Wednesday Talks
There are no talks scheduled until next September.
One of the College’s most popular activities is the series of weekly talks given during the academic year. These are currently presented in a hybrid format – both in person at the Faculty Club and simultaneously online via Zoom. Presenters are usually outside academic speakers from the local area, but may also include fellows or external fellows. The topics are wide-ranging, covering a broad spectrum of disciplines and subjects. The format consists of an approximately 50-minute talk followed by a coffee break and then a discussion period. The talks are usually recorded and made available on the College’s YouTube channel. The discussion sessions are not recorded.
Videos of previous talks can be found here: https://www.seniorcollege.utoronto.ca/previous-talks-on-youtube/ .
Events
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Wednesday Talk: September 9, 10am-12pm – hybrid
Zoom AND The Faculty Club, UofT, 41 Willcocks Street Toronto, ON M5S 1C7Speaker: Domenico Pietropaolo, Drama and Italian, U of T Title: “The Colours of Harlequin: Costumes, Cultural Adaptability, and Popular Culture” Abstract: Harlequin is by far the most famous character of […]
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Wednesday Talk: September 16, 10am-12pm – hybrid
Zoom AND The Faculty Club, UofT, 41 Willcocks Street Toronto, ON M5S 1C7Speaker: Brian Levine, Senior Scientist, Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Health Sciences; Professor of Psychology and Medicine (Neurology), U of T Title: “Beyond the Average Mind: Individual Differences in Memory and Imagery” […]
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Wednesday Talk: September 23, 10am-12pm – hybrid
Zoom AND The Faculty Club, UofT, 41 Willcocks Street Toronto, ON M5S 1C7Speaker: Andrés Jiménez Monge, Executive Director, Ontario Nature Title: “Environmental Problem Solving: A Wicked Thing” Abstract: Environmental problems are people problems. This presentation traces two decades of conservation work — […]
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Wednesday Talk: September 30, 10am-12pm – hybrid
Zoom AND The Faculty Club, UofT, 41 Willcocks Street Toronto, ON M5S 1C7Speaker: Bruce Kidd, Sports Policy, Kinesiology, U of T Title: “The Challenges of Sports Betting” Abstract: Canada legalized sports betting in 2021, but did so without guardrails, despite the abundant […]
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Wednesday Talk: October 7, 2026, 10am-12pm – hybrid
Zoom AND The Faculty Club, UofT, 41 Willcocks Street Toronto, ON M5S 1C7Speaker: Jim Phillips, Law, U of T Title: “’I Did Not Commit Adultery’: A Unique (Parliamentary) Divorce from in the 1870s” Abstract: An analysis of the marital breakdown of Robert […]
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Wednesday Talk: October 14, 2026, 10am-12pm – hybrid
Zoom AND The Faculty Club, UofT, 41 Willcocks Street Toronto, ON M5S 1C7Speaker: Jacalyn Duffin, Hannah Chair of History of Medicine, Queen’s U Title: “Canada on Easter Island: The Secret History of a Blockbuster Drug” Abstract: In 1964 Canada led an international […]
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Wednesday Talk: October 21, 2026, 10am-12pm – hybrid
Zoom AND The Faculty Club, UofT, 41 Willcocks Street Toronto, ON M5S 1C7Speaker: Reuben Gaetani, Strategic Management, Rotman Title: "Location and Innovation: Why Geography Still Matters" Abstract: Innovation does not happen uniformly across space. Some places consistently produce ideas that open entirely […]
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Wednesday Talk: October 28, 2026, 10am-12pm – hybrid
Zoom AND The Faculty Club, UofT, 41 Willcocks Street Toronto, ON M5S 1C7Speaker: Karina Vernon, English, U of T Title: “Cowboy Songs and the ‘Alternate Archives’ of the Black Atlantic” Abstract: In this talk, I draw methodologically from musicology, agrarian studies, and ecological […]
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Wednesday Talk: November 4, 2026, 10am-12pm – hybrid
Zoom AND The Faculty Club, UofT, 41 Willcocks Street Toronto, ON M5S 1C7Speaker: Helmut Reichenbächer, English, OCAD U Title: “Mendelssohn, Shakespeare, and the Politics of Race: Cultural Programming in the Third Reich” Abstract: This lecture explores how Nazi racial ideology reshaped cultural […]
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Wednesday Talk: November 11, 2026, 10am-12pm – hybrid
Zoom AND The Faculty Club, UofT, 41 Willcocks Street Toronto, ON M5S 1C7Speaker: Roberto Verdecchia, TV director, writer, producer Title: “The Real World of Science Communication” Abstract: Theoretical models of science communication certainly have their place, but what are the “real world” […]
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Wednesday Talk: November 18, 2026, 10am-12pm – hybrid
Zoom AND The Faculty Club, UofT, 41 Willcocks Street Toronto, ON M5S 1C7Speaker: J.D.M. Stewart, historian, author Title: Prime Ministers and the Presidents Abstract: J.D.M. Stewart will talk about his book, The Prime Ministers: Canada's Leaders and the Nation They Shaped. In this […]
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Wednesday Talk: November 25, 2026, 10am-12pm – hybrid
Zoom AND The Faculty Club, UofT, 41 Willcocks Street Toronto, ON M5S 1C7Speaker: Daniel Bender, CRC in Food and Culture, U of T Title: "Typicity’s End: Tasting Wine in the Anthropocene” Abstract: Even taste has a climate change tipping point. Legal regulations […]