Trent University Announces Winter Lineup of Public Lectures
Community Speaker Series lectures, set to tackle issues of our times, are open to all and free to attend thanks to the generosity of philanthropy
January 29, 2025
Those looking to gain a deeper understanding of some of the most pressing issues of our times are invited to join the Winter 2025 lineup of Community Speaker Series lectures that will explore issues such as understanding the concept of evil, the national public debt, environmental racism, and groundbreaking scientific research to better treat disease.
Delivered by visiting distinguished scholars and guest speakers, the public lectures are generously made possible through philanthropy. The events are free to attend with advanced registration and take place both on campus and in community settings.
Ian Storey Lecture
Mythological World-Building from Atlantis to Middle-Earth
Join Trent alum Dr. Kevin Whetter ’88, professor of Mediaeval Literature at Acadia University, as he discusses the nature of mythological world-building.
January 31, 2:00 p.m.
Trent University Student Centre TSC 1.07 Event Space, 1600 West Bank Drive, Peterborough
David Schindler Professorship in Aquatic Science Lecture
The Future of Our Waters: Warming Winters, Algal Blooms, and Legacy Nutrients
Join Dr. Nandita Basu, a professor of Global Water Sustainability & Ecohydrology at the University of Waterloo, as she discusses the ongoing challenges of water pollution from legacy nutrients and opportunities for solutions.
February 6, 7:30 pm.
Market Hall, 140 Charlotte Street, Peterborough
North at Trent Lecture Series
Expedition Cruising in the Canadian Arctic
Join Cedar Swan and Jason Edmunds, of Adventure Canada, as they share their unique perspective on connecting the North and South through expedition cruises in the Canadian Arctic.
February 24, 11:00 a.m.
Bagnani Hall, Catharine Parr Traill College, 300 London Street, Peterborough
Harry Kitchen Lecture in Public Policy
Keeping Our Fiscal Powder Dry
Join Dr. Chris Ragan, economist and founding director of the Max Bell School of Public Policy, as he lays out a new way of thinking about Canada’s public debt including when to be concerned that a shock event could send the nation back into the ‘danger zone.’
February 25, 4:30 p.m.
Bata Library Film Theatre, Trent University, 1600 West Bank Drive, Peterborough
*Please note that this lecture will be livestreamed. After registering for the livestreaming option, please visit trentu.ca/live on the day of the lecture.
Ideas That Change the World
Understanding Evil
Join Dr. Todd Calder, an associate professor of Philosophy at Saint Mary's University, as he explores common misconceptions about the concept of evil and how it’s related to other moral concepts such as wrongdoing and vice.
Thursday, March 6, 6:00 p.m.
Nozhem Performance Space, Trent University, 1 Gzowski Way, Peterborough
David Sheperd Family Lecture
A History of Violence: The Legacy of Environmental Racism in Canada
Join Dr. Ingrid Waldron, a professor and HOPE Chair at McMaster University, as she examines how environmental racism in Canada has led Indigenous and Black peoples being characterized by erasure, domination, dehumanization, destruction, dispossession, exploitation, and genocide.
March 13, 7:00 p.m.
Market Hall, 140 Charlotte Street, Peterborough
Stairs Lecture in Chemistry
How Pathogens Use Traits from Environmental Bacteria to Survive in Human Hosts
Join Dr. Lindsay Eltis, professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of British Columbia, as he explains how certain bacteria break down cholesterol and steroids, and how this knowledge helps us understand and potentially treat disease including cystic fibrosis.
March 27, 7:30 p.m.
Otonabee College, OC203, 2131 East Bank Drive, Peterborough
Please visit the Community Speaker Series website for more information and to register for the Winter 2025 events.
If you missed our Fall 2024 lectures, you could catch up by watching the recorded sessions:
• From Holocaust Survivor to Renowned Resiliency Researcher (Max Eisen Lecture)
• Rise of Counterterrorism and the Fall of Human Rights (Morrison Lecture in International Development)
• Artificial Intelligence: Friend or Foe? (Groarke Debate)
• The Future of Abolition (Stavro Distinguished Visiting Scholar Lecture)
• Making Mathematics with Needle and Thread (Poole Lecture in Mathematics)