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  • Canadian Council for Refugees fall consultation ~ call to youth participants

    The Canadian Council for Refugees Fall Consultation (to be held Nov 24-26, 2011) this year is on the theme of independence. Youth are being encouraged to participate.
    An orientation for youth will be held Wed, Nov 23rd, 7:30-9pm to meet other youth and find out about the CCR, the CCR Youth Network and the fall consultation.
    Workshops include sessions focusing on:

    Youth-led projects to debunk myths about newcomer youth
    Canada’s violation of migrant youth rights
    Digital storytelling
    Anti-oppression
    Migrant youth in care.

    Have a look at the provisional agenda.
    A Youth Caucus has been/is being established to discuss refugee and immigrant youth across Canada to answer questions such as: What can we do locally to address issues faced by refugee and immigrant youth? What issues should the CCR Youth Network focus on? On Sun Nov 27 the CCR Youth Network will meet to debrief and create action plans to move forward within communities.
    Special registration rates are available for all youth delegates between 18 and 25 years old. Register by Nov 4th to get early registration rates and the first 30 Montreal area youth to register by Nov 4th get in free!
    For more information, please see the CCR Spring Consultation.

  • Predicting peer interactions among diverse children

    New research from Childcare & Early Education Research on how classroom dynamics predict peer interaction among diverse children (diverse in ethnicity and home language). From their website, this description of the research:

    “The researchers of this study tested a model designed to predict the peer interaction behaviors of preschool children of diverse race, ethnic, and home language backgrounds. The model itself used dimensions from the classroom, such as group size, affective climate of the classroom, teacher management, and other factors related to teacher-child relationship quality. As part of the National Evaluation of Early Head Start, eight hundred children were observed in classroom settings interacting with their peers, and the various classroom dimensions were observed as well. The researchers found that classroom dimensions had a significant impact on peer interaction behavior. For example, children in classrooms with smaller group sizes were more likely to engage in pretend play, and less likely to be a victim of peer aggression. In addition, children in these smaller classrooms were rated as less aggressive, as well as less anxious. In classrooms with lower peer climates, children were more likely to be the victim of aggressive peer behavior”.

  • Head Start and National Center for Cultural and Linguistic Responsiveness working together for refugee children

    US-based BRYCS (Building Refugee Youth and Children’s Services) shares a policy brief and list of resources related to the collaborative work being done by Head Start and the National Center for Cultural and Linguistic Responsiveness in increasing access to and creating culturally competent programs for newly arrived refugee children.
    A bit about BRYCS (from their website): “Since 2001, BRYCS has emphasized ‘bridging refugee and children’s services’ to promote the well-being and successful integration of refugee children and their families as our newest Americans. For many reasons—including limited funding, different legislative mandates, and cultural and linguistic barriers—refugee resettlement and “mainstream” service systems often work in isolation from each other, resulting in barriers to culturally responsive services for refugees. In past years, BRYCS has addressed these gaps by developing and implementing a collaboration model in a number of communities”.

  • Call for papers: (Dis)placed childhoods: Forced migrations and youth welfare policies of the 19th and 20th centuries

    A call for papers from La Revue d’histoire de l’enfance “irrégulière” est spécialisée dans le champ de l’enfance et de la jeunesse marginales ou marginalisées/Journal of the History of “irregular” Childhood is a scholarly, peer reviewed journal focused on the history of marginalized childhood and youth.
    (Dis)placed childhoods. Forced migrations and youth welfare policies of the 19th and 20th centuries. Edited by David Niget and Mathias Gardet.
    From the call (posted on H-NET List for History of Childhood and Youth) “Most of the young people placed in institutions under child welfare policies were in fact displaced or imigrated. Authorities and philanthropic societies have, over the past two centuries, proceeded to displace tens of thousands of children: they were separated from families who were deemed to be corrupting, kept away from their neighbourhoods and from socialising with criminals, moved away from towns and cities to fulfill a recurring dream of reversing rural exodus,which was at first only a fantasy and which then became more and more real.
    “But some children were displaced in a more systematic and planned way, not only in order to distance them from their homes, but also just to establish them elsewhere. Thus, some policies implemented a deliberate and thorough going programme of mass displacement of juvenile populations, often beyond national borders, in accordance with colonial objectives, specific political situations. These programmes can be correlated to wars and regime changes, educational and ideological utopias or specific institutional strategies. Therefore, the justification for the removal of the children from their home environment was either to punish them or to establish a utopia.
    “Biopolitical issues have emerged: Was it about removing bad influences from the State or about regenerating the nation by transplanting its offspring in a healthy and promising substratum? In the name of the imperialism or colonisation, children from working-class English families were sent to Canada, Australia, New Zealand and therefore not merely the result of a political situation, or of chance selection of the most vulnerable victims. From the 19th to the 20th century, migration became a tool for the political management of populations, of which childhood is emblematic.
    “This colourful but little known history raises questions for any historian:

