The Monday Night Seminars carry on the tradition of the Centre for Culture and Technology's public seminars at the University of Toronto, first established by Canadian media theorist Marshall McLuhan. They are designed to challenge prevailing cultural notions about technology and provoke new insight on the possibilities for a more equitable technological future.
All seminars take place in the intimate Coach House setting. In this up-close and personal environment, a range of thinkers: academics, activists, scientists, artists, designers, and planners will explore digital culture. Select seminars will be led by the Centre's Working Groups creating a bridge between research happening in the space and these public forums.
The Monday Night Seminars run from 6:00–8:00 pm. There is no cost to attend, but registration is required through Eventbrite. A link is posted through our Newsletter and social media when registration opens, approximately two weeks before each event date.
Images (right): Courtesy Robert Lansdale Photography Ltd and the University of Toronto Archives.
Winter 2024
Mendi & Keith Obadike
February 5, 2024
Mendi & Keith Obadike are artists, composers, and writers. Their works sit at the intersection of art, music, and language and draw upon histories of experimental media art and performance. This seminar will explore the significance of the Obadikes’ substantial body of conceptual artwork in the context of Black and decolonial activism and knowledge production. Cohosted by the Beating Time working group, whose work explores how rhythm is a useful concept in understanding contemporary political economy.
Cosponsored by the Faculty of Information Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Unit (EDIU).
Jacob Gaboury: Towards a Queer Media Archaeology
February 26, 2024
Jacob Gaboury (UC Berkeley) presents a talk on "queer uncomputability", sharing archival material from his ongoing research on queer figures in the early history of computer science.
Melody Jue & Zoe Todd
March 18, 2024 | Virtual Event
With Melody Jue (University of California, Santa Barbara) and Zoe Todd (Simon Fraser University). Please note that this event will take place online via Zoom.
This seminar is cohosted by the "Math for Minerals" working group, whose research investigates how the affordances of media are shaped by the geological elements they are made of, and theoretical approaches which frame "natural" environments themselves as media.
Matt Nish-Lapidus
April 1, 2024
Matt Nish-Lapidus' varied practice probes the myth that computers should be useful rather than beautiful through examining contemporary technoculture and its histories, politics, and impacts. His work results in diverse outputs including publications, recordings, installations, performances, software, and objects. Matt has performed and exhibited with ACUD Macht Neu, Electric Eclectics, MOCA (Toronto), InterAccess, ZKM, and more, including many DIY community spaces.
Miriam Posner
March 4, 2024
Miriam Posner (UCLA) is a digital humanist with interests in labor, race, feminism, and the history and philosophy of data. film, media, and American studies scholar by training, she frequently writes on the application of digital methods to the humanities. Her current work engages with the question of what "data" might mean for humanistic research, and how multinational corporations make use of data in their supply chains.
Fall 2023
Simone Jones: How Media Count
October 2, 2023
Join Artist-in-Residence Simone Jones (OCADU) for a tour of her exhibition How Media Count on display in the Coach House, and an artist talk on the research and process behind the work with discussion and Q&A to follow.
Atmospheres of Violence: Structuring Antagonism and the Trans/Queer Ungovernable
October 30, 2023
Join author Eric A. Stanley (UC Berkeley) for a lecture and book event for Atmospheres of Violence: Structuring Antagonism and the Trans/Queer Ungovernable (Duke University Press, 2021).
Cosponsored by Sexual Diversity Studies (SDS), Black Research Network (BRN), and the Faculty of Information: Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Unit (FoI EDIU).
Surfing the Manifold: Adventures in Latent Space
November 27, 2023
BMO Lab Director David Rokeby (University of Toronto) will share live demonstrations of a few of the systems the lab has been developing, and there will be a chance for attendees to interact with them themselves.
Queer Data Studies
December 11, 2023
Book Launch of Queer Data Studies (University of Washington Press, 2023), ed. Patrick Keilty (University of Toronto). With Shaka McGlotten (Purchase College-SUNY ) and Harris Kornstein (University of Arizona).
Co-sponsored by the Critical Digital Humanities Institute (CDHI) and the Data Studies Institute (DSI).
