Upcoming & Recent Events

Island Lecture Series | “Authentic Prince Edward Island Tourism Experiences: What Locals Have to Say” with Dr. Susan Graham

Island Lecture Series | “Authentic Prince Edward Island Tourism Experiences: What Locals Have to Say” with Dr. Susan Graham

7 pm, November 21st, 2023, SDU Faculty Lounge, UPEI

Authenticity in tourism is a hot topic. Can tourism experiences ever really be authentic and truly reflect the character, history, and people of a place? One underrepresented voice in the authentic tourism is that of locals. Using a research panel of 600 islanders, we asked Prince Edward Islanders if it was possible for visitors to experience the ‘real’ PEI, and if so, what kinds of experiences best reflected the place that locals call home. Over 400 respondents enthusiastically proclaimed that indeed it was possible for visitors to glimpse the ‘real’ Prince Edward Island and they identified myriad ways that could happen in areas such as culinary-, cultural-, historical-, and Anne of Green Gables-based experiences. Come on out to the Island Speakers Series on November 21st at 7pm to hear more about this research project.

Dr. Susan Graham
Dr. Graham is an Islander, born and raised (in Summerside). She is an Associate Professor of Marketing with UPEI’s Faculty of Business, where she teaches intro to marketing, integrated cases in marketing, brand management, and the future of marketing. Her research program spans two distinct themes: marketing islands as tourism destinations and 2SLGBTQ+ inclusion in business/management education. Dr. Graham lives in Charlottetown with her husband and son. She is a passionate traveler, reader, hiker, chef, and Starbucks fan.

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Island Lecture Series Double Feature: “Sami Educational Viewpoints From the Past and Present” and “The Use of Yoik, Traditional Sami Singing, in Education”

Kicking off this season’s Island Lecture Series Tuesday, September 19th, are two guests who are NOT talking about islands, but rather something that resonates with islands and islanders from the North: Sami culture from Lapland.  

Pigga Keskitalo will present “Sami Educational Viewpoints From the Past and Present.”  In this presentation, Pigga Keskitalo will review Sámi education history and current practices. Currently, there is need for innovative solutions so that everyone can reach education in their Indigenous languages. Endangered Sami languages have developed distance education since the 1990’s, so that children and language learners – despite their location – can learn Sami languages. In Finland, there is a Sami language distance education project. The Academy of Finland-funded research project, ADVOST concentrated on developing this distance education in a small children’s context. The research project also implemented land-based education, storytelling, and playful learning into distance education. Keskitalo will present this project and core results in addition to the new research project LINCOSY (funded by the Finnish Research Council, former Academy of Finland), which concentrates on Sami language teaching in Nordic level.

Laila Nutti will present her PhD project about pedagogical use of yoik with the title: “The Use of Yoik, Traditional Sami Singing, in Education”

Pigga Keskitalo and Laila Nutti are on Prince Edward Island as part of the ConnectED Scholar Exchange, which aims to create connections between early career scholars and researchers across the Arctic. Hosted by Dr. Kathy Snow (Education), David Varis (Education/IKERAS), and Dr. Laurie Brinklow (Island Studies), our guests will be meeting with graduate students and educators across the Island from September 18-21, 2023.

RSVP to the Facebook Event to add it to your calendar and receive reminders!

Meet the Speakers


Pigga Keskitalo
Pigga Keskitalo holds a PhD in Education and is a Professor of education, specifically in Arctic perspectives in education, at the University of Lapland, Faculty of Education, Rovaniemi, Finland. She is also an Adjunct Professor (Title of Docent) at the University of Helsinki. Keskitalo has participated in various national and international research and development projects regarding topics of socially sustainable development, education, and equity in global and Arctic communities, as well as, more specifically, in Sami education and language teaching. She has previously worked for 20 years in Norway as a teacher educator. Learn more…



Laila Nutti
Laila Nutti is a PhD Candidate at the Sami University of Applied Sciences

Learn more…

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Seminar/Webinar: The Bridge Effect: A Case Study of Prince Edward Island, Canada, with Some Implications for Gozo [May 24th]

The Bridge Effect: A Case Study of Prince Edward Island, Canada, with Some Implications for Gozo
Laurie Brinklow, Island Studies, University of Prince Edward Island 
May 24th, 2023 at, 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. ADT (4:30 p.m. – 6 p.m. CEST)

The idea of a permanent link joining the mainland to Prince Edward Island, on Canada’s Atlantic coast, goes back to 1887 when a Canadian Senator suggested the government lay an iron subway across the floor of the Northumberland Strait; the price tag was $5 million. A few years later, they suggested a $12 million tunnel. Neither came to fruition, but over the next century, the conversation continued until 1989, when a plebiscite was held to determine whether or not Islanders wanted a “fixed link.” The vote was close: 59% in favour, 41% against. Thus the way was paved to build the Confederation Bridge, a $1 billion 12-9-kilometre-long bridge across the Northumberland Strait. It opened on May 31, 1997, as the world’s longest bridge over ice-covered waters.  

Bridging an island is often a polarizing subject: an islander can cherish the bounded flavour that an island provides or can valorize the benefits of a link―for instance, the convenience and monetary benefits of transporting people and goods on- and off-island. A permanent link might even allow an island to remain a viable place to live. This presentation tells the story of Prince Edward Island’s bridge and its socio-cultural, economic, and political impacts on the Island in the 25 years since it opened. A conversation about how these lessons might apply to Malta and Gozo will follow.  

Click here to register!

Meet the Speaker

Dr. Laurie Brinklow is an Assistant Professor of Island Studies at the University of Prince Edward Island, Canada, where she is the Coordinator of the Master of Arts in Island Studies (MAIS) Program and Chair of the Institute of Island Studies. A writer, editor, and former book publisher, she is a graduate of the MAIS program (2007) and has a PhD in Geography and Environmental Studies from the University of Tasmania (2015). She is particularly interested in the power of place, story, and identity in creating vibrant island communities. She has published in several academic journals and books and is the author of two books of poetry, Here for the Music (Acorn, 2012) and My island’s the house I sleep in at night (Island Studies Press, 2021). She is the Government of Iceland’s Honorary Consul for Prince Edward Island and President of the International Small Island Studies Association (ISISA). 

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Master of Arts in Island Studies Thesis Defence: Fiona Steele  

MAIS Thesis Defence: Fiona Steele
“When stories lead to sustainable tourism – the role podcasting plays in the development of sustainable tourism on islands.”

Wednesday, April 26, 4-6 p.m. ADT on Zoom  

Please join us on a round-the-world thesis defence by MAIS student Fiona Steele. Entitled “When stories lead to sustainable tourism – the role podcasting plays in the development of sustainable tourism on islands.”

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Island Lecture Series: Dr. Irené Novaczek 

March 21st, 7pm
Faculty Lounge SDU Main Building, UPEI

Join us March 21st for an Island Lecture from marine ecologist Dr. Irené Novaczek on the Ecosystem Restoration Project at Basin Head. Basin Head was designated as a “Marine Protected Area” under the Oceans Act in 2005, to conserve and protect a unique strain of Irish moss (Chondrus crispus) which is thought to exist only within the confines of Basin Head.

The talk will focus on adaptive management of the Marine Protected Area to ensure that the unique giant form of Irish moss at Basin Head is able to survive in the coastal lagoon environment which is challenged by impacts of local agriculture, invasive European green crabs and ongoing climate changes.

Click here for more information
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