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Prof. André Loiselle visits the University of Groningen (RuG), March 2004.

Thanks to grants from the University of Groningen and the Association for Canadian Studies in the Netherlands (PÉPC/CPEP program of the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs), I was given the extraordinary opportunity to spend a month in the Netherlands, meeting with students and faculty members who share my interest in Canadian film culture, exchanging ideas, books and videotapes, and creating ties that are certain to result in more formal relations between the University of Groningen and my own institution, Carleton University, in Ottawa. I was very impressed with the remarkable student exchange program that RuG has already established with some Canadian universities, and I am committed to developing a similar system between RuG and Carleton. I am especially grateful to Professor Jaap Lintvelt, director of RuG's Canadian Studies Centre, who was not only instrumental in procuring the funds that facilitated my visit, but who also made me aware of the potential for such an exchange program.

During my stay in the Netherlands, I delivered five guest lectures. Two of these were on the influence of French films and filmmakers on the development of Québec cinema since the 1940s, and the reception of Québec movies in France since the 1960s (respectively titled, "L'influence de la France dans le cinéma québécois" - 8 March, and "Le cinéma québécois en France" - 15 March). These lectures were given in the context of a "Séminaire de maîtrise: cinéma, culture et média" taught by Professor Jeanette den Toonder for the Department of Romance Languages and Cultures. I believe my lectures provided students with a unique perspective on francophone film culture, as I explained the intricate web of exchanges between France and Québec, which evolved over the years from a one-way flow of productions from Paris to Montréal into a more reciprocal rapport, culminating in the recent success of Denys Arcand's Les Invasions barbares (2003) at the Cannes Film Festival and at the French film awards, the Césars

In parallel with these lectures on Québec cinema, I also contributed to an undergraduate course on film theory in RuG's Department of Arts, Culture and Media, giving two talks on psychoanalytic and cognitive approaches to horror ("Film Theory and Horror: The Horrors of Film Theory" - 16 and 23 March). Rooted in, but not limited to, my work on Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg, these lectures introduced students to a topic that is not regularly taught at RuG, and hopefully triggered their interest in this fascinating, yet often disparaged, genre. I gave a similar lecture at the University of Amsterdam ("Theories of the Horror Film", 9 March), this time to students already registered in a horror film course taught by Lecturer Franca Jonquière. Beyond my lectures on horror, I also had several discussions with film Professors Barend van Heusden and Annie van den Oever, which revealed great similarities between RuG's Department of Arts, Culture and Media, and my own department, Carleton's School for Studies in Art and Culture. Both units are dedicated to interdisciplinarity, but RuG's Department of Arts, Culture and Media seems to have been more successful than we have in integrating all the arts into a truly multi-disciplinary program. I intend to remain in close contact with Professors van Heusden and van den Oever to further learn from their expertise, and hopefully invite them to come into contact with Carleton's own interdisciplinary model. Perhaps they too will learn something from us.

I also intend to continue discussions with Professor den Toonder, whose interest in francophone film and media is closely related to the type of research in which I and two of my colleagues at Carleton are involved. Undoubtedly, her European perspective on francophone cinema could greatly benefit us and our students. With any luck, I will manage to convince Carleton to reciprocate the generous invitation that RuG tendered upon me, and provide funding to facilitate a prolonged visit from Professor den Toonder. Other conversations, with Nicolas Dextreit and Guus Buter of RuG's Centre Culturel Français, have also led to some tentative agreements on further exchanges, including my possible participation to conferences on media and culture currently in preparation. Indirectly, my stay in Groningen might also favour some development in the study of Canadian Law at RuG, as my partner, Ms Kerri Froc, who practices law in Saskatchewan and accompanied me to the Netherlands, gave a talk entitled "Grim Fairytales: Stories told by the Canadian Government and the Courts to put Equality Rights to Sleep" to students and members of RuG's Law Department. Discussions with law Professor Kristin Henrard are likely to lead to more collaboration.

My experience at the University of Groningen has confirmed my belief that, in a world increasingly dominated by electronic media that give us the impression of communication, face to face contact remains the only way to develop a true trans-cultural dialogue among students, academics and practitioners from which new ideas can flourish. I am grateful that I was given the chance to spend a month at RuG and I sincerely look forward to welcoming my Dutch colleagues to Ottawa.

Dr. André Loiselle, PhD
Associate Professor of Film Studies
School for Studies in Art and Culture
Carleton University, Ottawa
Ontario, Canada