Journals

50 years of Canadian Studies and the British Journal of Canadian Studies (BJCS)

Canadian Studies, much like Canada itself, has been an unassuming presence for a rather long time.  Recent global events have seen Canada playing a much more visible role in the world.  Canadian Studies is following this lead. 

The British Association for Canadian Studies (BACS) has been publishing the British Journal of Canadian Studies twice a year since 1986.  The journal showcases the best of Canadian Studies across the disciplinary rainbow, with a dedicated following within the area.  With the increasing profile of Canada globally, the Editors of BJCS and the BACS Council have decided it is time to promote the BJCS, and BACS to a broader audience.

We are pleased to announce that one article from each issue will be made free to the public for one month to introduce the uninitiated to the world of Canadian Studies.  The first article we are providing access to is exactly that – an introduction to BACS and the BJCS (Volume 38, Issue 1, published in March 2026) – the Special Issue celebrating the British Association for Canadian Studies and the Centre of Canadian Studies 50th Anniversary Conference.  We hope that this article written by then BACS President Tony McCulloch entitled ‘BACS at 50’ provides you some insight into the rather special universe of Canadian Studies.

It is also worth mentioning that many BACS members are indeed ‘accidental Canadianists’.  Many academics, including myself, discover they are Canadianists simply by virtue of studying aspects of Canada.  I am a Canadian trained legal scholar, and as I discovered, therefore a Canadianist.  On behalf of the Co-Editors of BJCS (myself and Maeve Conrick) and the BACS Council I would like to invite you to read the article, and if you find that you might be a Canadianist you can find more information about BACS or the BJCS.  We look forward to seeing you at a conference, or reading your submission to the journal.

Tracie Lea Scott, Co-Editor of the British Journal of Canadian Studies

Read BACS at fifty by Tony McCulloch here >

To read all articles in the British Journal of Canadian Studies, recommend the journal to your librarian here >