The McLaughlin Lunch Talk Series continues through March with three more events lined up for March 7, 8 and 14.
All events run from noon to 1:30pm in the Senior Common Room, 140 McLaughlin College, and everyone is welcome to attend.
Ray Rogers
York University Professor Ray Rogers will present the March 7 talk “Are Environmentalists Hysterical or Paranoid? Metaphors of Care and Nature Conservation,” which will examine the assumptions that inform how we think about “care” in historical terms and how these conceptions relate to shifting ideas about human identity and nature, recognizing that the kinds of humans we are and the kinds of nature we want to conserve, are all but identical.
The discussion is informed by a problem-centred approach to environmental ethics that focuses on the challenges modern society faces as it confronts a wide range of environmental problems. The talk will conclude with a few comments about what a biocentric approach to environmental ethics might entail.
Rogers is a professor in the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York. Previous to becoming an academic, he spent many years as a commercial fisherman in Nova Scotia, where he still has a home. He is the author of three books: Nature and the Crisis of Modernity; The Oceans Are Emptying: Fish Wars and Sustainability; and Solving History: The Challenge of Environmental Activism.
Ian Macdonald
On March 8, President Emeritus of York Ian Macdonald will present “Ethical Issues as Seen Through the Eyes of an Academically Inclined Administrator.”
This talk will reflect on practical issues and dilemmas that he has faced over the course of sixty-two years as an academic, deputy minister in the Ontario Government, university president, corporate director and volunteer in the not-for-profit world.
Macdonald is also professor emeritus of economics and public policy; former director of the Master of Public Administration Program (Schulich). He was president of York University from 1974-84. He is a graduate of the University of Toronto and Oxford University (Rhodes Scholar at Balliol College), and is former chief economist of Ontario and deputy treasurer of Ontario and deputy minister of Treasury, Economics and Intergovernmental Affairs. From 1994 to 2003, he was the chairman of the Board of Governors of the Commonwealth of Learning. Macdonald is a fellow of McLaughlin College and a past director of a number of international academic organizations. He is also former chair of Hockey Canada.
In 1977, he was made an officer of the Order of Canada. He was awarded the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal, the Queen Elizabeth II Silver, Gold and Diamond Jubilee Medals, and the Canadian Centennial Medal. He has also earned the Vanier Medal for public service and is a recipient of a variety of honorary degrees in Canada and abroad.
Scott Forsyth
The marriage of film and politics will be examined on March 14 when York U Professor Scott Forsyth presents “Film in Politics/Politics in Film: From Battleship Potemkin to Captain America.”
During this talk, Forsyth will discuss some of the ways, over the last century, films have been a key part of political struggles and movements. Then, he will go on to consider ways scholars, critics and spectators have understood, interpreted and explored the political meanings of the films we watch.
Forsyth teaches in both the Department of Cinema & Media Arts and the Department of Political Science at York University. His research interests include the cultural politics of the left, Hollywood history, Canadian film, imperialism and global cinema. He is editor of the film studies journal CineAction.
For more information on these events, contact Vicky Carnevale at ext. 33824 or vcarneva@yorku.ca.
The events are hosted by the Office of the Master, McLaughlin College and York Collegium for Practical Ethics (YCPE).