In June 2022, Drs. Holroyd and Coates travelled across Iceland, Western Greenland, northern Norway, and the Faroe Islands. The social, cultural and economic resilience of northern Europe stands in stark contrast to the problem-oriented realities of the Canadian North, which remains marked by the marginalization of Indigenous peoples, the continued effects of internal colonization, and the struggle to match legal and political rights with social-cultural outcomes. This talk will consider the future of the Canadian North in the context of Circumpolar revitalization and autonomy, using our 2022 field work as a focus for a re-imagining of the prospects for the Arctic and sub-Arctic in Canada.

About our speakers:

Dr. Carin Holroyd is an Associate Professor Political Studies and the Chair of the International Studies Program at the University of Saskatchewan. Dr. Holroyd’s current research focuses on government policy and the commercialization of environmental technologies. This work is part of her ongoing studies of national innovation policies and economic development. Dr. Holroyd has held three Social Science and Humanities Research Council research awards, two SSHRC conference grants, three Japan Foundation Awards for research, and a Government of Japan fellowship.

Dr. Ken Coates is a Professor and Canada Research Chair in Regional Innovation in the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy. He is also the Macdonald-Laurier Institute’s Senior Policy Fellow in Aboriginal and Northern Canadian Issues. Dr. Coates current research activities include: technical and scientific innovation in Canada ; the development of the sub-arctic world; and the transformation of the Canadian university system. Dr. Coates contributes regularly, through newspaper pieces and radio and television interviews, on contemporary discussions on northern, Indigenous, and technology-related issues.

Itinerary:

6:00 p.m. Doors open, pre-dinner chat

6:30 p.m. Dinner with the speaker (register online at the Eventbrite site, deadline Sept 12)

7:40 p.m. Doors open for public presentation

8:00 p.m. Public presentation – free and open to the public

9:30 p.m. Event concludes