Topic: "How do we recognize historical figures whose record is now seen controversial? The conundrum of statues and naming." Organizers: Trevor Lloyd, Mary Finlay, Marty Klein All colloquia will be […]
Speaker: Jacqueline Gibbons Title: Spread Your Wings: Icarus to 1912 (Flight, The Men and Women) Abstract: Telling a tale of remarkable explorers, inventors, pilots and entrepreneurs who have set the […]
December 4, 2023, 2-4pm – Fellows and External Fellows Jennifer Raff, Origin: A Genetic History of the Americas (2022) Discussion Leader: Susan Pfeiffer Where did the Indigenous people of the […]
January 8, 2024, 2-4pm – Fellows and External Fellows Kevin Rudd, The Avoidable War: The Dangers of a Catastrophic Conflict between US and Xi Jinping's China (2022) Discussion Leaders: Max […]
Wednesday Talk: January 10, 2024, 2-4 pm - in-person and on Zoom Speaker: Max Friesen, Anthropology, U of T Title: “Ancient and Urgent: Climate Change Threats to the Arctic Heritage Record” Abstract: The long-term history of the […]
Speaker: Kristin Andrews, Research Chair in Animal Minds, York University Title: “Chat GPT and Bumble Bees: Exploring the Consciousness Question” Abstract: Is there something it is like to be a […]
Colloquium, January 18, 2024, 2-4pm – Fellows & External Fellows Only – in-person only Topic: "The rise of authoritarian governments." Organizers: Phil Sullivan All colloquia will be held at the Senior College […]
Speaker: Kevin Edmunds, History, U of T Title: “Haiti, Popular Democracy and the Endless Colonial Intervention” Abstract: What happens when intervention designed to "help" produces an even greater harm? In […]
Speaker: John Gardner, author Title: “Capturing the Camino de Santiago: A Pilgrim's Journey through the Ages” Abstract: Over his lifetime John has engaged continuously in his favourite activity: trekking long […]
Wednesday, January 31, 2024 at 2 pm Speaker: Jane Rylett, Scientific Director, CIHR Institute of Aging, Western U. Title: “Addressing the Impacts of Canada’s Changing Population Demographic” Abstract: The CIHR […]
February 12, 2024, 2-4pm - Fellows and External Fellows Alistair MacLeod, No Great Mischief (1999) Discussion Leader: Meg Fox The first (and only) novel by a great Canadian short story […]
Speaker: James Hunter, former President of KPMG Forensic Inc Title: “White Collar Crime—An Investigator’s Perspective” Abstract: Fraudulent activity has existed since time immemorial. What is it that possesses otherwise honest […]
Speaker: John Gardner, author Title: “Capturing the Camino de Santiago: A Pilgrim's Journey through the Ages” Abstract: Over his lifetime John has engaged continuously in his favourite activity: trekking long […]
Colloquium, February 15, 2024, 2-4pm – Fellows & External Fellows Only – in-person only Topic: "Freedom of speech in Academia." Organizers:Pat Brubaker All colloquia will be held at the Senior […]
Speaker: Dan Drucker, Medicine, U of T Title: “Changing Health Outcomes for People Living with Diabetes or Obesity” Abstract: Enthusiasm for gut-derived therapies stems from a precise understanding of the […]
Speaker: Celia Smith, CEO Luminato Festival, Toronto Title: “Arts, Culture & Creativity in a Time of Dynamic Change” Abstract: Is there space for beauty, joy, reflection and inspiration in today's […]
March 4, 2024, 2-4pm – Fellows and External Fellows Ed Yong, An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us (2022) Discussion Leader: Sara Shettleworth This book […]
Speaker: Morgan Barense, Neuropsyschology, U of T Title: “A smartphone Intervention to Enhance Real-World Event Memory” Abstract: The act of remembering an everyday experience influences how we interpret the world, […]
Speaker: Caryl Clark, Faculty of Music, U of T Title: “Labours of Love: Resurrecting Haydn’s Orfeo” Abstract: In late May 2023, singers from the University of Toronto collaborated with members of […]
Colloquium, March 14, 2024, 2-4pm – Fellows & External Fellows Only – in-person only Topic: "What can we do about the escalating crisis in Canadian youth mental health since 2020?" […]
Speaker: Matti Siemiatycki, Geography and Planning, U of T Title: “Patterns, Causes and Cures for Cost Overruns and Delays in Mega-Project Delivery” Abstract: It is all too familiar an experience […]
Speaker: Jesse Billett, Divinity, Trinity College, Divinity, Trinity College; Centre for Medieval Studies Title: “The Lost Chants of Anglo-Saxon England” Abstract: In 1086, two decades after the Norman Conquest, the […]
April 1, 2024, 2-4pm – Fellows and External Fellows William Carlsen, Jungle of Stone: The Extraordinary Journey of John L. Stephens and Frederick Catherwood and The Discovery of the Lost […]
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 […]
19th Annual Senior College Symposium, Wed. April 17, 2024 9am to 4pm at the U of T Faculty Club, 41 Willcocks (or by Zoom) Disappearing Discourses? New Perspectives on Canadian […]
May 6, 2024, 2-4pm – Fellows and External Fellows Siddhartha Mukherjee, The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and The New Human (2022) Discussion Leader: William Logan Mukherjee […]
"Meet Your Colleagues" Summer Sessions Thursdays 2-4pm on Zoom only - Fellows and External Fellows only May 30, 2024: Susan Pfeiffer Anthropology is the study of humans at the broadest of levels, […]
June 3, 2024, 2-4pm, - Fellows and External Fellows Helen Macdonald, H Is for Hawk (2014) Discussion leader: Peter Alberti Are you ready for a strange but compelling read? Already […]
"Meet Your Colleagues" Summer Sessions Thursdays 2-4pm on Zoom only - Fellows and External Fellows only June 13, 2024: Jonathan Dostrovsky Jonathan Dostrovsky Jonathan Dostrovsky will present a biographical illustrated account of […]
