Mandate

The Canada-Mediterranean Centre, housed in 356 Stong College and linked academically to the Département d'études françaises, was created as the result of a generous gift from University Professor Emeritus Hédi Bouraoui of an endowment, books and periodicals in the fields of Maghrebian and Franco-Ontarian Studies. There are also subsidiary collections in the literatures of sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean, Québec and Acadia. The only research center and library of its kind in Canada, and one of only three in North America, its mandate is:

1. to promote cross-cultural research in Francophone Maghrebian and Franco-Ontarian literatures and cultures;

2. to continue updating the current book and periodical collection with new acquisitions;

3. to offer a scholarship annually to the student, graduate or undergraduate, who presents the best research proposal or piece of academic work in the area of Maghrebian Studies in a Mediterranean context.

The Centre will encourage the development and support of curriculum in Franco-Ontarian and Maghrebian literatures. It is expected that the Centre will attract researchers and writers from Canada, the United States, and overseas. Symposia and colloquia will be mounted, and visiting scholars invited.

The first International Colloquium, on the creative works of the founder, Hédi Bouraoui, was held on May 26-28, 2005.

Further information is available from the CMC (cmc@yorku.ca) and from the Département d'études françaises (french1@yorku.ca).