Past Events

Description

Kamila Andini is a mother and filmmaker based in Jakarta, Indonesia. Her concern of social culture, gender equality and environmental issues fuels her passion to make films with a distinctive perspective of telling a story. In 2011, she released her debut feature film ‘The Mirror Never Lies’, which portrays the life of sea wanderer in Indonesian ocean. And in 2017, she released her second feature ‘The Seen and Unseen’; a cinematic universe of dualism based on Balinese philosophy Sekala Niskala. Both films had traveled through more than 50 film festivals around the world and received about 30 awards nationally and Internationally, including Grand Prix winner best feature film in Berlinale Generation kplus 2018. She also creates some short films to show her voice and vision in filmmaking. After ‘Following Diana’, ‘Memoria’, and ‘Sekar’, her last short film ‘Back home’, was part of an omnibus for Japan based production ‘Angel Sign’. Lately, she is also expanding her directing works into theatre. Her debut theatre work based on her second film; ‘The Seen and Unseen’ was performed at Esplanade Singapore 2018 and Asia Topa Melbourne 2019. And the latest one is a monologue, stage and virtual performance, ‘Nusa yang hilang’. Her third feature film, “Yuni,” an Indonesian, Singapore, French, Australian production, will have its world premiere in the Platform Competition of the Toronto International Film Festival. She is also working on her fourth feature; an intimate film, set in 1960’s, unfolding the right and wrong of a woman’s life. ‘Before, Now and Then’ (working title), is now in production stage.

In solidarity with the CAUT censure of the University of Toronto (see censureuoft.ca), the event is hosted by the Toronto Film and Media Seminar and supported by the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies at the Asian Institute, University of Toronto. This event is organized in the spirit of commitments to anti-racism, gender, and religion equity.

Description

We are delighted to invite you to the virtual launch of the official report of the 2021 Canada-United Kingdom Colloquium on Federalism, Devolution & COVID-19, written by Ms. Laurie Stephens. The report is available for download on the registration page.

Please join us at 12pm ET/5pm London Time on Sept 17th via Zoom for our panel discussion as we formally launch the report! There will be ample opportunities for an interactive Q/A with the audience as well, moderated by Prof. Peter Loewen, CUKC Co-Chair & Professor at the University of Toronto.

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AGENDA

Opening remarks from Prof Peter Loewen, CUKC Co-Chair

Welcome remarks from Canadian High Commissioner to the UK, HE The Hon. Ralph E. Goodale, PC

Welcome remarks from British High Commissioner to Canada, HE Susannah Goshko CMG

Panel Discussion featuring:

Senator Peter Harder,PC (Senate of Canada)
Andrew Lewer MBE MP (Member of Parliament for Northampton South)
Dr Mireille Paquet (Concordia University Research Chair on the Politics of Immigration)
Prof Martin McKee CBE (Professor of European Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine)
Prof Peter Loewen, moderator (CUKC Co-Chair & Professor at the University of Toronto)

Concluding remarks from Anthony Cary CMG, Chairman, Canada-UK Council

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We will be emailing the Zoom link to you separately upon successful registration.

Description

Opening remarks:
Mr. Justin Poy, Honorary Patron, Asian Heritage Month-CFACI
Mr. Gregory McCormick, Toronto Public Library

Professor Chef Leo Chan will be in conversation with Councillor Sandra Yeung Racco. The talk is organized by The Asian Heritage Month Festival and the Toronto Public Library.

Holidays and festivals are great events in the lives of people from every culture, beginning right from their childhood. Elements common to most traditional Chinese festivals are the desire for happiness and well-being, the protection of loved ones from misfortunes, the experience of oneness between humans and heaven, and most importantly, family reunion, the opportunity for rest and merriment.

According to the lunar calendar, in the fall, it is usually clear and cool, and there are seldom wandering clouds in the sky. The moon is particularly bright at night. The full moon is a symbol of reunion. The Mid-Autumn Moon Festival is also called the Reunion Festival. It is closest to the North American Thanksgiving Day, and the concept of harvest after a long summer of hard work in the field.

There have been a lot of fascinations about the moon. Countless poets, writers, musicians and artists have inspired numerous songs, stories and operas to celebrate this happy festival. The moon cakes and other traditional food as round as the full moon, symbolize the completeness and togetherness of the family. Bright and round lanterns are hung from ceiling and balconies.

