Earlier this month, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg presented the first public lecture in a series on the Francophone migrations to the Americas, from the 17th to 21st century.
The series is being held at the Université de Saint-Boniface as part of a history course, and each lecture will be recorded and made available to watch online for free.
If the quality of the speaker’s delivery and the video recording of the first lecture is the standard, we are in for a treat.
Yves Frenette’s lecture about the migration of the French to North America, from 1604 to 1780, includes Acadia, Quebec, Louisiana, and the 13 colonies.
In the first lecture available to watch online, De France en Nouvelle-France, Yves Frenette talks about the migration of the French to New France from 1600 to 1840. He speaks in a strong, animated voice and enunciates every word, making him relatively easy to understand for those whose French may not be perfect.
During his one-hour lecture, Mr. Frenette speaks about the recruitment in France, the voyage to New France, Acadia, St. Lawrence Valley (Quebec), Louisiana, and the immigration of Huguenots (French Protestants) to the 13 British colonies. The lecture is followed by a question and answer period.
Mr. Frenette is a professor and holder of the Level 1 Canada Research Chair Migrations, transferts et communautés francophones at the Université de Saint-Boniface, a member of the Royal Society of Canada, and a leading expert on Francophone North America, immigration, and ethnic groups. A former director of the Centre for Research on French-Canadian Culture and of the Institute of Canadian Studies at the University of Ottawa, he is also an adjunct professor of history at York University and the University of Ottawa.
The line-up of lectures:
September 13: De France en Nouvelle-France
September 20: Les foyers de peuplement francophone
September 27 : Au cœur du continent
October 4: Le Grand Dérangement des Acadiens
October 11: Les migrations de masse
October 18: L’attraction américaine
October 25: Canadiens français, Français et Belges dans la Prairie
November 1: Les Métis en mouvement
November 8: Vers le Brésil : l’épisode du Moravia (1896)
November 15: À l’heure des villes et des banlieues
November 22: D’Afrique, d’Asie et des Antilles
November 29: Bilan : Migrations, transferts et métissages
It appears that all of the lectures will be delivered by Mr. Frenette, which is great news.
This series of lectures is free to attend in person, without reservation. Details are available on the university’s website.
Hi Gail, this is a great topic. Do they offer the lecture with subtitles in English or French? Listening to a lecture in French is a bit of a challenge.
It is a great topic, with more to come. The lecture is delivered in French with no sub-titles. I expect that will be the case for the remaining lectures.