Canadian Studies Professor John Wadland Prepares to Retire

Professor John Wadland is retiring from Trent University on July 1, 2008, after a remarkable career spanning more than 35 years in the Canadian Studies Department. John began teaching at Trent in 1972 as the first full-time appointment to the program. His signature course, CAST 200 “Canada: the Land,” soon became one of the best-known and most influential courses in the humanities. This course, along with CAST 400 “Culture and Communications in Canada,” CAST 470 “Bioregionalism,” and CAST 420 “Canadian Images,” helped to define new interdisciplinary models and ways of understanding Canada for generations of Trent students. John was the first winner of the Symons Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1977, and he subsequently achieved external recognition for his outstanding teaching from the Association for Canadian Studies in 1992 and the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations in 1993. John was chair of the Canadian Studies Program from 1985 to 1993 and in 2006-07, editor of the Journal of Canadian Studies from 1980 to 1984, and director of the Frost Centre for Canadian Studies and Native Studies between 1996 and 2000.

If you cannot attend the events, you may wish to support an endowed fund in honour of John through an on-line donation or by contacting Jennifer MacIsaac at the Advancement Office, 705-748-1011 x 7073.

A Facebook site, “John Wadland’s Retirement Event,” also has been created. Former students, colleagues, and friends of John’s are invited to contact Neil Hannam ’87 if they wish to post photographs or reflections about John to this site.