Events - 2019

Join the Waterloo Centre for German Studies as Professor James Diamond, Chair of Jewish Studies at the University of Waterloo, gives his talk, The Buried Raging Sermons of the Warsaw Ghetto Rabbi. During World War II, a group of poets, artists, and historians in the Warsaw Ghetto buried thousands of documents attesting to their suffering and resistance as Jews under Nazi rule. Among those recovered was a manuscript of weekly sermons delivered in the Ghetto by a Hasidic rabbi desperately trying to preserve his faith in the face of unimaginable loss and pain. It is a rare testament to one human being’s struggle with the incomprehensible evil of the Holocaust.

The Waterloo Centre for German Studies welcomes Silke Reineke of the Leibniz Institute for the German Language (IDS) for a talk on her work with corpora of spoken German. The “Archive of Spoken German” at IDS in Mannheim is comprised of a large corpora of audio and video recordings from different periods and settings, ranging from biographical interviews, everyday interactions, to spoken academic discourse.

The Indigenous Speakers Series proudly presents Jesse Thistle, Métis-Cree-Scot scholar, teacher, author -- and a Waterloo Arts alumnus. His work is focused on intergenerational and historic trauma of the Métis people, and also reflects on his own past struggles with addiction and homelessness. Jesse is widely recognized in the scholarly community and beyond -- especially with the recent publication of his memoir From the Ashes (Simon and Schuster Canada).

The students of English 799: Making Media Theory are pleased to present the results of their course-based work at the Communitech Hub. These hacked-together, interactive projects reflect on complex theories such as brainwave storytelling, conductive upcyclying, technosexuality, automated genocide, dirty media, digital devolution, and the value of uselessness.

Waterloo’s Centre for Theoretical Neuroscience invites everyone to an open house, the culmination of a two-week workshop that teaches researchers how to build sophisticated brain models. These international experts will demonstrate brain models running on laptops, robots, and specialized brain-like computers while simulating neural functions. Among the brain-like computers used at the summer school is Loihi, a new neuromorphic chip developed Intel Labs.

In dramatic political climates it can be difficult to effect change. Join expert panelists from UWaterloo as they examine how involvement in activism can transform the social and political landscape and inspire others to action.

The Balinese Gamelan is meant to be heard outdoors, so please join us at Waterloo Town Square for a terrific evening concert. This UWaterloo Ensemble is directed by prominent gamelan composer I Dewa Made Suparta and Dr. Maisie Sum. Stay after the concert and try an instrument or two.

Join the Waterloo Centre for German Studies for an evening with German-Swiss author Benedict Wells.

Please join the Department of Sociology and Legal Studies for this Transnational Talk event, featuring Professor Shamus Khan, Columbia University, for a talk and seminar. The Transnational Talks series is supported by Waterloo International and aims to foster international collaboration and enhance methods training and exposure among faculty and students.

Join a multidisciplinary panel of researchers and experts, including Arts' own Neil Randall, founder and director of the Games Instititue. A new reality: Exploring dimensions of immersive learning is part of the Office of Research campus series, Reseach Talks.

Mary Shelley’s famous invocation of human experimentation gone wrong is more than 200 years old, but remains as vibrant an analysis of the human implication of scientific insight as it did when it was first published; perhaps more so in an age on the verge of breakthroughs in both AI and bioengineering.  This conference will approach the intersections of intelligence, life, and the human from a unique perspe