A sound progression
It’s surprising he doesn’t play an instrument. For a man who obviously identifies with the frame of mind of a jazz musician — study, practise, know the song inside out, improvise — you’d think Graham Carr would know his way around Birdland.
But Concordia’s Dean of Graduate Studies doesn’t find himself at the legendary New York City jazz club. Instead, Carr is in Fredericton May 28 to June 4 for the Congress 2011 as president of the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences.
One year after Congress 2010 — the largest annual multidisciplinary conference in Canada that attracted 9,000 academics to Concordia last spring — he has a special spot on the stage.
“Congress at Concordia has become a benchmark for future editions of Congress. It was also a benchmark for this university.”
These words mean something coming from Carr. He has seen the university significantly change and grow since first joining Concordia on a 10-month contract in 1983. He was also part of the team that devoted three years of planning to make Congress 2010 the biggest in the conference’s 79-year history and, by many accounts, its most successful.
“We knew there was an opportunity for the university to showcase itself and its personality, not just to be the facility where the event occurs,” he says. “I think we made very visible some of the things, such as expertise in human rights and visual arts, that define Concordia.”
As well, the emphasis on encouraging open access, an issue increasingly important to the university’s identity and one that nicely aligned with the conference’s theme of Connected Understanding, he says was vital in propelling the discussion in the larger academic community and increasing Concordia’s reputation for leadership and innovation.
“There was a sense that this would be a pivotal moment for Concordia because we were trying to change, we are trying to change, the perception of the university in the larger Canadian landscape.”
Jazz isn’t foreign to him. As a history professor, much of his research has centred on the importance of music, both jazz and contemporary classical, in American and Canadian culture during the mid-1950s.
Carr has investigated the role that American jazz musicians played as cultural ambassadors in Cold War politics. He has written about Canadian pianist Glenn Gould and how his image is linked to the rise of American celebrity culture. He’s even dabbled in jazz criticism for various magazines.
“But this was an unexpected pathway,” he says. “I guess the virage into my interest in research literature and its relationship to history was an early indicator of my curiosity about cultural history.”
His work on the Cold War and diplomacy stems directly from working with his former doctoral student Mark Kristmanson. Carr recalls the moment when Kristmanson pitched the idea of pursuing a PhD in Humanities while the two sat together in the café at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa in the late 1990s.
“His idea of exploring the relationship between culture and security concerns during the Cold War came so far out of left field. It was so original and so innovative,” Carr says. It was this conversation that triggered his interest in Cold War culture, a subject on which he would later publish.
It’s this openness to change and ability to adapt that have guided Carr through various professorships, a term as chair of the Department of History (2004-06) and a term as Associate Dean, Research and Graduate Studies for the Faculty of Arts and Science (2006-10).
It has also led him to this moment.
Congress 2011 might be considered a resolution of sorts for Carr. He’s heard from many federation members who have had nothing but good things to say about last year’s Congress.
“Other universities now trying to host Congress in the future will be very conscious about how they too can showcase themselves to their advantage,” says Carr.
Carr believes the Fredericton Congress, co-hosted by St. Thomas University and the University of New Brunswick, will be different from last year at Concordia, “because they’re different universities and a smaller venue.” They expect about 6,000 people, the largest conference the city has ever held.
When asked what he brings to the federation, Carr looks beyond his experience and knowledge of Congress following the success of Congress 2010.
“This is a critical juncture for humanities and social science research and training in Canada and internationally,” he says.
“I believe the federation has a vital role to play, not only in better representing the interests of our members on the national level, but also increasing the visibility, public recognition and influence of the work our community does.
Still, it’s apparent there’s more than just a mandate for him. Almost in passing, he says, “All my academic life has been a real opportunity to discover and explore things. I’m very interested in keeping the momentum going.”
Kind of like a real jazzman. He knows where he’s been, but it’s not about what was, it’s about what will be.
Related links:
• Congress 2011
• Congress 2010 at Concordia
• Graham Carr appointed Dean of Graduate Studies - Concordia Journal, April 1, 2010
• Largest Congress ever - Concordia Journal, June 10, 2010
• Congress 2010: Concordia's Expo 67 - Concordia Journal, December 6, 2010