President's Lecture Series
The President's Lecture Series (PLS) is a faculty initiative of the School of Liberal Arts & 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 2023 term:
Zahra Nader
What Wasn’t Said: Rethinking Two Decades of Media in Afghanistan
Thurs, Oct. 2nd, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m., Q&A + Reception to Follow
North Campus, BCTI (Barrett Centre) 5th Floor
Zahra Nader is a journalist and Editor-in-Chief of Zan Times, a women-led, investigative newsroom that covers human rights violations in Afghanistan with a focus on women and the LGBTQI+ community. She started her career as a journalist in 2011 in Kabul and joined the New York Times bureau there in 2016. She has authored articles in publications ranging from Time and Foreign Policy to the Guardian and DW. She is also a coordinator for the International Women's Media Foundation supporting Afghan women journalists in exile and spoke at the UN Security Council Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security in 2022.
Dr. Eric Merkley
Polarization in Canada: Why Should We Care? What Can Be Done About It?
Thurs, Oct. 30th, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m., Q&A + Reception to Follow
North Campus, B101 (Boardroom)
Dr. Eric Merkley is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto, St. George Campus. He serves as Director of the Policy, Elections, and Representation Lab (PEARL) at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, which investigates political decision-making, representation and the impact of technology on governance. Prior to this, he was the lead survey analyst for the Media Ecosystem Observatory and Digital Democracy Project research teams. His current work examines how elite behaviour and the mass media together shape public attitudes.
Matthew Morris
Off-Black Excellence: Identity, Recognition, and the Inner Lives of Black Youth
Tues, Nov. 11th, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m., Q&A + Reception to Follow
Lakeshore Campus, G-Commons (G101)
Matthew Morris is an educator and author whose writings focus on the intersection of race, Black masculinity, hip-hop culture, and education. The author of Black Boys Like Me (2023), he holds a Masters degree from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto which has informed his career as a middle school teacher in Toronto. Along with writing for TVO and the Huffington Post, he has been featured in the Toronto Star, Toronto Sun, CBC Radio, and CityNews Toronto. His TEDx talk, “The Fresh Prince Syndrome,” speaks to the perils and promises faced by urban Black male students in today’s ever-evolving world.
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.