JERUSALEM CONFERENCE IN CANADIAN STUDIES

Biennially, the Halbert Centre for Canadian Studies and the Israel Association for Canadian Studies hold a Canadian Studies conference. The aim of the conference is to bring together Canadianists from throughout Israel and Canadianists from abroad to present and discuss papers on Canadian Studies themes.

ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES IN CANADA, ISRAEL, AND BEYOND

PROGRAM

Past Conferences:

PROGRAM

THE 11th BIENNIAL CONFERENCE IN CANADIAN STUDIES

The 11^th Biennial Jerusalem Conference in Canadian Studies was held at the Maiersdorf Faculty Club on the Mount Scopus Campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem from July 2nd until July 6th, 2006.

The conference will focus on the theme of Conflict Management and Resolution in its many facets: on the level of individuals, groups, cities and countries, in the spheres of environment, law, and politics, or through its representation within the arts. This broad theme will be broken down into three major foci in the context of the conference. The first is Conflict Management and Resolution within Societies: Canadian and Israeli Mechanisms and Experience. The second area of concentration is Conflict and Conflict Resolution as Portrayed in Art and Literature. The third sub-theme of the conference is The Rule of Law in a Parliamentary Democracy: A Comparative Review of Canada and Israel (the subject of a special focus-day of the conference).

THE 10th BIENNIAL CONFERENCE IN CANADIAN STUDIES

The 10^th Biennial Jerusalem Conference in Canadian Studies was held at the Maiersdorf Faculty Club on the Mount Scopus Campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem between June 28th and July 1st 2004.

PROGRAM / ABSTRACTS

The conference centred around the theme: "Societies Coping with Crisis: The Israeli and Canadian Responses". Most sessions focused on aspects of this theme from different perspectives, including: public policy, international relations and political science, university campuses, literature, geography and urban planning, ethics, demography, communications, economy and history. The field of psychology also featured strongly this year, a field fairly new to the biennial conferences.

 Over 150 people attended the 4-day event, including more than sixty presenters. The majority were Israeli, close to half were Canadian, and the rest originated from India, Mexico and the United States. Sixty-two papers were presented at the conference.

 Prof. Iris Geva-May was featured as keynote speaker at the conference. Prof. Geva-May, of the department of Political Science at Simon Fraser University and Editor-in-chief of the Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis, spoke on the subject of: "Societies Coping with Crisis: Importance of Comparative Public Policy - The Case of Canada and Israel".

Special events included a screening of the movie "Discordia" which complemented a unique plenary session on the subject, a lunch lecture by Mr. Ari Shavit, an Israeli columnist for the Ha'aretz Daily Newspaper, entitled: "Israeli Society Facing Up to the Challenge of Terrorism", an evening tour and reception at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, and a half-day field trip around the capital entitled "Jerusalem Under Stress". The field trip was preceded by a lecture given at the closing lunch by Ambassador Jill Sinclair, Canadian Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, entitled "Middle East Peace: Process or Crisis? A Canadian Perspective".

 One volume of conference papers has been slated for publication. The publication will include papers presented in sessions dealing with "terror, trauma and mental health", or concerned with the psychological aspects of crisis situations, and will be edited by a team consisting of an Israeli and Canadian academic.