Canada 150: Canadian Law and Canadian Identity

Posted: May 04, 2017

Archive images representing Canadian Law Canadian Identity

Trinity’s Ethics, Society and Law students worked on a unique project this year – the creation of a digital exhibit: Canadian Law and Canadian Identity.

“We have created this exhibit as a way to mark the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation. We want to tell a piece of Canada’s story and explore dimensions of intersectionality between Canadian law and Canadian identity,” said Dr. Theresa Miedema, the instructor of the Law and Social Issues course (TRN 304Y), which explores the legal dimensions of selected contemporary social issues. “The exhibit considers how Canadian law has shaped Canadian identity and how elements of Canadian identity – our history, geography, culture, languages, and religion, among other things – have shaped our law.”

The Canadian Law and Canadian Identity exhibit provides a multimedia experience for visitors to explore:

As part of the course, this project was designed as an experiential learning experience. Students built the online exhibit using a U of T Library platform. They also completed an essay to reflect on what they learned in using different types of media as sources of knowledge and information.

“We emphasized using non-traditional types of academic knowledge to explore this intersection. We stepped away from peer-reviewed journals and textbooks and focused on photographs, news reports, interviews and other media. This exploration of other sources of knowledge was also a way to explore intersectionalities and the construction of identity and law,” said Dr. Miedema, who is a Fellow and alum of the College.

“The project features the excellent work of the students in the Trinity-hosted U of T interdisciplinary major in Ethics, Society and Law  – what we call the ‘E-S-and-L’ program  – and is clearly a tribute to Dr. Miedema’s dedication to her students,” said Professor John Duncan, Director of the E-S-and-L program. “The project is really entertaining. For example, the sections on sport alone  – including material on the NHL in Punjabi, a legal case of racial discrimination and hockey and beer, and 190 years of cricket in Canada  – evoke emotions from joy to sadness and wonder!”

Visit the digital exhibit at exhibits.library.utoronto.ca/exhibits/show/canadianlawandidentity