“Thinking Canada” is an initiative of the European Network for Canadian Studies, funded generously by the European Commission – a four-week study tour to Canada for European students that will take place from 1 – 29 September 2013, followed for selected participants by two-month internships. It will commence with three days of briefings in Brussels on the EU and EU-Canada relations.

The aim of the study tour – supported by the European Commission within the EU-Canada Programme on Cooperation in Higher Education, Training and Youth – is to provide participants with an understanding of EU-Canada relations and the complex diversity of Canada itself. It accomplishes this by offering them a unique in-depth experience of Canada achieved through an intensive programme of visits to major private and public institutions, government bodies, think tanks and NGOs. At each place, the students will receive briefings and have the opportunity to exchange views with representatives of these bodies, many of them leading experts in their fields. The tour will begin in Brussels, and travel to Ottawa, Québec, Montréal, Toronto, Vancouver and Victoria.

For more information click here

Childhood obesity is one of the most significant pediatric public health issues in western cultures. In most OECD countries one of every four children are overweight or obese. The public health implications of this trend are staggering.

Rates of several obesity-related chronic diseases, like type 2 diabetes and hypertension, which were unheard of in children 20 years ago, now affect up to 30% of adolescents. In the search for a culprit for this epidemic, researchers and the lay media tend to focus on factors that directly influence energy balance, like exercise and sugar sweetened beverages. Less attention is paid to hidden factors that regulate a child’s behaviour, rendering them more susceptible to poor dietary habits or sedentary lifestyle.

One of obesity’s hidden factors that is receiving a lot of attention lately is adverse childhood experiences. Large scale studies (http://acestudy.org/) have clearly demonstrated that adults who experienced adversity during their childhood, such as loss of a parent, divorce or living in a foster home, are more likely to experience diseases like heart disease, liver disease and lung diseases (http://www.cdc.gov/ace/findings.htm). The majority of the scientific literature on this topic is focused on adults and factors in childhood that could explain these trends remains unclear.

In fact, very few scientists have examined the influence of being exposed to adversity on health outcomes in children, particularly obesity. The purpose of my research experience at the Economic and Social Research Institute in Dublin was to study the link between adversity and childhood obesity in children in Ireland.

Professor James Williams, at ESRI is the principal investigator for a very unique cohort study in Ireland, called the Growing Up in Ireland Study. The study, (the largest study of its kind ever undertaken in Ireland) is designed to understand the social, economic and cultural factors that influence child development. Professor Williams and his team have enrolled 8,500 9 year olds and 11,500 at 9 month olds who they plan to follow for a period 9 years.

This cohort is the largest of its kind in Ireland and is intended to gather information that is critical for developing policies for improving child health outcomes in Ireland. I had the privilege of working with Professor Williams on this cohort and the purpose of my visit to the ESRI was to use the data from this cohort to understand the role of adversity on childhood obesity. Specifically, we compared rates of obesity among children exposed to different degrees of adversity before 9 years of age.

In addition to this experience, I had the pleasure of meeting with one of the co-investigators on the Growing Up in Ireland study, Professor Tom O’Dowd from the Department of Public Health and Primary Care at Trinity College Dublin. Together with the researchers at ESRI we developed a secondary research project aimed at understanding how children succeed in the face of adversity. To date, most researchers have focused on the negative aspects of childhood adversity.

However, there are many children who are resilient in the face of adversity (See: “Slum Dog Millionaire”). Within my own research program at the Manitoba Institute of Child Health in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada, we have witnessed first-hand, children that thrive despite significant childhood adversity. A very common question among researchers and physicians alike when exposed to such children is: “How did they become successful in life, when so many of their peers did not?”

With Dr. O’Dowd and Richard Layte from ESRI, we decided to try and address this question. Capitalizing on the world class data from the Growing Up in Ireland Cohort, we tried to uncover the factors that lead to successful academic, social and behavioral development, despite being exposed to adversity early in childhood. The information gained from these analyses may help us design policies to support children exposed to adverse experiences to ensure they have an equal opportunity for a healthy successful fulfilling future.

I am extremely grateful for the Ireland Canada University Foundation for this extraordinary opportunity to work with the Growing Up in Ireland research team and the staff at Tallaght Hospital. The funding provided through the Dobbin Scholarship provided me with the resources and protected time to address these novel and relevant research questions.

