Hello,
My name is Maya Sandiford and I am half Japanese, a quarter English and a quarter Trinidadian. Presently, I’m in the interdisciplinary studies program at UBC, with my primary discipline Sociology and my secondary disciplines Family Studies and Humanities. While I am in my third year at UBC and this is my first time taking online courses, I have already completed the first two and a half years at UBC’s Vancouver campus. After two and a half years of living in Vancouver with its gloomy weather, and attending university directly out of high school, I have become a little tired of my routine. I have chosen to take online courses this semester so I can travel, intern and further my studies. I must admit I am slightly nervous about completing all of my second semester courses online. However, I am also feeling rejuvenated and excited to get back to school after a mellow winter break!
English 470A taught by professor Erika Paterson, is an insightful course, which aims to provide an in-depth and unbiased understanding of Canadian Literature. This course focuses predominantly on the relationships between European and Indigenous traditions in literature. We will learn to recognize whose stories have been typically told and circulated in regards to the history of Canada, and whose stories have been disregarded and oppressed.
As I have primarily grown up on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, apart from living in Japan from age 5 to 11, it is the place I call home. And as a result, I feel some obligation and interest to to better understand and comprehend the history of Canada and its people. Almost every Social Studies class in grade school had a small section that briefly touched on first nations people but in retrospect I think the content and information was one- sided and more than likely inaccurate. I look forward to learning the history and more complete, unbiased stories of the first nations people of Canada.
Hello Maya! Thanks for a wonderful introduction, it was refreshing to read about your bold move to take online courses this semester in pursuit of your travels and work. Where are you travelling to now if you don’t mind me asking? I also just read more about the interdisciplinary program at UBC… does that mean that you do not have one major, but instead two that are equally as focused? Could you further expand on how IDST differs from the standard majors program offered at UBC?
Looking forward to discussing Canadian literature with you this semester!
Thanks,
Fiona
Hello Fiona,
Sorry about the late reply, I must have missed your comment when I read over them earlier.
At the moment I am freezing in NYC!
Yes, the interdisciplinary program is great for those who have interests in multiple fields!
I love the program particularly because there are no specific course requirements (there are a certain amount of upper level : 300/ 400 level courses required ) so I am able to take courses I really have interest in instead of being forced to take them as a requirement for my degree!
I look forward to working with you in the future as well!
-Maya
Hi Maya, thanks for the introduction. My, my Trinidad has an interesting and complex history of colonization with the colonizers deciding to treat people as resources: “When the Spaniards discovered no precious metals on Trinidad, the Amerindians were enslaved and shipped off to work on other Caribbean settlements.” Your interdisciplinary course of studies looks like a wonderful idea – I’d be interested to know what kinds of courses you have put together for your degree and how this course fits in with your overall degree interests? I am looking forward to working with you and learning more about your perspectives on our studies. Enjoy
Hello Dr Peterson,
I was not familiar with the history of Trinidad. I did some research after you had mentioned it and was amazed. Trinidad’s past with slavery and importation of foreign laborers is fascinating.
Most of the courses I have taken in the past have been SOCI, FMST, and GRSJ. This course is an elective, I am taking it purely out of interest!
I really look forward to working with you as well.
-Maya
Hi Maya,
You have a very unique mix of cultures within your make up. I’m also a fellow sociology student (4th year) and i’m from the island too (Victoria), this is my second online class. There definitely was a bit of a learning curve in my first one, it wasn’t related to my major, which didn’t help much but worked out in the long run. Though I didn’t do any travelling, last semester I only took a couple of night courses (along with the online course) so I could intern and do other things during the day, it was definitely worth it!
I look forward to learning about the disregarded stories of the oppressed in Canada, as I think it will give us another perspective on the reality of what “other” people were going through during earlier periods of Canada’s development, not just the Anglo-European version.
Hello Sam,
We seem to have a lot in common!
After reading other students blog posts there seems to be a couple people from the island!
It is definitely taking a bit to adjust to the online course setting.
Yes, I too am looking forward to deepen my understanding of Canada’s complex history.
Hi Maya,
I admire your dedication to take all of your courses online. I’m taking two on-campus courses and two online so that I can work full time. I am already feeling the struggle to keep up with the online discussions and readings.
I completely understand your desire to travel and break out of your normal routine. I am stuck in that same rut! To break out of it, I am going on a month long trip to Chiang Mai in Thailand to volunteer in an orphanage and explore a new country. Where are you planning on travelling? I would love to hear about the places you go and your experience throughout the semester.
Hello Deanna,
I am also finding it difficult to keep up with the discussions and readings!
Between the four courses there is at least 2 discussions and ~75pages I have to read daily.
I have always wanted to go to Thailand. I am sure you will have the time of your life!
Hi Maya,
Your posting is particularly relevant to me because I have struggled to acclimate to the pace and structure of online courses,as you can probably tell by my late post, though I think I have just started getting the hang of it. Moreover, despite being from a purely European background I have been somewhat involved with the Trinidadian community in Vancouver, as I help my father coach a dragon boat team composed of Trinidadian athletes .
Mentioning the second point got me thinking about an issue that is also relevant to the content of this course. When asked what my background is, I usually say that I am Dutch, just as my Canadian born and raised friends will say English, French, Chinese, and so forth. Yet neither me nor my parents have been to the Netherlands, I do not speak Dutch, and I do not cheer for their sports teams; conversely, I have never been outside Canada, I speak the official languages, and I generally support Canadian athletes (I actually think supporting one’s country or representatives of that country on purely nationalistic grounds is simple-minded, but at the same time there is a strong emotional pull that makes it difficult for me to resist).
Identifying as Dutch and not Canadian in this instance may reflect several things. For one, it may stem from the fact that within Canada–or at least among large subsets of Canadians–Canadian identity is implicitly embedded, so when people aim to expand their knowledge of us through questioning, ‘what is your background’ or ‘who are you’ is really a question of ‘where did your relatives come from’? By extension, I think that I would be far more likely to identify as strictly Canadian if I were outside the country, as I would not be in a context where it is assumed that I am a Canadian. This would mean that the questions above would be guided toward unearthing different information even if they were worded the same, and I would be acutely aware that others would not presuppose some type of Canadian identity.
However, I also wonder if there are other reasons for this phenomenon. Perhaps me and my friends also do not initially identify as Canadians because it is unclear what that even entails. After all, it is hard to identify a clear moment like a war of independence that brought people together under one umbrella and forged a Canadian identity; the fabric of Canadian society has long comprised a blend of disparate groups; and given that Canada is often considered a nation of immigrants, there may still be a sense that one is on the outside looking in.
This issue generates a number of questions for me, such as (1) who is Canadian? (2) What does it mean to be Canadian? and (3) How are the answers to these questions shaped by the characteristics of those telling the stories and how they tell them? As we move forward with this course, I hope to examine literature that helps me think more complexly about these questions.