Leo and Sandra will share the stories, joy and traditions of the Moon Festival with the zoom audience. The talk embraces the sound and taste of home through this celebration.

Co-sponsors: York Centre for Asian Research, York University; Asian Institute at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto; York University; Richard Charles Lee Canada Hong Kong Library, University of Toronto; Chinese Canadian Photography Society of Toronto; WE Artists’ Group; Social Services Network; Cambridge Food and Wine Society; Fête Chinoise

Asian Heritage Month Festival is partially funded by the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Asian Canadian Artists in Digital Age is funded by Canada Council for the Arts Digital Strategy Fund

Description

The Queen’s University annual Career Fair welcomes students and recent grads from all programs and disciplines seeking internships, new graduate roles, further education options, and more.

Students will have the opportunity to meet with employers from a variety of industries and locations as well as educators from a number of post-graduate programs.

Register today to connect to the Master of Global Affairs and Master of Public Policy Admissions and In-Program staff and get all of your questions answered!

Description

Register Now!

APSIA
Online Graduate School Fair

Thinking about Grad School? Searching for an international career in the private, public, or non-governmental sector?

Whether you’ve just started your search or have a shortlist in mind, representatives of APSIA’s top international affairs and public policy graduate schools can help you navigate the admissions process.

Register today and answer your questions about:

application requirements,
curricula and joint degrees,
financial aid, and
career opportunities.

Go beyond what you read on a website – leave with new information and personal connections with the MGA admissions staff who will be there to answer all the questions you have on the Master of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy.

Description

Join us for the Joint MGA & MPP Admissions Information Session!

You will learn everything you need to know about the Master of Global Affair & Master of Public Policy Degree Programs (from its amazing faculty, student body, courses, Student Leadership Initiatives, Capstone course and more) and the Admissions processes for these 2-year professional master degrees!

Don’t miss out, come join us and connect with our very own Admissions Officer and get all of your questions answered in this virtual session.

Description

The MGA and MPP degree programs will be hosting an Admissions information Session for Dalhousie University Students.

You will learn all you need to know about the MGA and MPP programs: the faculty, students, courses, internship, capstone course, career information, financial aid and admissions! Come and connect with our Admissions Officer and get all of your questions answered.

Register Today!

Description

On Thursday, 30 September, 11am-12noon Eastern Time (5pm-6pm CET), learn more about our MIA/MGA dual-degree programme with the Munk School at the University of Toronto. Admissions representatives from both the Munk School at the University of Toronto and the Hertie School in Berlin will be online to answer any questions you might have about how the dual-degree programme works, the curriculum, student services at both institutions and more.

Description

Information is not yet available.

Description

SPEAKER 1
Julie Chen, “Wrestling with the platforms in China: precarious participation and glimmer of alternative self-organizing”

Abstract:
The number of platform-based workers in China is estimated to exceed 84 million in 2020—that is, about 10% of the national work force. The magnitude of the transformation of work due to platform power is crucial to understand the contemporary labor politics. In this talk, I will first show how China’s existing informal labor force and the capitalistic logic in the platform economy that prioritizes market dominance have shaped the platform-based workforce in its heterogeneity and scale and led to a rising centralized and infrastructural power in the hands of platform companies to regulate the fragmentated just-in-time work force. I will further discuss the contradictions between the monopolistic capital and China’s infrastructural state and the implications for the continued (old) and new labor struggles. To conclude, I will reflect on the possibility, promise, and limitations of worker’s alternative organizing by exploring a national network of self-organized drivers prior to, during, and after the dominance of the ride-hailing platforms from 2011 to 2019.

Bio:
Julie Yujie Chen is Assistant Professor at the Institute of Communication, Culture, Information, and Technology at the University of Toronto (Mississauga) and holds a graduate appointment at the Faculty of Information (St. George). Chen studies the transformation of labor and workers in relation to the digital technologies, capitalism, and globalization. She is the co-author of Media and Management (University of Minnesota Press, 2021) and the lead author of Super-sticky WeChat and Chinese Society (Emerald, 2018) which is the first book-length research on the largest social media in China—namely, WeChat. She publishes widely on issues related to workers on the digital platforms in China in journals including New Media & Society, Socio-Economic Review, Javnost – The Public, Work, Employment and Society, Chinese Journal of Communication, China Perspectives, and Triple C. She has been the principal investigator leading research projects which have received funds or awards from Canada’s Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), Connaught New Researcher Award (Canada), and International Development Research Centre (IDRC, Canada).

