Description

Together with Dr. Buriánek, who spent eight years as an adviser to Czech President Václav Havel, Professor Falk will facilitate a conversation examining the importance of Havel’s thoughts on civil society not only for the transition from Communism but also for democratic stability. How have Havel’s values still resonate throughout Central and Eastern Europe and in what ways? And how does remembrance of Havel fit into the “politics” of memory in the Czech Republic today?

Petr Buriánek is currently Consul General of the Czech Republic in Toronto. With a doctorate in history from Charles University in Prague, Dr. Buriánek has had a distinguished diplomatic career, having served with the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs in several ambassadorial roles – including Croatia, Italy and Malta – as well as holding regional advisory portfolios within the Ministry’s Prague offices. Prior to entering the world of diplomacy, he served in the Office of the President of the Czech Republic as Adviser to then President Václav Havel between 1994 and 2002.

Barbara J. Falk is Professor, Department of Defence Studies at the Canadian Forces College/Royal Military College of Canada, and author of The Dilemmas of Dissidence: Citizen Intellectuals and Philosopher Kings (2003) and Political Trials: Causes and Categories (2008). Her primary research interest is political trials, particularly in the persecution and prosecution of domestic dissent. She is currently writing a book on comparative political trials across the East-West divide during the early Cold War, examining the Rajk, Slánský, Dennis and Rosenberg trials. Prior to her academic career, she worked in the both the private and public sectors in human resources, labour relations and women’s issues. For more information, see: http://www.cfc.forces.gc.ca/136/277-eng.html.

Description

In light of the recent migrant crisis in Central America and along the southern US border, it is valuable to re-examine the obstacles which the Canada-US Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) has created with respect to those seeking refuge from violence and horror in Central America. Bringing together experts in law, government, and public policy, the Global Migration Lab Student Research Initiative will explore the ongoing questions surrounding the STCA. What is the current legal situation? What is the current political situation? What does the future hold and what are the consequences?

Craig Damian Smith earned his Ph.D. from the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto. Smith is currently a Senior Research Associate at the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Migration and Integration at Ryerson University. His research focuses on migration, displacement, European foreign policy, and refugee integration.

Chris Alexander is the former Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship under the Stephen Harper government from 2013 to 2015. Chris Alexander also served as Member of Parliament for Ajax-Pickering from 2011 to 2015 and was also Canada’s Ambassador to Afghanistan from 2003 to 2005.

Heather McPherson has 25 years of experience in building strong communities locally, nationally, and internationally. Most recently, she was Executive Director of an organization representing Alberta not-for-profit organizations that work on issues relating to poverty reduction, human rights, environmental protection, and gender equality. She has a Master of Education from the University of Alberta and has taught around the world.

Robert Falconer is a Research Associate with the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary. His work focuses on immigration and refugee policy, with a particular focus on reforming policies related to the Canadian asylum system. His other research interests include the retention of newcomers in rural Canada and the influence of domestic and foreign policy on immigrant interest in moving to Canada.

Prasanna Balasundaram is a staff lawyer for Downtown Legal Services and supervises the Refugee and Immigration division and academic appeals cases in the University Affairs division. He has a special interest in judicial reviews of decisions by the Immigration and Refugee Board and administrative issues that engage constitutional rights. Prasanna is counsel for two of the individual applicants in the judicial review of the STCA, which was heard in November 2019.

Description

The seminar will begin with a brief recount of the court proceedings and the legal disputes. An attempt will be made to provide a historical explanation of the phenomenon that is “Golden Dawn” and an appraisal of the judicial verdict. Has Golden Dawn exited the political landscape? Can Golden Dawn reappear? What are the prospects of the Far Right in Greece under conditions where a health, economic and geopolitical crisis prevails? Can the system of government be safeguarded from it? Can Europe cope?

Dimitris Christopoulos is a Professor at the Department of Political Science and History of Panteion University of Social and Political Science. He was President of the Greek League for Human Rights and of the International Federation for Human Rights. Christopoulos testified as witness on behalf of the civil part at the Golden Dawn trial. For further information on Christopoulos’ work, books, articles and public interventions see http://www.dimitrischristopoulos.gr

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Find out more about our two-year MA in Russian & European Affairs in a live video chat with Katia Malyuzhinets, our Program & Internship Coordinator, and Associate Director Prof. Robert Austin.

