Junior Fellow Lecture Series – Ethics

Presented by the Junior Fellows, these lectures take place roughly once a month and invite three Junior Fellows to give an after dinner lecture on a chosen topic through the lens of their various fields of study. 

November’s topic is Ethics.

Aidan Mitchell-Boudreau, JD Candidate on Beyond Borders: Canadian and International Legal Responses to Non-Consensual Disclosure of Intimate Images -This presentation will explore current legal remedies to non-consensual disclosure of intimate images (NCDII) in Canada, covering current criminal and tort law, as well as upcoming developments like the Online Harms Act (Bill C-63). Drawing on preliminary research and government stakeholder engagement reports, potential legal remedies to meet the unique challenges of emerging technologies and international NCDII will be considered.

Sourojeet Chakraborty, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Stable Isotope Lab on Tantra & Ethics: Recognizing the Self – Tantra evolved as an esoteric philosophical school in Hinduism, seeking to make a yogic practitioner aware of their innate nature. Traditionally, these teachings were intentionally kept secret, for fear of misrepresentation. By using the awful, contradictory imagery of Chinnamasta (the headless goddess), qualities of ethics and enlightened wisdom codified within Her will be presented. Eventually, mediating on such imagery results in perfection of ethics and the emergence of self-arisen wisdom, freeing the mind of all dualistic perceptions. Her potent imagery also gets imported into the Vajrayana (Tantric) Buddhism canon as Vajrayogini, thereby embodying the supreme nature of the Divine Feminine.

Yizhou Zhang, PhD Candidate in Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies on Between What Is and What Ought to Be: Crafting Truth and Playing Real in Documentary Theatre – This presentation is about the ethics and art of documentary theatre based on my practice of the art form. The first part, “Crafting Truth”, addresses documentary theatre’s creative tension between reality and theatricality, fact and fiction. I will defend the notion of “artistic truth” in relation to our post-truth milieu and discuss the differences between “freedom of speech” and “truth-speaking”. The second part, “Playing Real”, focuses on the aesthetics and politics of casting. Drawing from Marxist theatremaker Bertolt Brecht and philosopher Franz Fanon, I demonstrate my means to disrupt of the reproduction of gender and racial categories through casting choices. 

Junior Fellows interested in participating in future events, please email JFLS Chair Ashley Raghubir for more information on getting involved.

Make this an evening filled with excellent food and wonderful company – register to attend Formal Dinner in advance of the Junior Fellow lecture Series! All are welcome and encouraged to attend. Registration here: Formal Dinner – Massey College