Daphne Maurer

Speaker:  Burton Lim, Assistant Curator of Mammalogy, ROM Title:  “Great Whales: Up Close and Personal” Introducer: Jim Gurd Abstract: The great whales include the largest animals that have ever lived on earth, but we know so little about them and some are on the brink of extinction.  A recent exhibition at the Royal Ontario Museum […]

January 11, 2023 Speaker: Sandra Rehan, Biology, York U Title: “Diversity, Decline and Sustainability of Wild Bees” Introducer: Daphne Maurer Abstract: Understanding the nutritional requirements of wild bees is essential for their conservation. Remarkably little is known about wild bee habitat requirements, floral preference, and the nutritional value of pollen resources. Here I provide the […]

 January 18, 2023 Speaker: Aisha Ahmad, Political Science, U of T Title: “Why Jihadists Win” Introducer: Charlie Maurer Abstract: Why are jihadist insurgencies able to withstand massive international military interventions against them, survive long periods of occupation, and then suddenly resurge and take power again? This talk unpacks the economic logic behind this jihadist resilience, […]

January 25, 2023 Speakers:  Paul Martin, former Prime Minister of Canada; Peter Hajnal, Librarian; John Kirton, panelists; moderator Louis Pauly, Political Science, U of T. Title: “What Is the Role of the G-20 Today?” Introducer and Chair: Peter Hajnal Abstract: With the world currently consumed by many, interconnected crises, new questions have arisen about the […]

February 1, 2023 Speaker:  Sophia Moreau, Law and Philosophy, U of T Title: “Tort Law and Social Equality: Using Unlikely Areas of the Law to Redress Social Subordination” Introducer: Linda Hutcheon Abstract: Although Canada has robust anti-discrimination laws, these laws can only accomplish so much.  Scholars who work on other areas of law —such as […]

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, […]

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 the aftermath of World War I, it was a commonly held belief in Canada, Britain, and the United States that the key to international stability […]

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 Convictions which has recorded close to 90 remedied wrongful convictions. Among topics discussed will be why do people who are innocent plead guilty and why […]

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, including the forthcoming chamber opera adaptation of Thomas King’s Indians on Vacation, and the grand opera adaptation of Cherie Dimaline’s Empire of Wild. In addition, […]

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 four billion in 1970 to eight billion currently. There is rising public awareness that overpopulation and rampant overconsumption are driving climate change, resource scarcity, 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 change is riding high on many people’s thoughts around the world, few people have ever heard of a “limnologist” and even fewer could tell you […]

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 […]