SPEAKER 2
Seung-yoon Lee, “Platform capitalism and the melting labor: South Korean Platform Labor work and its Mismatch with Welfare Institutions”

Abstract:
Discussions on labor rights and social rights of these platform work developed rapidly and the main topic of discussion was focused on the emergence of this new type of work called platform work. In this study, I conceptualize ‘dismantling of various boundaries surrounding the traditional forms of work and workplace, such as standard employment before the fissured workplace and pure self-employment’, as melting labor. The concept of melting labor includes the increase of new forms of work that deviates from the standard employment before the fissured workplace such as non-regular and atypical work, subcontracted and outsourced work, and also changes in the pure self-employment such as dependent/disguised self-employed as well as freelancers and platform work. Korea’s platform labor market expanded considerably in the short run and there was a diversity of platform labor. First, the labor process has been changed by using the platform in common, however, the workers’ dependence and labor control aspects are different from platform waged workers, disguised self-employed workers to gig workers. However, the differences according to the type of platform labor are as follows. First, the delivery platform was mainly mediated by four-way relations, and the domestic services and freelance platforms by three-way relationships. Second, the intensity of control and involvement of platform labor of platform companies was strong in the order of delivery platform, house service platform and freelance platform. Third, the differences in social security experiences and desires were mainly found in industrial accident insurance. Differences between platform work types also need to be considered in discussing alternatives to solve the gap in practice and institutions.

Bio:
Dr. Sophia Seung-yoon Lee obtained her Ph.D. in Social Policy from Oxford University in the UK with her thesis on a comparative study between East Asian welfare states and non-regular workers. She is an associate professor of social policy at Chung-Ang university, Seoul, South Korea. Her major research fields are East Asian welfare states and labor markets, unstable labor, institutionalism and comparative research methodology. She published peer-reviewed articles and books (co-authored) including “Female outsiders in South Korea’s dual labor market: Challenges of equal pay for work of equal value” (2020), “Korea’s Unstable Youth Labor Market and Youth Basic Income Policy Proposal” (2016), and “Institutional Legacy of State Corporatism in De-industrial Labor Markets” (2016), and Korean Precarious Workers (Co-authored Book, 2017). Currently, she is the Vice Chairperson of the Youth Policy Coordination Committee in the Prime Minister Office.

This virtual event is presented by the Korean Office for Research and Education (KORE) which is funded by the Academy of Korean Studies. This event is co-organized by the Centre for the Study of Korea (CSK) at University of Toronto.

For more information: kore@yorku.ca | https://kore.info.yorku.ca/calendar/

Description

The shocks of 2020 have been great and small, disrupting the world economy, international relations and the daily lives of virtually everyone on the planet. Never before has the entire world economy contracted by 20 percent in a matter of weeks nor in the historic record of modern capitalism has there been a moment in which 95 percent of the world’s economies were suffering all at the same time. Across the world hundreds of millions have lost their jobs. And over it all looms the specter of pandemic, and death.

Adam Tooze, whose last book was universally lauded for guiding us coherently through the chaos of the 2008 crash, now brings his bravura analytical and narrative skills to a panoramic and synthetic overview of our current crisis. By focusing on finance and business, he sets the pandemic story in a frame that casts a sobering new light on how unprepared the world was to fight the crisis, and how deep the ruptures in our way of living and doing business are. The virus has attacked the economy with as much ferocity as it has our health, and there is no vaccine arriving to address that.

Tooze’s special gift is to show how social organization, political interests, and economic policy interact with devastating human consequences, from your local hospital to the World Bank. He moves fluidly from the impact of currency fluctuations to the decimation of institutions–such as health-care systems, schools, and social services–in the name of efficiency. He starkly analyzes what happened when the pandemic collided with domestic politics (China’s party conferences; the American elections), what the unintended consequences of the vaccine race might be, and the role climate change played in the pandemic. Finally, he proves how no unilateral declaration of ‘independence” or isolation can extricate any modern country from the global web of travel, goods, services, and finance.

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APSIA Open House:

Interested in a Specific Topic in International Affairs? Join in an Open House.

Today’s topic:
National Security

Description

MGA & MPP attends the Fair for Uwaterloo, Wilfred Laurier, Guelph and Conestoga College.

Join us! Connect with the MGA & MPP Admissions Officer and get your questions answered about these 2-year professional master degree programs.

