WWU faculty work in Canadian-American studies will be showcased at Seattle conference this month

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WWU faculty work in Canadian-American studies will be showcased at Seattle conference this month

November 6, 2025

Western Washington University's Center for Canadian-American Studies is the largest sponsor of this month's biennial gathering of the Association for Canadian Studies in the United States.

With about 200 people coming to Seattle from all over the U.S. and Canada, as well as a few from Mexico and Europe, it's the largest gathering of Canadianist scholars in the world, said Christina Keppie, the WWU center's director and the immediate past president of ACSUS.

The conference will be Nov. 13 to 16 in Seattle at the Hyatt at Olive 8 and will include a reception with the newly opened Quebec Delegation in Seattle.

"The theme is 'Spaces of Change,' and the conference looks at the dynamics of studying Canada within all disciplines," Keppie said. Scholars will share work on not just cross-border dynamics, but Indigenous issues, social justice, French-Canadian literature, media relations and environmental sustainability.

At the previous ACSUS conference two years ago, Keppie, then president of the organization, launched an initiative to support emerging scholars in Canadian studies. About 30 of those scholars, mostly doctoral or post-doc students, will attend the conference in Seattle, thanks to ACSUS funding.

The Center for Canadian-American Studies continues to lead this ongoing initiative to support emerging scholars through international mentorship, Keppie said. "Western is being noticed as a leader in fostering the next generation of Canadianists," she said

Western will also have the largest academic contingent at the conference: 10 faculty and students will present research across a wide variety of disciplines.

WWU faculty presenting at the conference include:

• Border Policy Research Institute Director Laurie Trautman, moderating "Canada-U.S. Relations in the Trump Era." BPRI Research Fellow Andréanne Bissonnette will also speak on the panel.
• BPRI Research and Program Manager Jennifer Bettis, moderating "Boundaries, Ecosystems and the Canada-U.S. Relationship: Educating the Next Generation of Cross-Border Scholars." Panelists will be Bettis, Keppie, Center for Canadian American Studies Education and Curriculum Specialist Kyla Sweet and Associate Director of the Salish Sea Institute Cindy Elliser.
• Trautman, chairing "Cross-Border Relationships in the 21^st Century." Panelists will include Trautman and Ross Distinguished Visiting Professor Edward Alden.
• Assistant Professor of Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies Mary Tuti Baker, speaking on "Columbia River Treaty: Transboundary Water Governance and Ethics."
• Keppie, chairing the student colloquium for emerging scholars of Canadiana. Topics will include "Filming the North," "Reflections on Canada's Past," and "People and Practices on the Margins."
• Bettis, moderating a panel on music and media with panelists Bissonnette and Journalism Professor Derek Moscato. Moscato will also join a panel on the history of lacrosse and discuss the Bellingham Lacrosse Club from 1904 to 1907.
• Elliser, speaking on her work with the Salish Sea Institute on a panel discussing Canadian studies pedagogy.
• Keppie and Undergraduate Research Assistant Asher Woods, discussing their work on Acadian people in a panel about ethnocultural experiences through language.

For more information about the conference, visit acsus.org/conference/