Print and PDF Options

School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies
(Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences)

Canadian Studies (CDNS) Courses

CDNS 1001 [0.5 credit]
Introduction to the Study of Canada

Introduction to interdisciplinary Canadian Studies. Topics may include: Canadian, Québecois and Indigenous lenses; colonialism, migration, settlement; gender, racialization and sexuality; social movements; place, space, and nation; and political economy and culture. May include field trips.
Precludes additional credit for CDNS 1000 (no longer offered).
Lectures/groups three hours a week.

CDNS 1101 [0.5 credit]
Power, Places and Stories in/of Odawang/Ottawa

Exploration of Odawang/Ottawa as a settler-colonial border city built on unceded Algonquin territory and tensions between the national, global and local in Odawang/Ottawa. May include field trips.
Lecture/groups three hours a week.

CDNS 2000 [0.5 credit]
Debating Canada

Exploration of debates about Canada. Topics may include: Indigenous dispossession, genocide, capitalism, resource extraction; racism; patriarchal oppression; inequality; multiculturalism; and the politics of location, language and memory.
Prerequisite(s): second-year standing or permission of the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies.
Lectures/groups three hours a week.

CDNS 2001 [0.5 credit]
Canada and Global Issues

Examination of the role of the Canadian state and other actors in addressing global issues. Topics may include: human rights; refugees and migrant workers; peacekeeping; climate change; humanitarian assistance; Indigenous rights; and global health.
Precludes additional credit for CDNS 1102 (no longer offered).
Prerequisite(s): second-year standing or permission of the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies.
Lectures/groups three hours a week.

CDNS 2002 [0.5 credit]
Language, Culture, and Power

Study of the relationship between language and power, politics, identity and culture in Canada. Consideration is given to: language policies; non-official and official language minorities; and factors of region, class and social mobility.
Prerequisite(s): second-year standing or permission of the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies.
Lectures/groups three hours a week.

CDNS 2210 [0.5 credit]
Introduction to the Study of Culture in Canada

Examination of key cultural myths, diverse genres, spaces, institutions, practices and critical approaches in Canada.
Prerequisite(s): second-year standing or permission of the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies.
Lectures/groups three hours a week.

CDNS 2300 [0.5 credit]
Nationalism and Multiculturalism in Canada

Examination of nationalism, colonialism, racialization, ethnicity, multiculturalism and questions of belonging, citizenship and inequality in contemporary and historical Canada.
Prerequisite(s): second-year standing or permission of the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies.
Lectures/groups three hours a week.

CDNS 2301 [0.5 credit]
Immigrants, Migrants and Diasporas

Study of historical and contemporary Canadian immigration and emigration issues. Topics may include: dynamics of diasporic communities in Canada and Québec; Canadians abroad; and issues of citizenship and belonging.
Prerequisite(s): second-year standing or permission of the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies.
Lectures/groups three hours a week.

CDNS 2302 [0.5 credit]
Land, Water, Capitalism

Examination of politics and economics of land, water, and power. Topics may include: the study of labour, migrant workers, capitalist extraction; environmental racism and health; and Indigenous dispossession and resistance.
Also listed as INDG 2302.
Prerequisite(s): second-year standing or permission of the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies.
Lectures/groups three hours a week.

CDNS 2400 [0.5 credit]
Heritage Places and Practices in Canada

An examination of heritage as the built environment, cultural landscapes, and intangible heritage. Topics may include: decolonizing memory, identity and place; heritage histories, policies, values and stakeholders; emerging issues such as climate change, mass tourism and urban development.
Prerequisite(s): second-year standing or permission of the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies.
Lectures/groups three hours a week.

CDNS 2510 [0.5 credit]
Memory & History in QC

Pivotal moments, important debates and crises, cultural institutions and practices, the politics of history and memory, and contemporary issues in Québec.
Precludes additional credit for CDNS 2511, FINS 2510 (no longer offered), FINS 2511 (no longer offered).
Prerequisite(s): second-year standing or permission of the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies.
Lectures/groups three hours per week.

CDNS 3000 [0.5 credit]
Situating Research in Indigenous Studies and Canadian Studies

An examination of the underlying research design and methods of selected works for Indigenous Studies and for Canadian Studies in order to reflect on the political, ethical and intellectual consequences, possibilities and limitations of a variety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary research practices.
Includes: Experiential Learning Activity
Prerequisite(s): second-year standing or permission of the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies.
Seminar three hours a week.

CDNS 3020 [0.5 credit]
Practicing Research in Indigenous Studies and Canadian Studies

Experiential engagement with disciplinary, interdisciplinary and creative research theory and practice. Approaches may include: mixed methods; autoethnography; research-creation; collaboration; and community-based research.
Includes: Experiential Learning Activity
Prerequisite(s): second-year standing or permission of the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies.
Seminar three hours a week.

