Four 91亚色 professors will address these questions as part of the next 91亚色 Circle presentation on Saturday, Oct. 29. As with previous 91亚色 Circle Lecture & Lunch events, there is plenty being offered for inquiring minds. Organizers have planned a full day of inspiring lectures by some of the University鈥檚 leading thinkers.

"Our new season opens with a torrent of new ideas and useful knowledge," says 91亚色 President Emerita Lorna R. Marsden, coordinator of the 91亚色 Circle."Come to the Lecture & Lunch to hear these 91亚色 professors and find out why students don't want to miss a single class."

For full details, visit the Lecture & Lunch webpage on the 91亚色 Circle website.

The event kicks off with a welcome and聽overview of what's new on campus by Gary Brewer, 91亚色's vice-president finance & administration. Brewer will provide an update on the progress of the Toronto-91亚色 Spadina Subway Extension and the 2015 Pan Am Games.

Can you blame the financial crisis on mathematicians?

During the 2008 financial crisis, some commentators blamed the problem on 鈥渢oo many math PhDs鈥�. 91亚色 mathematics Professor Thomas Salisbury (right)聽has something to say about that point. Join Salisbury as he unravels the basis for this claim and considers whether it is actually fair or not. He will describe the role of sophisticated modern mathematics in today's financial sector. Salisbury will also comment on his own work involving a new generation of retirement savings products that combine traditional insurance with the tools of mathematical finance.聽

A professor and former department chair in the Department of Mathematics & Statistics, Salisbury teaches financial engineering at 91亚色, is director of analytics for the Quantitative Wealth Management Analytics group (QWeMA), and leads the Finsurance project at MITACS. He chaired the task force that initiated the 2007 revision of the Ontario grade 12 curriculum and subsequently served on the Ontario Minister of Education's curriculum council. Salisbury has also served terms as the deputy director of the Fields Institute and as president of the Canadian Mathematical Society.

Canadian Utopias: A Short History

The utopian history of the United States began with the Puritan settlers in Massachusetts and includes a wide variety of utopian attempts throughout the country鈥檚 history. The histories of Canadian utopias are less studied. In his presentation to 91亚色 Circle members, Professor Colin Coates (right)聽will examine the Canadian experience of utopian endeavours, exploring the themes which link these attempts from the 17th-century to the 1980s. This historical review will include a look at a number of utopian settlements in Canada since the 17th-century, including the counter-reformation settlement at Ville-Marie (Montr茅al), the Hutterites and Doukhobors in Western Canada, and a range of socialist and agrarian settlements.

Coates holds the Canada Research Chair in Canadian Cultural Landscapes at Glendon College, where he teaches in the Canadian Studies Program. In July 2011, he became director of the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies at 91亚色. He is also president of the newly formed Canadian Studies Network 鈥� R茅seau d鈥櫭﹖udes canadiennes, an association dedicated to the scholarly study of Canada. A specialist in the history of early French Canada and environmental history, he has been conducting research on Canadian utopias since coming to 91亚色 in 2003.

When did walking become such a balancing act?

Over the past century, intense research and debate has attempted to address the question: How do we bipedal animals stand and walk so well? Standing and walking are not nearly as simple as they may appear. Both emerge from a complex organization of neuromuscular commands that originate from the top of the brain to the bottom of the spinal cord. These commands are shaped by our voluntary intentions to move, by involuntary responses that are elicited by events like being bumped, and by sensory information that is constantly flowing in from the eyes, the ears, the skin, the muscles, and the joints.聽聽

Join 91亚色 health Professor William聽Gage (right)聽as he explores why older individuals are at greater risk of falling than younger individuals, and what we know about changes in standing and walking that occur with age. He鈥檒l examine how osteoarthritis and joint replacement surgery affect walking and why muscle strength and walking performance never return to 鈥渘ormal鈥� post-surgery. And he will look into new technologies that are changing the way researchers think about standing and walking, and how they are measured.聽聽

Gage is the associate dean of research and innovation in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Health and a professor in the School of Kinesiology and Health Science, where he teaches a graduate level course in biomechanics and neuromuscular control of posture and gait. He holds scientific appointments as an associate scientist in the Centre for Stroke Recovery at Sunnybrook Health Science Centre, and as scientist at Toronto Rehabilitation Institute. Gage is particularly interested in how balance and walking are affected by age, by joint disease (arthritis), and by stroke.

