SC Wednesday Talk

February 8, 2023  Speaker:  Peter Sloly, Chief of Ottawa Police Service, 2019-22 Title: “Reflections and Projections on Canadian Policing” Introducer: Daphne Maurer Abstract: Peter Sloly will provide a concise but compelling set of reflections and projections about policing in Canada.  The last three years (2019-2022) has been imperfectly perfect storm - that exposed a perfectly […]

February 15, 2023 Speaker: Miriam Diamond, Earth Sciences, U of T Title: “Solutions, and why we need them now, to address the global threat of chemical pollution” Introducer: TBA Abstract: The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has named our current, global situation a “planetary emergency” that will undermine the ability of all societies, today and […]

February 22, 2023  Speaker: Michael Gervers, History, U of T Title: “What do we know about the Ethiopian Dark Ages (7th-12th centuries)?” Introducer: Marty Klein Abstract: The Axumite kingdom flourished from the 1st to the 6th century, after which economic decline set in. Several explanations have been put forward for this change: the defeat of […]

March 1, 2023 Speaker: Bence Viola, Anthropology, U of T Title: “Living on the Edge – Neanderthals and Denisovans in Central Asia.” Introducer: Susan Pfeiffer Abstract: forthcoming Bio: Associate Professor Bence Viola is a paleoanthropologist focusing on the biological and cultural dynamics of the contacts between different hominin groups in the late Pleistocene. To better […]

March 8, 2023 Speaker: Mark Osbaldeston Title: “Unbuilt University of Toronto and Queens Park” Introducer: Daphne Maurer Abstract: Mark Osbaldeston will explore two centuries of never-realized building and planningproposals for Queen’s Park and the neighbouring University of Toronto campus.Using dozens of images drawn from provincial, municipal, and university archives(and expanding on his books Unbuilt Toronto and […]

March 15, 2023 Speaker: J. Gottfried Paasche, Sociology, York U Title: “The German Aristocracy and Their Resistance, or Lack of, to Hitler and the Nazis: The case of General Kurt von Hammerstein and Three of his Daughters.” Introducer: TBA Abstract: The speaker is the grandson of Hans Paasche, pacifist, assassinated in 1920 by Nationalist German […]

March 22, 2023  Speaker:  Konrad Eisenbichler, Italian, Renaissance Studies, U of Toronto Title: “A Different Sort of Italian: Julian-Dalmatian Immigrants in Canada” Introducer: Giuliana Katz Abstract: Scholarship on Italian immigration to Canada has generally omitted the Julian-Dalmatians, a group of Italians from Istria and Dalmatia, two regions that, in the wake of World War Two, […]

May 17, 2023, 2-4:45pm - in-person only (non-Fellows can participate for $10)   Speaker: Merrill Swain Title:  “Talking Matters:  Theory, Research and Knowledge Mobilization” AND “Talking Matters” (a play)  Introducer: Daphne Maurer   Abstract of talk:  The focus of this session is to demonstrate that theory-informed research can be transformed into accessible and actionable knowledge.  A) Theory: the theoretical concept of “languaging”, set within the […]

Wednesday Talk: May 24, 2023, 2-4pm - Zoom only (non-Fellows can participate for $10)   Speaker: Lawrence Wiliford  Title:  "Charting a New Path: Classical Vocal Music and Canadian Visual Media Distribution”  Introducer: Linda Hutcheon   Abstract: During the COVID-19 pandemic, opera companies and other performing arts organizations embraced film and video production to enable artists to continue their craft while also […]

Wednesday Talk: May  31, 2023, 2-4pm - Zoom only (non-Fellows can participate for $10)   Speaker: Geoff Rayner-Canham  Title:  “Chemistry and Inuit Life and Culture”  Introducer: Linda Hutcheon Abstract:  Inuit have lived and thrived for millennia in one of the most challenging environments on the planet. How is this possible? It is chemistry which, in many aspects, provide the underlaying explanations for […]

June 23, 2023 Speaker: Daniel Lang Title: 'The Carnegie Foundation and University of Toronto Faculty Pensions: An "Undenominational", Un-tax-funded History”’ Abstract: When the Carnegie Foundation was established in 1905, universities in Canada and Newfoundland were eligible for grants, on strict conditions that were seen by some as “colonial,” “continentalist,” or “imperial” intrusions on autonomy; for […]

Wednesday, September 6, 10 am Speaker: Elizabeth Harvey Title: “Out of One’s Mind: Dementia in Anne Carson’s Poetry” ABSTRACT: Anne Carson is an internationally renowned Canadian poet. Her eccentric poetic genius has been recognized by a sweep of prestigious awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, the first T.S. Eliot Poetry Prize conferred on a woman, two […]

Wednesday, September 13, 10 am Speaker: Kang Lee Title: “Little Cheaters and How to Make Them Honest: The Origin of Academic Dishonesty in Childhood” Abstract: In this talk, I will discuss briefly the history of cheating and the scientific research on cheating with a focus on academic cheating. Then I will present the recent discoveries […]