Oh, Canada

"Well, they have that in Canada!" No, we're not talking about sub-zero weather, moose, or Aero chocolate bars (although the chocolate is tasty). We're also not (yet) talking about the motion picture industry.

Did you know that UCLA offers a program in Canadian Studies? Now, most Americans and Canadians may justifiably feel that they could function just fine in the other country without having to study it; the two nations are not that different in most respects. The public programs offered, though, seem to focus quite interestingly on the differences. The list of recent public lectures and events shows that the school has offered forums on programs that have been made national policy in Canada, while attempts to implement similar programs in the United States spark contentious national debates. These include universal health care and same sex marriage, and judging from the lecture titles, the speakers explore both the successes and the glitches. We haven't attended any of these lectures, having just found out about them, but we're looking forward to seeing what topics they come up with for the new school year.

Of course, the school offers courses and majors in Latin American Studies, which includes the study of Mexico, so you could probably piece together a program of study that would allow you to essentially major in the North American Free Trade Agreement — which is another subject of the Canadian Studies program's lectures; perhaps that's where they explain the northern migration of the film industry.