About

We at MSU Canadian Studies Center encourage a discussion of mutual interests in research, teaching, and shared opportunities.

This effort sparks and reinforces connections among MSU and Canadian scholars for collaborative teaching and problem-solving. 

Michigan State University’s Canadian Studies Center brings MSU and Canadian research and teaching scholars together in East Lansing to talk about their work.

How might we move forward together to address global problems particularly related to Food, Agriculture, and Water Science while teaching others how to take the lead in the future?

Participation by MSU and Canadian institutions is encouraged among those who are:

• Currently in a research or teaching partnership with MSU/Canada;
  (This may be an opportunity to work on an existing project.)
  
  
• Interested to engage with MSU/Canada for collaborative research or teaching;
  (Please reach out with those you might with to connect with during this meeting to exchange ideas.)
  
  
• Able to facilitate opportunities that engage cross border faculty and students.
  (Take this time to introduce potential connections.)

This event is hosted by the Canadian Studies Center at Michigan State University.

An important outcome stemming from the Collaborative Research and Education Initiative (CREI) held in March 2019 is the MSU Canadian Partnership Forum (MSUCP Forum). The CREI was an effort to reinforce connections among MSU and Canadian scholars for collaborative teaching and problem-solving. Seven Canadian universities and 24 MSU departments attended, talked about their work, and sparked teaching and research linkages in common interest areas. The program attached lists participants and their area of expertise. It is an impressive mix of disciplines.

The MSUCP Forum is a direct outcome of faculty and graduate student discussion and feedback on next steps. The forum is designed to support scholars and their graduate students as they strive to:

• further engage with their Canadian colleagues
• expand their research and teaching capacity
• inform a broader, international audience of their work and the problem they wish to address
• and further extend the impact of collaboration.
• The long-term outcome of the visit is a formed partnership among attendees that includes teaching or research collaboration, grant proposals, or joint publications.

Immediate feedback from CRE Initiative – Two questions were presented to small groups at the end of the end of the meeting. Here you will read the responses and get a clear sense of the MSUCP Forum.

The MSU Canadian Partnership Forum features faculty, Canadian partners, and their work to reinforce cross-border connections, advance mutual research and education agendas, and provide insight on current and anticipated global challenges.

For now, we know of several cross-border connections that are actively involved in seeking funding, academic work, research or teaching. Examples include partnerships pursued by MSU’s Trixie Smith (Writing Center, connected with Carleton University), David Ferguson (Kinesiology – University of Saskatchewan), Doug Bessette (Community Sustainability – McGill University), Carl Boehlert (Chemical Engineering – University of Toronto).

Through social media, we have been able to put emphasis on MSU faculty expertise as well as their visitors’ expertise. CSC audiences will visit FACEBOOK to view videos and hear audios of campus leaders speaking about their work and the global problem they intend to help solve in lieu of a campus visit. This effort brought on a major social media push by the center.

To bring light to faculty work, we merged the three main media platforms and increased content to the more popular venues such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Please join us!

 Canadian Studies Center CRE Initiative

Closing Small Group Session
Larger Question – How might we best assist one another in moving our work forward?

Questions & Responses:

Question 1: What are one or two of your biggest concerns in your area of research?
Answers:

• How to best tackle disparities in and between urban and rural populations.
• Funding for international collaborative research.
• Long term environmental and social effects of dredging.
• Public lack of awareness of beach water quality issues.
• Lack of interdisciplinary research in water-related issues.
• Lack of regulations in terms of monitoring and treatment of contaminants in drinking water.
• Water Safety.
• Infectious diseases.
• Funding for Arctic research.
• Genetics/Epigenetics & Statistics.
• Fungicide resistance to control pathogens/pests.
• International funding Arctic research & bio data.

Question 2: What problem do you hope to solve through collaboration?
Answers:

• Novel insights that can lead to healing (Genetic investigations in infectious diseases).
• We have access to safer drinking water.
• Malnutrition in children.
• How to support large disciplinary projects focused on food, agriculture, environment, natural resources, health & education.
• Development of a One Health research model for student researchers to collaborate with partners in the consortium of One Health members.
• Policy blindness to local issues.
• Awareness of infectious diseases world-wide, through the help of One Health.
• Landscape dynamics processes and their socioeconomic implications for the future.