Speaker: Rafaël Newman, Comparative Literature, Zurich Title: “The Work of Art in the Age of Neural Machine Translation” Abstract: “But the instant the criterion of authenticity ceases to be applicable to artistic production, the total function of art is reversed. Instead of being based on ritual, it begins to be based on another practice – […]
Speaker: Marlene Shore, Professor Emerita and Senior Scholar, Department of History/York University Title: “Down from the Mountain: Reckoning with Unrest, Risk, and Charlatanism in the Canadian University, 1919-1939” Abstract: In the aftermath of World War I, it was a commonly held belief in Canada, Britain, and the United States that the key to international stability […]
Speaker: Kent Roach, Law, University of Toronto Topic: “Wrongfully Convicted: Lessons from the Canadian Registry” Abstract: This talk will discuss some of the findings from the Canadian Registry of Wrongful Convictions which has recorded close to 90 remedied wrongful convictions. Among topics discussed will be why do people who are innocent plead guilty and why […]
Speaker: Lissa Paul, Professor of English, Brock University Title: “Children’s Literature and Literary History: From Beowulf to Virginia Woolf and from The Big Bad Wolf to Tom Wolfe” Abstract: Not so very long ago an editor at a prestigious university press, on learning that I was writing on the children’s books by the late British […]
Speaker: Ian Cusson, Composer Title: “Indigeneity in Contemporary Opera: Wolf-men and Vacations to Prague” Abstract: Ian will explore Indigenous representation in contemporary opera through examples from his body of work, including the forthcoming chamber opera adaptation of Thomas King’s Indians on Vacation, and the grand opera adaptation of Cherie Dimaline’s Empire of Wild. In addition, […]
Speaker: Kenneth Bartlett, History and Renaissance Studies, U of T Title: “Raphael and the Mystery of the Frame: Art, Science and History in Search of an Answer” Abstract: A copy of Raphael's Madonna della Seggiola, the original of which is in the Galleria Palatina (Pitti Palace) in Florence, was discovered in a dealer’s shop, identified […]
Speaker: Nandita Bajaj, Executive Director, Population Balance Title: “Connecting the Dots between Reproductive Autonomy and Environmental Sustainability” Abstract: Human population has doubled in the last 50 years, growing from approximately four billion in 1970 to eight billion currently. There is rising public awareness that overpopulation and rampant overconsumption are driving climate change, resource scarcity, and […]
Speaker: Soren Brothers, Allan and Helaine Shiff Curator of Climate Change, ROM; Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, U of T Title: “Climate, Lakes, and Museums: Intersections and Transdisciplinary Opportunities” Abstract: While climate change is riding high on many people’s thoughts around the world, few people have ever heard of a “limnologist” and even fewer could tell you […]
Speaker: Paul Stevens, English Department, University of Toronto Title: “Robinson Crusoe and the Slave Trade: A Treatise against Adventure” Abstract: The break-out of the Muslim slave trade into the Atlantic in the early seventeenth century coincides with the dramatic escalation of the European slave trade in Africa. The first enslaved Africans arrived in Virginia only […]
Speaker: Mary Nyquist, English/Comparative Literature, U of T Title: “Early Modern Freedom, Tyranny, and the Rhetorical Power of ‘Slave’” Abstract: Why is the word “slave” capable of causing such anguish for those whose ancestors have been enslaved. Why have English-language speakers recently but silently decided to replace it with “the enslaved”, who are ruled not […]
Speaker: Yvonne Bombard, IHPME, U of T Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, U of T Title: “Delivering Precision Genomic Medicine: Evidence, Policy and Equity” Genetic testing has become increasingly popular in recent years, as people seek to learn more about their health and ancestry. With advances in technology, it has become easier and […]
Speaker: Clifford Orwin, Political Science, U of T Title: “The Double 24-Hour Makeover Election” Abstract: The venerable conservative columnist George Will — a retired professor at the U of T! — recently described the choice facing American voters on November 5 as the worst in the country's history. In fact both tickets deserved to lose the […]