    “What is the relationship between biopolitics and childhood? How does the increasing concern to pursue a population policy, with the future planning and management of human resources of contemporary societies in mind, lead to the formulation of childhood policies within the ambit of demographics, and more specifically the control of migration flows? How do humanitarian organisations become involved with these policies?
    “What is the status of childhood within the creation of State policies? From the citizen to the ‘new man’, how does childhood and youth become interpreted into political meaning and absorbed into the heart of the nation? What about the notion of the Empire and child exploitation within this colonial enterprise?
    “How are gender, class and ethnicity analysed within these questions relating to migrpopulating? In the colonial enterprise, is the displacementof young orphans from cities to Africa an attempt to ‘whiten’ the colonies, or to perpetuate, with regard to Canada, Australia or New Zealand, ethnically homogenous colonies? What about acculturation goals reflected by the displacement of indigenous children?
    “What organisations did support these displacements? Displacement policies, exclusive from the State, also resulted from the intervention of private, philanthropic and religious or political parties. What kindof devices did these displacement policies put in place? What kind of institutions? Were they open, closed, educational or punitive? Did they involve institutional violence and did they include compensation policies in recent years?
    “What expertise was involved in this undertaking? Were demographic and economic reasons used? What was the role of social work in the identification of those to be displaced? Were medicine and psychoanalytic methods used to select young people?”.

    Deadline for submissions is October 31, 2011. For more information, contact david.niget@uclouvain.be

  • 40 years of Canadian policy of multiculturalism

    Z Sonia Worotynec 
    Canadian official “policy of multiculturalism within a bilingual framework” is 40 years old today (proclaimed Oct 8, 1971).

  • Child Trafficking digital library updates

    Ten new documents on children on the move and migration have been added to the digital library of the Childtrafficking.com website. Here are just two, as described in a posting on the Childtrafficking listserv:

    “Global Movement for Children. (2010). Leaving Home: Voices of Children on the Move. 15 p. The report denounces the invisibility of children within international debates and immigration policies on the issue as well as the lack of adequate policies to address their specific needs. It voices their experiences on having left their homes and it analyses the wide array of causes and consequences that migration has for children beyond those who have been victims of criminal activities.”
    “Global Movement for Children. (2010). Protecting and Supporting Children on the Move. 37 p. The International Conference on Protecting and Supporting Children on the Move was held in Barcelona on 5-7 October 2010. It aimed at analysing and debating the current status of the issue of children on the move and presenting some key recommendations on the way forward to initiating the revision of policy and programmatic responses to the protection and support of these children. The Conference Report is expected to be a road map for topics of debate initiated at the Barcelona meetingwith a view to building national and international work agendas”.

    Childtrafficking.com welcomes comments and suggestions and are interested to receive documents and research from the field. Contact childtrafficking.com@gmail.com.

