Speaker: Daphne Maurer, Psychology, McMaster U., Wednesday Talk: January 28, 2026, 2pm-4pm, Faculty Club and Zoom – hybrid

Speaker: Daphne Maurer, Psychology, McMaster U

Title: “An Invisible Pandemic”

Abstract: In this century, most schoolchildren are becoming nearsighted–80% to 90% of them in Asia–and nearsightedness in school often causes blindness later in life: retinal detachment or macular degeneration. I recently sat on an expert panel of the (U.S.) National Academies of Sciences, Medicine, and Engineering that investigated the situation and published a 350-page report. We found a world-wide epidemic of nearsightedness, an epidemic that clearly has societal origins (but has nothing to do with cell phones). Moreover, my own research has uncovered unexpected obstacles to providing glasses to schoolchildren, obstacles ranging from parental prejudice to medical politics.

Bio: Daphne Maurer, OC, FRSC is a (retired) Distinguished University Professor from McMaster University and co-Chair of the Senior College Program Committee. She has published over 200 academic articles on perceptual development and, with her husband, written  books for the general public: The World of the Newborn (1988), which won the Book Prize of the American Psychological Association; Pretty Ugly: Why We Like Some Songs, Faces, Foods, Plays, Pictures, Poems, Etc., and Dislike Others (2019); and The World Inside Your Head: How Perceptions Build Society (in press, Columbia University Press).

The link to register is https://forms.office.com/r/TpQBm35Rbc

The deadline to register is the Monday before the event at noon. The Zoom link will be sent to registrants only.

If you have any questions, please contact the organizer, Linda Hutcheon at l.hutcheon@utoronto.ca.