Associate Professor of Political Science David Plazek is introducing Johnson State College to an organization promoting the study of Canadian politics and interaction between Canadians and Americans.

The Institute of Canadian Studies will focus primarily on outreach and opportunities for students to learn about the country’s government and political climate. In addition, beginning next fall, JSC will offer the course Canadian Politics, taught by Plazek.

A class on Canadian politics has been held at JSC in the past, but Plazek has restructured it to take advantage of the resources provided by the Institute.

According to Plazek, the goal of the Institute is to help bring Canadian speakers to the school as well as providing JSC students access to spend time in Canada. “It [will] be an organization which would be in place to help bring in speakers to facilitate studying Canadian politics, attendance of Canadian conferences and even potential internships,” he said.

Plazek originally formed the Institute during his time as an associate professor at Lyndon State College, taking advantage of the relatively short distance to the Canadian border.

According to the Institute’s mission statement, it seeks to reverse long-held ignorance of the Canadian political scene. “It has been well established that US citizens lack general knowledge of Canadian governmental institutions and procedures, political organization, and perspectives that shape the political landscape of their northern neighbor,” the statement read. “The Institute of Canadian Studies endeavors to address this knowledge gap by engaging students in experiential and cross-border studies.”

The Canadian Politics class will focus on the history and current events of the Canadian government, punctuated by visiting speakers contacted through the Institute. The class will also take a day trip up to McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, which will include a presentation by the chair of political science, Richard Schultz, and visits to the McCord and Redpath museums.

Plazek took the model for both the Institute and the Canadian Politics class from that experience. The Institute also provided opportunities for students to work out internships within the Canadian Parliament and enrollment in Canadian graduate schools.

For more information about the Institute or class, send an email to Plazek at [email protected]