LFU:online

This lecture series will allow you to improve your:

(1)   Intercultural Competence: Students will demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of the complexity of elements important to members of another culture (here: Canada) in relation to its history, values, politics, communication styles, economy, and beliefs.

(2)   Ethical Reasoning: Students can recognize ethical issues when presented in a complex, multilayered (gray) context and can recognize crossrelationships among the issues.

The non-subject related learning outcomes have been formulated in alignment with the Aurora Competence Framework (LOUIS) which is based on the VALUE rubrics developed by the AAC&U.

Providing students with an introduction to Canadian Studies, "Environment and Care: Canadian Perspectives" focuses on a number of recent developments in Canada through the lens of Environment and Care, which we see as key concepts for a future-oriented and sustainable understanding of different facets of the country: the term "environment" refers not only to air, water, and land in or on which humans, animals, and plants exist, but also to the circumstances, objects, or conditions that surround humans, animals, and plants. The term "care," in turn, implies "everything we do to maintain, continue, and repair our ‘world’ so we can live in it as well as possible. That world includes our bodies, our selves, and our environment, all of which we seek to interweave in a complex, life-sustaining way" (Tronto/Fisher 1990, 40). Offering students a multidisciplinary approach to understanding Canada via the concepts of Environment and Care, the lecture series will specifically engage the following fields:

·        Histories and Politics

·        Indigenous Contexts

·        Intersectional Issues

·        Literatures and Media

·        Mountain and Glacier Studies

·        Multiculturalism and Federalism

·        Urban Visions and Realities

Lectures and discussions, Q&A

Beyond the content specified above, this course is committed to the Aurora Competence Framework, in particular the value rubrics “Ethical Reasoning” and “Intercultural Knowledge and Competence”, which will of course determine the didactic approach to the individual subject areas and the teachers’ engagement with them.

Open Book exam at the end of the semester

Introductory literature (recommendations)

• Kasoff, Mark/James, Patrick (eds.), Canadian Studies in the New Millennium, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, ²2013.
• Hoerder Dirk, To Know Our Many Selves: From the Study of Canada to Canadian Studies, Edmonton: Athabasca University Press, 2014.
• Conrick, Maeve/Eagles, Munroe/Koustas, Jane/Ní Chasaide, Caitríona (eds.), Landscapes and Landmarks of Canada: Real, Imagined, (Re)Viewed, Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2017.

"Environment and Care: Canadian Perspectives" is an Aurora Alliance event (AURORA – Universität Innsbruck (uibk.ac.at)).

Students of all Aurora universities (including Master students of the University of Innsbruck) are invited to register for this course from January 07 to January 30 (or until the maximum number of participants has been reached) via the following link: Universität Innsbruck – Universität Innsbruck (uibk.ac.at)

The course is run as a COIL together with a course at the University of Duisburg Essen. Course leaders at the University of Duisburg Essen: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Barbara Buchenau and Univ.-Prof. Dr. Florian Freitag