TALG's lectures are held at Harcourt United Church, 87 Dean Avenue in Guelph, and simultaneously streamed online. You may choose to attend in person or by watching from home. All registrants will receive a weekly email with the link to Wednesday's lecture. If you opt to watch online, please note the lecture is available only at the regularly scheduled time; lectures do not remain online for viewing at later times or dates.
The Winter 2026 Session will begin on Wed., January 21st. We hope you'll join us for one or both Lecture Series!
Registration is now open and continues until Wednesday, January 14th at 6pm (note: we do not accept late registrations after this date). To register, please go to our Registration page and follow the instructions. If you have any questions or problems, contact us at info@talg.ca; we'll be happy to help!
AM Series: Wednesdays, January 21 to March 12, 2026, 10am - noon
Are we confronting change or confronted by it? What triggers these tsunamis of change that sweep us off our places of familiarity and comfort and leave us floundering? What sweeps us back on our feet with waves that reposition us in new places of comfort or growth?
This eight week-series of lectures will introduce you to some of these Agents of Change. Some you will recognize and others will leave you saying “why didn’t I know that name before?” Some of these Agents of Change are individuals the youth of today would call “influencers” and other Agents of Change are movements of people and ideas that capture the hearts and minds of considerable numbers of people and bring about social and cultural change.
Come and allow your heart and mind to be captivated and captured by these “Agents of Change”.
Dr. Karen Wendling
Amartya Sen is a Nobel Prize-winning economist, philosopher, and all-around Renaissance man. He has written not only on economics and philosophy, but also on development, famines, women's rights, an alternative to the World Bank's definition of poverty, and on and on. This talk will focus on his work on international justice.
Dr. Karen Wendling
Karen Wendling is a retired professor of philosophy at the University of Guelph. Her research focuses on political equality. She also has been active in several justice-seeking movements, and her activism informs her philosophical views.
After the lecture you may contact Dr. Wendling for questions at: wendling@uoguelph.ca
Dr. Magda Stroinska
The analysis of the language used in media debates points to a marked shift in political discourse. Despite extensive efforts to combat verbal aggression and hate speech in print and online, their spread remains a significant challenge. We observe a growing tendency towards negative stereotyping based on those characteristics of individuals that are not a matter of choice (race, religion, nationality, gender, age, sexual orientation, etc.). In the current global refugee crisis, the concepts of ethnicity and religion are intertwined in the political discourse, contributing to the confusion. The language used in public debates is markedly rude and unapologetically offensive. We believe that this shift is a very strong indication of a dangerous change in social attitudes as such changes have led to violent conflicts in the past. Using linguistics as a diagnostic tool, we identify specific mechanisms of exploiting language for the purpose of propaganda targeting various minorities and those who dare to have different views. While these mechanisms are not new, they have gained renewed relevance due to the rise of online hate speech. Though often eluding automated detection algorithms, the use of hate speech provokes immediate even if unconscious negative reactions, reflecting deeper biases ingrained in language and society. As discussions around combating hate speech grow, understanding these linguistic implications becomes increasingly critical.
Dr. Magda Stroinska
Magda Stroińska MA (Warsaw), PhD (Edinburgh) is Professor Emerita of Linguistics and German at McMaster University. She published articles, book chapters and co-edited a number of books: on stereotypes with Martin Löschmann (1998); on linguistic representations of culture (2001); on Exile, language and identity with Vikki Cecchetto (2003), on International classroom with Vikki Cecchetto (2006), and on Unspeakable: Narratives of trauma with Vikki Cecchetto and Kate Szymanski (2014). She translated Victor Klemperer’s book The Language of the Third Reich from German into Polish (1992). In 2023 she published her memoir My Life in Propaganda and in 2024, with David Hitchcock, a book on Alfred Tarski and Scientific Semantics.
After the lecture you may contact Dr. Stroinska for questions at: stroinska@mcmaster.ca
Link to further resources:
Stroińska, M. & G. Drzazga (2020) “Toxic language of contempt: The real purpose of online hate speech.” Warsaw East European Review VOL X, 79-90.
Dr. Randall Hansen
Drawing on 25 years of work on immigration, this lecture will examine the economic, political, and demographic effects of immigration. It will consider its economic benefits, its costs, and its effect on demographic balances and party politics. Examples will be drawn from Europe, the United States, and Canada; in the last, the lecture will examine what makes Canada different (less than you think), and what makes it the same as all other rich countries (a great deal).
