Club Car

The Christian Science Monitor of 10 February ran a piece on the state of Canadian Studies in the US. I'm a member of the Association for Canadian Studies in the United States; the schools mentioned in the article are prominent in that network. Here's the story.

Exams will be returned in class this afternoon. A pretty good stack of exams, overall. Strong points, as a group:

1. Good command of concepts. Each question had a concept you had to work with, and you got them.

2. Effective communication. You write well enought to get your ideas across. An articulate bunch of people. Many essays showed good rhetorical flourish, nifty transitions, that sort of thing.

Weaker points, fairly common:

1. Not dealing with the whole question.

2. Thinness of support with historical evidence.

I just now placed an order with McNally Robinson of Canada to express copies of the Beal text to me. Will pass on at cost. In the meantime, I have two more used copies to dispose of.

This note came by e-mail from Ben Hauger.

"I know you said you would not discuss individual questions after class, but I thought this might need clarification for all via the Club Car or something. In the second question for the test, the question asks about the Hartzian notion that national origins set patterns for national development, yet Hartz attitude is quite the opposite. Lipset says Hartz believes the "fragmented" middle class attitudes of both nations make them more similar than dissimilar and that their differences are minute. S.D. Clark, who mentioned after, as well as in the study guide for the Lipset text, does believe, as Lipset does, that the origins of the two nations play a role. Basically the questions seems contradictory unless you meant S.D Clark instead of Hartz."

Right, Ben, I see what you mean. Lipset does indeed question the usual application of Hartz to the cases of Canada and the US (as well as New Zealand and Australia). The most-remembered idea of Hartz is that of fragment societies. He argues that only certain elements (generally liberal ones) came from the old country to the colonized lands. So the new countries were drawn from the old, but not in a representative way; their selective origins set them on a different track, and put all the colonized lands on the same track. Lipset disputes this, in essence saying it does not trace the national origins of Canada correctly. He says Canada in its origins is not so much a fragment of Britain as of the US. So Lipset and Hartz agree that national origins are important in determining national character. They disagree in what this means for Canada. In Lipset's view, the very idea basic to Hartz--that national origins set enduring patterns--means that Canada, contrary to the usual application of Hartz, is distinct from the US.

Good question, Ben. It's something I should have sorted out better in asking the essay question. If anyone answering this question wants to take a little exctra time for revision in light of the above, then in such case, consider the exam deadline extended to noon Wednesday.

There will be elections in Nunavut on 16 February. The CBC is ramping up for coverage--already it has good articles in its website. Nunavut coverage is linked here-- http://www.cbc.ca/

Here are prospective questions for the take-home exam. We can talk about them in class today.

1. Much anthropological and historical description of native peoples rests on assumptions of environmental determinism. Apply this line of thought to a survey of First Nations in Canada, featuring three culture areas. Then, critique the idea. What are the problems of discussing native peoples this way?

2. Most of Lecture 2, “Two Nations from One Revolution,” deals with narratives of national origins. It rests on the Hartzian notion that national origins set directions and patterns for national development and character. What are the main threads, then, in the national origins of Canada? And to what sort of developments and values do they lead?

3. Lipset’s Continental Divide is an extended comparison/contrast of two societies, Canadian and American. Based on what you know from this book, put yourself into the place of an advocate of the Canadian way of life, explaining the virtues of your society to a group of Americans. (We can invent a scenario for this, if you’d like.) Explain what you see as the virtues of the Canadian way. (Remember, this is a History course.)

Passing along this notice from History Club-Phi Alpha Theta. "Once again it is time for the annual, fun-filled Norris/Strom pizza party. All members of the History Club and Phi Alpha Theta are invited to attend. The event will be on Friday, February 27th from 6-9 p.m. at 1217 N. 7th Street in Fargo. Please RSVP by February 23rd, so that we can order enough food. We will also be running a bus from campus and back, if people would like transportation, they should indicate this in their RSVP. RSVPs should be sent to Claire.Strom@ndsu.nodak.edu."

My name is Ryan Goodman and I am a senior in the Architecture program here at NDSU.

I think this finally worked/?

My name is Alice DuRose. I am from Thief River Falls. I am attending classes at NDSU from MSUM through tri-college.

I'm passing along this notice from History Club & Phi Alpha Theta. Highly recommended!

History Club invites you to see "A Captive Eye: German POW Art and Artifacts" now on display at the Clay County Historical Society Museum.

History Club is sponsoring this event with FREE PIZZA AT SAMMY'S, FREE TRANSPORTATION, and FREE ENTRY TO "WWII Homefront and German POWs in Moorhead and Area," a presentation about the local POW camps.

If you are not a member of History Club or Phi Alpha Theta, there is a $10 fee, which includes MEMBERSHIP in History Club for 2004 and entry to future events as a member.

We will depart from NDSU February 9 at 4:45 p.m.; first stop is Sammy's and then on to the museum. We will return around 8:15 p.m. Please RSVP by February 6 to suzzanne.kelley@ndsu.nodak.edu, or come by room 203 Minard Monday through Friday.

For more information about the exhibit, go to www.traces.org

Web searches--I've scored and returned all received, I think. If you sent one and haven't heard from me, let me know, and I'll search, but I don't think I mislaid any. If you haven't sent one, how come? Talk to me, and let's get going.

If you've been following the calendar, then you know that we're about on schedule. On Tuesday the 3rd we'll conclude Lecture 2 and also do some discussion of Lipset. Look over the early chapters in the text and in the study guide, please.