Together, Somehow: Music, Affect, and Intimacy on the Dancefloor
November 20, 2023
Luis-Mañuel Garcia Mispireta joins us for a book launch of Together, Somehow: Music, Affect, and Intimacy on the Dancefloor (Duke University Press, 2023). After the discussion, a set by local DJ Venus in Foil!
Cosponsored by the FoI EDIU.
Winter 2023
Subliminals: Human and Machine Pattern Recognition
January 16, 2023
Join us as we explore human and machine patterns through a seminar and hands-on workshop with artist, educator and imaging specialist L. M. Ramsey.
Platform Workers: Collectivities and Organizing
February 6, 2023
The Centre for Culture & Technology presents a conversation between Jennifer Scott (Gig Workers United) and Moira Weigel (Northeastern University) focusing on the collective and organizing challenges of platform workers.
The Clearing Continued,
March 6, 2023
Our Beating Time working group hosts a special lecture-performance by composer and poet JJJJJerome Ellis.
Honestly Confused, Creasy in the Memory
March 27, 2023
Designer, researcher and creator of Queering the Map Lucas LaRochelle discusses QT.bot, Queer Archives, Artificial Intelligence and Dissociative Worldmaking in a lecture and interactive seminar.
"Ware" and Tear: Extensions/Extractions of the Mediated Self
April 3, 2023
Ganaele Langlois (York University) and Isabel Pedersen (Ontario Tech University) join our Second Foundation working group to consider and critique the role of media in regimes of extraction and affect in our daily lives.
Thinking Organically
April 17, 2023
Edward Jones-Imhotep (University of Toronto) presents recent research on the history of "black androids"—racialized automata created between the mid-18th and late 20th centuries—and reflects on what they reveal about histories of the "technological self".
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - WINTER 2020
Cancel Service, Remove Line
JANUARY 27, 2020
A packed Town Hall on Cancel Culture with 4 hot takes from Beverly Bain, Sarah Hagi, Elisha Lim, and Christine Shaw.
Christine Shaw + Elisha Lim
Beverly Bain
Sarah Sharma + Sarah Hagi
Christine Shaw + Elisha Lim
Smooth Operator
FEBRUARY 24, 2020
A night on the dark side of social media's content moderation industry with Dr. Sarah T. Roberts.
Sarah T. Roberts
Sarah T. Roberts
Sarah T. Roberts
Sarah T. Roberts
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - FALL 2019
Line Dead, Repair Calls
SEPTEMBER 23, 2019
Jayna Brown and Steven Jackson opened the season on September 23 with a thought-provoking discussion of the relationship between technological repair and care for end-times!
Jayna Brown + Steven Jackson
Steven Jackson
Jayna Brown
Jayna Brown + Steven Jackson
Unlisted
NOVEMBER 4, 2019
Sandy Stone and Cassius Adair ask what's the Hot MessAge lurking in the Trans/Desire/Computer trifecta?
Sandy Stone
Sandy Stone
Sandy Stone + Cassius Adair
Sandy Stone
Unlimited Family Plan
OCTOBER 21, 2019
Sophie Lewis in conversation with Sarah Sharma about the relationship between reproductive technology, automation, gestational justice and Sophie's new book Full Surrogacy Now (Verso, 2019).
Sarah Sharma + Sophie Lewis
Sarah Sharma + Sophie Lewis
Hot Line, Cold Call
NOVEMBER 18, 2019
Yuri Furuhata, Mél Hogan, and Chris Russill cooled us down with their hot take on Environmental Media: sweaty Zuckerberg, smart air-conditioning, site-specific weather control and the geopolitics of planetary imaging.
Mél Hogan
Chris Russill
Call Forward
DECEMBER 2, 2019
Skawennati shared her current project, Calico & Camouflage, a fashion line of Resistance Wear. Co-presented with the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA).
