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Join us for the annual Frank W. Woods Lunchtime Seminar, where Professor Michael L. Ross (UCLA) will present his latest research.

Taxes and subsidies for fossil fuels have large economic and environmental consequences, yet surprisingly little is known about them – including why some countries subsidize fossil fuels while others tax them, and how and why these policies change over time. To address these and other questions, we use an original data set on monthly gasoline taxes and subsidies for 157 countries. We find that from 2003 to 2014, global taxes on gasoline fell by about 13 percent; that 96.5 percent of all subsidies originate in just 22 countries, all of them oil and gas exporters; and that changes in taxes and subsidies are weakly associated with proximity to elections, but neither this nor other factors have much explanatory power. These findings underscore how little progress has been made on taxing fossil fuels, and how difficult it is to predict reforms.

Lunch will be provided.

Michael L. Ross is a Professor of Political Science at the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at UCLA. He has published widely on energy politics, the political and economic problems of resource-rich countries, civil war, democracy, and gender rights. He has served on advisory boards for the US government, the World Bank, and his research has been featured in publications such as The Washington Post, Newsweek, Financial Times, etc.

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How do we enhance leadership? How do we accelerate team genius? This 60-minute conversation focuses on pathways and principles of personal and professional leadership. We look at some of the leadership qualities of Pierre Elliot Trudeau when he was Prime Minsiter and explore the meaning of team genius, emotional intelligence, the art of mentoring and what we can learn from master leaders.

We examine the importance of deep empathy, deep eloquence, and deep endurance and create a short list of actions to improve our personal and professional leadership skills.

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DR JOSEPH MACINNIS is a physician-scientist who examines leadership and team genius in life-threatening environments and how they can be enhanced in our personal and professional lives.

Dr. MacInnis helped develop some of the systems and techniques that allow humans to function safely deep within the sea. He’s worked on undersea science and engineering projects with the US Navy, the Canadian government and the Russian Academy of Sciences. Supported by the Canadian government, he led ten research expeditions under the ice of the Arctic Ocean. The first person to explore the ocean beneath the North Pole, he was among the first to dive to the Titanic. He’s spent six thousand hours working inside the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic Oceans. Recently, he was the medical advisor and journalist on the James Cameron National-Geographic seven-mile science dive into the Mariana Trench.

Dr. MacInnis currently examines and writes about leadership and team genius in lethal environments. He’s produced two leadership training videos for the Canadian military. His latest book, Deep Leadership: Essential Insights from High-Risk Environments, was published by Random House. He has written and hosted radio, television and giant-screen stories for CBC, CBS, Imax Corporation, National Geographic and the Discovery Channel.

Dr. MacInnis gives leadership and team genius presentations in North America and Europe. His audiences have included Microsoft, IBM, National Geographic, Rolex, Visa and the U.S. Naval Academy. His work has earned him numerous distinctions including six honorary doctorates and the Order of Canada.

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The Kashmir valley is a geographic region that straddles India’s northwestern border with Pakistan. Known for its idyllic meadows and mountainous landscapes, the Indian-administered territory is the site of one of the longest international political disputes in modern history, and is one of the most militarized regions in the world. Since the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947, the valley has been the site of multiple wars between India and Pakistan, and control of the region has become the subject of one the most divisive political and social debates in South Asia. In the late 1980s, Kashmiri militants began a rebellion against Indian administration of the region. The subsequent insurgency and counter-insurgency continue to this day and have resulted in thousands of deaths and human rights violations.

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Nathaniel Brunt is an interdisciplinary scholar, photographer and archival artist based in Toronto, Canada. His research and photographic practice focus on the history and photographic representation of modern war. Brunt is currently pursuing a PhD in the Communication and Culture joint program at Ryerson University and York University. His doctoral research is supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and The Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation.

Brunt’s photographic work has been featured in the Globe and Mail, Sharp Magazine, and PDN, and has been exhibited in Canada and internationally. He has received academic and photographic honours from organizations including the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival, the International Visual Sociology Association, and the Alexia Foundation for World Peace. Recently Brunt was a visiting scholar at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. He is co-director, with Alisha Sett, of the Kashmir Photo Collective, a digital resource of endangered photographs and related historical material that preserves, visualizes, and diversifies the histories of the Kashmir Valley.

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The forced departure of President Mugabe, the transition to a new ZANU-PF leadership and the aftermath of the controversial 2018 elections have altered the Zimbabwean political landscape. Initial hopes that Zimbabwe was at a possible inflection point for democracy and development have vanished with the deepening political and economic crisis, the labor strikes and the regime’s violent crackdown in January 2019. Democratic space and opportunities for inclusive development are deteriorating as a result. What can be done to protect and enhance democratic space notably for women and youth and non-violent transformations from below? To better understand the situation, Global Affairs Canada supported a CANADEM team in making an assessment in February. Two members of the team will present and discuss their key findings at the brown bag lunch.