Randall Hansen
Randall Hansen, MPhil, DPhil (Oxon) is Canada Research Chair in the Department of Political Science and Director of the Global Migration Lab at the University of Toronto’s Munk School. He works on migration & citizenship, eugenics & population policy, and the effect of war on civilian populations.
His published works include War, Work, and Want: How the OPEC Oil Crisis Generated Revolution & Mass Migration (New York: Oxford University Press, 2023); Fire & Fury: the Allied Bombing of Germany and Japan (London: Faber, 2020); Disobeying Hitler: German Resistance after July 20, 1944 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), Sterilized by the State: Eugenics, Race and the Population Scare in 20th Century North America (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013), Fire & Fury: the Allied Bombing of Germany (New York: Penguin, 2009), and Citizenship and Immigration in Post-War Britain (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000). He has also co-edited Immigration and Public Opinion in Liberal Democracies (with David Leal and Gary P. Freeman) (New York: Routledge, 2012), Migration, States and International Cooperation (with Jeannette Money and Jobst Koehler, Routledge, 2011), Towards a European Nationality (with Patrick Weil, Palgrave, 2001), Dual Nationality, Social Rights, and Federal Citizenship in the U.S. and Europe (with Patrick Weil, Berghahn, 2002), and Immigration and asylum from 1900 to the present [with M. Gibney, ABC-CLIO, 2005].
He was Director of the University of Toronto’s Centre for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies from 2011 to 2022 and Interim Director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy from 2017 to 2020.
He has done consulting work for the International Organization for Migration, Oxford Analytica, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and the World Bank. He has given speeches and talks across Europe, North America, and Asia.
Before taking up a Research Chair at Toronto in 2005, he was Tutorial Fellow in Politics at Merton College, University of Oxford, an Established Chair in Politics, the University of Newcastle, and University Lecturer, Queen Mary, University of London.
Dr. Thomas M.J. Bateman
Nationalism is a love of one’s nation. And one’s nation is an imagined community of fellows who have important things in common and who seek recognition of those things and the security to retain and develop those things. Canada is not so much a country one loves but a country one worries about. National feeling has always been weak. Sub-state nationalisms complicate and perhaps threaten the larger Canadian order that a recent prime minister called “post-national”. Nationalism is a “strong god,” a powerful attachment and also motivation for violence. In a secular world, it is a religion. It is both a salutary glue and a divisive doctrine. We live in the shadows of its influences.
Dr. Thomas M.J. Bateman
Tom Bateman is Professor of Political Science at St Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick, where he has taught for 22 years. His teaching and research interests are in Canadian politics and government, Canadian constitutional law and politics, and the politics of liberalism and religion. He is co-author of a leading text on Canadian parliamentary government and the co-editor of two volumes of leading Canadian constitutional decisions, now in their third edition.
After the lecture you may contact Dr. Bateman for questions at: bateman@stu.ca
Paul Robeson, the famed New York-based African-American artist, was a frequent visitor to Canada until US authorities seized his passport and the Canadian government deemed him persona non grata in the early to mid-1950s. Were these and previous attempts to gag the activist-singer a “crime against democracy,” to quote a journalist from the Canadian Tribune?
This presentation follows Robeson on his travels across Canada, discussing how each of his concerts, which featured a multilingual musical program (French, English, Yiddish, etc.), challenged racial hierarchies and evoked shared histories of migration, resilience, and cultural exchange. It asks: In what ways did music-making energize civil society and what was its impact on debates about mobility, inclusive democracy, and social justice?
Dr. Eric Fillion
Eric Fillion is director of the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation and assistant professor in the School of Languages and Literatures at the University of Guelph. The author of two books, JAZZ LIBRE et la révolution québécoise: musique-action, 1967-1975 and Distant Stage: Quebec, Brazil, and the Making of Canada’s Cultural Diplomacy, he is also the coeditor (with Sean Mills and Désirée Rochat) of Statesman of the Piano: Jazz, Race, and History in the Life of Lou Hooper.
After the lecture you may contact Dr. Fillion for questions at: efillion@uoguelph.ca
Dr. Karen Acton
Climate change is one of the most urgent global challenges of the 21st century. UNESCO recognizes that education is one of the most powerful tools to address this crisis by fostering knowledge, critical thinking, and solutions-oriented action. Yet progress in integrating climate change education across pre-kindergarten to grade 12 classrooms remains disappointingly slow and inconsistent.
