Eye on Canada: Canuckistan and Birmingham Students on the CBC

Amidst the current political crisis in Ottawa, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation decided to  have a look at how those outside Canada viewed the country.

The best place to go? The University of Birmingham's Department of American and Canadian Studies, with its Canadian Studies students and academic specialist  on Canadian history and politics, Dr Steve Hewitt (a.k.a. Enduring America's Canuckistan).

Given that Canada often rates no more than a footnote in British newspapers, Dr Hewitt noted --- with more than a bit of the smile --- that the sudden attention to the state of Canada made it "Christmas morning and his birthday combined in one":

[youtube]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=wA2AQwU6fVE[/youtube]

Kerouac's "On The Road" Reaches Birmingham

It is a great pleasure to report the formal opening last night of the Kerouac "On the Road" exhibition at the Barber Institute at the University of Birmingham. The exhibition features Kerouac's 1951 scroll with the initial draft of the book but this complemented by an outstanding collection of archival material, objects associated with Kerouac, and an interactive display of Kerouac's journal.

Congratulations to my colleague, Professor Dick Ellis, who spent months organising and curating the exhibition and to the staff of the Barber, one of the finest art galleries I have ever visited.

The Guardian has a short article on Kerouac and the Barber, and the BBC Radio 4 news programme Today interviewed Dick Ellis about the exhibition.

The exhibition runs until 28 January 2009.