Lecture Series 2025-2026

"Information & Inspiration for the Inquisitive Mind"

 

1.  Treaties, Culture, History and Emerging Issues: Saugeen Ojibway Nation and Turtle Island  - Sept. 11 - Oct. 16, 2025

Image of "Ajiijak" used with the kind permission of the artist, Charmaine Jenner (Tauchkwe) of Neyaashiinigmiig. More details here.

Join us for a compelling lecture series exploring the deep history, cultural practices, and important cases of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation and Turtle Island. Presented from an Anishinaabe perspective, this series will delve into key topics such as the history of Turtle Island, Anishinaabe Law, Land and Natural World, the power of storytelling and the Written Word, the significance of tobacco prayers, and the impact of treaties and landmark legal cases. Through these lectures we have the opportunity to learn about our neighbours' history and consider pathways for moving forward together in the spirit of respect, learning, and reconciliation.

1. Sept 11, 2025  - Opening ceremony; The History of Settlers in Canada from an Anishinaabe Perspective
2. Sept 18, 2025   - Anishinaabe Law, Land and  Natural World
3. Sept 25, 2025   - Storytelling – Oral Tradition and Publishing
4. Oct 2, 2025 - Tobacco Prayers-Their History on the Creation Story
5. Oct 9, 2025 - Treaties and Important Cases;  Reconciliation: Re-affirming the First Nation/Crown Relationship
6. Oct 16, 2025 - Reconciliation and the Economic Front

Ever since humans arrived in our region thousands of years ago, the Great Lakes have shaped our history and culture, providing transportation, boundaries, food and water, recreation, inspiration for art, and even battlegrounds. Come and learn where the Lakes came from, and where they’re going in the Anthropocene epoch. We’ll hear from a geologist, an anthropologist, a historian, a master mariner, a fisheries expert and filmmakers documenting drastic ecological changes happening right now, all with fascinating stories to tell. Immerse yourself in the Great Lakes!

1. Oct 30, 2025 - An Undiscovered Country No Longer: The Archaeology of An Early Hunting Site Beneath Lake Huron
2. Nov. 6, 2025 - The Geologic History and Future of the Great Lakes
3. Nov 13, 2025 - The Bruce Peninsula: A Great Lakes History
4. Nov 20, 2025 - Lakers: A Hands-on Journey on the Great Lakes
5. Nov 27, 2025 - The Lake Huron Fish Community and Ecosystem Change
6. Dec. 4, 2025 - All Too Clear: Beneath the Surface of the Great Lakes – 20 minute documentary film and discussion by the filmmakers

Graphic from Peter

Blurb from Christina; the lecture titles are tentative:

4. A Cosmic Adventure to the Stars and Beyond - Feb. 26 to April 9, 2026

What are the latest discoveries by astronomers about the nature of our universe? What have the new generation of telescopes such as the James Webb revealed? What do astrophysicists say about the possibility of time travel, and other science fiction? What strange objects inhabit the far corners of the cosmos, or our own galaxy or solar system? How and from what did the universe arise? Are we alone, or might other intelligent species have evolved elsewhere? Explore these questions, and enjoy a stunning cosmic journey with astronomer Tom Vassos.

1. Feb 26, 2026 - The Stunning View from Planet Earth
2. Mar 5, 2026 - Expeditions to the Bizarre and Extreme Cosmos
3. Mar 12, 2026 - Amazing Time Travel Movies and Real Science
4. Mar 19, 2026 - A Quest for Alien Life- Are we Alone? 
5. Apr 2, 2026 - A Superhuman View of the Cosmos (No lecture Mar 26)
6. Apr 9, 2026 - Revealing Our Star-Studded Origins