I have recently recruited a number of pediatric residents to work on the Growing Up in Ireland cohort data to explore additional research questions related to child health. I recently presented the results of our analyses to the registrar training program at Tallaght Hospital. Together with the staff at Tallaght and ESRI we plan to develop an exchange program to support high quality research for physicians in training within Canada and Ireland.

The funding provided allowed us to plant a seed that will blossom into a lifelong collaboration between our two institutions and lead to a lifetime of discoveries aimed at improving the health of children in both countries.

Jon McGavock, March 2013

In her research on Glenn Gould, Karishmeh Felfeli  (Dobbin Scholar 2012), visited Library & Archives Canada & Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Arising from this research, Karishmeh will be giving a seminar in UCD at 3pm on the 3rd of April, in room J308, UCD School of Music. All are welcome to attend.

The title of her seminar is “Radio as Music? The Convergence of Landscape and Soundscape in Glenn Gould’s The Quiet in the Land”

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Here is an excert from her report to the ICUF board, posted here with thanks to Karishmeh;

Thirty years after his untimely death in 1982, the iconoclastic Canadian pianist Glenn Gould continues to be remembered not only as one of the greatest musicians of all time, but as a prolific writer, broadcaster, philosopher and technophile.  Despite this extraordinary posthumous fame, and the unprecedented scholarly attention devoted to Gould, his painstakingly fabricated ‘compositions’ for his favourite medium, the radio, remain something of an enigma even for those familiar with his recordings of piano music and his musicological writings.

As a doctoral student of music at University College Dublin, where I am studying under the supervision of Professor Julian Horton, as well as a pianist and radio-broadcaster, my own scholarly interests and professional achievements served as ideal preparation for this research project.  As part of my proposed trip, I wanted to undertake research at the National Library and Archives, Ottawa and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) Archives, Toronto where audiovisual and unpublished archival materials pertaining to Glenn Gould’s work as a radio broadcaster/composer are held.

Even though I have devoted a large portion of my professional career to promoting Gould’s legacy in Ireland via lecture-recitals at the National Concert Hall, and radio broadcasts on RTE Radio 1 and 103.2 Dublin City FM, undertaking exhaustive research in Canada without any financial constraints or logistical difficulties has always proved to be impossible, especially given Ireland’s present-day economic fragility.

With the backing of University College Dublin, the Estate of Glenn Gould, 103.2 Dublin City FM and, most importantly, the generous financial support offered by the Ireland-Canada University Foundation, I had the opportunity to embark on this research trip, as recipient of the prestigious Craig Dobbin Scholarship. I was expecting this to be a productive trip, but I was completely  astonished at just how much relevant (and undiscovered) material awaited me. If my work in Ottawa involved a careful study of documentary evidence on microfilm, the CBC Archives in Toronto were a treasure trove of a very different sort. Assisted by the Head of CBC Radio Archives, Ken Puley, I spent most of my time listening to outtakes, field-recordings, demos and unedited versions of Gould’s radio compositions for the CBC. I had to work hard and fast to transcribe any relevant segments (including those taken from Gould’s other radio broadcasts) that could back up my hypotheses on his contrapuntal compositions, given that nearly everything contained in the CBC Archives can only be accessed if one is physically present.

The Dobbin Scholarship has provided me with the documentary and audio resources I require to consolidate and disseminate my academic research on Glenn Gould. I have already been invited to present a seminar as part of the University College Dublin, School of Music Seminar Series in Music Analysis. In addition I am also producing another documentary on Gould, which will stem out of this research trip for 103.2 Dublin City FM so that my work as a Dobbin Scholar can make an impact to those outside academia, many of whom may have never heard of this legendary artist.

I cannot thank the Ireland-Canada University Foundation enough for supporting the work of scholars like  myself. Without the generosity afforded by the Dobbin Scholarship, I would have never been able to experience a research trip that has been the most extraordinarily productive undertaking of my scholarly and professional career so far.

Karishmeh Felfeli School of Music, University College Dublin

For more information, visit Karishmeh’s Glenn Gould Project Website and Blog www.glenngould.co.uk

Sé príomhaidhm an chláir seo ná tacú le fás agus forbairt na Gaeilge i gCeanada agus feilfidh an ról do dhaoine a bhfuil spéis acu a bheith páirteach i dtreisiú na teanga thar lear.

