Feminism

Talk'n feminism.

Feminism is for everybody. I've always loved talk'n feminism to terrified high school students, dealing with their perceptions of the powerful movement that has shaped our world.

From "what is the White Supremacist Capitalist Patriarchy?" to "is Xena Warrior Princess a feminist icon?" This lecture will also include a brief history of Feminism.

Bring your questions. If you'd like, we'll give a feminist reading of Lady Gaga, Carrie from Sex in the City, anything. We'll definitely do a feminist reading about how the media presents feminism.

The Comedy Bar
945 Bloor
8 - 9pm

$5 for men
$4 for women
(lecture price adjusted for Ontario's gender pay gap http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/500415)

Colonialism/Postcolonialism/Neocolonialism

This is what we're all about. Dusting off academic terms and showing how they live and breathe in your world. New perspectives and key information. From the Scramble to Africa to World Cup soccer. From Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness to James Cameron's Avatar.

KnowMore Lecture 10
Colonialism/Postcolonialism/Neocolonialism
March 1st
8pm - 9pm
$5

We're Back.

The KnowMore Lectures are back. We've moved to a new space but we've kept our badass approach to learning (winks, attempts to wheelie on motorcycle, settles for driving really fast). We're starting back up on February 1st.

The KnowMore Lectures
Monday, February 1st.
8pm - 9pm.
$5.
At the Comedy Bar (945 Bloor street -right across the street from the west exit of Ossington station)

KnowMore Hiatus

The KnowMore lectures have begun their four month hiatus.

They will return in August with a new venue and maybe a haircut (unlikely).

Thanks to everyone who attended and shared their feedback.

The next step for the KnowMore lectures is total transparency. I'll be keeping the fun, informal, unpretentious style and adding a discreet layer of quotes from primary sources and recommended readings. In my early days as a teacher it was all about how flashy and funny I was. Now, as I move into phase II, I'm trying to focus on effectiveness. Help people retain information, pursue their interests, and introduce ideas that may inspire them.

In the future, I'll be revisiting lectures, perhaps even breaking up the more ambitious ones into a miniseries.

All the Science

Major scientific developments in a nutshell. From teeny subatomic particles to the vast reaches of the universe and all of the gravity, electromagnetism, and theories of relativity in between.

Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Newton, Darwin, Faraday, Einstein, and more.

Great ideas explained in a straightforward and fun way. Spreading an understanding of relativity, entropy, evolution, black holes and other fascinating ideas.

Thursday, March 19th, 2009
$5
Unit 102
8pm - 9:30pm

KnowMore Break

There will be no lecture on Thursday, March 5th. I'll be having my wisdom teeth removed.

I will return, less wise, on Thursday, March 19th for All the Science.

WWI and WWII

This is the tale of the war that cast a shadow over human civilization. A time when all of our greatest achievements were unleashed as nightmares. From poison gas to atomic bombs. From scientific racism to civilian bombings. From the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand to the suicide of Adolf Hitler. World War I and World War II are directly connected. Hundreds of years from now it will most likely be remembered as a single narrative of war.

This is a story about glory, empire, invention, and human suffering. It will see Emperors fall, revolutionary visionaries rise, and the unnatural deaths of over 100 million people.

Churchill, Wilson, Truman, Bismarck, Hitler, Stalin, Roosevelt, Mao, Hirohito are all leaders who brought bold answers to the daunting questions of their time.

What started it? What happened? And will awareness prevent it from happening again?

(pictured: the firebombing of Dresden)

WWI and WWII
Thursday, February 19th.
8pm-9:30pm
$5 Unit 102 (46 Noble Street)

I thank you heartily for your mediation which begins to give one hope that all may yet end peacefully. It is technically impossible to stop our military preparation... We are far from wishing war... I put all my trust in Gods mercy and hope in your successful mediation in Vienna for the welfare of our countries and for the peace of Europe.

Your affectionate
Nicky

(excerpt from the Willy-Nicky telegrams July 31st, 1914)