CDNS 3400 [0.5 credit]
Feminist and Queer Canadas

An examination of the dynamics of feminist and queer social movements and activism. Topics may include: challenges to the regulation of bodies and sexualities; the normalization of patriarchal violence and inequality; access and recognition; and intersectionality.
Precludes additional credit for WGST 3400 (no longer offered).
Prerequisite(s): second-year standing or permission of the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies.
Seminar three hours a week.

CDNS 3550 [0.5 credit]
Diversity in Québec and Francophone Canada

The study of the historical, cultural, social, and political diversity of French-speaking Canada. Topics may include: Francophone diasporic communities; multiculturalism, interculturalism; (settler) colonialism; and the politics of culture and language.
Precludes additional credit for CDNS 2500, FINS 3550 (no longer offered).
Prerequisite(s): second-year standing or permission of the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies.
Seminar three hours a week.

CDNS 3560 [0.5 credit]
Black Studies in Canada

Theories and methods of Black Studies in Canada. Topics may include: the examination of regional, national, transnational histories; structures of anti-Blackness; racial capitalism; and identities, experiences and cultures of Black Canada.
Prerequisite(s): second-year standing or permission of the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies.
Seminar three hours a week.

CDNS 3570 [0.5 credit]
Racialization and Resistance

Deconstructing the category of ‘race’ and understanding the experiences and impacts of racialization and systemic racism in Canada and Québec. Topics may include: inequality, exploitation, poverty, profiling, incarceration; cultures of resistance; decolonizing anti-racist movements; and anti-racism as critique and affirmation.
Prerequisite(s): second-year standing or permission of the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies.
Seminar three hours a week.

CDNS 3620 [0.5 credit]
Canada-US Relations

An examination the Canada-US relationship, including contemporary policy issues that define that relationship. Topics covered may include: the economy; culture; defence; foreign policy; diplomacy; transnational struggles; and borderlands and the context of Turtle Island.
Prerequisite(s): second-year standing or permission of the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies.
Seminar three hours a week.

CDNS 3700 [0.5 credit]
Constructing and Contesting Memory in Canada

An exploration of conflicts about memory and commemoration in Canada, including: monuments and heritage sites; cultural heritage and artistic expressions; the media; education; language and cultural revitalization; and the politics of memory and forgetting.
Prerequisite(s): second-year standing or permission of the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies.
Seminar three hours a week.

CDNS 3901 [0.5 credit]
Selected Topics in Canadian Studies

Study of a specific topic or area related to Canadian Studies. Topics vary from year to year.
Prerequisite(s): second-year standing or permission of the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies.
Seminar three hours a week.

CDNS 4011 [0.5 credit]
Activism in Odawang/Ottawa

Examination of struggles and activism in and about Ottawa/Odawang.
Prerequisite(s): third-year standing or permission of the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies.
Seminar three hours a week.

CDNS 4012 [0.5 credit]
Settler Colonialism on Turtle Island

Exploration of the theories, practices, and history of settler colonialism on Turtle Island. Topics may include: racialization; settlement and migration; white supremacy; heteropatriarchy; land and Indigenous relations; and contemporary struggles and decolonization.
Prerequisite(s): third-year standing or permission of the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies.
Seminar three hours a week.

CDNS 4020 [0.5 credit]
Injury, Memory, and Redress in Canada

Examination of the politics of redress and (re)conciliation in Canada. Topics include the ways in which historic wrongs, trauma and injury are (re)imagined and memorialized.
Prerequisite(s): third-year standing or permission of the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies.
Seminar three hours a week.

CDNS 4400 [0.5 credit]
Space, Landscape and Identity in Canada

Explorations of cultural landscapes and competing constructions of space. Topics may include: settler-colonial space-making, whiteness and space, diasporic space, geographies of gender and sexuality, and different understandings of nature/culture.
Prerequisite(s): third-year standing or permission of the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies.
Also offered at the graduate level, with different requirements, as CDNS 5400, for which additional credit is precluded.
Seminar three hours a week.

CDNS 4403 [0.5 credit]
Heritage Conservation and Sustainability in Canada

Theory, principles, practices and policy of heritage conservation in Canada and globally. Focus on heritage conservation and its connections with environmental, social, and economic sustainability.
Includes: Experiential Learning Activity
Prerequisite(s): third-year standing or permission of the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies.
Also offered at the graduate level, with different requirements, as CDNS 5403, for which additional credit is precluded.
Seminar three hours a week.

