The President's Lecture Series (PLS) is a faculty initiative of the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences that is sponsored by the Office of the President. The lecture series is planned, organized, and administered by a committee of faculty volunteers who are guided by the PLS Mission Statement.
Mission Statement
PLS Mission Statement: By welcoming public intellectuals to a dynamic educational environment, The President's Lecture Series strives to provide a forum for critical discourse that is responsive to the interests of the Humber community. In fulfilling this goal, we commit to the values of free speech, diversity, and academic and social engagement.
Get involved!
Come to one of our upcoming talks. Here are the speakers for the Fall 2017 term:
Jesse Wente
Reconciling Representation: Indigenous People in Popular Culture
Tues, Sept 26th, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m., Q&A + Reception to Follow
North Campus, Seventh Semester (KB 111)
Mr. Wente is a film critic, broadcaster and the Director of Film Programmes at TIFF Bell Lightbox. He was the first nationally syndicated Indigenous columnist for the CBC, covering film and pop culture for 20 local CBC Radio shows.
Dr. Temple Grandin
Helping Different Kinds of Minds Solve Problems
Tues, Nov 7th, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m., Q&A + Reception to Follow
Lakeshore Campus, Auditorium (A128)
Dr. Grandin is regularly referred to as the most accomplished and well-known adult with autism in the world. A professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University, she has authored numerous books and spoken around the world on the subjects of both autism and animal behaviour.
Christien Levien
The Technology of Social Justice
Wed, Nov 22nd, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m., Q&A + Reception to Follow
Mr. Levien is a criminal defence lawyer who has created a mobile app that educates the public on their legal rights. Inspired by an unlawful "street check" to which he was subjected at age 19, Legalswipe was so popular at the time of its release that its servers crashed under demand for it.
Explore our archive!
We have a video archive of speakers going back to 2006 available as a resource to faculty, staff and students.
Suggest a Speaker
The PLS Committee strives to be responsive to the entire college community. To generate as much interest as possible, the committee looks for speakers who will have broad appeal among the great diversity of students who attend the college. We actively seek feedback and suggestions from faculty, staff, and students.
PLS speakers are chosen on the basis of five criteria. PLS speakers must be 1) high profile 2) intellectually accessible 3) thought-provoking 4) Canadian- and/or internationally-focused, and 5) must not be sitting or campaigning elected politicians nor have already appeared at the college within the past three years. Do you know of a suitable speaker? If so, please forward your suggestion(s) to pls@humber.ca. Be sure to let us know what topics the speaker could address, their areas of academic specialization, their publications, and especially send us any links to interviews or talks available online.