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.
Have you heard about our Special Lecture, at 1:30pm on Wednesday, May 13th? Gill Deacon will be speaking on "Resilience in Uncertain Times". Please see all details and register here.
After the May 13th lecture, we'll return in September with two lecture series: Fall 2026 AM - The Future of Health, and PM - The Global Shift. Please watch this page for full details, to be posted by late July. Registration will begin Monday, August 10th.
AM Series: Wednesdays September 16 to November 4, 2026, 10am - noon
This series explores the intersection of technological innovation and healthcare, examining how research breakthroughs improve our daily lives. The field of robotics has revolutionized surgery and helped develop prosthetics that mimic the movement of human limbs. Advancements in genomics enable personalized, genetically tailored treatments for certain conditions. A global pandemic reignited interest in vaccines for diseases such as Lyme disease.
The World Health Organization defines “good health” as a dynamic balance involving physical, mental, and social well-being. One talk will focus on mental health challenges such as depression and anxiety, and another will zero in on managing a chronic condition, like diabetes for example.
And finally, where is health care headed locally? Are there new programs or new directions on the horizon? Join us for this comprehensive exploration of medicine and healthcare — as it looks today and where it may be headed in the future.
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
Readings for thinking about Canada and its future.
George Grant, Lament for a Nation: The Defeat of Canadian Nationalism. (1965)
Darrell Bricker and John Ibbitson Breaking Point: The New Big Shifts Putting Canada at Risk. (Toronto: Penguin Randon House Canada, 2025).
Kenneth McRoberts, Misconceiving Canada: The Struggle for National Unity.
H.D. Forbes, Multiculturalism in Canada: Constructing a Model Multiculture with Multicultural Values. (2019)
David Thomas, Whistling Past the Graveyard: Constitutional Abeyances, Quebec, and the Future of Canada. (1997)
Alan C. Cairns, Citizens Plus: Aboriginal Peoples and the Canadian State. (2000)
G.M. Craig, ed., Lord Durham’s Report: an abridgement. (1982)
Charles Taylor, The Malaise of Modernity. (1991)
Pater H. Russell, Canada’s Odyssey: A Country Based on Incomplete Conquests. (2017)
Richard Stursberg, Lament for a Literature: The Collapse of Canadian Book Publishing. (2026)
Tristan Hopper, Don’t Be Canada. (2025)
David Cayley, The CBC: How Canada’s Broadcaster Lost its Voice (and how to get it back) (2025)
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
Link to Dr. Acton's slides:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OeeGsO5P9aiQwqaKhECGw7kWCTW7cUh5/view
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. Courteaux recommends the following reliable sites for fact checking: PolitiFact, Snopes and AFP Fact Check
Dr. Andrew S. Thompson
TBD
Dr. Andrew S. Thompson
Andrew S. Thompson is adjunct assistant professor of political science at the University of Waterloo, senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, and the Global Governance Programs and Partnership Manager at the Balsillie School of International Affairs. He holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of Waterloo, and is a specialist in the fields of international human rights, civil society movements and fragile states.
Andrew is the author and co-editor of five books, On the Side of the Angels: Canada and the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UBCP, 2017), Fixing Haiti: MINUSTAH and Beyond (UNUP, 2011), In Defence of Principles: NGOs and Human Rights in Canada (UBCP, 2010), Critical Mass: The Emergence of Global Civil Society (CIGI/WLUP 2008), and Haiti: Hope for a Fragile State (CIGI/WLUP 2006), along with numerous journal articles and book chapters.
Andrew has appeared as an expert witness before the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development, and the Canadian Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights. In 2004, he was part of an Amnesty International human rights lobbying and fact-finding mission to Haiti. In 2016, he participated in a number of United Nations consultations on issues of reform of the global refugee protection system, and in 2017 was named Special Advisor to the World Refugee Council.
Andrew has served on the boards of a number of human rights organizations and post-secondary institutions. From 2011 to 2017, he served on the Board of Amnesty International Canada’s anglophone branch, taking on the role of Chair in 2015. Also in 2011, he was a member of the advisory editorial board of the Global Civil Society Report, the annual report of CIVICUS: The World Alliance for Citizen Participation.
He is currently writing a book on the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
PM Series: Wednesdays, September 16 to November 4, 2026, 1:30 – 3:30pm
"Change is the only constant in life." This comment is attributed to the Greek philosopher Heraclitus. In this series, we will explore changes in the global economy, and issues closer to home, such as innovations in energy use. Stay tuned for a great adventure.
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
Dr. Wenjing Zhang
Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies, including Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), diffusion models, and Large Language Models (LLMs), are rapidly transforming industries by generating creative outputs, from realistic images to human-like text. A June 2024 Microsoft Canada report predicts Generative AI could boost Canada's economy by $180 billion annually by 2030. However, concerns around security, privacy, and fairness continue to limit its adoption and public trust.
With only 9% of Canadian businesses using Generative AI and just 31% of Canadians trusting AI, 23 points below the global average, these gaps highlight the urgent need for research that advances responsible, trustworthy, and privacy-protective Generative AI technologies. In this talk, we introduce real world security, privacy, and fairness risks in AI and machine learning, and then examine privacy risks associated with the use of Generative AI in healthcare settings, where sensitive personal data and high stakes decisions make these challenges especially critical.
Dr. Wenjing Zhang
Dr. Wenjing Zhang received her Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Guelph in February 2024. She joined the School of Computer Science at the University of Guelph as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in August 2024. From 2016 to 2018, she was a visiting research scholar in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Arizona, USA. Her research focuses on cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence (AI)/machine learning, with publications in top-tier venues such as Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS), IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security, IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing, Computers & Security, and IEEE Transactions on Communications. In 2025, Dr. Zhang was awarded a five-year NSERC Discovery Grant (2025-2030) by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada to support her research program, titled “Enhancing Security, Privacy, and Fairness in Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI).” Her research is also supported by funding from Mitacs (Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex Systems), Canadian industry partners, and the University of Guelph start-up fund. Outside academia, she enjoys long-distance running, particularly full marathons (42.2 km). She ran her best full marathon in 3 hours 47 minutes 35 seconds at the Toronto Marathon on May 4, 2025, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, at an average pace of 5:24 per km.
For your reference, Dr. Zhang’s webpage is https://www.aisecurity.uoguelph.ca/wenjing-zhang/, and her lab webpage is https://www.aisecurity.uoguelph.ca/
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. Ron 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. Courteaux recommends the following reliable sites for fact checking: PolitiFact, Snopes and AFP Fact Check
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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