary programs, increasing enrollment in courses on Canada, more research projects on Canadian topics, and now, ACSUS, the Association for Canadian Studies in the United States. Why this new development? Are American scholars becoming more aware of the differences between the two countries, and consequently of Canada as a bona fide “area” of study? Has Trudeau-mania overflowed across the 5524 mile common frontier, and made Canada seem a less dull neighbor than heretofore? Has the separatist movement in Quebec, and particularly the terrorist activities there, titillated scholars disabused with the study of independence movements in farther reaches of the globe? Has the fact that Canada and the United States have entered a period of friction, if not of confrontation, with their respective national interests in conflict in many respects, offered scholars a new and significant area of study? The causes themselves warrant scientific analysis: the effects in terms of academic interest are already clearly visible.

The study of Canada in the United States can be traced well back into the nineteenth century, but was included for many years within the context of British imperial history or North American geography.