Description

This event takes us on a photographic journey through the towns and cities of post-conflict former Yugoslavia in this extensive look inside Chris’s previously unseen 24-year archive from the region. John McDougall examines the wider implications of the war alongside the ripples which are still felt today both in the Balkans and internationally.

More information on the book:
www.balkanjourney.com/the-book/

Chris Leslie is a BAFTA Scotland new talent award-winning photographer and filmmaker producing long-term multimedia documentary projects. Disappearing Glasgow was first published in 2016, documenting his home city of Glasgow and documented the stories of the people on the frontline of demolition and regeneration through films, a book and multimedia. His latest project, A Balkan Journey, is a visual arts project in the form of a book, website and exhibition of a photographic journey through the towns and cities of post-conflict former Yugoslavia in this extensive and previously unseen 24-year archive from the region.

www.balkanjourney.com
www.chrisleslie.com

John McDougall is a writer, photographer & curator based in Glasgow (Scotland) with an interest in the intersections between photography, politics & performance and how the collaborative nature of artistic and creative endeavour can offer pathways and resolutions through difficult times.Past projects have included Milk Shots, Six Foot Photo Month & 2014Frames. Since 2016 John has written for various publications & outlets including Studies in Photography, photomonitor.co.uk, Streetlevel Photoworks, Vu Centre for Photography and Scottish Contemporary Art Network.

Description

*Click the registration button above for full details on this event.*

Exhibition Transformation EAST. Lives in Transition
Virtual Tour and Panel Discussion on January 22, 2021

The IRTG Diversity together with the Centre canadien d’études allemandes et europénnes and the German Consulate General in Montréal present, in collaboration with colleagues from the worldwide network of DAAD-sponsored Centers for German and European Studies, the exhibition Transformation EAST. Lives in Transition as a virtual tour followed by a panel discussion on Facebook Live (link tba) on January 22, 2021 at:

6pm MET (Strasbourg)
12pm EST (Montréal)
11am CET (Minnesota, Wisconsin)
9am PST (Victoria)

This online event features a virtual visit of the exhibition guided by Laurence McFalls (Département de science politique, Université de Montréal) with commentary by

Alexander Reisenbichler Joint Initiative in German and European Studies (JIGES) Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto

Matthias Rothe (German, Nordic, Slavic & Dutch) College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota

Jay Rowell Centre interdisciplinaire d’études et de recherches sur l’Allemagne (CIERA) CNRS, Université de Strasbourg

Beate Schmidtke (EUCA-Net: European Studies in Canada) Centre for Global Studies, University of Victoria

Marc Silberman (German, Nordic, and Slavic+) University of Wisconsin-Madison

Transformation EAST. Lives in Transition addresses the expectations, trust, and fears that East Germans associated with the reunification process through images and texts. It recalls the solidarity between Germans and their willingness to help each other as well as their tensions and misunderstandings. The exhibition tells of new beginnings and awakenings, as well as of the desire to reappraise the SED dictatorship. It also documents the despair that went hand in hand with economic collapse and the rise in unemployment, as well as the experiences of loss and fears that characterized the 1990s in former East Germany. Subjects explored include the simultaneous renovation and demolition of towns and cities in the east of Germany, the situation of women and families, and a youth culture torn between techno, punk and right-wing extremism. Themes range from resentments to political violence, the question of who has the right to shape national identity, relations with Eastern neighbours, the development of the former East and its successes as well as new social divides that have arisen in recent years.

Description

Diaspora and nation are two of the most appealing and enduring notions used to explain the Greek Revolution of 1821. How accurately do they depict the events that shook the Ottoman Empire and mobilized people around the world to support the Greek cause? The talk will suggest two ways to approach empirically the foundational event of Greek history: a) the crucial international context in Europe and beyond; b) the divisions and conflicts among the revolutionaries that nearly lost the war. Both interpretations allow for a more extrovert and historically accurate understanding of the revolution.

