I have a favourite record store in downtown Oshawa. It is one of the many reasons I make a point of heading downtown. A striking feature of this shop is that it includes a section dedicated to releases from local musical artists from the region – encouraging shoppers to check out the thriving local music scene, and indicative of the pride the community takes in homegrown talent and local superstars. This interplay between local and global is a key component of popular culture.

When contemplating this arrangement, I am struck by the ways that the record store mirrors the role of a university campus such as ours at Trent University Durham GTA. The record store and the campus are both cool places to hang out, inspire local talent, while bringing together the local and the global in meaningful ways.

Engaging with new ideas and insights

Most universities and colleges have strong connections to their local cultures. Often, it is the local community whose advocacy and support allows these institutions to exist. At Trent Durham, we bring together students from our local communities, around Ontario, and across the world. Our dynamic new residence building allows these students to become part of both our campus and the Durham community. The addition of international students enlivens our classrooms, as students who have chosen to remain closer to home have the opportunity to engage with ideas and insights from around the world.

At the same time, Trent Durham contributes meaningfully to our local communities. Our students are actively encouraged to be part of the local community whether it is via community-based research, internships, locally-focused courses, or our ongoing #TrentLovesLocal campaign. We are pleased to partner with the local business community to encourage our students to shop local. It is an important part of post-COVID economic recovery, but also a crucial part of student learning. Understanding the local infrastructure, whether it be economic, political, cultural or social, is vital to the future success of our students and our community.

Supporting local talent

At Trent Durham, we prioritize developing new academic programs that align with the needs of the Durham Region and increase the skilled labour pool. Programs such as Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Policing and Community Well-Being, and Communications have all been designed with local needs in mind. We want our graduates to have the expertise that the Region needs.

Developing local talent takes me back to the record store and its promotion of local artists. Those local acts that sit proudly beside global superstars are part of the same industry, producing exceptional material, and deserving of recognition. Oshawa and the Durham Region have produced numerous global success stories in music, but we also need to look closer to home – at the smaller bands producing excellent work, who we can see in local venues, or whose records we can find in a local music store.

As we look ahead, beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, and look to spread our wings a bit further than we have these past couple of years, let’s not forget about the importance of local culture, local businesses, and local industry. They are an important part of our day-to-day lives. We live in a world where the local and global intersect. A worldwide pandemic reminds us of the global space which we inhabit, but it has also reminded us to look to the local as a source of our happiness, our entertainment, our goods, and our community.

Dr. Scott Henderson is the dean and head of Trent University Durham GTA.  His research explores music and locality, youth culture, popular culture and identity, British cinema and popular culture, and Canadian popular culture.