This presentation explores the challenges that changemakers face when implementing age-appropriate environmental and sustainability education. Understanding the art and science of change facilitation is an important skill, yet many leaders lack the tools to embed such a complex and nuanced topic into school culture. Drawing on her research, Dr. Acton will discuss the challenges and rewards of leading transformative change – and how young people themselves are calling for more authentic climate learning and meaningful dialogue to prepare them to shape a more sustainable future.
Dr. Karen Acton
Dr. Karen Acton is an assistant professor in Educational Leadership and Policy at OISE, University of Toronto. She also consults for the charitable organization Learning for a Sustainable Future.
Dr. Acton has extensive leadership experience as a former science teacher, department head, principal, and Education Officer with the Ministry of Education. She also served as Environmental Sustainability Lead in a school board, driving system-level change. Dr Acton’s recent publications highlight her current research interests on: principals as change agents, leadership in challenging times, perspectives on climate change education, and transformative pedagogies that advance sustainability.
After the lecture you may contact Dr. Acton for questions at: karen.acton@utoronto.ca
Dr. Olivier Courteaux
In an age where populist leaders weaponize misinformation to erode trust and stigmatize elites, truth itself is under siege. This lecture explores how fake news, conspiracy theories, and deliberate falsehoods have become strategic tools in the populist arsenal—undermining consensus, polarizing societies, and turning information into a battlefield. Through historical parallels and contemporary case studies, we’ll examine how populist rhetoric reshapes public discourse, challenges democratic norms, and forces us to rethink the role of truth in civic life. Can truth still unify in a world fractured by suspicion?
Dr. Olivier Courteaux
Olivier Courteaux received his B.A. in history, M.A. in war and conflict studies and Ph.D. in contemporary international relations from the University of Paris-Sorbonne. He has lectured at various Canadian universities, including York University (Glendon College), Ryerson (now Toronto Metropolitan University), and the Royal Military College of Canada. He is the author of The War on Terror: The Canadian Dilemma (2009), Canada Between Vichy and Free France, 1940-1945 (2013) and Four Days That Rocked Quebec (2017).
Dr. Karen Wendling
The human rights revolution began after World War Two with the revelations of the Nazi death camps, the subsequent Nuremberg trials for crimes against humanity, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The ideas behind it animated a host of movements worldwide: civil rights, feminism, anti-colonialism, LGBTQ+ rights, rights for people with disabilities, Quebec nationalism, and so on. This lecture will focus on the connections between human rights and other justice-seeking movements.
Dr. Karen Wendling
Karen Wendling is a retired professor of philosophy at the University of Guelph. Her research focuses on political equality. She also has been active in several justice-seeking movements, and her activism informs her philosophical views.
After the lecture you may contact Dr. Wendling for questions at: wendling@uoguelph.ca
PM Series: Wednesdays, January 21 to March 12, 2026, 1:30 – 3:30pm
Today digital communications are fast and convenient. But make no mistake, our digital lives are being monitored. Often by bad actors, intent on doing us harm. This eight-week series will examine how the emerging world of digital deception and cyber surveillance is impacting our world. Among the subjects the series will deal with: How do you protect yourself and your family? How do governments “harden” vital infrastructure against cyber-attack? What new cyber-perils will the coming wave of AI (artificial intelligence) bring? How do Canada’s military cyber warriors prepare themselves for future conflicts that will be fought in cyber-space? Crucially, how do we do all this while ensuring our civil liberties remain intact? The series will explore the psychological mechanisms that explain why we are so easily taken in by digital manipulators. We will also look at little-known digital warriors like the Toronto’s Citizen Lab who bravely lurk in the dark places to expose malign states and digital crooks who combine to undermine our democratic way of life. Join us for this exciting speaking series in which Canada’s top experts explore the challenges and increasing dangers of cyber-surveillance in all our lives.
Dr. Branka Marijan
Cyber warfare has evolved from isolated incidents of digital sabotage to a key feature of modern conflict. This lecture introduces the origins and trajectory of cyber operations, from early Cold War experiments in information warfare and the first known cyberattacks on critical infrastructure, to the sophisticated, state-sponsored campaigns of today. It traces how landmark episodes, such as Estonia’s 2007 cyber onslaught, the Stuxnet operation, and recent uses of malware and disinformation in Ukraine, have shaped doctrine and global security thinking. A recurring theme is deception: cyber tools are uniquely suited to conceal perpetrators, manipulate information, and blur the line between war and peace. By situating these developments within the broader history of warfare, the lecture highlights how cyberspace poses new challenges and vulnerabilities. Understanding this history is key to grasping the strategic, legal, and ethical challenges posed by twenty-first century cyber conflict.