Please check back as the Registration Link will be added very soon.

Description

Come Join us for this Online Admissions Information Session!

Come learn about the Master of Global Affairs & Master of Public Policy Programs and the Admissions processes for these 2-year professional master degrees! All are welcome, including Indigenous students who are interested in graduate school in global affairs and public policy. We invite you to come and learn more!

Description

Both Taiwan and mainland China today claim numerous contested features in the South China Sea as “inherent” Chinese territory “since ancient times” — the Pratas, Paracel, and Spratly Islands, Macclesfield Bank, and Scarborough Shoal. This portrays a static and monolithic Chinese state as having ‘always’ territorially minded or largely neglected the islands, and as having neatly disseminated national narratives of the islands onto its populace. Likewise, non-government peoples who historically interacted with the islands, such as fishers, merchants, and community organizations, are commonly subsumed under the nation-state as markers or demonstrators of national sovereignty claims.

In this talk, Chris P. C. Chung discusses the contours of a global and bottom-up approach that decenters the dispute’s origins from the nation-state. He examines predominantly top-down government archival files on the islands from the bottom-up; traces the global historical connections and developments that vitally fuelled the modern formation of China’s island claims in the early 20th century; and dissects the central roles that non-government peoples with widely diverging interests and worldviews played in Chinese maritime discourse production. This decentering approach yields a more critical and comprehensive history of maritime claims-making — and of national identity formation — in Taiwan and mainland China.

Speaker’s Biography

Chris P.C. Chung is a doctoral candidate in history at the University of Toronto. Using the South China Sea islands dispute as a case study, Chung’s research investigates how the global flow of ideas and activities of everyday people vitally informed Chinese state conceptions of space and sovereignty in the maritime frontier since the late 18th century. His recently submitted doctoral dissertation, Fluid Realms: Chinese Visions of Maritime Space in the South China Sea Islands, has been supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. It explores the pivotal roles that non-government actors across the globe played in Qing and Republican Chinese claims-making over the Pratas, Paracel, and Spratly Islands, such as fishers, merchants, and community organizations. It extensively draws from largely unused Qing and Republican archival files that directly detailed official Chinese deliberations on the islands issue and the maritime frontier more generally.

Description

For more than three hundred years, British, French and Dutch officials engaged in diplomatic missions and exchanges according to Indigenous diplomatic protocols. This talk by Douglas Sanderson (Amo Binashii) of the Beaver Clan, from Opaskwayak Cree Nation, outlines some of the ways colonial officials learned to conduct themselves in the international law milieu of the early-and-middle-encounter period in history.

Description

‘Poetic Visions: Focus on Le Bao’ is an online film webinar highlighting the earlier works of Vietnamese filmmaker Le Bao’s short films, ‘Coal’ and ‘Scent.’ Join us as the dialogue uncovers Le Bao’s interest and ideals pertaining to cinema, the gritty realities and emotional nuances of his films.
The webinar will be in conversation with Le Bao and Thy Phu, Professor of Media Studies at the University of Toronto, Scarborough, with English – Vietnamese interpretation. The session will be moderated by Leong Puiyee, Senior Manager and film programmer at Objectifs.

ABOUT THE FILMS:

‘Coal’
Confined in a small space, a father struggles with his drug addiction while his son tries hard to take care of him. Feeling distressed, the son decides to sell their pigs to earn some money in order to send his father to rehab. However the father tries to hinder the son and the pigs start to escape.

‘Scent’
Two homeless and pregnant girls adrift in life and in a canal, meet. When one disappears, what’s left is the memory of the emotional ties they have formed, and the brief scent of the other.

The event is co-hosted by the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Minnesota and Objectifs and supported by the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies at the Asian Institute, Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto.

Le Bao’s films will be made available to watch for free on the Objectifs Film Library from OCT 4 to OCT 24, 11:59pm. You will receive the screening links upon registration.

PLEASE NOTE: This event does not include a live screening of the two short films; attendees are encouraged to watch them prior to the webinar.

‘Taste,’ Le Bao’s first feature will be screening at the Asian Film Archive from October 23 – November 5, 2021. For more details, visit https://www.asianfilmarchive.org/

Description

We are inviting all first year Juris Doctor (JD) students from the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law to attend this event which will host a panel of former and current JD-MPP and JD-MGA combined program students who will discuss the benefits of pursuing these combined JD-MPP and JD-MGA degree programs. They will talk about how these programs have enhanced their career goals and more!