  • Revisiting 40 years of multicultural policy in Canada

    The Association for Canadian Studies and the Canadian Ethnic Studies Association will host their 2nd Joint Annual Conference in Ottawa, Ontario from Sept 30-Oct 1, 2011 on the theme of Revisiting 40 Years of Multicultural Policy in Canada. Regrettably, there are few sessions related to the impact of multicultural policy on children. However, here is the preliminary program, fyi. I’ve included links to where I thought they might add value. Question to organizers: is there a hashtag for tweeps attending?
    Fri Sept 30/11 9-10:30 am Concurrent sessions
    Multiculturalism and the Social Network

    Chair: Anne B. Denis, University of Ottawa
    Tieja Thomas and Vivek Venkatesh, Concordia University, Digital media and immigration: Limits and possibilities.
    Raluca Bejan, University of Toronto, A Step further: How to improve a mentoring program to fully advance the labour market inclusion of internationally trained professionals.
    Ceta Ramkhalawansingh, City of Toronto (retired), By any name – From respect for cultural difference to re-distribution of wealth and status.
    Carl  E. James, Danielle Lafond, Selom Chapman-Nyaho, York University, Getting to “know” police: Youth’s perceptions and experiences with police through summer employment.

    Governance and Multiculturalism

    Chair: Jean Teillet, Teillet and Associates
    Augie Fleras, University of Waterloo, Rethinking multicultural governance in Canada: Toward a multiversal multiculturalism in  a globalizing world of  transmigration & transnationalism.
    Malgorzata Kierylo Malolepsza, Queen’s University, Multiculturalism and the bureaucratization of ethnic consciousness.
    Sinelka Jurkova, University of Calgary, Ethnic organizations – segregating or integrating effects?
    Tara Gilkinson & Geneviève Sauvé, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Recent immigrants, earlier immigrants and the Canadian-born: Personal and social trust.
    Zhang Jijiao, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Canadian multiculturalism policy: Experiences and lessons, and its implications to China.

    Multiculturalism on the Prairies

    Chair: Lloyd Wong, University of Calgary
    David McGrane, University of Saskatchewan, Multiculturalism in Manitoba and Saskatchewan: An historical perspective.
    Professor Emeritus Cornelius Jaenan, University of Ottawa, Belgian immigrants in western Canada.
    Henry Chow, University of Regina, Bringing the world to Saskatchewan: Effects of national feelings, citizenship, and socio-political orientation on young Canadian adults.

    Multiculturalism and National Identities

    Sourayan Mookerjea, University of Alberta, Multiculturalism between empires.
    Hijin Park, Brock University, Conceptualizing (Im) Migrant Asian women in multicultural Canada.
    Pat McLane, University of Alberta, Canadian understandings of universalism and extremism.
    Ashleigh Androsoff, University of Toronto, Immigration and identity in Canada’s insipient multicultural era: the Doukhobor case.

    Friday, Sept 30/11 11-12:15 am/pm Concurrent sessions
    Cities, Neighbourhoods and Multiculturalism

    Heath McLeod, University of Calgary, Understanding unstable housing experiences of newcomer women in Calgary and Montreal – Considerations for policy.
    Marilena Liguori & Bochra Manai, Institut national de la recherche scientifique – Centre Urbanisation, Culture et Société (Montréal), Multiculturalism in the city, reflections on ethnic neighbourhoods in Montreal and Toronto.

    Cultural Multiculturalism

    Chair: Sidd Bannerjee, Association for Canadian Studies
    Melissa Templeton, University of California, Dance, race and national identity: Multiculturalism and federal support for Les Ballets Jazz.
    Robert A. Kenedy, York University, Diasporic liminality from France to Montréal: Re-negotiating Jewish identity in intercultural and multicultural contexts.
    Lloyd Sciban, University of Calgary, The Status of traditional Chinese medicine in Canada.
    Rebecca Margolis, University of Ottawa, Yiddish and Canadian multiculturalism: A Marriage made in heaven?

    Rethinking Multiculturalism: Tensions Between Ethnicity and Immigration

    Chair: Judy Young Drache
    Shibao Guo, University of Calgary, Immigration, integration & multiculturalism: Exploring the role of Chinese diasporic communities in Canada.
    William Shaffir & Vic Satzewich, McMaster University, The informal settlement sector: Broadening the lens to understand newcomer integration in Hamilton.
    Sinela Jurkova, University of Calgary, Ethnic organizations segregating or integrating effects?