Dr. Branka Marijan
Branka Marijan is a senior researcher at Project Ploughshares and a CIGI senior fellow. She is a lecturer in the Master of Global Affairs program at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto.
At Ploughshares, Branka leads research on the military and security implications of emerging technologies. Her research interests include trends in warfare, civilian protection, use of drones and civil-military relations. She holds a Ph.D. from the Balsillie School of International Affairs with a specialization in conflict and security.
After the lecture you may contact Dr. Marijan for questions at: bmarijan@ploughshares.ca
Professor Sohrab Farooq
Lecture Info TBA
Professor Sohrab Farooq
Info TBA
Dr. Pooria Madani
This lecture gives a straightforward look at who is involved in cyber attacks today—countries, intelligence units, criminal groups, and organized online influence teams—and what they actually use to carry out their operations. We walk through common tools and methods such as trolling operations, phishing, social engineering, malware kits, automated scanners, and basic exploitation techniques, focusing on how these are used in practice rather than in theory. The talk also shows how attackers use these tools to break into important systems, move around inside networks, and cause disruption or steal information. The goal is to give the audience a clear, realistic picture of how cyber attacks happen and what makes modern systems vulnerable.
Dr. Pooria Madani
Dr. Pooria Madani is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Business and Information Technology at Ontario Tech University, where he leads research at the intersection of cybersecurity, adversarial machine learning, and the protection of critical infrastructures. His work focuses on how AI systems behave under targeted attacks and how emerging threats impact sectors such as space systems, aerospace, and nuclear operations. Dr. Madani teaches advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in cybersecurity, secure software systems, and adversarial machine learning, and he is the recipient of the FBIT Early Career Research Chair in Cybersecurity for Business. He maintains active collaborations with industry partners in Canada and internationally.
You may contact Dr. Madani after the lecture for questions at: pooria.madani@ontariotechu.ca
Dr. Fiona Rawle
Information is all around us, but how can we tell the difference between verified facts and mis/disinformation? How and why is mis/disinformation used in the digital landscape to fuel deception, be it locally or globally? In this interactive session, Dr. Rawle will take you on a journey exploring varied examples of misinformation, and give you tools you can use to identify news and sources you can trust. We’ll look at the history of mis/disinformation across various contexts, including health, climate change, finance, and global politics, and talk about the psychology of deception. We’ll also explore the origin stories behind some recent misinformation campaigns, looking specifically at the impact of the digital landscape, and ending with strategies you can employ when faced with misinformation, be it from organizations or from people in your social circle.
Dr. Fiona Rawle
Dr. Fiona Rawle has a PhD in Pathology and Molecular Medicine and is a Professor in the Dept. of Biology at the University of Toronto Mississauga. Her research focuses on misinformation, public communication of science, and bias in STEM. She has received numerous awards, including the prestigious 3M National Teaching Fellowship. Dr. Rawle routinely gives anti-misinformation workshops across North America and is also a Director of the Toronto Initiative for Diversity & Excellence.
After the lecture you may contact Dr. Rawle for questions at: fiona.rawle@utoronto.ca
Dr. Ron Deibert
For over twenty years, the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab has pioneered investigations into digital security and human rights—from exposing state cyber espionage to uncovering the global spread of mercenary spyware targeting journalists, activists, and human rights defenders. Drawing from my latest book, Chasing Shadows, I will recount how our mission to conduct "counterintelligence for civil society" revealed surveillance around the inner circle of murdered Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi and uncovered domestic espionage campaigns across Mexico, Spain, Hungary, Poland, Thailand, El Salvador, and most recently, Italy. As our small team disarmed cyber mercenaries and helped improve the digital security of billions, we, too, became targets—caught in the same sinister crosshairs as those we sought to protect. I will also look ahead to the future of our mission and the rising challenges of AI-enabled subversion, Dark PR, and advertising intelligence, and how the kind of public-interest research the Lab has championed is now under threat from a growing tide of despotism and authoritarianism.
Dr. Don Deibert
Ron Deibert, (O.C., O.Ont., PhD, University of British Columbia) is a professor of political science, and the founder and director of the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto. The Citizen Lab is an interdisciplinary laboratory focusing on research, development, and high-level strategic policy and legal engagement at the intersection of information and communication technologies, human rights, and global security.
