Staff and students from Trent University in Ontario visited the UHI Institute for Northern Studies in Orkney as the highlight of their Scottish Summer School programme. The Canadian students were exploring Scotland’s history and politics, with a specific focus on the connections between Scotland and Canada.
Trent University is one of Canada’s leading undergraduate institutions and ranks among the top research universities in Canada. With two campuses and over 13,000 students, Trent University excels in teaching, research, and community engagement across more than 100 academic programmes in the arts, sciences, and professional fields.
Following a week in the Central Belt, which included lectures at UWS and visits to the Scottish Parliament, Stirling Castle and Kelvingrove Museum, they headed north. Their first stop was Inverness, for lectures on the Clearances and other causes of Scottish emigration, as well as visits to Badbea Clearance Village, Dunrobin Castle and Culloden.
Following a night in Thurso, the students and faculty took the ferry to Stromness, where INS’s very own Lynn Campbell helped them explore Orkney with visits to Skara Brae, the Ring of Brodgar, the Holm Totem Pole (created in 2007 following a two-week community carving project involving Squamish First Nation carvers), St Magnus’s Cathedral, and much more besides.
The following day featured a visit to Stromness Museum and a discussion with the custodian, Dr Gareth Squire, about the Hudson’s Bay Company and other links between Orkney and Canada, before retreating to Scott House for lunch and a talk on the political economy of Orkney by Dr Adele Lidderdale.
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