Come join us!

The panelist names are still to be announced.

Description

Pavel Pšeja, PhD, is a university lecturer and translator working in several fields. He currently lectures in three universities in the Czech Republic (Masaryk University in Brno, Metropolitan University Prague, and CEVRO Institute Prague); in the past, he was teaching in many universities all over the world including the US, Israel, Austria, and Germany. He has (co-)authored more than 70 articles, chapters, and books published both in the Czech Republic, and abroad.
As regards the non-academic sphere, he is active as an evaluation expert of the European Commission, and as a Country Expert of prestigious project Varieties of Democracy. He has worked in expert positions at the Committies of the Regions in Brussels, and the Council of Europe in Strassbourg. He is also a member of the Czech pool of the International Election Observers, having completed four missions organized by the OSCE, EU, and CoE respectively.
In last fifteen years, he has been actively working in CSO sector, focusing upon the issues of democracy promotion and human rights, and performing various roles ranging from from the field trainer to the Chair of the Board. Finally, he translated into the Czech language more than a dozen of books in the fields of social sciences, history etc., including works by J. M. Keynes, P, Berger, or P. Johnson.

Milan Nič is senior fellow in the Alfred von Oppenheim Center for European Policy Studies (AOZ). He focuses on geopolitical competition, global issues, and interregional dynamics. From September 2019 to February 2021, he was head of the Robert Bosch Center for Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, and Central Asia, which he had joined in April 2017 as a senior fellow.
Nič previously headed the Europe program at the GLOBSEC Policy Institute in Bratislava, Slovakia, and was managing director of its predecessor, the Central European Policy Institute (CEPI). From 2010 to 2012, he served as senior adviser to the Deputy Foreign Minister of Slovakia. Prior to that, he advised the High Representative/EU Special Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Nič began his professional career as a broadcaster at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, covering the transition period in Central and Eastern Europe. He was later an analyst at the European Stability Initiative and program director at the Pontis Foundation.
Nič earned his MPhil from the Charles University in Prague and his MA at the Central European University in Budapest. He also studied at the Bologna Center of Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

Description

Come learn all you need to know about this amazing dual degree program offered in partnership with U of T, Munk School, Master of Global Affairs Program and Master of Public Policy, Sciences Po, Paris,

You will hear from a representative from Sciences Po, Paris and from the MGA Admissions Officer (U of T) regarding the Master of Public Policy (Sciences Po, Paris) /Master of Global Affairs (U of T) dual degree program.

Register today!

Description

Rising nationalism and political extremism pose challenges to peace and democracy around the world, including in North America. This web-based panel discussion will examine the historical drivers of nationalist extremism in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Experts from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, University of Toronto, and University of Michigan will discuss the local and transnational factors giving rise to far-right social movements and policies in each country.

This conversation will launch the 2021-22 North American Colloquium, a partnership between the three universities, which will convene a series of web-based events and a tri-national conference on the theme of “Nationalism and Extremism in North America.”

Description

Do you see yourself in a world-changing role? Could grad school be the next step to get there? Get your questions answered and explore some of the coolest social impact grad programs on the market at an Idealist Virtual Grad Fair. Show up on your own time, no strings attached, and you’ll have the opportunity to text or video chat with representatives and alumni from programs that interest you. Idealist Grad Fairs are totally free and a lot more helpful than Googling when you’re making such a career-defining decision. We look forward to seeing you there!

When you register for a Grad Fair, you will receive information about participating schools and programs in advance so you can prepare questions, identify favorites, and even schedule chats with program reps ahead of time.

Come meet the MGA Admissions Officer at the Idealist fair and get your questions answered about the 2-year professional master degree program – the Master of Global Affairs at the U of T, Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy!

Description

You are cordially invited to the second part of conference, “Platform capitalism and platform labor,” featuring Juliet Schor (Boston College) and Ya-Wen Lei (Harvard University).

*Please register before October 29*

This event is chaired by Yoonkyung Lee (Sociology, U of T)

SPEAKER 1
Juliet Schor, “Interrogating the Uberization Narrative: Heterogeneity in the Platform Labor Force”

Abstract:
The dominant narrative in the platform literature is Uberization—a large, predatory platform that eliminates competitors, progressively squeezes and exploits workers, and uses technology to enact algorithmic control. In this talk I will interrogate the Uberization narrative. Relying on more than a decade of research across a variety of platforms I will present an account which stresses heterogeneity “up and down the line.” While aspects of the Uberization narrative are undoubtedly correct, the presence of considerable heterogeneity across and within platforms workers suggests the need for a more complex and dynamic theorization. Taking account of heterogeneity reveals diverse worker experiences, continuous changes in apps and platform policies, and ongoing tensions in the dominant social relations that comprise platforms.