After the lecture you may contact Dr. Deibert for questions at: rdeibert@utoronto.ca
Link to further resources: https://chasingshadowsbook.ca/
Dr. Hassan Khan
In an age defined by the global cyber arms race, traditional notions of digital defense are fundamentally obsolete. This talk explores the grim reality facing nations as they scramble to protect themselves in a world saturated with zero-day exploits. We will examine the strategic shift from futile attempts at prevention to a desperate focus on resilience—accepting that compromise is inevitable. By analyzing efforts to harden fragile satellite constellations and military communications against sophisticated threats, we reveal a bleak truth: modern defense is not about victory but, about managing inevitable decay and delaying catastrophic failure in a perpetually unwinnable digital war.
Dr. Hassan Khan
Hassan is an Associate Professor at the University of Guelph. He research is at the intersection of cybersecurity and human-computer interaction domains. He has published at prestigious venues including IEEE S&P (Oakland), ACM CCS, USENIX Security, ACM MobiCom, ACM MobiSys, and ACM CHI. Some of his research work has been featured by The Globe and Mail, Bruce Schneier's blog, Time Magazine's Techland, Ars Technica, and the New Scientist magazine. His non-academic ventures include his industrial work as the Co-Founder and Chief Scientist at Penfield.AI.
After the lecture you may contact Dr. Khan for questions at: Hassan.khan@uoguelph.ca
Dr. Olivier Courteaux
This lecture explores how digital technologies—from artificial intelligence and social media to cyber tools and algorithmic persuasion—have transformed the nature of conflict. As the world grapples with intensifying global tensions, a new reality of warfare emerges: cyberspace has become a battleground for belligerents, on par with land, sea, air, and outer space. Every domain is now open to influence. We’ll examine the strategic use of disinformation, psychological operations, and digital surveillance, highlighting how states and non-state actors weaponize information to shape perception, disrupt societies, and influence global power dynamics. Through historical parallels and contemporary case studies, the session invites critical reflection on the ethical, geopolitical, and pedagogical implications of modern information warfare.
Dr. Olivier Courteaux
Olivier Courteaux received his B.A. in history, M.A. in war and conflict studies and Ph.D. in contemporary international relations from the University of Paris-Sorbonne. He has lectured at various Canadian universities, including York University (Glendon College), Ryerson (now Toronto Metropolitan University), and the Royal Military College of Canada. He is the author of The War on Terror: The Canadian Dilemma (2009), Canada Between Vichy and Free France, 1940-1945 (2013) and Four Days That Rocked Quebec (2017).
Dr. Halyna Padalko
From deepfakes and synthetic media to algorithmic amplification, AI-generated propaganda, and even the infiltration of large language models with manipulated content, emerging technologies are being weaponized to distort reality, erode trust, and destabilize democratic discourse. This lecture examines how disinformation campaigns harness AI to fabricate convincing personas, manipulate narratives, and target audiences with precision - often in ways that remain invisible to the public yet profoundly shape perceptions and decision-making. Drawing on real-world examples such as political leader deepfakes and coordinated influence operations, we will explore the evolving tactics of identity falsification, narrative manipulation, algorithmic gaming, and new phenomenon like “LLM-grooming”. The session will also consider solutions, from regulatory frameworks and platform accountability to transparency measures, digital literacy, and personal “information hygiene” strategies. Attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of both the technological threats and the resilience tools needed to protect the integrity of our information ecosystem.
Dr. Halyana Padalko
Dr. Halyna Padalko is a multidisciplinary researcher specialising in strategic communication, propaganda, disinformation, and the use of AI tools in these domains and their intersection with policy. She holds a master’s degree in Global Governance from the University of Waterloo and a PhD in Computer Science from the National Aerospace University, Kharkiv Aviation Institute.
Halyna is a Research Fellow at the Balsillie School of International Affairs and a Doctoral Fellow at the Digital Policy Hub at the Centre for International Governance Innovation. She previously completed an internship at the European Parliament and a non-residential fellowship with the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence.
She contributes op-eds on information security and disinformation in Canada to The Hill Times and The Globe and Mail. Her research has been published in computer science and policy-oriented top-field peer-reviewed journals.
After the lecture you may contact Dr. Padalko for questions at: hpadalko@uwaterloo.ca
Link to further resources:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHQxK2YVsFVtlgDH2_lliyTMfPyZ3Q03N
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