    Friday, Sept 30/11 1:45-3 pm Concurrent sessions
    Slavic Marxists in Canada in the Twentieth Century

    Chair: Christopher Adam, Carleton University
    Mark Stolarik, University of Ottawa, Slovak Marxists in North America: Their hopes and disappointments.
    Petryk Polec, University of Ottawa, The rise of Polish leftist culture in Canada.
    Myron Momryk, Library and Archives Canada (retired), The Association of United Ukrainian Canadians and the ‘politics’ of multiculturalism.

    Cultural Multiculturalism and Post-secondary Education

    Janki Shankar and Eugene Ip, Norquest College, University of Calgary, Academic aspirations: Challenges and barriers of ethnic minority immigrant and indigenous students in a post-secondary education setting.
    Dan Cui & Jennifer Kelly, University of Alberta, Too Asian? Media and multiculturalism from the Chinese Canadian youth perspective.

    Multiculturalism Turns Forty: Reflections on the Impact of Multiculturalism

    Chair: Susan Brigham, Mount St-Vincent University
    Tamara Seiler, University of Calgary, Multiculturalism and the changing national imaginary: The Case of Canadian literature in English.
    James Frideres, University of Calgary, Diasporas in society: Implications for Canada.
    Lloyd Wong, University of Calgary, Anti-Multiculturalism and the implications for ethnic identity.
    Madeline A. Kalbach, University of Calgary, The Impact of Canada’s multiculturalism policy and research data.



    Research on Racialization and Racism at Canadian Universities: Preliminary Findings

    Chair: Kamal Dib, Citizenship and Immigration Canada
    Carl James, York University, Strategies of engagement:  Racialized faculty members Negotiation of the university.
    Frances Henry and Carol Tator, York University, Marginalization, exclusion and omission:  The Experiences of racialized  faculty.
    Ena Dua, University of Calgary, Measuring equity: The Politics of data collection.



    Friday, Sept 30/11 3:30-5 pm Concurrent sessions
    Multiculturalism and Ethnic Media

    Chair: Sidd Bannerjee, Association for Canadian Studies
    Augie Fleras, University of Waterloo, Ethnic media and multiculturalism in Canada: Partnership or opposition?
    April Lindgren, Ryerson University, News that’s not fit to print? Portrayals of other ethnic and racialized groups in the Greater Toronto Area’s ethnocultural newspaper.


    Multiculturalism and Education

    Johanne J. Jean-Pierre, McMaster University and Fernando Nunes, Mount Saint Vincent University, Multiculturalism policy turns 40: Reflections on its impact on education.
    Sarah Smith, Université de Montréal, The Multicultural textbook and the coloniality of difference.
    Thomas Ricentro, University of Calgary, Multiculturalism and the monoglot ideology: Incommensurate worlds?

    Unpacking Multiculturalism in the Classroom

    Ratna Ghosh, Mariusz Galczynski, and Vilelmini Tsagkaraki, McGill University, Unpacking multiculturalism in the classroom.

    Religion and Multiculturalism in Canada: 40 Years Later

    Chair: Kamal Dib, Citizenship and Immigration Canada
    Paul Bramadat, University of Victoria, Back to the future: Canadian approaches to recent and anticipated controversies involving religion.
    Lori Beaman, University of Ottawa, Beyond accommodation: Multiculturalism and deep equality.
    Benjamin Berger, Osgoode Hall – York University, Trying religion: Multiculturalism, religion and law in Canada.
    Solange Lefebvre, Université de Montréal, After Bouchard-Taylor: Religion and interculturalism in Quebec.
    David Seljak, University of Waterloo, Christianity, citizenship and multiculturalism norms in a post-secular society.

    Taking the Nation to Task: Reflecting on the Cultural Dimensions of Multiculturalism

    Carrianne Leung, Ontario College of Art and Design, The Passage of fortune: Writing heritage, history and race in the nation.
    Lynn Caldwell, University of Saskatchewan, Static possibility: Race, nostalgia, and Saskatchewan as a national space.
    Sam Tecle, York University, I’m not Black, I’m Eritrean: Being Eritrean/learning Blackness.
    Meaghan Frauts, Queen’s University, Canada’s racialized spaces: The Politics of race and temporality of space during National Aboriginal Day.