Tá tuilleadh eolais faoin gClár Gaeilge ar fáil anseo agus tá na sonraí d’iarratasóirí anseo. Cliceáil anseo chun na teagascóirí reatha agus iar-theagascóirí a fheiceáil.

Tá alt scíofa ag Shane Ó Ruairc faoina thaithí in Halifax san Alban Nua anseo.

Tá an clár seo maoinithe ag an Roinn Ealaíon, Oidhreachta agus Gaeltachta agus an Crannchur Náisiúnta. Sé an spriocdháta d’iarratais ná 5in ar an Luan, 4ú Márta 2013.

The deadline for applications is approaching for those interested in being a  Teagascóir in one of our partner universities in Canada for the coming year.

This programme is in place to support the development of the Irish language in Canada, and is a great opportunity for those interested in bringing the Irish language overseas.

More information on the Clár Gaeilge can be found here, and on the specifics of the Clár Gaeilge here. To see current and previous awardees on the scheme, click here.

To read an article by Shane O Ruairc who is currently in Halifax Nova Scotia, click here.

This programme is funded by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, and the National Lottery. The deadline for applications is 5pm on Monday 4th of March 2013.

Ní hionann é sin agus a rá áfach nach bhfuil cleas réasúnta mór d’Éireannaigh anseo i Nova Scotia. Go deimhin, tá na hÉireannaigh ag teacht go Nova Scotia agus go Halifax ach go háirithe le tuairim is dhá chéad bliain agus an Ghaeilge leo. Sa chathair féin, chruinnigh na hÉireannaigh le chéile i dtús aimsire i gceantar darbh ainm Irishtown, bailiúchán de shráideanna beaga buailte leis an Atlantach. Is cosúil go mbíodh an Ghaeilge á labhairt sa cheantar sin i gcaitheamh an naoú haois déag ach gur thit sí i léig le himeacht an chéid agus gur imigh sí ó bhéal na ndaoine go huile is go hiomlán ag tús na haoise seo caite. Ní shin le rá go raibh deireadh leis an nGaeilge sa Chúige seo.

Shane lena rang Gaeilge

Le breis is caoga bliain anuas tá dreamanna beaga daoine, Éireannaigh ó dhúchas a bhformhór acu ach Ceanadaigh de shliocht na hÉireann is ea cuid acu chomh maith, ag léiriú suime sa teanga athuair. In Ollscoil Mhuire Naofa bunaíodh Roinn faoi leith do Léann na hÉireann in ochtóidí an chéid seo caite agus tá ranganna Gaeilge á gcur ar fáil do scoláirí ó shin agus éileamh maith ar na ranganna. Seachtar déag a bhí mo chúramsa roimh an Nollaig mar shampla. Lasmuigh den suíomh Ollscoile cuireadh ciorcal comhrá le chéile fiche bliain ó shin do dhaoine idir óg is aosta ar mhaith leo an teanga a fhoghlaim i dtimpeallacht neamhfhoirmiúil. Tá na ranganna úd ag dul ó neart go neart ó shin agus daoine, idir Éireannaigh is Ceanadaigh, ag teacht isteach ó chuile chearn den chúige go Cathair Halifax oíche Déardaoin le freastal orthu.

Ní hí an teanga an t-aon ghné amháin dár n-oidhreacht atá á cothú anseo in Oirthear Cheanada. Bunaíodh club Chumann Lúthchleas Gael anseo sa chathair anuraidh agus in ainneoin nach bhfuil an club ach ina thús tá na baill óga den tuairim go neartóidh sé sna blianta atá romhainn. Táthar ag caint cheana féin ar fhoireann Pheil na mBan a chur le chéile i mbliana toisc an t-éileamh a bheith ann! Tá an-tóir go deo ar an gceol traidisiúnta sna tithe tábhairne anseo sa chathair chomh maith. Is cinnte mar sin go bhfuil an Ghaeilge agus cultúr na hÉireann trí chéile faoi bhláth in Oirthear Cheanada i mblianta tosaigh na Mílaoise nua. Nár laga Dia na Gaeil!

- Shane Ó Ruairc, Teagascóir Gaeilge, St. Mary’s University 2012-13