Summer Lectures Club 2023 Program
All lectures are virtual Zoom meetings on Mondays
Commencing 20 March and continuing every first and third Monday
April thru Sept, except July when they are on the second and fourth Monday
Summer Lectures Club (SLC) agrees that the Speakers own all Copyright in their presentations, other than such content as may have been taken from other sources on the basis of “Fair Dealing” as provided under the Copyright Act, or the Speakers have explicit written approval to use certain copyright materials, and SLC will not post any part of the Program on our website without the Speakers' prior consent.
Prof Ken Jeffrey
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March 20th
Guelph University Physics Prof. Emeritus Ken Jeffrey Fusion Technology, Past, Present and What’s to Come A world of almost completely free energy? Ken Jeffrey explains challenges of a technology that has been pursued as physicists’ holy grail for his entire career. Are we finally on the home stretch? Ken will describe recent breakthroughs and reasons for cautious optimism.
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Dr Garrow
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April 3rd
Educationalist Dr. Jim Garrow The Pink Pagoda Campaign, China’s one child policy and the race to save unwanted baby girls Jim Garrow ran English Speaking schools in China, until he witnessed a tragedy unfolding before his eyes: the new-born niece of a staff member about to be “set aside” in the quest for a son and heir. Overnight he found himself propelled into a clandestine world to save baby girls, as he relates in his book The Pink Pagoda.
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Shermeen Beg
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April 17th
Architect Shermeen Beg Architecture lost to future generations Some buildings become outdated very quickly. Sometimes a demolition and building
anew is easier/more economical than a retrofit. Many times projects are demolished in the name of progress, often driven by politics. We will tour the globe crisscrossing between the Pantheon and Euston Arch in London, Union Station and Old City Market in Savannah, Montgomery Block in San Francisco, Federal Coffee Palace in Melbourne, New York World Building, Schiller Theatre and the Federal Building in Chicago, La Maison du Peuple in Brussels, Bata Shoes Head Office Toronto, Hall of Nations Delhi and more. |
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May 1st
A Ukranian Student's Perspective on the War As context for this talk, you may want to check this link and view the TV series which led to the election of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servant_of_the_Peopleen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servant_of_the_People
Servant of the People, the situational comedy that has changed the arc of European history This is a most remarkable TV series. You can view a quick synopsis of all 30 instalments in a drop down menu Servant of the People in Wikipedia. Created between 2008 to 2014, it tackles problems in Ukraine after the break-up of the USSR, the corruption of the oligarchs and their bribing of members Parliament, Ukraine’s battle with the International Monetary Fund with a final segment set in the Utopian future of 2023. The makers of the series were tragically not to know that 2022 and 2023 would spell out something else. |
Ed Mizzi
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May 15th
Ed Mizzi, Retired teacher and past president of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Hamilton branch, reminds us of "Relative Size" With the recent launching of the James Webb telescope into deep space, this is an exciting time for astronomers. The Earth is a tiny speck in a vast cosmos, making us feel small and insignificant. However, it is the only home we have ever known, and we cannot ignore its importance to our survival; nor can we expect to find a place to move to, at least not in the near future. Join Ed for a journey comparing the Earth to other planets, our Sun, stars and galaxies and discover why we need to look after this "Pale Blue Dot" (Carl Sagan). |
Peter Hannam
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May 20th
Woodrill Farms Excursion - 10am Confirmation of time and location will be sent via a separate email. Remember Peter Hannam’s remarkable farm talk, Horses to Robots, several years ago? We’re invited to visit Peter at his home, Woodrill Farms, 7861 Highway Seven East, close to the border of Guelph, to admire his spectacular rhododendron collection. This excursion is not to be missed! |
Maria Chester
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June 5th Maria Chester and Mexican Muralism
Maria Chester joins us from Scotland, to discuss the remarkable depth and power of Mexican wall art
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TBA
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June 19th
Speaker to be announced:
Complex issues confronting the citizens of Turkey, Syria and Iran Towards an understanding of the complex issues confronting the citizens of Turkey, Syria and Iran and the aspirations of the Kurds who occupy all three countries. |
Please Note: To avoid the Canada Day weekend, July meetings are on 10th and 24th
Dr Gordon
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July 10th
Dr. Keith Gordon retired Vice-President, Research, CNIB: The Impact of the Prevalence and Cost of Vision Loss in Canada. Dr. Gordon is active in Fighting Blindness Canada, a Canadian NFP that funds research into retinal conditions. He has been a guest speaker at the Guelph-Wellington Men’s Club twice and also at the Probus Club of Guelph. |
Tim Ewbank
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July 24th
Tim Ewbank, Chair of U3A Cambridge, UK Iconoclasm, Past, Present and Future Tim Ewbank, Chair of Cambridge U3A in Britain, discusses the current global vogue for iconoclasm by setting it within a broader historical context, looking at the variety of justifications used. With mostly UK examples, he examines the issues raised such as Who decides which icons to remove? The potential scope of popular iconoclasm will be considered along with where it leads into wider questions of restitution and reparations for past injustices.
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TBA
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Aug 7th
Current Issue
This is open to fill with a very current local or national issue. Suggestions welcome. |
Professor Gibbon
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Aug 21st
Prof. Victoria Gibbon, CapeTown U, South Africa: Sutherland Restitution, restorative justice & community centered science.
In a process Dr. Vicky Gibbon rates as one of the most significant and important projects of her academic career, she joined an interdisciplinary team of academics from the University of Cape Town and two international institutions to conduct a series of scientific studies on the remains of nine people exhumed in Sutherland South Africa and kept at the University for 100 years. She has dealt with a range of sensitive issues that are sure to influence national and international policies when returning indigenous remains for reburial and restitution. |
Dr Crickette Sanz
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Sept 5th
Dr. Crickette Sanz of Washington University St. Louis, Missouri
What great apes have taught us. Based partly on gorilla and chimpanzee interactions through her field research in the Goualougo Triangle Ape Project in the Congo Republic, Dr. Crickette Sanz relates What Great Apes in the Congo Basin have taught us about Culture and Conservation |
Maris Chester
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Sept 18th
Maria Chester The Elephant and the Dove Maria Chester joins us for our final lecture of the summer, to relate to us two of Mexico’s most famous painters, their lives, interactions, and their lasting impact on Central American painting
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