CDNS 4500 [0.5 credit]
Global Canada

Examining Canada’s place and activities on the global stage. Topics may include: Canadian multinationals; Canadian foreign policy, cultural diplomacy, and corporate globalization; advocacy for Indigenous, environmental, women’s, refugees’ and children’s rights; racial capitalism and im/migration; security; and resistances to the global.
Precludes additional credit for CDNS 3301(no longer offered).
Prerequisite(s): third-year standing or permission of the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies.
Seminar three hours a week.

CDNS 4510 [0.5 credit]
Special Topics in Québec Studies

Examination of a specific topic or area related to the study of Québec. Topics vary from year to year.
Precludes additional credit for CDNS 3510 (no longer offered).
Prerequisite(s): third-year standing or permission of the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies.
Seminar three hours a week.

CDNS 4800 [1.0 credit]
Internship Practicum

Practicum placements are available in institutional settings, primarily in the Ottawa area. Students must meet regularly with the academic evaluator and submit a final written report. A maximum of 1.0 practicum credits may be taken in fulfillment of Canadian Studies requirements.
Includes: Experiential Learning Activity
Precludes additional credit for CDNS 3800, CDNS 3801, CDNS 3802 and CDNS 3803.
Prerequisite(s): permission of the School and fourth-year Honours standing in an Indigenous and Canadian Studies program.


CDNS 4801 [0.5 credit]
Internship/Practicum

Practicum placements are available in institutional settings, primarily in the Ottawa area. Students must meet regularly with the academic evaluator and submit a final written report. A maximum of 1.0 practicum credits may be taken in fulfillment of Canadian Studies requirements.
Includes: Experiential Learning Activity
Precludes additional credit for CDNS 3800, CDNS 3801, CDNS 3802 and CDNS 3803.
Prerequisite(s): permission of the School and fourth-year Honours standing in an Indigenous and Canadian Studies program.


CDNS 4802 [0.5 credit]
Internship/Practicum

Practicum placements are available in institutional settings, primarily in the Ottawa area. Students must meet regularly with the academic evaluator and submit a final written report. A maximum of 1.0 practicum credits may be taken in fulfillment of Canadian Studies requirements.
Includes: Experiential Learning Activity
Precludes additional credit for CDNS 3800, CDNS 3801, CDNS 3802 and CDNS 3803.
Prerequisite(s): permission of the School and fourth year Honours standing in an Indigenous and Canadian Studies program.


CDNS 4901 [0.5 credit]
Selected Topics in Canadian Studies

Study of a specific topic or area related to Canadian Studies. Topics vary from year to year.
Prerequisite(s): third-year standing or permission of the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies.
Seminar three hours a week.

CDNS 4902 [0.5 credit]
Selected Topics in Canadian Studies

Study of a specific topic or area related to Canadian Studies. Topics vary from year to year.
Prerequisite(s): fourth-year standing or permission of the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies.


CDNS 4903 [0.5 credit]
Études dirigées I

Cours facultatif offert seulement aux étudiants de quatrième année Honours en Études canadiennes (Mention : Français). Ce cours comprend des lectures dirigées et des travaux écrits dans un domaine relié aux Études canadiennes.
Prerequisite(s): Fourth-year standing or permission of the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies.


CDNS 4904 [0.5 credit]
Études dirigées II

Cours facultatif offert seulement aux étudiants de quatrième année Honours en Études canadiennes (Mention : Français). Ce cours comprend des lectures dirigées et des travaux écrits dans un domaine relié aux Études canadiennes.
Prerequisite(s): fourth-year standing or permission of the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies.


CDNS 4905 [0.5 credit]
Directed Studies I

An optional course normally restricted to fourth-year Honours students in Canadian Studies and to Qualifying-year Graduate students. Includes supervised reading and written work in a Canadian Studies area.
Prerequisite(s): Fourth-year standing or permission of the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies.


CDNS 4906 [0.5 credit]
Directed Studies II

An optional course normally restricted to fourth-year Honours students in Canadian Studies and to Qualifying-year graduate students. Includes supervised reading and written work in a Canadian Studies area.
Prerequisite(s): Fourth-year standing or permission of the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies.


CDNS 4907 [1.0 credit]
Directed Studies III

An optional course normally restricted to fourth-year Honours students in Canadian Studies and to Qualifying-year graduate students. Includes supervised reading and written work in a Canadian Studies area.
Prerequisite(s): Fourth-year standing or permission of the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies.


Note: Not all courses listed are offered in a given year. For an up-to-date statement of course offerings for the current session and to determine the term of offering, consult the class schedule at central.carleton.ca.

Summer session: some of the courses listed in this Calendar are offered during the summer. Hours and scheduling for summer session courses will differ significantly from those reported in the fall/winter Calendar. To determine the scheduling and hours for summer session classes, consult the class schedule at central.carleton.ca