Bio:
Juliet Schor is an economist and Professor of Sociology at Boston College. Schor’s research focuses on work, consumption, and climate change. A graduate of Wesleyan University, Schor received her Ph.D. in economics at the University of Massachusetts. Before joining Boston College, she taught at Harvard University for 17 years. In 2020 she published After the Gig: How the Sharing Economy Got Hijacked and How to Win it Back (University of California Press 2020), which won the Porchlight Management and Workplace Culture Book of the Year. Schor’s previous books include the national best-seller The Overworked American: The Unexpected Decline of Leisure, The Overspent American: Why We Want What We Don’t Need, and True Wealth: How and Why Millions of Americans are Creating a Time-Rich, Ecologically Light, Small-Scale, High-Satisfaction Economy.

SPEAKER 2
Ya-Wen Lei, “Delivering Solidarity: Platform Architecture and Collective Contention in China’s Platform Economy”

Abstract:
This study examines how and when labor control and management leads to collective resistance in China’s food-delivery platform economy. I develop the concept of “platform architecture” to examine the technological, legal, and organizational aspects of control and management in the labor process and the variable relationships between them. Analyzing 68 in-depth interviews, ethnographic data, and 87 cases of strikes and protests, I compare the platform architecture of service and gig platforms and examine the relationship between their respective architecture and labor contention. I argue that specific differences in platform architecture diffuse or heighten collective contention. Within the service platform, technological control and management generates work dissatisfaction, but the legal and organizational dimensions contain grievances and reduce the appeal of, and spaces for, collective contention. Conversely, within the gig platform, all three dimensions of platform architecture reinforce one another, escalating grievances, enhancing the appeal of collective contention, and providing spaces for mobilizing solidarity and collective action. As a result, gig platform couriers are more likely to consider their work relations exploitative and to mobilize contention, despite facing higher barriers to collective action due to the atomization of their work.

Bio:
Ya-Wen Lei is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at Harvard University, and is affiliated with the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies and the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. She is the author of The Contentious Public Sphere: Law, Media and Authoritarian Rule in China (Princeton University Press, 2018). Her articles have appeared in American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, The China Quarterly, Law & Society Review, Socius, and Political Communication. At this moment, she is finishing her second book manuscript tentatively entitled Upgrading the Nation: Promise and Peril of Techno-Developmentalism in China (Under Contract with Princeton University Press).

This virtual event is presented by the Korean Office for Research and Education (KORE) which is funded by the Academy of Korean Studies. This event is co-organized by the Centre for the Study of Korea (CSK) at University of Toronto.

For more information: kore@yorku.ca | https://kore.info.yorku.ca/calendar/

Description

How did images function within the early Académie royale des sciences? During the Academy’s formative period, from its inauguration in 1666 to the death of King Louis XIV in 1715, the Academy produced a wealth of images in the form of drawings, prints, medallions, and paintings. Like England’s Royal Society, the Academy was pivotal in the development of early modern natural philosophy as one of the first and best-funded scientific institutions in Europe.
This talk will examine how the images produced by and for the Academy fit into the larger image production machine of Louis XIV. The King’s ministers strategically crafted his public image throughout his reign to promote various messages of his sovereignty, power, and gloire. After the creation of the Academy in 1666, natural philosophy became another source of state power and consistently appeared in various manifestations of royal imagery. I argue that the Academy’s images—produced by both the Academy and state ministers—functioned politically by conflating the power of science and state. Through an analysis of prints, paintings, and medals, I show that, across all media, the Academy and its achievements were depicted as monumental events in the reign of the Sun King, on par with military and political triumphs. Similarly, the repeated visual depiction of the monarch with the Academy reminded viewers that the King was responsible for these scientific victories and, indeed, harnessed their power.

Katherine M. Reinhart is a fellow at the Institute for Research in the Humanities at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. A historian of art and science in early modernity, her publications span various aspects of scientific visual culture, and she is the co-editor (with Margaret Carlyle) of a forthcoming special issue of KNOW: A Journal on the Formation of Knowledge on anatomical material culture.