Faculty Enrichment Report: Visit to Canada by Professor Paul Rich

The trip to Canada by Dr. Paul Rich of The University of the Americas-Puebla was from April 18^th to May 10^th, visiting Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto. The schedule combined lectures, visits with Canadian academics and government officials, reunions with old students, and visits to Canadian cultural institutions. Dr. Rich’s current Teaching Assistant at UDLA, David Merchant, accompanied him.

The visit started with ten days in Montreal, where the honorary society for international relations scholars, Phi Beta Delta, was having its first Canadian meeting and was going to establish its first Canadian chapter, at Concordia University. Dr. Rich arranged a panel for the Montreal conference of himself and three UDLA students, two of whom were studying in Montreal. The panel was on the effects of computer technology on North America, and especially on Mexican education. As part of all these activities, Pierre Bourque, Mayor of Montreal, hosted a reception at the City hall where Dr. Rich installed him as an honorary member of the Mexican Chapter of Phi Beta Delta, Gamma Sigma at UDLA, and Mayor Bourque kindly conferred the Homage de la Ville de Montreal on Dr. Rich. On behalf of UDLA, Dr. Rich also hosted a reception at Concordia on the occasion of the inauguration of the new Phi Beta Delta chapter. He also visited the consulate of Mexico and met with the academic affairs attaché Katherine Bloch, who participated in the City Hall reception as well. In Montreal as well as the other cities, there were numerous visits to bookshops and museums to acquire Canadian material, much of which will help thesis students at UDLA. Also, large amounts of material about the Congress of the Americas at UDLA were left with the consulate and other offices for distribution to Quebec institutions. One highlight of the visit to Montreal was a tour that Dr. Rich conducted for the Phi Beta Delta congress delegates of the temple of the Grand Lodge of Freemasons of Quebec, which is an imposing neoclassical structure on Sherbrooke.

From Montreal, Dr. Rich went to Ottawa, At Carleton University, Professor Laura Macdonald had arranged a lecture by Dr. Rich on North American identity. Professor Macdonald has established a North American studies center at Carleton. The Canadian foreign ministry, the Mexican consulate and other universities were all represented in the audience, as well as a former student at UDLA of Dr. Rich -- Alan Schlachter, who is now an official with the Canadian international development agency. This was also an opportunity to talk with Glen Williams, chair of political science at Carleton. Linda Jones at the international Council for Canadian Studies was extremely generous in giving Dr. Rich a lot of time to discuss the organization of Canadian studies in Mexico and in offering her own opinions on books suitable for Mexican students. Material on the Congress of the Americas was left with the office of the National Autonomous University of Mexico School of Extension in Canada (Paz de la Torre Academic Manager), and with Norina Robinson at FOCAL. For Dr. Rich a highlight of the Ottawa visit was his time with Professor Chad Gaffield, director of the Institute of Canadian Studies at the university of Ottawa. The institute was a great surprise because of its extensive activities an d its resources – it was very much the best contact Dr. Rich feels he made during the trip in terms of longterm connections between Mexico and Canada because of the extremely ambitious plans that Dr. Gaffield outlined. As for personal enrichment, the National Art Gallery was extraordinary and the Canadian rooms were the strongest representation of Canadian art that Dr. Rich has ever seen and made a strong, lasting impression on him.

Toronto was the last stop. In March 2002, the American and Popular Culture Associations are bringing more than 2000 delegates to their annual congress in Toronto, the first time the associations have met in Canada since 1990. As an officer, Dr. Rich wished to see about possible congress activities and he was able to arrange visits in March for the Royal Canadian Military Institute and the Canadian Museum of Textiles. Professor Daniel Drache, the director of the Roberts Centre for Canadian Studies at York University and longtime friend of UDLA was able to meet with Dr. Rich. Congress of the Americas materials were left with Kate Moore and Philip Shea at Ryerson. Ryerson has certainly progressed over the last few years and Mexican students would find it an attractive option.

To sum up, this was a great opportunity to discuss subjects like civil society and the emerging North American community with Canadian colleagues, and to answer questions about Mexican higher education and UDLA in particular. . There were personal highlights during the trip such as a revisit to the Trinity College Chapel at the University of Toronto designed by Sir Gilbert Scott, Verdi’s opera Il Trovatore in Ottawa, and the botanical gardens in Montreal, reminders that Canada has great things to see and do. When classes resume at the University of the Americas this August, the opportunity to make this visit will enliven and energize them for a long time to come.