Island Lecture Series features a presentation by MAIS faculty member Andrew Halliday on April 21

Andrew Halliday, a faculty member in the UPEI Master of Arts in Island Studies program, will give a lecture titled “Borders, Boundaries, and Jurisdictional Islanding: Placemaking in Atlantic Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic” on April 21, 2026, at 7 pm, in the Faculty Lounge (Room 201), SDU Main Building, UPEI.

Halliday’s presentation is part of the Island Lecture Series, hosted by the Institute of Island Studies.

The interdisciplinary field of Island Studies continues to reflect upon island understandings. Halliday will explore placemaking that occurred on a regional level in Atlantic Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic through the creation of the Atlantic Bubble in the summer of 2020. New conceptual island constructs of “COVID-islands” and “COVID-archipelagos” are introduced as frames of inquiry and explained as policy constructs, which occurred at both micro and macro levels during the COVID-19 pandemic. “COVID-islands” and “COVID-archipelagos” are defined by their relativity to other places, spatial and temporal aspects, social construction, and the permeability and interaction with their borders and defined boundaries.

Halliday is cross-appointed in the Island Studies and Cleantech Leadership and Transformation interdisciplinary graduate programs at UPEI. He is an interdisciplinary scholar with an academic and public service background across various domains under the broad umbrella of political science. He has extensive government experience through the provinces of PEI and Alberta and the Government of Canada. He is a member of the International Small Islands Studies Association, the Small Islands Cultural Research Initiative, and the International Geographical Union’s Commission on Islands.

The lecture is free, and all are welcome. For more information, contact Bren Simmers at 902-566-0386 or ispstaff@upei.ca.