Pagans and Parties: The Haunting History of Halloween

History Professor Nick Rogers (right) is well known for his study of British social history, but he has also written a book on Halloween. In this talk he explains why Halloween has been a contentious holiday in the last two centuries and why trick-or-treating is a tame, American version of what Halloween is really about. In the last 50 years in particular, Halloween has been at the centre of debates about the use of urban space, sexual politics, Latino identities, and the rampant commercialism of horror. He concludes with a discussion of Halloween after 9/11, when the issue of terrorism posed problems for a holiday that specialized in scary thrills. Throughout, he will draw on the Canadian experience of the holiday as well as the United States. You do聽not have to come in costume!聽

Rogers is one of the world鈥檚 leading scholars of the political culture of 18th-century British and Atlantic worlds. He has explored a remarkably diverse range of topics, from reactions to press gangs in British ports to religious conflicts amongst London鈥檚 crowds, from food riots to public reactions to blunders made by admirals, and even the genealogy of Halloween festivities. In 1999, Rogers was awarded the Wallace Ferguson Prize for his book Crowds, Culture and Politics in Georgian Britain, a study of 18th-century Britain that transformed our understanding of early modern Britain. In June 2011, Rogers was named a distinguished research professor for his sustained and outstanding scholarly, professional or artistic achievement largely accomplished at 91亚色.

This free series includes two events annually 鈥撀爄n the spring and fall each year聽鈥� and provides opportunities for learning and networking in a relaxed environment.

Lecture & Lunch events are open to members of the 91亚色 Circle and their guests. New this year is a selection of lunches sourced from local farms that are available for purchase at the event, or you can bring your own lunch.

The 91亚色 Circle receives generous support from 91亚色's Alumni Office (program partner) and and (print media sponsors).

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

The post The 91亚色 Circle returns with another Lecture & Lunch appeared first on Research & Innovation.

As with previous 91亚色 Circle Lecture & Lunch events, organizers have planned a full day of inspiring lectures by some of the University鈥檚 leading thinkers. For full details, download a PDF of the 91亚色 Circle schedule.

In her聽lecture, 鈥淭he Bird Detective: Investigating the Private Lives of Birds鈥�, 91亚色 Professor Bridget Stutchbury (left), Canada Research Chair in Ecology and Conservation Biology, will explain why some birds readily divorce their partners, why females sneak out to have sex with neighbouring males and why some mothers sometimes desert their babies. Based on her book (2010), this lecture promises to raise the blinds on the secret lives of birds.

On a more serious note,聽Stutchbury will examine聽whether聽bird behaviour can help species adapt to the drastic changes humans are making to the environment. Since the 1980s,聽Stutchbury has studied the ecology and conservation of migratory songbirds. In addition to The Bird Detective, she is聽author of the book (2007)聽鈥� a聽finalist for a Governor General鈥檚 Literary Award.

"The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano, the African, and the Abolition of the British Slave Trade" is the intriguing title of the presentation by 91亚色聽history Professor聽Paul Lovejoy (right), Canada Research Chair in African Diaspora History and聽director of the聽. In his聽lecture,聽Lovejoy will explore the pivotal role of Gustavus Vassa, better known by his African name, Olaudah Equiano (c. 1742-1797), in advancing the abolition of the British slave trade. Many scholars consider William Wilberforce (c. 1759-1833) and Thomas Clarkson (c. 1760-1846)聽to be聽the pioneers of the British abolitionist movement, but Lovejoy posits that it was Equiano who was聽the聽seminal influence聽in advocating the abolition of slavery and the emancipation of those in slavery.

Lovejoy聽is a member of the executive committee of the UNESCO 鈥淪lave Route鈥� Project, co-edits African Economic History and Studies in the History of the African Diaspora 鈥� Documents (SHADD), and is research professor and associate fellow of the Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and Emancipation at the聽University of Hull in the United Kingdom.

Acclaimed Canadian poet and 91亚色 Professor (left) will discuss her experiences as Canadian Athletes Now Fund鈥檚 first poet-in-residence during the 2010 Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic Games. In her lecture, which is aptly titled, "My Gold Medal Experience: Olympic Poetry", Uppal聽will describe聽how she聽celebrated with the Canadian athletes and their families by writing poetry about winter sports, the games, and the personalities and performances that captured a nation鈥檚 imagination.