JULIET KIRANGWA KAYE AND JEAN-MARC MANGIN, EQUIPE UBUNTU

Jean-Marc and Juliet are the co-partners of EquipeUbuntu, a small consulting firm providing needs assessment, strategic advice and capacity-building.

From 2010 to 2016, Jean-Marc was the Executive Director of the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, the largest national organization of Canadian researchers and scholars. After fifteen years as a public servant with the UN, international NGOs and the Canadian Government, Jean-Marc became in 2006 the executive director of CUSO, Canada’s oldest volunteer-sending NGO, and was the first executive director of the Global Call for Climate Action, a civil society initiative bringing together over 350 international organizations and networks in support of transformational change and rapid action to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Jean-Marc has lived for more than 10 years in the Global South, mostly in Africa. Jean-Marc holds a M.A. in Political Sciences from the University of Toronto.

From 2004 to 2016, Juliet provided advice to over 400 entrepreneurs in the Greater Toronto Area in developing and executing their business plans. 83% were self-sustaining within 2 years; 8% earned over $1 million within 5 years. Prior to moving to Canada, Juliet worked with FAO and WFP in Ghana, Malawi and Zimbabwe in managing food security programs and in providing policy analysis. She has worked directly with farmers, extension services and agro-businesses as well as with policy units within the UN and local governments. Most recently, she supported private entities and consortiums achieving national food self-sufficiency goals in Guyana and Jamaica. Juliet holds a M.A. in Agricultural Economics from Makerere University in Uganda.

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This CV/Resume writing workshop is open to anyone interested in touching up on their resume, or learning how to write one from scratch. A representative from U of T’s Career Centre will be coming in to give you tips and tricks to write an impressive and concise resume! Learning these techniques is especially helpful as this is a popular time to be applying for jobs and internships. You are highly encouraged to bring a copy of your resume with you to this workshop, but if you do not have one then this is a great opportunity for you to get started! Please email pcjsociety@utoronto.ca with any questions.

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The PCJ Society has partnered with the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) and Canadian Studies Student Union to present a film screening event on Aboriginal peoples, First Contact.

Most Canadians have never taken the time to get to know Indigenous People or visit their communities. First Contact takes six average Canadians, all with strong opinions about Indigenous People, on a unique 28-day journey into Indigenous Canada. Leaving their everyday lives behind, the six travel deep into Winnipeg, Nunavut, Alberta, Northern Ontario, and the coast of British Columbia to visit Indigenous communities. First Contact is a journey that will turn the six participants’ lives upside down, challenging their perceptions and confronting their opinions about a world they never imagined they would see. It is an experience that will change their lives, forever.

The movie will run for roughly 50 minutes, before which we will open up a panel discussion with Professors from the Indigenous Studies Department at U of T, as well as members of audience (speaker information to follow).

This event is free and open to all University of Toronto students. Tickets are limited. Please register on Eventbite.

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The Trudeau government has repeatedly proclaimed that “Canada is back” in global affairs. In its public efforts to recommit to United Nations peace operations, Canada launched an initiative to increase the number of women participating in peace operations and deployed some 250 troops to the UN’s stabilization mission in Mali. While UN peacekeeping missions have made important contributions to maintaining peace and preventing conflict in recent years, the UN’s efforts have also been marred by sexual abuse scandals—exposing a startling accountability gap.

AIDS-Free World’s Code Blue Campaign is leading an effort to end impunity for sexual abuse by UN personnel. For its part, Canada has pledged to take action to prevent and respond to sexual exploitation and abuse, including through its second National Action Plan to implement the UN Security Council’s resolution on Women, Peace and Security.

But is Canada doing enough? Framed by Canada’s feminist foreign policy and an intensified focus on ending sexual violence in the #MeToo era, panellists will critically assess Canada’s current approach. What actions should Canada take to strengthen accountability for sexual violence in the aid sector?

3:10-3:15 – Opening remarks

3:15-4:00 – Panel Discussion

4:00-4:45 – Q & A

4:45-6:00 – Reception

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The signing of the peace agreements between the FARC-EP and the Colombian Government in late November 2016 generated hopes for peace in Colombia. However, the consolidation of peace and justice requires us to think about how to operationalize peace agreements. Agreements are not enough. Thus, reflecting on the existing challenges for the implementation of the agreements allows us to understand the current landscape in which the Colombian state is defaulting on its promise to implement a peace accord. This is the result of the tension between theory―the legislative frameworks guaranteeing human rights―and practice―the realization of these ideas― which frames Colombia’s challenges in consolidating the implementation of the peace agreements with the FARC-EP.

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Fabio Andrés Díaz is a Colombian political scientist. He is a Research Associate at the Department of Political and International studies at Rhodes University in South Africa and a Researcher at the International Institute of Social Studies in the Netherlands. Fabio works at the intersection between theory and practice, and his research interests are related to state strength, civil war, conflict and protests in the midst of globalization. In addition to his academic publications, his analysis has been published by Al Jazeera, Time, The Conversation, Los Angeles Times, among others.