UitC 2023 Fall Program

OCTOBER 4: IN PERSON 2:30 – 4:00 pm

Events Room, Innis College Residence, 111 St George (across the street from Innis College).
Apple Tasting with apple expert and historian Suzanne Long.

Background reading: At Toronto Public Library: The Ghost Orchard (Harper Collins, 2017) writen by Canadian poet and novelist, Helen Humphreys. Litle-known facts about the hidden history of the apple in North America. Did you know that there were once 17,000 apple varieties? Multiple copies at TPL!

LONG BEFORE THIS …

… THERE WERE 17,000 VARIETIES OF THESE!

OCTOBER 11: IN PERSON 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm

Edward Johnson Building, Faculty of Music, 80 Queen’s Park.

Lecture: ‘Sounds of the Imagined Nations: Latin American and Iberian Art Songs.’ Presented by well-known, multi-talented soprano, musicologist and physician (!!!), Patricia Caicedo.

Ms. Caicedo has been at the forefront of a movement to ‘decolonize’ the western musical repertoire and to recognize underrepresented Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan composers and music. Recognized as the voice of the Iberian and Latin American art song and often described as its ambassador, the soprano and musicologist Patricia Caicedo is one of the leading interpreters and researchers of this repertoire.

OCTOBER 18: ZOOM 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm

“Travel Connections and Material Culture: Persistence and Innovation in World History.” How ‘things’ are created used traded and define a culture.

With professor and recent Order of Canada recipient, Beverly Lemire, Dept. of History, Classics and Religion University of Alberta. Beverly is simply amazing. Her research focuses on material culture – ‘the use, consumption, creation and trade of objects (materials, textiles, “things”) and the behaviours and rituals that the objects create.’ (Think about your life without objects!)

Short article: “How whiteness was invented and fashioned in Britain’s colonial age of expansion” The Conversation. September 2022.

PLEASE READ: How whiteness was invented and fashioned in Britain’s colonial age of expansion

OCTOBER 25: IN PERSON 5:30 – 7:00 pm

Gardiner Museum, 111 Queen’s Park

‘Magdalene Odundo: A Dialogue with Objects’
Guided tour of the Canadian debut and largest ever North American exhibit of the magnificent ceramic art of Dame Magdalene Odundo. (I think the word sublime would be appropriate here.)

*OCTOBER 26: IN-PERSON Innis Town Hall, 7:00 – 9:00 pm TBC

*OPTIONAL
Globe and Mail investigative reporter Robyn Doolitle delivers the Annual Harold Innis Lecture on ‘Secret Canada’, an in-depth investigation of the failures of Canada’s freedom of information system.

NOVEMBER 1: ZOOM 5:00 – 6:30 pm

Visual Artist and recent Order of Canda recipient, Norman Takeuchi and his partner, Marion.
In February 1942, the government of Mackenzie King invoked the War Measures Act and ordered the expulsion of 22,000 Japanese Canadians from the west coast; the Takeuchi family was sent to Westwold, a small farming and logging community in the interior of British Columbia.

‘A Measured Act’, a multi-media series of five, life-sized paper kimonos was acquired by the Canadian War Museum (Otawa) in 2015. It was originally exhibited in 2006 at the Karsh-Masson Gallery (curator: Maureen Korp) called ‘Without a Passport.’

Artist’s statement: “A Measured Act”, is a personal statement about that traumatic time in my life and in the lives of many thousands of Canadians of Japanese descent whose identities were shatered but who managed to persevere and rebuild. By creating this assemblage of paper kimonos embellished with words and images, I have made concrete what for so long had remained ghostly. It was satisfying work.”

NOVEMBER 8: ZOOM: 5:00 – 6:30 pm

And now for something completely different: Musician, author, visual ar􀆟st and recent Order of Canada recipient, Tom Wilson!
I am not sure how many of you will have heard of Tom Wilson (widely known for his music with Blackie and the Rodeo Kings) but I am sure you will be moved by his perhaps lesser known personal story. There is so much more to this man’s life than his music. His multifaceted creative quest and his search for personal authenticity are hallmarks of his life and an inspiration for all of us.

His oficial website

Legendary Canadian Musician Tom Wilson Set to Join Order of Canada

NOVEMBER 15: ZOOM: 5:30 – 6:30 pm

This one’s just for us! A time to reflect on the Fall term, and to hear your ideas and thoughts about the Winter 2024 term.

NOVEMBER 22: ZOOM 5:00 – 6:30 pm

University Professor, Emeritus, Companion of the Order of Canada, and UitC hero, Peter Russell joins us ‘Ask me Anything’ interview. One of Canada’s most brilliant political scientists, Peter’s reasoned, broad understanding of what it means to responsibly govern today offers us insight on how we might address existential threats to our country and to our planet.

NOVEMBER 29: ZOOM 5:00- 6:30 pm

Professor of English (University of Guelph), musician, author, recent Killam Prize winner (Humanities 2023), and Innis College alum, Ajay Heble has a body of work focuses on the possibility for change by fusing together a unique combination of creative, intellectual, and social justice projects. As an academic and an artist, Ajay’s work is both refreshingly original and personally authentic – he practices what he teaches. At the base of his many endeavours – Director of the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation, Founding Director of the Guelph Jazz Fest; author of 15 books – is his firm belief that the arts can be a force for social change. Particularly relevant for us (UitC), is Ajay’s firm commitment to education that goes beyond the ivory tower and integrates human rights and community-based learning.

AND THAT, MY FRIENDS, TAKES US TO THE END OF 2023!