How she designed and then 鈥渢rained鈥� for her position, how the athletes responded to daily poetry readings, and other initiatives she鈥檚 undertaken to bridge the sometimes separate worlds of sport and art, will all be addressed. In addition, Uppal will read a short selection of the some of the 50 poems written at the games and recently collected in the book Winter Sport: Poems (2010).

"A World of Suburbs? Finding the Heart of the Urban Century in the Periphery" with 91亚色 environmental studies Professor Roger Keil (right) will offer 91亚色 Circle members insights into urbanization. The 21st century has been heralded as an urban century. Indeed, urbanization is now the most tangible shared experience of humanity. Keil will explore what is behind the story of the "urban revolution". He will uncover聽an important and perhaps astonishing truth: Most urban dwellers now live in the periphery. From the squatter settlements of the Global South to the wealthy gated communities of North America, from the tower block peripheries of Europe or Canada to the newly sprawling cities of Asia, a common theme emerges: where cities grow, they grow at the margins.

Keil is the director of the City Institute at 91亚色 and professor聽in the Faculty of Environmental Studies.聽Among his publications are In-Between Infrastructure: Urban Connectivity in an Age of Vulnerability (2010) and The Global Cities Reader (2006). Keil鈥檚 current research is on global suburbanism and regional governance.聽He is the co-editor of the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research and a co-founder of the International Network for Urban Research and Action.

This free series includes two events annually 鈥撀爄n the spring and fall each year聽鈥� and provides opportunities for learning and networking in a relaxed environment.

Lecture & Lunch events are open to members of the 91亚色 Circle and their guests, each of whom are offered a complimentary lunch sourced from 91亚色 Region as part of the day.

The 91亚色 Circle receives generous support from 91亚色's Alumni Office (program partner) and the Toronto Community News and Metroland Media Group 91亚色 Region (print media sponsors).

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

The post Four researchers to offer fresh ideas at Saturday's 91亚色 Circle event appeared first on Research & Innovation.

The 91亚色 Circle is an ongoing program that offers curious people like Pitt an opportunity to experience university lectures first-hand. It was created for parents and聽family of 91亚色 students,聽alumni, neighbours and friends who want to hear leading 91亚色 faculty explore their ideas and research.

Right: The 91亚色 Circle offers an opportunity for聽non-students聽to hear lectures by 91亚色 faculty

Pitt is among more than聽500 people who have joined the 91亚色 Circle since it began last October and says that she appreciates the opportunity to experience University life聽because she was never able to realize her own dream of attending university. "When I was growing up in Britain, the country was just coming out of the Second World War," she says. "The soldiers lucky enough to survive were offered priority spots in university programs. There were聽very few spots left for everyone else.聽I was not able to attend university and instead studied聽to become a children's nurse. This program offers a great chance for me to experience university."

Coordinated by 91亚色 President Emerita Lorna聽Marsden and Cynthia Bettcher, special adviser to Jennifer Sloan, vice-president of university relations, with help from 91亚色's Alumni Office and print media sponsors and 91亚色 Region Media Group, the 91亚色 Circle embodies the spirit, energy and intellectual excellence of the University鈥檚 50th anniversary, which was celebrated in 2009.

Left: 91亚色 alumnus and 91亚色 Circle member Bart Zemanek聽(BA Spec. Hons. 鈥�07, MSc 鈥�10) with Lorna Marsden

For Marsden, the 91亚色 Circle offers a wonderful opportunity to transport the magic of 91亚色's talented faculty聽into聽the University's聽affiliated communities. 鈥淭he 91亚色 Circle comes from the goal of making our really marvelous faculty members better known through their ideas and work, and聽helps the community聽to better understand the University,鈥� says Marsden. 鈥淭he 91亚色 Circle offers serious talks for lay people who don鈥檛 have the opportunity to attend lectures.鈥�

The circle offers a cross-section of 91亚色鈥檚 leading professors and researchers presenting talks on topics that are current and engaging. Twice a year, the circle鈥檚 membership gathers on 91亚色鈥檚 Keele campus for a full day of lectures and a complimentary locally sourced (locavore) lunch. The inaugural event took place last fall. On May 1, the 91亚色 Circle returned, bringing more than 150 members back to the Keele campus.

Right: There is no generation gap here. 91亚色 Circle member Irina Shoikhedbrod brought her son, 91亚色 political science master's student Igor Shoikhedbrod,聽to the聽May 1 event

The October聽launch event featured lectures by Faculty of Health Dean Harvey Skinner, astronomy Professor Paul Delaney and theatre Professor Phillip Silver.

