Objectives and history
The Association for Canadian Studies in the Netherlands (ACSN/AECP-B, Studiegenootschap Canada) was founded on February 1, 1985. Its establishment followed the 1984 Amersfoort seminar Canada - Profile of a Nation, which was organized to demonstrate to Dutch academics what Canadian Studies could mean. At the start some forty academics from a wide variety of disciplines were listed as members. The same year ACSN was accepted as a member of the International Council for Canadian Studies (ICCS).
Objectives
The objectives of ACSN are:
- To promote and support within the Dutch academe teaching and research on Canada in the humanities and social sciences;
- to encourage and support cooperation and exchange between Dutch and Canadian scholars; and
- to promote active cooperation between Canadian Studies Associations in other countries.
ACSN history
In pursuit of the aims stated above, the ACSN started organizing scholarly meetings, seminars and lecture tours by Canadian experts and expert Canadianists. Furthermore the ACSN started a publication series (the Canada Cahiers), a Newsletter, and acted as intermediary in obtaining Canadian book donations and subscriptions to major Canadian learned journals. The ACSN also promoted participation of Dutch scholars in the so-called Faculty Enrichment Program. The latter laid the foundation for the teaching of Canadian subjects in the Netherlands.
During the first five years of its existence the ACSN focussed its activities almost entirely on the field of education, with the teaching of Canadian Studies courses having top-priority. The rationale behind this approach was that a good supply of Canadian Studies courses would eventually lead to an increase in research on Canada, which in turn would reinforce the teaching of Canadian subjects.
The approach worked and ACSN quickly expanded, both in size (from 40 members in l985 to 122 in 1987) and in activities. The years that followed were years of consolidation. Increase in membership slowed down and the number of members stabilized around 14O-15O members. Canadian Studies courses taught in the Netherlands numbered 17 after several years of promotion and are now well embedded in university curriculums throughout the country.
A Canadian Studies Centre was established with the help of ACSN in 1988 at the University of Groningen (for details click here).
Among the highlights in the existence of the ACSN, the 1990 All-European Canadian Studies Conference Canada on the Threshold of the 21st Century: European Reflections on the Future of Canada should certainly be mentioned.
As a result of the All-European Conference the ACSN became an important player and a respected partner in the international field of Canadian Studies. Particularly good relationships evolved with the British, Nordic, German and French associations for Canadian Studies; relationships that led to the exchange of expert Canadianists and to joint activities such as the conference held in November 1995 on migration and refugee issues, organized by ACSN in cooperation with the European Task Force on Canadian Studies, which was renamed to the European Network of Canadian Studies.
Well-established as the ACSN now is, and well-established as Canadian Studies are in Dutch academe, there is nevertheless a distinct need for rejuvenation of the membership. A new generation of Canadianists has to be prepared to take up the job in the coming years. ACSN has established its own scholarships in order to allow students to spend some time in Canada for education and research. The ACSN are actively involved in a strategy of scholarships and outreach to new disciplines, such as new media and telelearning/distance education to assure this.
Dr. Conny Steenman-Marcusse is the chairperson of the Association.