Faculty Enrichment Program

CANCELLATION OF THE UNDERSTANDING CANADA - CANADIAN STUDIES PROGRAM

Please note that further to the announcements in the 2012 budget, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (DFAIT) has decided to abolish the Understanding Canada-Canadian Studies Program. Therefore, there will be no further grants issued under this program.

Recipients who received a grant recently will have until January 31, 2013 to send to ICCS a final report in order to claim the second instalment of the award.

 

 

 

Guidelines

This program of support is designed to increase knowledge and understanding of Canada abroad by assisting academics in higher education institutions to develop and teach courses about Canada in their own discipline, as part of their regular teaching load. The program enables academic award holders to come to Canada and gather the necessary information and material to devise a new course on Canada, or to modify or extend significantly the Canadian component of an existing course(s). Comparative courses may be regarded as "courses on Canada" with substantial Canadian content (33% or more).

Although we welcome applications from all disciplines lending themselves most readily to Canadian Studies course development we are particularly interested in projects that have policy relevance for Canada and Canada’s foreign policy. Topics that are highly relevant to Canada’s foreign policy include Democracy & Rule of Law, Economic Development, Environment, Managing Diversity, North American Partnership, Peace and Security.

(Purely scientific subjects such as physics, chemistry, medicine, engineering, etc., which would not lead to a better knowledge and understanding of Canada per se are not eligible, nor are proposals which focus exclusively on technological or methodological issues).

Eligibility

Applicants must be:

  1. teaching members of the academic staff of a recognized institution of higher education or equivalent degree-granting institute in a participating country (part-time lecturers and teaching assistants are not eligible).
  2. proficient in either English or French.

In addition, while not mandatory, applicants should provide evidence of their interest in or involvement with Canada prior to the application, if such has been the case. This may be demonstrated by courses they have already given, research they have undertaken, extra-mural activities, or active membership in an association for Canadian Studies in their region or country, conferences and trip(s) to Canada.

Recipients of an award under this program are not eligible to apply in consecutive competitions. There will normally also be a period of 3 years between awards, unless the second course proposal is on a different topic and the course from the first award is still being taught. For example, a 2004-05 recipient cannot apply in the 2005-06 competition, but can apply in the 2006-07 competition if the new course proposal is on a different topic and the course derived from the first award is still being taught; to upgrade the course derived from the 2004-05 award, one will only be eligible to apply in the 2007-08 competition.

Terms and Conditions

The International Council for Canadian Studies through a contribution of the Government of Canada and with the assistance of the appropriate Canadian Mission, will award grants to successful candidates on condition that the candidate must give a written undertaking on their own behalf that:

  1. the candidat will be employed as a teaching member of the academic staff at the institution where he/she is currently employed for at least one full academic year following the period of the award.
  2. the candidat will begin to teach the new course related to the award no later than the academic year following the period of the award.
  3. as much as possible, the candidat will offer the course developed as a result of this award at least three times during the six academic years following the period of the award.
  4. the course on Canada to be given as a result of the award will be new or a considerably modified or extended version of a course previously taught by the applicant and will treat one or more aspects of Canadian Studies in a substantive way.
  5. the candidat will make all arrangements relating to the visit, including: international travel arrangements; passport and visa (if needed); accommodation and travel within Canada; medical insurance while in Canada; visit plans, including inter alia appointments with Canadian academics and other resource persons, access to libraries and other study centres, etc.
  6. the period to which the award will apply will be used exclusively for study designed to enhance the award holder's capability to teach about Canada; the award will not be used to pursue research in conjunction with another project; and, where supplemental funding is obtained from elsewhere, the time devoted to professional development under this program will be at least proportional to the ratio of the value of this award to that of the total income received.
  7. the candidat will remain in Canada throughout the period to which the award relates.
  8. a report detailing the professional activities undertaken during the visit to Canada including the new course outline developed as a result of the award will be sent to the appropriate Mission within 60 days of the completion of the trip or no later than March 1st of the following year. Failure to provide such documentation by that date may result in forfeiture of the final payment of the award.

Deadlines

Deadlines vary from country to country. Please click here for country-specific deadline information.

Value of Awards

The award will consist of a contribution towards international air fare (economy class) and an allowance of CAN $900 per complete week of stay to assist with costs of domestic travel and living expenses for a maximum of four weeks. Contribution towards airfare varies from country to country. Please click here for country specific value of awards information.

Contact information

Applicants must contact the local Canadian Mission in one's home country or territory for which a given Canadian Mission has responsibility. Please click here for country-specific contact information.

Application Procedure

Applications must be submitted through the local Canadian Mission in one's home country or territory for which a given Canadian Mission has responsibility. Applications submitted directly to the ICCS cannot be accepted nor redirected. An application dossier, in either English or French, will consist of a filled out application form accompanied by a concise curriculum vitae.

Application forms will be available here as of August 1st, 2012.

Selection and Notification

All applicants will be peer-reviewed by a pre-selection jury established in the participating country/region by the local Canadian Mission or regional network. The jury will include representatives of the academic community in the country or region of residence of the applicant (including if possible a representative of the national or multinational association for Canadian Studies) and, when possible, Canadian academics.
 

 Evaluation criteria will be:

  • academic excellence of the proposal.
  • canadian content.
  • relevance of the proposal to identified priorities and Canadian Studies.
  • feasibility of the proposal.

After reviewing applications and the recommendations of the pre-selection jury, the International Council for Canadian Studies in Ottawa will forward its recommendations to DFAIT, which will make the final decision. All applicants will be notified in writing of the results of their application, normally within 90 days of the deadline for submission of applications.

Payment Procedure

Successful candidates will be sent a Grant Agreement detailing the value and conditions of the award. It must be signed and returned to the local Canadian Mission within 30 days.

A first installment of 70% of the award will be paid to successful applicants upon receipt of the signed Grant Agreement by the local Canadian Mission, and normally six weeks before departure for Canada. The remaining 30% of the award will be paid upon return from Canada and upon submission to the local Canadian Mission of the visit report and new course outline, as per the terms and conditions of the award.