The May 1 event repeated the format established by the inaugural event and offered聽lectures by four 91亚色 faculty.聽The morning sessions featured presentations by聽film Professor Seth Feldman, director of the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies, and psychology Professor Debra Pepler, member of the LaMarsh Centre for Research on Violence & Conflict Resolution. Feldman talked聽about his experience working for a year on a documentary about Charles Darwin and about why聽Darwin matters and how the noted scientist means different things to different people. Pepler spoke about how the patterns of power and aggression established in playground bullying move on to become sexual harassment and dating violence in adolescence and workplace harassment in adulthood.

Left: Professor Seth Feldman talks about his聽research and experience making a documentary on Charles Darwin

Following lunch, the 91亚色 Circle members listened to talks by Osgoode Hall Law School Professor Allan Hutchinson and Schulich School of Business Professor Bernard Wolf. Hutchinson delivered an energetic lecture about some of the great cases that shaped the legal world. Wolf talked about the aftermath of the most recent economic crisis, the resulting ballooning national debts and the implications of the economic health of the United States, Greece and Spain on the global community.

Videos of each of the presentations are available on the 91亚色 Circle Web site.

The response to the 91亚色 Circle events have聽been heartwarming,聽says Bettcher. 鈥淪eventy-two per cent of those who attended the May 1 event completed a survey about their 91亚色 Circle experience," she says. "Of those, more than 99 per聽cent聽indicated聽that they were very satisfied with the day. What we found so significant about the responses was that everyone said they would attend another 91亚色 Circle event.

"One of the biggest requests we got following the first 91亚色 Circle event, which took place聽last October,聽was for the recipe for the spicy pumpkin soup that was served at the locavore lunch,鈥澛爈aughs Bettcher. She聽and Marsden immediately got to work聽tracking down the recipe (right) and arranged to have it modified for smaller, family-sized portions. The soup, says Bettcher, was created for the 91亚色 Circle lunch by the chefs working at the Underground restaurant on 91亚色鈥檚 Keele campus.

What's next on the agenda for this legacy jewel? Bettcher says the next event is聽Raise Your Space IQ, which will take place on Saturday, July 17, from 9 to 11pm. During this event, 91亚色 astronomy Professor Paul Delaney (who delivered a presentation at the inaugural 91亚色 Circle event) will lead participants through a tour of the night sky. The 50 91亚色 Circle members who were first to sign up for the event will have an opportunity to look through the University's telescopes and listen to Delaney and astronomy students talk about the wonders of the universe.

Coming this fall, 91亚色 Circle members聽will be able to to a new series of concerts and events brought to 91亚色聽from venues around the world through a new partnership between the 91亚色 Circle and DigiScreen. In a departure from other 91亚色 Circle events, the Prestigious Performances have been thrown open to聽everyone, including 91亚色聽students and faculty. The Prestigious Performances Series will be brought to the big screen in the Price Family Cinema by DigiScreen through聽the company's聽alliance with Opus Arte and the Royal Opera House of London.

The Prestigious Performance Series will offer world-class concerts, theatre, opera and ballet, presented in high definition format, from venues such as Covent Garden in London, the Palais Garnier in Paris, Teatro Real in Madrid, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London and the Lincoln Center in New 91亚色 City. 91亚色 professors will聽moderate聽each performance.

The series will be presented on Sunday afternoons starting at 2pm, with the first presentation on Sept. 26聽showcasing a performance of As You Like It by William Shakespeare, from the Globe Theatre with an enlivening commentary聽by theatre Professor Mark Wilson, associate dean in 91亚色's Faculty of Fine Arts.

Other performances include a concert featuring the music of the late jazz icon Ray Charles with commentary by 91亚色 music Professor Ronald Westray聽and a presentation of Puccini's opera La Boh猫me. For more on these performances, visit the 91亚色 Circle Web site.

Left: 91亚色 Circle member Elizabeth Pitt

The membership will also be returning to the Keele campus on Oct. 30 for another full-day lecture and lunch presentation. Details of this event will be made available early in June on the 91亚色 Circle Web site.

"I can hardly wait," says an enthused Pitt. "My calendar for the fall is聽looking wonderful."

By Jenny Pitt-Clark, YFile editor and eldest daughter of Elizabeth Pitt.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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