Many of you have recently returned from the biennial meeting of the Association for Canadian Studies in the United States in Las Vegas, October 14–17, 2015. I must say, what an exciting time to be Canadianists! I think that I can speak for many of us when I say that the conference was an overwhelming success for bringing together great minds and ambitious scholars. The quality of the papers presented was outstanding and we at ARCS look forward to seeing many of these presentations find their way into print in one of our upcoming issues over the next two years. As editor, I would like to personally invite all ACSUS presenters to consider submitting a manuscript. To all of you who were unable to attend the biennial, I encourage you to reach out to your fellow Canadianists and chat about your various fields within Canadian Studies—perhaps new and exciting research ideas will emerge from collaborative discussion.
Speaking of new research ideas, I’m sure many of you were glued to the media the night of October 19 as a wave of Liberal red swept over Canada, bringing in a majority government under the leadership of Justin Trudeau. Voter turnout was just under 69 percent, with 3.6 million voting in advance polls—a great improvement over past elections. It was a long campaign and a rousing election day. Canadians have spoken loudly and clearly of their desire for change in the government of the past 10 years. Again, what an exciting time to be Canadianists! It will be very interesting to see the ripple effects of this election manifest in all fields of Canadian Studies scholarship.
We, too, are undergoing some changes in our ranks. First, I am pleased to introduce Professor Meaghan Beaton as our new Book Review Editor. Professor Beaton is a visiting assistant professor of Canadian History at Western Washington University. From 2013 to 2015 she was the W.P. Bell Postdoctoral Fellow with the Centre for Canadian Studies at Mount Allison University, where she examined the work of Glace Bay native and social activist Nina Cohen. Professor Beaton completed her doctoral dissertation in Canadian Studies at Trent University. Prior to her studies at Trent, where she explored how Canada’s 1967 centennial was celebrated in Nova Scotia, Professor Beaton practiced law in Halifax. Her highly developed network of colleagues promises to boost contributions to the journal from across the disciplines to include junior scholars. I am thrilled to have her on board. Second, I’d like to welcome Professor Andrew Holman to our Editorial Board. Professor Holman, as many of you know, is a valued member of ACSUS and director of the Canadian Studies program at Bridgewater State University. Professor Holman joins the team at a perfect time, for several of our long-standing board members have recently elected to step down in order to make room for new Canadianists. I’d like to sincerely thank Michael Broadway, C.L. Higham, Ronald Kalafsky, Barry Rabe, Pamela Sing, and John Herd Thompson for their years of dedicated service to ARCS.
As we complete Volume 45, I’m impressed at the intense collaboration we’ve been privileged to present in each issue of 2015. We honored the life’s work of historian John Herd Thompson with a special issue (45.1) and of Nobel Prize-winning author Alice Munro with a special section (45.2). Our fall issue (45.3), my first as editor, featured a special section on “The ‘Nature’ of Canadian Studies in the United States” with Dave Rossiter as guest editor (he did say in his goodbye letter in our summer issue that he wouldn’t be going far!). Now, in this final issue of the volume, we feature a special section on the Canadian economy under the direction of Professor Christopher Sands. Sands, who holds distinguished positions at both Johns Hopkins and Western Washington University, has curated three first-rate papers on the subject, “The Canadian Economy: Model or Muddle?” I am very grateful to both Professor Sands and Professor Rossiter for their generous assistance as guest editors of these topical papers.
Another special feature of this issue is an interview titled “The Writer, the Reader, and the Book: Margaret Atwood on Reviewing in Conversation with Reingard M. Nischik.” ARCS does not have an established history of publishing interviews, but I hope that this one will act as a catalyst for similar forms of relevant scholarship.
With that, I leave you with one wish: that you enjoy this issue as much as I’ve enjoyed working on it with my wonderful, supportive team. I look forward to more enlightenment.
