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 […]