    Nouveau arrivants et intérgration scolaire en milieu linguistic et culturel minoritaire au Manitoba

    Nathalie Piquemal, University of Manitoba
    Boniface Bahi, Faculté Saint Jean – University of Alberta
    Mahsa Bakshaei, Université de Montréal, La politique canadienne de multiculturalisme assure-t-elle l’égalité de chance de la réussite scolaire des élèves immigrants au secondaire québécois ? Le cas des élèves sud-asiatiques au secteur français.







    Sat Oct 1/11 9-10:30 am Concurrent sessions
    Black Canada and Multiculturalism: After Colonialty

    Rinaldo Walcott, OISE – University of Toronto
    Andrea Fatona, Ontario College of Art and Design
    Katherine McKittrick, Queen’s University
    Mark Campbell, University of Guelph

    The Evolving Practice of Multiculturalism: from Food and Drink to Social Transformation

    Chair: Ceta Ramkhalawansingh, Former Corporate Diversity Manager, City of Toronto (retired)
    Herman Ellis Jr, Program Director, Scadding Court Community Centre
    Antoni Shelton, Co-ordinator of Operations, Canadian Union of Public Employees Ontario
    Linda Koehler-Moore, Supervisor, Toronto Parks Forestry and Recreation
    André Goh, Manager, Diversity Management Unit, Toronto Police
    Nadira Pattison, Manager, Arts Services, Toronto Culture

    Immigrant Social and Political Participation

    Chair: Phil Ryan, Carleton University
    Philippe Couton, University of Ottawa, The Immigrant third sector: Recent evidence.
    Marie-Michele Sauvageau, University of Ottawa, Immigrant political activism in Quebec.
    Halyna Mokrushyna, University of Ottawa, Social and political engagement in the Ukrainian diaspora.

    Mixed Race and Identity

    Chair: Minelle Mahtani, University of Toronto
    Danielle Lafond, York University
    Leanne Taylor, Brock University
    Karina Vernon, University of Toronto
    Renisa Mawani, University of British Columbia



    Sat Oct 1 11-12:15 am/pm Concurrent sessions
    Multiculturalism and Suspect Minorities: Possibilities of Conflicting Identities

    Chair: Lori Wilkinson, University of Manitoba
    Kalyani Thurairajah, McGill University, Tamils in Canada and Sri Lanka: Competing identities and loyalties in the shadow of terrorism.
    Morton Weinfeld, McGill University, Competing identities and loyalties among Canadian and British Jews.

    Interculturalism

    Chair: Susan Brigham, Mount St-Vincent University
    Celine Cooper, OISE – University of Toronto, The Rise of interculturalism in Quebec: How can the emergent approach to language, identity, ethno-cultural diversity and social integration in Quebec help us reflect upon multiculturalism and forms of nationalism(s) in Canada?
    Darryl Lerroux, Saint Mary’s University, considering Quebec’s interculturalism as a response to multiculturalism.

    Author Meets Critics: Us, Them and Others: Pluralism and National Identity in Diverse Societies

    Chair: Minelle Mahtani, University of Toronto
    Elke Winter, University of Ottawa
    Catherine Frost, McMaster University
    Harold Ramos, Dalhousie University
    Leslie Seidle, Institute for Research on Public Policy

    Youth, Generational Issues and Multiculturalism

    Chair: Kamal Dib, Citizenship and Immigration Canada
    Emanuel de Silva, University of Toronto, Making and Masking Difference: Multiculturalism and sociolinguistic tensions in Toronto’s Portuguese-Canadian market.
    Yunliang Meng, York University, A Spatial and temporal analysis of  youth’s socioeconomic outcomes in ethnic enclaves in Toronto.
    Fernando Mata, Canadian Heritage, Prevalence and generational persistence of lone parent status among ethnic groups in Canada: A Look at census data.

