Posts Tagged ‘author’
Andrew Kirsch: “Discussion with a Spy: What CSIS is, What it does, and Why It’s Important to Know More About It” (Spring Talk #4 Summary)
How does spying happen in Canada, and should we be worried about it? Andrew Kirsch’s Spring Talk was an interesting presentation of what has become a currently topical issue in Canada. He is a former Canadian intelligence officer, now working as a consultant in cybersecurity with Kirsch Consulting Group. His intention in the talk was to illuminate what our Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) does, the threats and challenges to come, and how we can better protect ourselves and our country.
Read MoreShort Stories: The Long and SHORT of It
Bi-weekly; Week One; Monday; 12:15 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.
Online via Zoom **NEW**
“A short story is a love affair; a novel is a marriage” Short stories are one of the oldest types of literature and are a growing and important aspect of literature. We will learn about significant and influential classical and contemporary short story writers, read and discuss their short stories, compare them to one another, discuss how they are written, and what they reflect about society. Each participant will present a short story from either The World’s Greatest Short Stories (Daley ed.) or The Best Short Stories 2022: The O. Henry Prize Winners. Everyone is expected to read the story being presented so we can engage in a lively and thoughtful discussion.
Read MoreJohn Fraser: Integrity in the Fourth Estate: Ensuring Media Remains Ethical and Honest in a Digital Age, on Wednesday, April 12 at 10:15 a.m. (Spring Talk #1) at Innis College, 2 Sussex Avenue.
John Fraser is a renowned Toronto journalist, editor, author and scholar. His adventurous career has taken him from being the Globe and Mail’s “eyes on the ground” in China in the late seventies, to facilitating ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov’s defection to the West, to being the beloved Master of Toronto’s Massey College . It is in his current role as Executive Chair of the News Media Council that he will assist us to better understand the world of control, ethics and honesty in today’s media.
Read MoreProfessor Ann Shteir – Women and Plants: A Fruitful Topic (Winter Forum #5 Summary)
Our brush with botany came early. Remember those primary school drawing lessons, the collections of native field flowers, the glorious autumn leaves pressed in waxed paper? Those who took it a step further, who were hungry for a deeper scientific understanding, then worked harder and longer to discover and achieve, despite societal obstacles, are the…
Read MoreJan Wong – My Half Century with China: Reflections from the Cultural Revolution to COVID to Xi Jinping (Winter Forum #4 Summary)
The timing couldn’t have been better. At the moment the House of Commons was embroiled in arguments over China’s alleged tampering in Canadian elections and as international concerns were growing about whether it would arm Russia in its war against Ukraine, Jan Wong provided her unique perspective on the last 50 years of Chinese history in ALLTO’s fourth winter forum.
Read MoreProfessor Ann Shteir – Women and Plants: A Fruitful Topic on Wednesday, March 15 at 2:30 pm (Winter Forum #5)
Professor Ann Shteir, professor emerita, York University recently edited and published “Flora’s Fieldworkers: Women and Botany in 19th Century Canada” ( 2021) (McGill/Queens Press). She and her team uncovered about ten neglected women who contributed to botany in Canada during this era. Some collected seeds; some developed gardens; some wrote guides to plants; some made…
Read MoreCathy Crowe – “Dying for a Home: The Chronic Crisis of Homelessness and Housing in Canada” (Winter Forum #2 Summary)
Cathy Crowe, a long-time “Street Nurse” who works in the area of social justice nursing, presented some important and timely issues in an Academy Winter forum at Tartu College. Her background in nursing homeless people, as well as advocacy, writing, and filmmaking, have provided her with significant insights which she shared in a very visual presentation.
Read MoreMichael Layton – Personal Reflections Reaching Net Zero Housing Standards on Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 2:30 pm (Winter Forum #3)
Lessons learned by Mike Layton and his family on their journey to make their home fossil fuel free. Mike will share further information about the technologies used and incentives available to decarbonize. Mike Layton is a well-known Toronto politician. After three very impactful terms as a Toronto City Councillor, Mike chose not to seek re-election.…
Read MoreMichael Layton – Personal Reflections Reaching Net Zero Housing Standards on Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 2:30 pm (Winter Forum #3)
Lessons learned by Mike Layton and his family on their journey to make their home fossil fuel free. Mike will share further information about the technologies used and incentives available to decarbonize.
Read MoreProfessor Ann Shteir – Women and Plants: A Fruitful Topic on Wednesday, March 15 at 2:30 pm (Winter Forum #5)
Professor Ann Shteir, professor emerita, York University recently edited and published “Flora’s Fieldworkers: Women and Botany in 19th Century Canada” ( 2021) (McGill/Queens Press). She and her team uncovered about ten neglected women who contributed to botany in Canada during this era. Some collected seeds; some developed gardens; some wrote guides to plants; some made quilts depicting Canadian and British plants. This book is the outgrowth of an earlier conference she organized to focus on women and botany in the 19th century.
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