The Scottish Studies Foundation is a registered charitable organization dedicated to actively supporting the Scottish tradition in Canada at the academic level through various levels of education. In 2004 we endowed the landmark Scottish Studies Foundation Chair of Scottish Studies at the University of Guelph — the acclaimed academic centre in North America for research, graduate training, and teaching on Scottish history and culture. In addition to publishing documents relating to Scottish culture, our focus is currently centered on the funding of in-course student scholarships and in sponsoring conferences and cultural events. Please click here for information on how you can join our active community and support our cause.
Professor Kevin James, the Scottish Studies Foundation Chair at the University of Guelph, in partnership with The Big Light production company, based in Glasgow, has created a podcast, "The Many Lives of Duff House," exploring the extraordinary life and after-life of an 18th-century aristocratic home, Duff House, near Banff in Aberdeenshire. Consider it a "Downton Abbey" of North-East Scotland! Details have been posted here.
A new exhibit, titled Charting Scottish Travels: The Origins of Tourism in Scotland, is on display now until November 28, 2025, at the University of Guelph's McLaughlin Library. The exhibit explores Scottish tourism, and the different ways it came to be such a sought-after destination for many travellers. The exhibit was curated by Scottish Studies students, giving them valuable practical experience and pathways to careers that have the potential to integrate appreciation of the humanities with viable professions in universities, museums, and other cultural heritage settings. More information about the exhibit has been posted here.
On Wednesday, April 22, 2025. we were delighted to have Dr. Lynn McDonald (pictured above) give a special talk to University of Guelph faculty, students and Scottish Studies Foundation and Society board members in Guelph's recently renovated University Club. During the event she was presented with the Society's 2025 Scot of the Year Award. The event was organized by the Society's President Maggie McEwan and the talk was recorded and transcribed for our newsletter by the Foundation's Vice-President Simon Burke. A pdf of the newsletter has been posted here.
As one of our mandates as a registered charity is to publish documents relating to Scottish history and culture, we welcome the opportunity to publish material written by our members and supporters. The following is a sample of some of recently published items:
Early in 2024, at the age of 102, Dr.Elizabeth Waterston, professor emeritus at the University of Guelph, author, critic and editor, sent us her manuscript of Open the Gate — an appraisal of the first twenty poems in Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses. We are pleased to announce that her book has now been published. Details here.
Sheila Mary Watt, one of our longtime members, has kindly donated the manuscript of her book The Weirs of Blackwood to the Foundation and we are pleased to announce that the resulting book has now been published. Details here.
In 2022, former publisher-turned-author Douglas Gibson (pictured above) donated the rights to have his latest book, GREAT SCOTS: Celebrating Canadian Writers with Links to Scotland, published by the Scottish Studies Foundation. The book is full of fascinating anecdotes from Doug's research and his career in publishing. It features 35 writers with links to Scotland and is illustrated by co-author Anthony Jenkins who served as editorial cartoonist, caricaturist and writer with The Globe and Mail for four decades. To obtain your copy of this captivating book, click here.
Back in 2021, during Covid, we came up with the idea of holding a chapbook competition and invited
writers to submit a manuscript of between 2000 and 5000 words on any topic with a Scottish
connection. The winner was James MacKenzie Grant from B.C. whose book Malcolm Gillespie: King
of the Gaugers, told the story of a Scottish "gauger" or excise officer who was hanged for the then
capital offence of forgery. A pdf of the book has been posted here.
David Sealgair, one of our long-time members, sent us The Puggy, a short story inspired by the experiences of a Canadian boy living in Scotland in the 1950s. It was first published in one of our early newsletters and then in chapbook form which you can read here.
In 2023, fellow board member and fan of the supernatural genre, Professor Paul Grant, sent us The Prophecy, a short story which was
published by the Foundation as a small chapbook and mailed out to members in time for
Christmas that year.
THE SCOTTISH STUDIES FOUNDATION
SCHOLARSHIP CAMPAIGN
Having completed the funding of the Digital Archive Room at the University of Guelph, our focus now shifts to the funding of in-course scholarships for Scottish Studies students. More information here.
PAST POSTINGS
A selection of items that have appeared on our website over the years have been posted here.