    Sat Oct 1/11 1:45-3:30 pm Concurrent sessions
    Multiculturalism, Human Rights and Canadian Identity
    Multiculturalism has been a cornerstone of Canadian society for 40 years. It is premised on the concept that all citizens are equal, and they can maintain their identities, take pride in their ancestry and do so without undercutting their sense of belonging to Canada.  Public opinion surveys generally reveal that Canadians are supportive of the principle of multiculturalism.  However the nature and depth of this support is often the object of debate. Also there is often some uncertainty around how the theory of multiculturalism is applied when it comes to issues of human rights and discrimination.
    This panel discusses the impact of multiculturalism on human rights from the perspectives of four institutional champions of Canadian human rights. More specifically, the panel will  address: the relationship between multiculturalism and human rights; the difference between multiculturalism and interculturalism; how to accommodate multiculturalism within a framework of common values.

    Chair: Ayman Al-Yassini, Canadian Race Relations Foundation
    Gaetan Cousineau, Commission des droits de la personne et de la jeunesse, Québec
    Judge David M. Arnot, Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission
    Barbara Hall, Ontario Human Rights Commission
    Maxwell Yalden, former diplomat and senior public servant, and author

    Challenges of Multicultural Discourse

    Chair: Kamal Dib, Citizenship and Immigration Canada
    Elke Winter, & Marie-Michele Sauvageau, University of Ottawa, How to recast national identity and on whose terms? Media representation of the new Canadian citizenship guide.
    Chedly Belkhodja, Université de Moncton, La critique du multiculturalism ou Québec: les nouveau intellectuels de droite.
    Karen Bird, McMaster University, WTF is the ethnic vote? Critical reflections on multiculturalism and electoral politics in Canada.
    Dominique Riviere, OISE – University of Toronto, Scratching our “Great National Itch”:  narratives of multiculturalism in 12st-century Canada.

    Multiculturalism and Immigrant Integration: The Experience of Smaller Cities and Rural Areas

    Chair: Howard Ramos, Dalhouise University
    Lori Wilkinson, University of Manitoba, An Examination of identity and experiences of discrimination among newcomer youth living in mid-sized Canadian cities.
    Evangelia Tastsoglou and Sandy Petrinioti, Saint Mary’s University, Does ‘place’ matter? multiculturalism and the forging of identities by Lebanese youth in Halifax.
    Madine VanderPlaat, Saint Mary’s University, The Role of family in the decision to migrate and settle.

    Multiculturalism and Mental Health

    Chair: Nehal El-Hadi, University of Toronto
    Avril Aves, Multicultural Outreach, KW Counselling Services, Kitchener, Ontario, Multiculturalism and Mental Health: An Outreach strategy for counselling agencies.
    Professor Emeritus John Berry, Queen’s University, Intercultural relations in plural societies: Research derived from multicultural policy.


    Examining Multiculturalism, Ethnic Identity and Intercultural Communication Competence Through the Social Construction of Food

    Jaya Peruvemba, University of Ottawa, Examining multiculturalism, ethnic identity and intercultural communication competence through the social construction of food




    Sat Oct 1/11 3:30-5 pm Concurrent sessions
    Multiculturalism and immigrant Integration: The Experience of Smaller Cities and Rural Areas II

    Chair: Evangelia Tastsoglou, Saint Mary’s University
    Laura Lee Howard, University of Prince Edward Island, Reaching out and welcoming in: Increasing newcomer parental engagement in the Garden of the Gulf (PEI).
    Yoko Yoshida and Howard Ramos, Dalhousie University, Who are rural immigrants?
    Ather Akbari, Saint Mary’s University, Economic integration of immigrants in small urban centres: Some evidence from Atlantic Canada.
    Susan Brigham, Mount St Vincent University, Talking back to Canada’s multicultural policy: Internationally educated teachers’ negotiation of space, place, identity and belonging in Maritime Canada.

    Ethnic Communities and the Creation of Canada’s Multicultural Policy
    Ethnic communities were instrumental in creating Canada’s Multiculturalism Policy. Their contribution in the development of the policy is not well known or documented. Representatives of ethnocultural organizations appeared before the Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism pointing out that many Canadians who helped build the country were of non-French and non-English origin: hence, the implementation of “A Policy of Multiculturalism within a Bilingual Framework.” The panel will provide an opportunity for members of the Canadian Ethnocultural Council and representatives of community organizations to reflect on the development of the policy over the past 40 years, reflecting how it has shaped the role of ethnic organizations, been an instrument for social cohesion, and has facilitated nation building while strengthening Canadian identity.

