Event Dates and Location(s)
Friday, May 5th, 2023 and Saturday, May 6th, 2023
Campbell Conference Facility, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy (1 Devonshire Place) and various locations across Toronto
Event Theme and Scope
The 2023 Beatrice and Arthur Minden Symposium on the Environment is a collaboration with Critical Zones, an initiative dedicated to promoting the environmental humanities at U of T and across the bioregion. The event will explore anthropogenic impacts on the earth, using a broad range of approaches from the environmental humanities, decolonial studies, Indigenous studies, and more.
Despite the IPCC’s repeated warnings of verging systemic collapse as we pass crucial tipping points, and although policy makers and technology experts have detailed the necessary steps to protect the biosphere, we still lack the critical mass to mobilize for a planetary transformation. This year’s Beatrice and Arthur Minden Symposium explores the possible contributions of humanistic, artistic, cultural and social ways of knowing to help catalyze a shift in consciousness to imagine this transformation.
Notes on Registration
The registration fee for the symposium is $10.00 (CAD) and includes a lunch and light refreshments on both days of the event.
Fee waivers are available for students at the University of Toronto. Please see the FAQ for more details.
Space is limited for the field trips and land acknowledgement workshop. Register now to secure your spot.
The morning sessions of each day of the event will be streamed virtually. Please see the FAQ for more details.
Event Schedule
The 2023 Beatrice and Arthur Minden Symposium on the Environment will take place across two days of events: the mornings of each day will feature a variety of panels and talks, headed by the keynote lecture, and the afternoon's will include guided “field trips” into Toronto’s urban ecologies and its intertwined environmental, cultural and colonial histories. Please see the event schedule below for more on the day's events. For more information please see the detailed event schedule located on the School of the Environment's events page.
Notes on Field Trips
All field trips will depart in groups from the event venue - the Munk School of Global Affairs (1 Devonshire).
All field trips will be running rain or shine unless there are exceptional weather conditions.
All field trips will require moderate levels of walking on various terrains. If you have accessibility concerns and would like to attend a specific field trip, please contact events.environment@utoronto.ca for specific field trip details.
Participants of the symposium will be able to select one (1) field trip to attend each day.
Field trips located on or near St. George campus will be accessed by walking. Field trip excursions located outside of St. George campus will be accessed through public transit and will be available for reimbursement.
Participants will receive detailed field trip information via email upon registration.