Skawennati
Skawennati Second Life
Sarah Sharma
Skawennati
Fall 2022
The Centre on the Margins
NOVEMBER 14, 2022
Sarah Sharma, University of Toronto, ICCIT
Scott Richmond, University of Toronto, Cinema Studies Institute
Queer Archives
NOVEMBER 28, 2022
Bliss Lim, University of Toronto, Cinema Studies Institute
SA Smythe, University of Toronto, Faculty of Information
Rachel Corbman, University of Toronto, Critical Digital Humanities Institute
Moderated by Patrick Keilty, University of Toronto, Faculty of Information
platform mechanics and the undercommons
SEPTEMBER 17, 2018
A night with Lisa Nakamura (Gwendolyn Calvert Baker Collegiate Professor in the Department of American Cultures at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor) and Tara McPherson (Chair and Professor of Cinema and Media Studies at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts and Director of the Sidney Harman Academy for Polymathic Studies) on the logics of the platforms: how platform mechanics facilitates white supremacist activity, the machinic desire for authentic contact with others, and how racial empathy is becoming increasingly automated.
Lisa Nakamura + Tara McPherson
Lisa Nakamura
Twitter handles
Lisa Nakamura + Tara McPherson
CTRL:CMD:EXE <an evening on media war>
OCTOBER 22, 2018
An evening on a media theory for war with Megan Boler (University of Toronto), Jeremy Packer (University of Toronto), and Geoffrey Winthrop-Young (University of British Columbia).
Megan Boler, Geoffrey Winthrop-Young, Jeremy Packer
Audience
Megan Boler, Geoffrey Winthrop-Young, Jeremy Packer
#Fitter #Happier #MoreProductive
NOVEMBER 19, 2018
A night with Melissa Gregg (Intel Corporation), Alison Hearn (University of Western Ontario) + Natasha Down Schull (New York University).
Alison Hearn
Sarah Sharma, Melissa Gregg, Alison Hearn, Natasha Dow Schull
Building: <Black> <Feminist> / <Queer><Digital> <Justice> Query: Community Activators
OCTOBER 1, 2018
Presented by this year’s McLuhan Centre Working Group, Black Technoscience “Here”: community organizers and researchers Ladan Siad (Data Justice Researcher, Technoscience Research Unit, Toronto) and Nasma Ahmed (Director, Digital Justice Lab, Toronto) in conversation on how data justice practices and visions are being created among Black feminist/queer data justice communities in the city of Toronto and beyond.
Ladan Siad + Nasma Ahmed
Sold out crowd
Describe your image
Ladan Siad + Nasma Ahmed
Senses_Sensibilities + Touch_Technology
NOVEMBER 5, 2018
A night thinking through how discourses of technological touch have been led by the logics of #MechanicalBro with Rhonda McEwen (University of Toronto) and David Parisi (College of Charleston).
Rhonda McEwen + David Parisi
Audience
Rhonda McEwen
Rhonda McEwen + David Parisi
Re/Figuration: Digital Tactics 4 Digital Colonialism
DECEMBER 3, 2018
A inspiring night with New Media Artist, Morehshin Allahyari (New York City).
New Media Artist, Morehshin Allahyari
New Media Artist, Morehshin Allahyari
New Media Artist, Morehshin Allahyari
New Media Artist, Morehshin Allahyari
Of Other Internets
JANUARY 28, 2019
A night of nets - the soviet net, the queer net and ARPA-net. Nick Dyer-Witherford, Cait McKinney, and Ben Peters asked: how do specific network structures determine different political possibilities?
Nick Dyer-Witheford, Cait McKinney, and Benjamin Peters.
Nick Dyer-Witheford, Cait McKinney, and Benjamin Peters.
Nick Dyer-Witheford, Cait McKinney, and Benjamin Peters.
Nick Dyer-Witheford, Cait McKinney, and Benjamin Peters.
deBrogramming App Studies
FEBRUARY 25, 2019
A discussion of where a new sub-field of study—App Studies—should or could be heading with Stefanie Duguay, Aphra Kerr, and David Nieborg.
Stefanie Duguay, Aphra Kerr, and David Nieborg
Stefanie Duguay, Aphra Kerr, and David Nieborg
Stefanie Duguay, Aphra Kerr, and David Nieborg
Stefanie Duguay, Aphra Kerr, and David Nieborg
Source Code: Illegible
MARCH 18, 2019
A discussion with Simone Browne (University of Texas, Austin) and the McLuhan Centre PhD Illegible Media Working Group members: Jessica Lapp, Rianka Singh, Karen Dewart McEwen, and Rebecca Noone.