    Chair: Anna Chiappa, Canadian Ethnocultural Council
    Can Le, Vietnamese Federation of Canada
    Gita Nurlaila, Indonesian Canadian Congress
    Diane Dragasevich, Serbian National Shield Society of Canada
    C. Lloyd Stanford, Le Groupe Stanford Inc.



    Author Meets Critics: Creative Subversions: Whiteness, Indigeneity, and the National Imaginary

    Chair: Minelle Mahtani, University of Toronto
    Margot Francis, Brock University
    Renisa Mawani, University of British Columbia
    Rinaldo Walcott, University of Toronto
    Jeff Thomas, Independent Photographer and Curator

    Developing and Measuring Effectiveness of Cultural Intelligence and Diversity in the Canadian Forces: Challenges and Considerations

    Chair: Karen Davis, National Defence Canada
    Jack Jedwab, Association for Canadian Studies
    Daniel Lagacé-Roy, Royal Military College
    John Berry, Queen’s University
    Lloyd Wong, University of Calgary

  • The Wellbeing of immigrant children and parents in Canada depends much on a sense of belonging

    Economists Peter Burton and Shelley Phipps, Dalhousie University studied the life satisfaction of youth who immigrated to Canada as children and their immigrant parents. They used data on thousands of recent immigrants and Canadian-born families collected through the Canadian Community Health Survey (2002-2008).
    In their working paper “The Well-Being of Immigrant Children and Parents in Canada“, Burton and Phipps find less life satisfaction than Canadian born families with youth.
    From the news item covering the release of the paper in today’s Globe and Mail by Frances Woolley:

    “Immigrants felt less of a sense of belonging than the Canadian-born. For youth, feeling like you don’t belong is a better predictor of being less satisfied with life than being an immigrant. Indeed, once Burton and Phipps controlled for people’s sense of belonging, the gap between immigrant and comparable non-immigrant youth went away. (That was not true for parents, however — even immigrant parents who felt like they belonged to their local communities were still less satisfied than non-immigrants)”.

  • immigrantchildren.ca on arrival to its 500th post!

    the-arrival

    immigrantchildren.ca is approaching its 500th entry! To celebrate, we’re having a contest. If you have ever commented to any post on immigrantchildren.ca since the launch in November 2007, you are eligible to win a copy of Shaun Tan’s The Arrival.

    All you need to do is add a comment responding to the question What do you think best supports the settlement needs of young children (birth to age eight)?

    Is it high quality, early learning and child care?

    Is it ensuring that settlement services promote and support home languages?

    Are social/recreational programs the best way to facilitate very young immigrant children’s integration into Canadian society?

    Is it a family-oriented approach, involving all members of the child’s family in programming/activities? Like what?

    Or, something else? Let us know!

    Post your responses and comments to this blog entry and I will randomly draw a winner two days after the date of my 500th post, and send off a copy of Shaun Tan’s beautiful book (via Canada Post).

    Contest opens now! Don’t delay; reply with your comments today.

  • Call for papers: Mothers and mothering in a global context

    The Motherhood Initiative for Research and Community Involvement (MIRCI) and the Institute for Gender and Development Studies: The Nita Barrow Unit, University of the West Indies are hosting an international conference on: Mothers and Mothering in a Global Context, Feb 24-25, 2012 in Barbados.
    From their call for papers:

    “This conference explores motherhood and mothering in a global context by highlighting the commonality and also the diversity in how mothers care for children and others across, and beyond, borders and cultures. We welcome submissions from researchers, students, activists, community workers, artists and writers and papers that explore the meaning and experience of motherhood in a global context from all academic disciplines including but not limited to motherhood studies, anthropology, history, literature, popular culture, women’s studies, sociology, and that consider the theme across a wide range of maternal identities including racial, ethnic, regional, religious, national, social, cultural, political, and sexual. Cross-cultural perspectives on the subject matter are particularly welcome.

    Deadline for submissions is Nov 15, 2011. For more information, visit the MIRCI website.