Canadian Studies in the Czech Republic and Central Europe: A Personal History
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The Canadian Studies Centre was established at Masaryk University in 1990 with the aim of promoting research and developing courses that focus on Canadiana. Founded in 1919, Masaryk University is based in the mid-sized Central European city of Brno in the Czech Republic and is the second-largest university in the country. Masaryk has stood at the forefront of advancing Canadian Studies since the establishment of the Canadian Studies Centre. In 1998, the university hosted the inaugural International Conference of Central European Canadianists which led ultimately to the founding in 2003 of the Central European Association for Canadian Studies, which coordinates Canadianists active in Central Europe and has its Secretariat at the Faculty of Arts of Masaryk University. The association, whuch has been a member of the International Council for Canadian Studies since 2004, has around 170 members.
Brief Chronology
- 1985 First Canadian Studies course introduced (in Department of English and American Studies) – the beginning of Canadian Studies in Czechoslovakia
- 1990 Canadian Studies Centre established
- 1990s Canadian Studies courses introduced in other departments at the Faculty of Arts (Romance Languages and Literatures, Philosophy) as well as at the Faculty of Education (English), Faculty of Science (Geography) and Faculty of Social Studies (Political Science)
- 1998 1st International Conference of Central European Canadianists
- 2000 9th European Seminar for Graduate Students in Canadian Studies
- 2003 Central European Association for Canadian Studies established, with Secretariat located at Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University
- 2005 International conference on “The Imaginary in the Contemporary Quebec Novel”
- 2007 International conference on “Identity through Art, Thought and the Imaginary in the Canadian Space”
- 2010–2013 EU-financed project supporting innovation in the area of North American Studies
- 2015 Introduction of Master’s degree in North American Studies with major Canadian (Anglophone and Francophone) component
- 2017 International conference on “The Americas in Canada”
- 2021 Comprehending Canada Summer School offered for the first time
“Though university curricula during the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia were in theory centrally designed and controlled, in practice there was considerable diversity, both in curricula structures and, more particularly, in what courses were actually taught as well as their content. Compared to other Czech universities, the university in Brno (and particularly its Faculty of Arts) was relatively liberal, less rigid in the control it exerted and leaving much decision-making up to individual departments. In retrospect, the freedom given to individual teachers strikes one as remarkable. As a result, the genesis of the pioneering Canadian literature course mentioned above was simple: in the fall of 1984, as a member of the Department (my main subject at the time was American literature), I simply dropped into the office of the acting Head, Josef Hladký, and asked him if I could offer a Canadian literature course as an elective the following semester. He agreed—no questions were asked about content—and that was that.”
Don Sparling