Simone Browne, Jessica Lapp, Rianka Singh, Karen Dewart McEwen, Rebecca Noone
Simone Browne, Jessica Lapp, Rianka Singh, Karen Dewart McEwen, Rebecca Noone
Simone Browne, Jessica Lapp, Rianka Singh, Karen Dewart McEwen, Rebecca Noone
Simone Browne, Jessica Lapp, Rianka Singh, Karen Dewart McEwen, Rebecca Noone
ctrl alt DIRT
FEBRUARY 11, 2019
A discussion about designing digital strategies and technological tactics beyond respectability, hygiene, and publicness. We lost ctrl, thought alt, and got into the DIRT with Zach Blas (Glodsmiths, University of London), T.L. Cowan (University of Toronto), and Jasmine Rault (University of Toronto).
Zach Blas (Glodsmiths, University of London), T.L. Cowan (University of Toronto), and Jasmine Rault (University of Toronto)
Zach Blas (Glodsmiths, University of London), T.L. Cowan (University of Toronto), and Jasmine Rault (University of Toronto)
Zach Blas (Glodsmiths, University of London), T.L. Cowan (University of Toronto), and Jasmine Rault (University of Toronto)
Zach Blas (Glodsmiths, University of London), T.L. Cowan (University of Toronto), and Jasmine Rault (University of Toronto)
A Pedestrian View of Sidewalk
MARCH 4, 2019
A discussion of Sidewalk Toronto with Beth Coleman, Shannon Mattern, and Bianca Wylie.
Beth Coleman, Shannon Mattern, Bianca Wylie
Beth Coleman, Shannon Mattern, Bianca Wylie
Beth Coleman, Shannon Mattern, Bianca Wylie
Beth Coleman, Shannon Mattern, Bianca Wylie
New Technological Ir/rationalities
APRIL 1, 2019
A discussion with Sun-ha Hong (Simon Fraser University), Selena Nemorin (University College London), and Whitney Phillips (Syracuse University).
Sun-ha Hong, Selena Nemorin + Whitney Phillips
Sun-ha Hong, Selena Nemorin + Whitney Phillips
Sun-ha Hong, Selena Nemorin + Whitney Phillips
Sun-ha Hong, Selena Nemorin + Whitney Phillips
MsUnderstanding Media
September 18, 2017 - April 9, 2018
PROGRAM
How to MsUnderstand Media: Incubator, Gun, CRISPR and
the Fearless Girl
Anne Balsamo, University of Texas Dallas
Sarah Banet-Weiser, University of Southern California-Annenberg
Sara Martel, The Institute for Better Health
Judith Nicholson, Wilfred Laurier University
Spinning the Global with Textile Media
Radhika Gajjala, Bowling Green State University
Ganaele Langlois, York University
Dori Tunstall, OCAD University
Offsite Workshop: If McLuhan was a Spinster and Massaging
the Non-Human
Ganaele Langlois + Radhika Gajjala
Contemporary Textile Studio Cooperative
Automating Injustice
Rachel Hall, Syracuse University
Alex Hanna, University of Toronto
Rhonda McEwen, University of Toronto
Armond Towns, University of Denver
Platform Labour’s Algorithmic Frictions
Tero Karppi, University of Toronto
Safiya Noble, University of Southern California-Annenburg
Data Justice Across Environmental Publics
Beth Coleman, University of Waterloo
Michelle Murphy, University of Toronto
Media Labours of Love
Brooke Erin Duffy, Cornell University
Jenna Jacobson, Ryerson University
Leslie Shade, University of Toronto
Of Man Caves and Basements: Mapping Gender in Meatspace
Florence Chee, Loyola University Chicago
Emily Flynn-Jones, Wilfred Laurier University
Nicholas Taylor, North Carolina State University
Lurk Over Here: Digital Bystander Culture
Carrie Rentschler, McGill University
Wendy Komiotis, METRAC
Andrea Slane, UOIT
Glitching the Code of the Techno-Logic: the NO!!!BOT
Praba Pilar, Performance Artist
Shame Shame Shame (refresh)
Wendy Hui Kyong Chun, Brown University
Susanna Paasonen, University of Turku
We Interrupt This Program: Indigenous Media Tactics in Canada
A book launch and discussion with:
John H.M. Kelly, CIRCLE
Miranda Brady, Carleton University
Terril Calder, Independent Film Director