How the Boomers are Reinventing Everything
April 20, 2017 1:00-3:00 PM
It's not that there are simply more older people today than ever before...it's that they are not the same older people than in any previous generation. David Cravit explores the "reinvention of aging" and shows how radical longevity combined with Boomer attitudes is permanently changing how "older" people think and what they do. It could be the biggest social revolution ever -- with profound implications for everything from health to housing, education to sex and relationships and, especially, jobs and money.
David Cravit has over 35 years’ experience in advertising, marketing and consulting in both Canada and the USA. He became Vice President of ZoomerMedia in 2008, responsible for marketing and communications insights into the Zoomer market, as well as managing the annual ideacity conference.
Cravit has been a frequent speaker at corporate and industry events, guest on numerous radio and TV shows, and contributor to professional journals.
His book, “The New Old,” (October, 2008, ECW Press) details how Baby Boomers are completely reinventing the process of aging – and the implications for companies, government, and society as a whole. His second book, “Beyond Age Rage” (April, 2012, Bastian Books), describes the apparent “war of the generations,” and shows how Boomers and seniors are already solving it. Both books can be purchased online at Amazon.com or Chapters Indigo. David Cravit’s blog can be accessed at www.davidcravit.com.
The Brain, Longevity and Health Span
May 4, 2017 1:00-3:00 PM
Dr. Proulx will present a global overview of how the human brain has evolved into a meaning-making machine with incredible capacity to learn and change. Half of North-Americans born in 2012 can expect to live to 100 years and there is hope that their “health expectancy” could be as long. We will focus on how the different functions of memory – that amazing time traveling machine – allow us to recapture the past and imagine possible futures. You will gain an inside view into the exciting world of the brain, cognition and behaviour.
Dr. Guy Proulx is a clinical neuropsychologist who obtained his Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Ottawa in 1981. He was Director of Neuropsychology at St-Vincent Hospital and Elizabeth Bruyère Health Centre in Ottawa from 1981 to 1986 and then, at Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care in Toronto until July 2009. He developed neuropsychological assessment and treatment services in the areas of cognitive aging, stroke and dementia. In 2009, Dr. Proulx accepted a position as Professor at Glendon College, York University. His recent focus has been on the wide variability within the normal aging population. In 2014, Dr. Proulx was appointed to the advisory committee to the Minister of Health of Ontario for the development of its new strategy of dementia care in Ontario.
The History of Women in the Modern Middle East
May 18, 2017 1:00-3:00 PM
This lecture will synthesize the histories of Middle Eastern Women throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. We will examine snapshots of the changing attitudes towards the ‘woman question’ along legal, social, and nationalist contexts. The lecture will highlight how the social status of women was shaped amidst emerging political trends, developments and movements. We will explore the complex nexus between gender roles and religion, society, politics and cultural traditions. The lecture will conclude with a brief discussion concerning the contemporary Middle East and new trends of women’s political, social, and religious activism. Attendees will walk away with a general familiarity of the major themes within the Middle East and how they impact the social and political status of women.
Sara Farhan was born and grew up in Ba'thist Iraq. She is an award-winning researcher and editor, and has been nominated for several teaching awards. She has been published in numerous international journals and has contributed to podcasts, radio programs, and documentaries as a consultant historian. She has also been involved with Third Age Learning and Lifelong Learning communities for the past several years.
Sara is pursuing a doctorate in History at York University, completing a dissertation on Monarchic Iraq.
Wake-up call for the World: Four Challenges That will Define the 21st Century *
May 25, 2017 1:00-3:00 PM
How the world addresses its challenges will influence human progress this century. These include, for example, the world’s widespread conflict zones; the anti-free trade sentiment in most major Western economies, including the U.S. and most of Europe; the income-inequality crisis; cyber-security and privacy concerns about the Internet; and the rise of xenophobic and ultra-nationalist movements in the U.S., Europe, and to a lesser extent Canada.
In this context, David Olive will address four key challenges:
- Nuclear Non-Proliferation: A case for eradicating the one threat that could destroy humanity tomorrow.
- China: An emerging superpower beset with the challenges that accompany every industrial revolution.
- The Revolution in Environmental Technologies: The creation of new industries and high-paying work - and our salvation from global warming.
- The Role of Women in Society: Closing the gender gap toward a world where women are equal decision makers.
Did you know that it’s not far-fetched to eradicate nuclear warheads, that Ukraine, with Western assistance, did so soon after the fall of the Soviet Union back in the 1990s? Did you know that North American women are actually paid less today, as a percentage of male work of the same value, than back in the 1980s? That approximately 4,000 Chinese die each day due to respiratory diseases made acute by the country’s proliferation of coal-fired power plants? And that environmental sciences and technologies will soon become one of the chief sources of work, employing millions of people who experiment with engineering more energy efficient turbines at power plants and climb about your roof installing and maintaining solar panels? We will be exploring these and more in this talk.
(*this lecture was changed to " Income Inequality and the Trump Presidency")
David Olive is a business and current affairs columnist at the Toronto Star. He has worked in business journalism for 31 years. His books include An American Story: The Speeches of Barack Obama.
A lifelong Torontonian and a graduate in journalism of Ryerson University, David Olive built a career as a writer or editor at the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, the Financial Post, the National Post, Canadian Business magazine and Toronto Life magazine.
He is the author of 12 books on business and political topics, including Just Rewards: The Case for Ethical Reform in Business. Olive’s articles and books have won or been nominated for about a dozen awards.
Location Of Lectures
Lectures will take place in the Shirley Auslander Hall at the Schwartz/Reisman Centre (SRC) located at 9600 Bathurst St. (southwest corner of Bathurst/Lebovic Campus Drive, just North of Rutherford Rd). Parking is free. Get directions here.