Book Launch

The Connected Minds Book Launch celebrates new interdisciplinary publications exploring the intersections of technology, society, and justice. Featuring readings and discussions with authors, the event highlights arts-based, EDI-forward scholarship while engaging the community in critical conversations about human values, agency, and ethical innovation. Participants will have the opportunity to connect with authors, ask questions, and explore ways research can create meaningful social impact. Light refreshments and a book table will complement this accessible and inclusive knowledge-sharing event.

Register now!

Author Spotlights:

Rob Gehl, Ontario Research Chair of Digital Governance for Social Justice

In his new book Move Slowly and Build Bridges, Robert W. Gehl tells the story of the activists, software developers, artists, and everyday people who have built the fediverse, a noncentralized alternative social media system. Unlike big tech corporations like Facebook, TikTok, or X, the fediverse is comprised of thousands of small, independent communities who use a Web protocol to communicate with one another.

Michael Sherbert, Postdoctoral Fellow

Deconstructing Transhumanism: A Religion Without Religion challenges the idea that transhumanism—a movement advocating technological enhancement of human life—is purely secular and scientific. Drawing on Jacques Derrida, Michael G. Sherbert reveals how transhumanist visions of AI, digital immortality, and human perfection are shaped by enduring religious concepts such as salvation, messianism, and transcendence. By analyzing figures like Ray Kurzweil, David Pearce, and Nick Bostrom, the book shows how even the most futuristic technological goals often carry hidden religious structures, offering a critical lens on the assumptions underlying Western visions of progress and the future.

Dean Ray, Postdoctoral Fellow

How do Indigenous communities thrive despite structures that were designed to destroy them? Indigenous Futures answers this question through five years of fieldwork with six First Nations in British Columbia's Nicola Valley, revealing how resurgence emerges through weaving Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultures together.

Agenda

11:05 - 11:10 AM - Welcome, Opening Remarks & Land Acknowledgment

11:10 AM – 11:40 AM - Excerpts

11:40 AM – 12:00 PM - Pair & Reflect Activity/Audience Q&A

12:00 PM – 12:10 PM - Networking Break

12:10 PM – 12:50 PM - Panel Discussion

12:50 PM – 1:00 PM - Audience Q&A

1:00 PM – 1:05 PM - Closing Remarks

1:05 PM – 2:00 PM - Networking Session