President's Lecture Series
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.
Explore our archive!
We have a video archive of speakers going back to 2006 available as a resource to faculty, staff and students.
Get Involved!
Come to one of our upcoming talks. Here are the speakers for the Winter 2020 term:
Dr. Cindy Blackstock
Spirit Bear's Guide to Reconciliation
Wed, Jan 22nd, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m., Q&A + Reception to Follow
Lakeshore Campus, G Commons
A member of the Gitxsan First Nation, Dr. Cindy Blackstock serves as Executive Director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society and a professor at McGill University’s School of Social Work. She has over 30 years of experience working in child welfare and Indigenous children’s rights and has published more than 75 articles on topics relating to reconciliation, Indigenous theory, First Nations child welfare and human rights.
Dave Meslin
Building a Culture of Engagement
Thurs, Feb 13th, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m., Q&A + Reception to Follow
North Campus, Seventh Semester (KB 111)
An urbanist, community organizer, author and trainer, Dave Meslin has founded numerous non-profit start-ups, including the Toronto Public Space Committee, the Ranked Ballot Initiative of Toronto, Cycle Toronto and Spacing Magazine. He has also worked as an Executive Assistant at both City Hall and Queen’s Park and authored the 2019 book, Teardown: Rebuilding Democracy from the Ground Up.
Saadia Muzaffar
This City is Our Home: At the Intersection of City-Building and Resident Resistance
Tues, March 24th, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m., Q&A + Reception to Follow
North Campus, Seventh Semester (KB111)
Saadia Muzaffar is a tech entrepreneur, author and passionate advocate of responsible innovation, decent work for everyone and the prosperity of immigrant talent in STEM. She is the founder of TechGirls Canada, the hub for Canadian women in science, technology, engineering and math, and co-founder of Tech Reset Canada, a group of business people, technologists and other residents advocating for innovation focused on the public good.
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.