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Our Winter 2025 morning lectures will focus on Canada's North, a topic of increasing importance in today's geopolitics. The Canadian Arctic covers 40 per cent of Canada's territory and is home to more than 200,000 inhabitants, more than half of whom are Indigenous. Our speakers will talk about subjects ranging from resource extraction to defence, biology, geology, archaeology, art, and exploration.

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Energy is the driving force for so many aspects of our lives today, and we take it for granted until it's suddenly not available. As our dependence on technology grows -- think banking, health care, transportation, manufacturing, the list goes on and on -- the need for reliable, sustainable electrical energy grows too. And as people and goods are in constant motion, whether it's on local trips to the grocery store or flights to the other side of the planet, we use various sources of energy to fuel all this movement. Yet all of our energy use is impacting the planet in ways we may not always be able to see or understand. In this series we will look at what energy is, the different ways in which we access it, and what some of the challenges and possible solutions may be as we move forward. The final week will feature a three-person panel focusing on the Guelph community -- What innovations are happening here? What challenges still need to be tackled? What actions can individuals take to address these problems? Please join us for what is sure to be an 'enlightening' series.

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Water, it covers over 70% of our planet and is essential to all life on Earth.

This series will examine the management and protection of our water supply from local concerns to global challenges ensuring a clean, safe and adequate water supply. Speakers will discuss water systems in Ontario such as the Grand River watershed, designated as a Heritage River 30 years ago. We will continue with talks on water advocacy, indigenous perspectives on water and the need for water security as well as the part water plays in our health and economy.

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Migration is a fundamental experience of human history. It has shaped societies, cultures and economies across the world. In 2024, the world is divided on how to cope with an ever-increasing number of people who wish to migrate for a variety of reasons. For many of them, the decision is crucial, and life-threatening. In this 8-week lecture series we will explore the "who, what, when, where, why, and how" of human migration and look at what is happening now across the globe. We will also examine the increasing importance of the factor of climate change and what we might expect in the near and far future.

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Communication is the vessel by which we navigate the world. We broker deals, express love, hope, explain, control or sometimes have a friendly chat. The main tool by which we express ourselves is language. In this series we will explore language in its varied facets.
The series begins with an explanation of linguistics. It then flows into a presentation of dialects in Ontario followed by an exploration of the preservation and revitalization of languages. Then comes the word chocolate! Fun! After which a Stratford vocal coach divulges speech training techniques. We move onto language and power, technology and its role in language and finish with bilingualism and the aging brain.

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This course will look at some of the many rewards and pleasures of reading. It will focus primarily on fiction and poetry but is applicable to all kinds of texts. While it is, in some respects, a personal memoir of reading, it will also encourage participants to trace their own reading journeys: what are your first experiences of reading, and how have they shaped you? What do you love to read, and why? Where do you find comfort, and where do you turn when you want to challenge yourself?

All lectures given by Dr. Gary Draper, University of Waterloo

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In 2001, the terror attacks against New York and Washington DC abruptly ended the post Cold War dream of a pacified world and the short-lived reign of multilateralism. In the name of a "war on terror," U.S. President George W. Bush launched a series of military interventions against the Taliban in Afghanistan, then, without the backing of the United Nations, against Iraq. Twenty years later, following a period of disengagement in the Middle East, the last U.S. troops left Afghanistan. This series proposes to look back at those pivotal years: has the U.S. lost its global standing? While remaining the leading world power, has it mismanaged China's emerging power? Today's world appears a lot more fragmented, more hostile also, than 20 years ago. What is the role for the United Nations as a growing number of authoritarian regimes choose to challenge the existing world order? Are our democracies prepared to respond to the rise of China or Russia's increasingly aggressive posturing? And how? The war in Ukraine, which marks the return of high-intensity conflicts on European soil, might give us a clue...

All Lectures in this series by Dr. Olivier Courteaux

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When we walk into a grocery store or restaurant some of the overwhelming impacts are the quantity and quality of food available. From hundreds of items on grocery store shelves in the 1950s to thousands today, where did it come from? How do we get it? How do we get fresh strawberries all year round, and oranges and apples and everything else our heart and stomach desire? How does the “food supply chain” work and who controls it? What are the coming issues that will affect our supply and what can we do to address them? Is our Food System under duress and, if so, what are the consequences for us in Ontario, Canada and around the globe?

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"Badass women" come from many walks of life and cultures. Some are well known leaders and others are ordinary people, but all have made their mark. They are memorable for making a difference and are all originals who have shown us new ways of looking at the world and maybe ruffled a few feathers along the way…

This lecture series explores a wide range of women throughout time who have been independent thinkers, ground breakers and troublemakers. Some are well known, and others should be. Beginning with the intriguing women of classical times, we move through history to look at famous women such as Catherine the Great and Amelia Earhart and finish with Badass Canadians who are making a difference in our world today.

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