Political Science Weekly Digest for Friday, September 26, 2025

September 26, 2025

We acknowledge and respect the Lək̓ʷəŋən (Songhees and Xʷsepsəm/Esquimalt) Peoples on whose territory the university stands, and the Lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ Peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day.

POLITICAL SCIENCE ANNOUNCEMENTS

CONGRATULATONS TO FORMER UGRAD STUDENT, EMILY LOWAN!
Emily (BA 2023) has been elected as the leader of the BC Green Party on the first ballot. Read more here.

POLI SCIENCE SPEAKERS SERIES: Dr. Stephen Winter, Politics and IR, U of Auckland
Thursday, October 9, 12:30-1:20, FRA B121
“Can Realists say that state wrongdoing corrupts legitimacy?”
Liberal political theory typically holds that injustice can corrupt legitimacy. Realists critique such views as ‘moralist,’ arguing that justice and legitimacy are not the same thing. For realists, even profoundly unjust states can satisfy basic legitimation criteria. While realism may appear hostile to the thesis that injustice corrupts legitimacy, this presentation demonstrates that realist theory is more hospitable to that claim than one might expect. Co-sponsored with Faculty of Law

UVic ANNOUNCMENTS

NATIONAL TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION WEEK AND ORANGE SHIRT DAY EVENTS
Campus-wide event: Monday, September 29, 11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Schedule of events
This year’s gathering holds special meaning as we reflect on the 10th anniversary of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action. Ten years on, these Calls continue to guide us, asking us to look with honesty at the truths and harms caused by residential schools while also recognizing the resilience and strength of Survivors, their families and their communities. At our ceremony, we will be honoured to hear from Klith-wii-taa, Dr. Barney Williams, a Residential School Survivor, and Shauntelle Dick-Charleson, Victoria’s Youth Poet Laureate and a member of the Songhees Nation. We will share reflections, poetry and teachings. A Sacred Fire will burn throughout the ceremony, and we will take a moment of silence to honour those who did not make it home. These days are not easy, so I ask that we care for ourselves and each other gently during this time. For those who may need support, resources are available through the Orange Shirt Day website at uvic.ca/osd.

Our community has many opportunities to learn and reflect during National Truth and Reconciliation Week (Sept. 22–30). I encourage you to join the events, workshops and conversations happening across campus. Together, we can continue to uphold the commitments outlined in the following:

UVic’s Indigenous Plan, Xʷkʷənəŋistəl | W̱ȻENEṈISTEL | Helping to move each other forward,
Distinctly UVic, the University of Victoria’s strategic plan,
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,
The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act; and
the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action.

Please also note that the university will be closed on Tuesday, Sept. 30 to mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation — a federal holiday to honour Survivors, their families and the children who never returned home. We encourage you to spend time reflecting on the importance of this day.

NEW INDIGENOUS LAW WING: DAY OF CELEBRATION
Wednesday, October 8
The University of Victoria invites you to celebrate our new Coast Salish-inspired law wing in the Murray and Anne Fraser building on October 8. This day reflects the collaboration, dedication, and inspiration of the Coast Salish community including hereditary and elected leadership, Elders, and members from Xʷsepsəm (Esquimalt Nation), Songhees Nation, W̱SÁNEĆ, and Elders working with UVic’s Office of Indigenous and Academic Community Engagement.

Thirteen stories heard by local First Nations during consultation were translated into design elements that shape the space and center Indigenous voice. The 2,440-square metre addition to the Murray and Anne Fraser Building offers a much-needed culturally appropriate space for learning and teaching Indigenous Laws. Purpose-built to welcome, gather, learn, and share Indigenous legal knowledge, the new wing creates flow between old and new spaces, indoors and out.

SOUTHAM LECTURE: STEPHEN MAHER
Wednesday, October 8, 7-8:30 pm, BWC A104
For this year’s annual Southam Lecture, award-winning political journalist Stephen Maher will examine the role reporters play in an increasingly fractured society, arguing that, in order to keep faith with a shrinking audience, mainstream journalists need to question their own biases. At a time when unity in the face of American threats is crucial, Canadians are divided. While Americans may be on the brink of civil war, Canadians are increasingly sorting ourselves into mutually hostile camps. The fragmentation of our media ecosystem is both cause and symptom. Journalists are being similarly sorted into opposing camps, reporting starkly different stories to divided audiences even as the industry shrinks.

Award-winning political journalist Stephen Maher will examine the role reporters play in an increasingly fractured society, arguing that in order to keep faith with a shrinking audience, mainstream journalists need to question their own biases. Stephen Maher has been writing about Canadian politics since 1989 for the Chronicle Herald, Postmedia News, Maclean’s, Walrus, Time, Times of London, Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star. He has often set the agenda on Parliament Hill, covering political corruption, electoral wrongdoing, misinformation and human rights abuses. He is also the author of The Prince, The Rise and Fall of Justin Trudeau. The annual Harvey Stevenson Southam Lectureship — named after UVic alumnus Harvey Southam — is made possible by a gift from one of the country’s leading publishing families.

CAFÉ HISTORIQUE: 2025-26 SERIES
“What If?: Counterfactual History for Beginners” Jill Walshaw, History
Wednesday, October 15, 7-9 pm, Doors at 5:30 pm
To reserve your seat, please register here: https://hermannsjazz.com//show/856795/view
Our theme this season is a fun one: “What If? Counterfactual History for Beginners.” Historians work with evidence, trying to understand what happened and why it happened the way it did. But sometimes we allow our imagination to explore other possibilities, and to think through how the outcome of key historical events might have changed. Starting in October, six UVic scholars will explore this topic, choosing a moment where – if things had gone differently – then the world would not be as we know it today.

Jill Walshaw will start off with a talk that takes the series title – “What If? Counterfactual History for Beginners”. She will tell you what makes counterfactuals both enticing and dangerous for historians, and will give you a taste of what’s to come with three of my favourite counterfactuals: What if Europe had been wiped out by the Black Death in 1348? What if Pizarro had not discovered potatoes in Peru? And what if Napoleon had won the battle of Waterloo?

Links for the remaining 5 talks will follow shortly before the talk. But just to whet your appetite, here is our exciting line up! Apart from that first October talk, we run on the first Wednesday of each month (skipping January):

Wednesday November 5, Martin Bunton: What if… the Ottoman Empire had not entered the First World War?
Wednesday December 3, Simon Devereaux: What if ... Oswald had missed? JFK & Vietnam
Wednesday February 4, John Lutz: What if… Disease had not Decimated the Indigenous Peoples of the Pacific Northwest?
Wednesday March 4, TBA… stay tuned!
Wednesday April 1, Jason Colby: What if… the South had Won the US Civil War?

If you have an item for the newsletter, or would like to be on the mailing list, please contact barlowr@uvic.ca.