When the new School for the Study of Canada was launched at Trent in the fall, one of its main goals was to not only profile Trent’s long-standing leadership in interdisciplinary teaching and research expertise, but also to engage students (and all Canadians!) in broad ranging projects and dialogues about our nation.

That conversation has started with a prominent essay series in The Globe and Mail, written by William A. Macdonald, one of the philanthropic leaders (together with William R.K. Innes) so is working with Trent University’s Canadian Studies Department on the innovative Canadian Difference Project. The project marks the creation of an unprecedented online conversation about Canada, and who we are as a nation, as we move closer to Canada’s milestone 150^th anniversary.

Follow the Canadian Difference project here and be sure to read the Globe and Mail essay series:

• To be a global role model, Canada must realize what sets it apart
• How Canada’s eight leaders of special vision guided the way
• Canada’s major challenges as it finds its way into the future
• A new role for Canada and the U.S. in a world of persistent menace
• Overcoming Islamophobia: Fear is never the best basis for action
• Time to reconsider the nature of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
• The trouble with going back to the future
• Justin Trudeau’s sunny ways – and a storm on the horizon
• There’s a big risk in doing too little for Syria’s refugees
• Truth and reconciliation: Will this time be any different
• Justin Trudeau can’t afford to ignore Canada’s economic challenges
• To transform Canada’s economy, Trudeau needs to be a ‘bold builder’
• To revive Canada’s economy, reward those who pitch it
• Can Trudeau’s optimism survive in a world of every-nation-for-itself
• Why the Liberals’ budgetary best is likely still to come

Learn more and join the conversation.