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The 2024-2025 York Circle Lecture Series

Presented in partnership with our York Circle Chair, Jennifer Steeves (BA ’94, MA ’96, PhD ’01), Associate Vice-President Research (AVPR), we are excited to welcome you back to Keele campus for the York Circle Lecture series. Hear from York's leading faculty members on a wide range of interesting topics that speak to some of the key themes that define York University.

Dr. Jennifer Mills, Professor, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health

The Effects of Social Media on Young Women's Body Image and Self-Esteem

Social media use has resulted in major shifts in the way people think, feel and behave. This talk will provide an overview on the relationship between social media and body image in young women. Learn about the results of several studies conducted at York University examining the relationship between social media and mental health, and their real world implications.


Dr. Danielle Robinson, Associate Professor, Theatre, Dance and Performance, School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design

New Capstone Classroom Creates Community and Connection

Do students need to feel connected as a community in order to feel satisfied with their learning? What enhances or detracts from those feelings of connection as a community? This talk will discuss York’s C4 program (Cross-Campus Capstone Classroom), a grassroots initiative that brings together faculty, staff and students to work with community and industry partners on challenges designed to create positive social impact.

Dr. Sachil Singh, Assistant Professor, School of Kinesiology & Health Science, Faculty of Health

Racial biases in Healthcare – Algorithms to the Rescue?

Algorithms are used in healthcare to improve hospital efficiency and better inform patient diagnoses and treatment plans. With an eye on race, this talk will draw on interviews with healthcare practitioners and data scientists to demonstrate how perceptions of algorithms as objective, neutral and unbiased technologies are misleading. When coupled with healthcare practitioners’ own racial biases, the compounding impact is one that can deepen already existing racial inequalities beyond healthcare.


Dr. Sylvia Bawa, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies

International Solidarity for Women's and Minority Rights

Which groups and institutions are implicated in thinking about women’s and minority rights through the right to solidarity? Dr. Sylvia Bawa argues that while there is a concern over the ‘dilution’ of human rights, there is a need to cultivate a solidarity consciousness in order to ensure accountability for human rights principles. She uses two concepts in African humanism, Ubuntu (a relational humanity consciousness) and Ferootuma (duty), to argue against the charitable impulse when we confront issues of poverty, marginalization and injustice.


Ideas for Life, Living and the World Around Us

Since 2009, York Circle has showcased the ideas and research being generated by York University’s community. Topics come from every faculty and have included discussions around gender issues, brain function, mental health, international aid, sports injuries, financial policy and many more evolving subjects.

Join The York Circle! Membership is free! Once you’ve joined, we’ll invite you to each event where you can learn about current research on key topics from York’s professors.

Please note: Current students and faculty of York are not eligible to join The York Circle but can attend as a guest of a registered member.

For more information on The York Circle, call us at (416) 650-8159 or email us at alumnievents@yorku.ca.