EDST Doctoral Colloquium
Higher Education Beyond Hope:
The Role of Universities and Colleges in Northern British Columbia’s Constituent Regions
Jed Anderson
RSVP
Wed, Oct. 4, 2023
12:30-13:30
PCN 2012
6445 University Boulevard, Vancouver
Abstract:
Higher education institutions in northern jurisdictions of circumpolar states have origins rooted in the latter half of the twentieth century. University education access in particular is a transformative and critical development for such regions. In British Columbia, higher education has historically been accessed almost exclusively at institutions located in the southwest corner of the province. The latter half of the twentieth century saw the establishment of post-secondary institutions in BC’s interior regions, most notably the University of Northern British Columbia in 1990. Jed Anderson’s research investigates the historical origins of higher education in BC’s three constituent northern sub-regions and traces how current day educational structures in northern BC have been affected by historical decisions as well as spatial policies often tied to imperialist prerogatives. Using textual and document analysis, political and geographic histories, and situated within the wider field of northern studies, this research project treats North Central, Northeast, and Northwest BC as three distinctive regions within the larger geography of northern British Columbia. This research will help us better understand existing educational, economic, and political inequalities in the provinces, which are partly defined along a north-south axis. Jed Anderson’s work is also placed within a wider field of research on northern regions, particularly in Canada’s provinces, but also the north Atlantic and Nordic north.