Sakis Gekas is Associate Professor and Hellenic Heritage Foundation Chair of Modern Greek History and Hellenic Studies at York University. He has published on the history of the Ionian Islands and on aspects of Greek and Mediterranean economic and social history. His book, “Xenocracy. State, Class, and Colonialism in the Ionian Islands, 1815-1864,” was published by Berghahn Books in 2017.

Description

The Palestinian refugee situation, which emerged from events surrounding the State of Israel’s birth over seventy years ago, remains one of the largest and most protracted refugee crises of the post-Second World War era. The Global Migration Lab (GML) Student Research Initiative will hold a panel discussion featuring authors Francesca Albanese and Dr. Lex Takkenberg to mark the publication of the second edition of their book, Palestinian Refugees in International Law.

The discussion will address some background of the crisis and the status of the refugees today, the role of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the nature of Western governments’ involvement, and finally, potential durable solutions to the crisis.

Speakers also include Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, a medical doctor and U of T faculty member who was born and raised in the Jabalia Refugee Camp, as well as Karen AbuZayd, the former Commissioner-General of UNRWA. Dr. Emily Scott (GML research associate; postdoctoral researcher, McGill University) will serve as moderator.

Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish is a Palestinian Canadian physician and an internationally recognized human rights and inspirational peace activist. Dr. Abuelaish has been nominated five times for the Nobel Peace Prize, and he is fondly known as Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi and the “Martin Luther King of the Middle East”. Dr. Abuelaish’ s book, I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor’s Journey on the Road to Peace and Human Dignity, an autobiography of his loss and transformation, has achieved worldwide critical acclaim. Published in 2010, (currently in 23 different languages). Currently, Dr. Abuelaish lives in Toronto where he is Full Professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto

Karen AbuZayd served as Commissioner-General for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) from 2005 to 2010 and as Deputy Commissioner-General of UNRWA from 2000 to 2005. Abu Zayd is currently a Commissioner for the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Syria, mandated by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2011. Karen AbuZayd also wrote the foreword to the recently published second edition of the book, Palestinian Refugees in International Law.

Francesca P. Albanese is a Research Affiliate for the Study of International Migration (ISIM), Georgetown University and Visiting Scholar, at the Issam Fares Institute for Public Studies Policies and International Affairs, American University of Beirut. She is an international lawyer specialized in human rights and refugee issues in the Arab world. She has 15 years of professional experience, working with the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, European Union (electoral assistance), UN Development Programme, and NGOs (protection, human rights). Albanese received her LL.B (Hons.) at Pisa University, and her LL.M (Human Rights) at SOAS University.

Dr. Emily Scott is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Centre for International Peace and Security at McGill University. She is Research Associate of the Global Migration Lab at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and member of the McGill Refugee Research Group. She studies international relations and comparative politics, with a focus on humanitarianism, conflict and security, health, and migration. Dr. Scott has worked for organizations like CIDA’s Afghanistan Task Force, the UNDP in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, the Carter Center in South Sudan, and Doctors Without Borders.

Dr. Lex Takkenberg has worked with UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, from 1989 until late 2019 and is currently a freelance lecturer and consultant. He is the former Chief of the UNRWA Ethics Office. Prior to that, he held positions including UNRWA’s General Counsel, (agency-wide) Director of Operations, and (Deputy) Field Director in Gaza and Syria. Before joining UNRWA, he was the Legal Officer of the Dutch Refugee Council for six years. A law graduate from the University of Amsterdam, he obtained a Doctorate in International Law from the University of Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

Description

*For full details, please click the registration button above to visit the Alliance Française’s website.*

With the French General Consulate in Toronto and the Institut Français.

Bilingual – From 7 p.m. to midnight (ET)

To start off 2021 on a good note, we’re thrilled to invite you to the sixth edition of the Night of Ideas, annual meeting dedicated to the free flow of ideas and knowledge.