"Meet Your Colleagues" Summer Sessions Thursdays 2-4pm on Zoom only - Fellows and External Fellows only June 20, 2024: John Kennedy John Kennedy is a psychologist with interests in perception and representation. […]
"Meet Your Colleagues" Summer Sessions Thursdays 2-4pm on Zoom only - Fellows and External Fellows only June 27, 2024: George Steiner Topic: “I will not make this a high science talk. Rather, it […]
July 8, 2024, 2-4pm, - Fellows and External Fellows Alex Ross, The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century (2007) Discussion Leaders: Linda Hutcheon, Michael Hutcheon Have you ever […]
September 9, 2024, 2-4pm, - Fellows and External Fellows Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood (2016) Discussion Leader: Linda Hutcheon A modern retelling of Shakespeare’s The Tempest the novel was commissioned by Random House […]
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 […]
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 […]
Colloquium, September 19, 2024, 2-4pm – Fellows & External Fellows Only – in-person only Topic: “How to deal with tensions that have erupted on campuses as a result of the […]
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 […]
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, […]
October 7, 2024, 2-4pm, - Fellows and External Fellows Regenesis: Feeding the World without Devouring the Planet by George Monbiot (2022) Discussion Leader: Sara Shettleworth This book by an award-winning […]
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 […]
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 […]
Colloquium, October 17, 2024, 2-4pm – Fellows & External Fellows Only – in-person only Topic: “The issues about introducing a universal basic income in Canada. How to pay for it 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 […]
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 […]
November 4, 2024, 2-4pm, - Fellows and External Fellows Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right by Jane Mayer (2017) Discussion Leader: […]
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 […]
Champions of Rights: Courts and Legislatures? Thursday, November 7th, University of Toronto Faculty Club Lunch (optional) 12:15 Discussion 2:00-4:00 P.M., Wedgewood Room Reception to follow, Fairley Room Free and […]
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 […]
Colloquium, November 14, 2024, 2-4pm – Fellows & External Fellows Only – in-person only Topic: “The problems of social media” Organized by: Phil Sullivan Lunch before the colloquium The lunch is […]
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! — […]
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 – […]
December 2, 2024, 2-4pm, - Fellows and External Fellows Culture: The Story of Us from Cave-Art to K Pop by Martin Puchner (2023) Discussion Leader: Meg Fox Harvard literary historian Martin Puchner […]
January 6, 2024, 2-4pm, - Fellows and External Fellows Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis (2015) Discussion Leader: Meg Fox André Alexis offers “an utterly compelling and affecting look at the […]
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 […]
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” […]
Colloquium, January 16, 2025, 2-4pm – Fellows & External Fellows Only – in-person only Topic: “How do we deal with the crisis in aging?” Organized by Marty Klein Lunch before the colloquium […]
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 […]
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" […]
February 3 2025, 2-4pm, - Fellows and External Fellows Mapping the Darkness: The Visionary Scientists who Unlocked the Mysteries of Sleep by Kenneth Miller (2023) Discussion Leader: Daphne Maurer The […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Colloquium, February 20, 2025, 2-4pm – Fellows & External Fellows Only – in-person only Topic: "Poverty in Canada: causes, effects and solutions. Whose responsibility?" Organized by: Bill Logan and Trevor […]
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 […]
Exhibition: Art from Soweto, Out from Storage on Thursday, February, 27, 2025 - in person only - Registration is required for opening day attendance. No exceptions. The Senior College Centre is […]
March 3 2025, 2-4pm, - Fellows and External Fellows Homelands: A Personal History of Europe by Timothy Garton Ash (2023) Discussion Leader: David Milne Winner of the 2024 Gelner Prize, […]
Exhibition: Art from Soweto, Out from Storage on Wednesday, March 12, 2025 - in person only - Registration is not required The Senior College Centre is delighted to present an […]
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 […]
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 […]
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” […]
April 7, 2025, 2-4pm, - Fellows and External Fellows The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin (1974) Discussion Leader: Molly Wills Successful both as literature and as a thought experiment, […]
May 5, 2025, 2-4pm, - Fellows and External Fellows The Odyssey by Homer, in the new poetic translation by Emily Wilson (2017) Discussion Leaders: Linda Hutcheon and Martin Revermann Homer's […]
June 2, 2025, 2-4pm, - Fellows and External Fellows The Valley of the Birdtail by Andrew Stobo Sniderman and Douglas Sanderson (Amo Binashii) (2022) Discussion leader: Janet Paterson This book […]
July 7, 2025, 2-4pm, - Fellows and External Fellows The Worlds I See: Curiosity, Exploration, and Discovery at the Dawn of AI by Fei-Fei Li (2023) Discussion Leader: Susan Pfeiffer […]
