Colloquium: January 19, 2023, 2-4pm – Fellows & External Fellows Only – in-person only

Co-chairs and Organizers: Phil SullivanColloquium topic: “Educating voters? How can people be educated about the need to vote? How can they be educated about how to decide for whom to vote? Should they be?” All colloquia will be held at the Senior College Centre. Masks are advised.  Fellows & External Fellows only.The lunch is 12:30pm at Valen’s Restaurant, 19 Baldwin St, Toronto ON M5T 1L1. 
The colloquium is at 2pm at the Senior College Centre, 256 McCaul Street in suite 412.  The entrance to the floor is locked so Giuliana will unlock it and prop it open. Only those registered will be at the Centre. There will be no staff in attendance.
Please register by Wednesday, January 18 at 8am (the restaurant would like to know the number of attendees well in advance).
The link to register https://forms.office.com/r/7xNKpWzrK0
Reading:Dear Colleagues
Here is what I suggest so far. 
Unfortunately. when I search “Educating voters” I mostly get instruction suitable for high-school students. However, I suggest that the attached might be worth reviewing.. It is written for US voters, but...                                                                               7 TIPS To Strengthen US Voter Education Programs by US Election Assistance Commission https://www.eac.gov/sites/default/files/eac_assets/1/28/EducatingVoters%5B3%5D-508%20Compliant.pdfHow to Avoid Misinformation A University of Central Oklahoma Library Research Guide, which discusses several topics and includes a fascinating media bias chart. It focuses on US media, but I note that the BBC is near the top of the list. I have also attached the chart as a jpeg :  https://library.uco.edu/c.php?g=849951&p=7853058
The challenge of broadcasting parliamentary proceedings: “The importance of providing more information on and providing coverage of parliamentary activities was underscored by 200 participants from 80 countries…”   Along document, but it has an account of Canadian practice  http://archive.ipu.org/pdf/publications/ebu_en.On Bullshit by American philosopher Harry Frankfurt. Suggested by Daphne Maurer.  Has useful distinctions between humbug, lying and bullshit relevant to political discussions?   See Wikipedia account: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Bullshit
Inter-parliamentary Union: How to mitigate these five threats to democracy   https://www.ipu.org/news/news-in-brief/2022-09/how-mitigate-these-five-threats-dem
Factors associated with voting. A Statistics Canada report produced in 2012, which might provide insight on groups to target  https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/75-001-x/2012001/article/11629-eng.htm
Incidentally, since we are—I hope—discussing how to establish truth, I dipped into Wikipedia’s entry.  Of all the many descriptions I found the observation by British-American mathematician–philosopher Alfred North Whitehead the most helpful in the present context: “There are no truths; all truths are half-truths. It is trying to treat them as whole truths that plays the devil.”  I recall the US “Atheist” Episcopalian Bishop John Shelby Spong wring the equivalent in his defence of Christianity…
Any suggestions on additions and deletions would be welcomePhil S