The Canadian Association for the Advancement of Netherlandic Studies will open its annual two-day conference at the University of Windsor on Thursday, June 11, 2206, marking its return to campus for the first time in 46 years. (University of Windsor)
By Lindsay Charlton
At the University of Windsor, a small group of academics and librarians with roots in Dutch language and culture set out decades ago to create a lasting home in Canada for Netherlandic studies.
Their work grew into the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Netherlandic Studies (CAANS), a national organization that continues to publish the journals and newsletters it established in the 1980s.
As Windsor-Essex prepares for a weekend of food and culture celebrating global diversity at Carrousel of the Nations, CAANS will open its annual two-day conference in Windsor on Thursday — marking its return to the city for the first time in 46 years.
“It is quite meaningful for us to be back at the University of Windsor because it has played such a crucial role in this association,” said Dr. Tanja Collet-Najem, professor in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures and president of CAANS.
“Many of those involved in the early years arrived in Canada as youngsters and maintained ties to Belgium or the Netherlands, which laid the groundwork for CAANS’ development.”
The academic association, Collet-Najem explained, is dedicated to Dutch studies in a multidisciplinary sense, consisting of members who are linguists, literary analysts, political scientists, historians and art historians.
With its return to Windsor for the first time in decades, this year’s conference program will include a tribute to the faculty and Leddy librarians who were key players in its development.
This includes Dr. Basil Kingstone, professor emeritus; Dr. Adrian van den Hoven, professor emeritus and former editor of the Canadian Journal of Netherlandic Studies; former professor Louise Vanhee-Nelson; and librarians Joan Magee and Johanna Foster.
Both Kingstone and Magee were later knighted in the Order of Oranje-Nassau by the Kingdom of the Netherlands for their contributions to Dutch studies.
“The aim is to put Windsor on the map and show that it is a key part of Dutch studies in Canada,” Collet-Najem said.
And that’s not just through academia, she noted.
Southwestern Ontario and neighbouring Detroit have been a centre of Netherlandic immigration, beginning in the early 20th century and continuing through the 1990s, with the strongest wave immediately after the Second World War.
“There is still cultural activity at the community level here,” said Collet-Najem, who is originally from Belgium. “Even looking at the program for Carrousel of the Nations this year, there’s both a Dutch and Belgian village, which reflects that presence.”
Funded by the Taalunie, the international Dutch language regulatory body, the conference also received an endorsement from the City of Windsor. Mayor Drew Dilkens, whose own family has ties to Belgium, will open the event by videoconference.
The program includes three keynote talks. Stephen Goedhart, an author and columnist based in Taiwan, will deliver a virtual talk titled The Indos: An Overlooked and Misunderstood Dutch Eurasian Ethnic Group, addressing blending cultures and languages, persecution, rejection and belonging.
Sadiqa de Meijer, Governor General’s Award-winning author and poet, will discuss her book Alfabet/Alphabet, published by Windsor-based Palimpsest Press. Collet-Najem described it as a memoir of language assimilation and loss as a young Dutch immigrant in Ontario.
The second keynote address, The Dutch language from Belgium to Flanders by political scientist Kris Deschouwer, will explore how Belgium evolved from a largely French-speaking state to one with official recognition of Dutch and German, and how it continues to manage ongoing language and political divisions.
The two days will also include various panels discussing Dutch book culture, including cartoons and comics, art history, language teaching and Surinamese literature, among others.
“It really shows the strength of Dutch studies here in Windsor, and how it continues to connect scholarship and community,” said Collet-Najem.
Those interested in attending in person or online are welcome to join for the full conference or on a drop-in basis. The program is available on the CAANS website.