TORONTO – We Art Closer

How can ideas, science and the arts bring us closer together in a time of great isolation? How, in the face of the rise of individualisms and nationalisms, of the atomization of community solidarities, of a violent history, an anxiety-provoking present and an uncertain future, dialogue between people, between genders, between cultures, diffuse tensions, to bring down the walls erected on the fault lines, to repair damaged relationships, to create new ones? In the light of the notion of “rapprochement (s)”, the night of ideas in Toronto will offer a series of discussions between Canada and France, artistic performances, readings and screenings online from 7 pm onwards.

Guests : John Ralston Saul, essayist and philosopher; Wanda Nanibush, Head of Indigenous Collections, Art Gallery of Ontario; Lou Ann Neel, Head of Indigenous Collections and Repatriation Department, Royal BC museum; Kim Thùy, award-winning author; Clément Baloup, comic book writer; Gail Lord, President & Co-Founder, Lord Cultural Resources; Binkady-Emmanuel Hié, Association pour le rayonnement de l’Opéra de Paris; Gaetane Verna, Director of the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery; Emelie Chhangur, Director and Curator of the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen’s University; Karen Carter, Director of the MacLaren Art Centre ; Dalkhafine, visual artist; Hologramme, producer and composer; Marshall Pynkoski and Jeannette Lajeunesse, artistic directors of Opéra atelier; Benoît Dratwicki, artistic director of Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles; Douglas Eacho, Assistant Professor at the Centre for Drama, Theatre, and Performance Studies, University of Toronto; Liz Santoro, american choreographer and dancer and Pierre Godard, scientist, founders of Le Principe d’Incertitude Dance company.

How to watch The Night of Ideas?

1/ RSVP right here.

2/ Get all the videos the day before the event.

3/ Get cozy and enjoy the conversations!

The Night of Ideas’ schedule:

1PM: Conversation on the restitution of indigenous cultural works with John Ralston Saul

7PM: CLOSER WITH... LITERATURE – Cultural legacy with Kim Thùy & Clément Baloup

8PM: CLOSER WITH... DIVERSITY – Diversity in arts with Gail Lord, Emelie Chhagur, Karen Carter & Gaetane Verna

9PM: CLOSER WITH... STREET ART – Street art with Dalkhafine & Hologramme (w/ Mural Festival)

10PM: CLOSER WITH... OPERA – Remote artistic creation with Opera Atelier

11PM: CLOSER WITH... SCIENCE & DANCE – Dance & Science with the dance company Le Principed I’ncertitude

Featuring program (live at 9pm) : Closer with cinema – Philosophy Meetup Club Toronto

Podcast Alliance Française Canada – Regards sur la nuit des idées.

Description

In my presentation I will deal with the Czech art scene, in particular that of Prague. I will try to capture the artistic operations in full, from established institutions with a long history, to places that are still looking for their place, to those that are no longer on the art map today. Some people miss this last group whereas others do not care.

By “art,” I refer to that which is not intended to be useful in the form of decoration and is not just a filling of the free time of its potential recipients. For me, art is not a leisure activity used to entertain its creators and spectators. At the same time, though, it is not an illustration of a political or social situation.

Prague is not Berlin and will never be. However, it has its specific features, local heroes, and big dreams. Let me tell you how some of them become reality.

David Kořínek (*1970) is an artist and theorist of visual culture.

David received his master’s degree in film science and aesthetics at Masaryk University in Brno (MUNI), Czech Republic. He worked as a producer for the public service broadcaster, Czech Television.

He is the founder of the Digital Media Department of Media Studies at MUNI and has led the Media Lab there. With Federico Díaz, he co-founded the Supermedia Studio at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague in 2008.

Since 2019 he has been the head of the Center for Audiovisual Studies at the Film and Television Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. He is also an associate professor there.

He has been a member of artistic group Rafani since 2007 and has had exhibitions in many European galleries and institutions. For their feature-length documentary debut, “31 Endings / 31 Beginnings,” Rafani received a Special Award at the Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival in 2011.

Rafani has been nominated for Person of the Year in the field of Czech art several times. They have received this award twice.

David Kořínek deals with the theory of the moving image in the context of visual arts and has written about this topic for several international anthologies.