Trent Unveils All-New Exclusive Lineup of Public Lectures
Explore the future of AI, climate, human rights, and democracy by joining the Fall lineup of Community Speaker Series lectures
October 8, 2025
This fall, Trent University brings together leading voices – including former federal NDP leader the Hon. Thomas Mulcair - to explore the questions of our time including human rights, AI, Truth & Reconciliation, climate change, and the state of democracy.
The Community Speaker Series offers free public lectures, thanks to generous philanthropic support to the Momentous Campaign. Trent faculty, staff, students, alumni and members of the public are welcome. Advance registration is required for select events.
The Fall 2025 lineup is as follows:
Challenging Cultural Ageism Through Theatre & Performance
Dr. Julia Henderson
The Stephen Katz Distinguished Visiting Scholar in Interdisciplinary Aging Studies
Learn about theatre’s potential to resist, redress, and re-imagine ageist cultural narratives and representations of older adults.
Tuesday, October 28 | 6:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Gathering Space, First Peoples House of Learning
Do We Have to Accept Variable Geometry in Human Rights in Canada?
The Hon. Thomas Mulcair
Ashley Fellowship
Join the lawyer, scholar, and former federal NDP leader as he discusses academic freedom, Indigenous rights, and the rights of linguistic minorities.
Wednesday, October 29 | 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Champlain College, Room 307
Community Building in a Time of Truth & Reconciliation
Victoria Grant and guest speakers
Jack Matthews Fellowship
In this conversation about Truth & Reconciliation, stories will illustrate how learning, unlearning, and relearning is important to building healthy and inclusive communities.
Thursday, October 30 | 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Canadian Canoe Museum
Hidden Networks in Social Media, AI and Nature
Dr. Anthony Bonato
David Poole Lecture in Mathematics
Learn fresh ways to understand the systems around us, by exploring the networks that emerge in the spread of epidemics, firing of neurons in the brain, food webs that sustain ecosystems, and flow of online information.
Tuesday, November 4 | 5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Event Space 1.07, Trent University Student Centre
Art & Artiface: Or, What AI Means for Aesthetics
Dr. Shane Denson
John Fekete Distinguished Lecture
By analyzing artworks that grapple with new technologies, this lecture explores how AI aesthetics is foundational to cultural, political, and ethical challenges.
Thursday, November 6 | 7:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Bagnani Hall, Traill College
Climate change Impacts on Freshwater Resources in the Arctic
Dr. Andrew Medeiros
North at Trent Lecture Series
Join an in-depth exploration of how climate change is reshaping freshwater ecosystems across the Arctic.
Tuesday, November 18 | 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Room 105, Scott House, Traill College
Challenges and Transformations of Democracy
Dr. Nadia Urbinati
Elaine Stavro Distinguished Visiting Scholar
Explore the tension between democracy's vulnerabilities and its enduring capacity for resilience and innovation.
Thursday, November 27 | 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Bagnani Hall, Traill College
For more information, please visit the Community Speaker Series website.