Speaker: Franca Iacovetta, History, U of T, and Cynthia Wright, School of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies, York U Title: “Remembering Emma Goldman in Toronto, 1920s-2020s” Abstract: Emma Goldman – the Russian-born and US-naturalized anarchist deported from the United States at the height of the First Red Scare in 1919 – is arguably one of […]
Wednesday Talk: January 8 , 2025, at 2pm. It is in-person and on Zoom Speaker: Elizabeth Clare, Biology, York University Title: “A Chance to Measure Life on Earth: The Potential of Airborne eDNA” Abstract: Rapid monitoring across all life is necessary to quantify biodiversity at regional and continental scales, infer trends and assess the success or failure […]
Wednesday Talk: January 15 , 2025, at 2pm. It is in-person and on Zoom Speaker: Gerry Friesen, History, University of Manitoba Title: “The Honourable John Norquay: Indigenous Premier, Canadian Statesman” Abstract: Dr. Friesen will talk about his recently published book, The Honourable John Norquay: Indigenous Premier, Canadian Statesman (University of Manitoba Press 2024). Born in the Red […]
Wednesday Talk: January 22 , 2025, at 2pm. It is in-person and on Zoom Speaker: Anne Urbancic, Italian; Semiotics, Victoria College, U of T Title: “Large Double Double: How Tim Hortons Coffee Ritualizes Canadian Identity” Abstract: My study takes as a point of departure a rather generous definition of ritual, not necessarily sacred and serious […]
Wednesday Talk: January 29 , 2025, at 2pm. It is in-person and on Zoom Speaker: Sharon Vattay, architectural historian, cultural heritage specialist Topic: “Toronto's Massey Music Hall: Conservation in Practice" Abstract: This lecture offers a behind-the-scenes look at the recent revitalization of a nineteenth-century music hall, updated to meet twenty-first-century standards. The presentation will recount […]
Speaker: Matthew Light, Centre for European and Eurasian Studies, Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies, U of T Title: “Ukraine: The Stakes for Canada” Abstract: As the war in Ukraine drags on for its third year, it has somewhat dropped out of the headlines and public consciousness in Canada. Matthew Light argues that while the […]
Speaker: Tom Keymer, English, U of T Title: “Jane Austen and the Jurassic” ABSTRACT: Ecocritical scholarship on 19th-century literature has explored the impact on Victorian writers of the new geological and palaeontological science and the dizzying apprehensions of deep time that came with it. Writing a generation or two earlier, Jane Austen might seem a less […]
Speaker: Patricia Brubaker, Physiology and Medicine, U of T Title: The basic science underlying the beneficial actions of ♪O, O, O, O-zempic♪ Abstract: Drugs based on the intestinal hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) have taken the world by storm over the past 5 years, with 1 million Canadians and one in eight Americans now reporting that […]
Speaker: Netami Stuart, Senior Project Manager for Parks, Waterfront Toronto Title: “The Port Lands Flood Protection Infrastructure Project: How to Build a River” Abstract: The Port Lands Flood Protection and Enabling Infrastructure (PLFP) Project is a $1.38B project led by Waterfront Toronto, the City of Toronto, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) and CreateTO, with […]
Speaker: Madeleine Zurowski, Physics, U of T Title: “Searching in the Dark” Abstract: Dark Matter is a hypothesised new particle thought to make up 85% of the matter in the universe. This talk will address why we think it exists and how we go about looking for it, with a particular focus on SuperCDMS – an experiment currently under […]
Speaker: James Campbell Topic: “Music Inside Out” Abstract: James Campbell has collaborated with many legendary artists, including Glenn Gould, Aaron Copland, Janus Starker, and the Amadeus String Quartet. He will tell stories about his experiences working with them and give his view of what made them unique. He will also offer his perspective on the future of classical […]
Speaker: Mark G. McGowan, St. Michael’s College, U of T Topic: “’Kindred Spirits’ in the North: Indigenous Peoples in British North American and their Donations to the Irish Famine Relief” Abstract: The Irish Famine (1846-1852) was one of the most traumatic events in modern Irish history. With the repeated failure of the potato crop, upon […]
