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- Except where noted all lectures are presented on a Saturday evening in Room 1A1, Ewart Angus Centre, McMaster University Medical Centre (MUMC), except where indicated.
- No reserved seating. Pre-registration is not required, except where indicated.
- McMaster University's COVID-19 guidelines for classrooms apply. Masks and physical distancing regarding seating are encouraged.
- [ See in "inserts" folder our file "pleaseNote - online.html" TO BE CREATED YET | 2026 Jul 05 ]
Upcoming
| Sep 19, Sat, 7:30 pm |
| Remembering Margaret: A View from the Streets — by Denise Davy |
Show/hide more details.Margaret was a homeless, faceless person to those who passed her without giving a thought to her history. Denise Davy wanted to know more. That questioning became the focus of Davy's extensive research, that led to the book, Her Name was Margaret: Life and Death on the Streets, and to this lecture, which asks us to see Margaret as an individual and consider her life in the context of social systems that could be different. Denise Davy is an award-winning author and journalist who specializes in writing about pervasive social issues in Canada and abroad. She worked for the Hamilton Spectator for more than 25 years. |
| TBA |
| Our Annual General Meeting |
|
Information about our AGM, which is usually held in late October or early November,
will be displayed on this page when available and emailed to everyone on our e-Contacts list.
|
| Oct 17, Sat, 7:30 pm |
| Gulls, Guillemots and More: Studying the Effects of a Changing Arctic Environment — by Emily Choy |
Show/hide more details.Emily Choy has an affinity with the North and a history of studying marine predators like beluga whales and sea birds, and learning how to track and record their responses to growing stressors in the Arctic, e.g., changes in temperature, food sources, and contaminants. In this talk she describes some research activities and results, and discusses implications for various species. An Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at McMaster University, Dr. Choy has conducted research in Nunavut and Alaska and, in cooperation with NWT Inuvialuit communities, in the Beaufort Sea. She participated as a Weston Scientist in the 2014 Victoria Strait Expedition to find the Franklin expedition’s lost ships, and has received both the 2023 Early Career Researcher Award from the Society of Canadian Ornithologists and the King Charles III Coronation Medal. |
| Nov 7, Sat, 7:30 pm |
| A Conductor's View: Music, Community, and the HPO — by James Kahane |
Show/hide more details.The Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra has played a seminal role in the city’s musical life and reputation. James Kahane discusses the process of bringing music to audiences as a music director and conductor, both behind the scenes and on stage, and shares some insights, ideas and stories about the experience of making and hearing live orchestral music. Born in Paris and trained as a conductor in Finland, Mr. Kahane moved to Hamilton in 2024 to take on the role of Music Director and Conductor of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra. He also conducts the Helsinki Chamber Orchestra, Polytech Orchestra and France’s Orchestre de Chambre de la Drôme, in addition to regular guest appearances at the Helsinki Contemporary Opera Festival. |
| Dec 5, Sat, 7:30 pm |
| Dundas Forever: Preserving and Presenting the History of the Valley Town — by Austin Strutt |
Show/hide more details.While world history can be picked up in any bookstore or read online with relative ease, local history can often seem hopelessly inaccessible. When it is made possible, however, exploring the past of one's own community can feel almost like time travel! This talk will examine how Dundas Ontario developed a historical consciousness that led to the creation of the Hamilton area's most active, accessible, and unique Museum and Archive. Austin Strutt is a local historian with an abiding interest in Dundas. Since 2018 he has worked as Exhibitions Curator for the Dundas Museum & Archives, where he delves among the collections to discover all there is to know about the Valley. He is also the owner, editor, and publisher of Dundas' oldest operating print newspaper, The Granite Balloon. |
| Jan, 2027 – TBA |
| Title and Speaker to be announced | R NA | Watch the Video |
Show/hide more details.
The tentative date is January 16. Please visit this page again closer to January.
|
| Feb 20, Sat, 7:30 pm |
| Engineering Devices that Listen to the Body's Molecules — by Leyla Soleymani |
Show/hide more details.Next-generation biological sensors and wearable technologies are aimed at improving the understanding and management of health and disease. Through her research, using innovations in bio-sensing technology that bridge the fields of engineering, science, and health sciences, Dr. Soleymani has successfully licensed several technologies to diagnostic companies and founded two startup companies. Dr. Soleymani received her B.Eng. from McGill University, her M.Sc. from the University of Southern California, and her Ph.D. from the University of Toronto. She is currently an engineering professor and Tier I Canada Research Chair in Miniaturized Biomedical Devices at McMaster University and a member of the Royal Society of Canada (New College of Scholars, Artists, and Scientists). {Put presenter`s professional details in the final paragraph of the `div` block} |
| Mar 13, Sat, 7:30 pm |
| Science and Metaphor: When physics runs out of time, poetry will be there to save it. — by Jeffery Donaldson |
Show/hide more details.Physics today is all about acceleration: faster particles, faster information processing, faster change, under the auspices of the quantum. But quantum physics is also at an impasse with gravity and general relativity. Its precise truth is a puzzle. What would happen if we treated the puzzles of the quantum field using the puzzles of poetry, the puzzles of metaphoric relations? Would we be able to slow things down? Scholar and poet Jeffery Donaldson teaches English at McMaster. His book Missing Link: the Evolution of Metaphor and the Metaphor of Evolution was published in 2015. Since that time, Donaldson has been chasing the implications of his argument towards the last frontier, the meaning of space and time in physics. |
| Apr 3, Sat, 7:30 pm |
| Forget the Hype: The Five Habits that Actually Improve Healthspan — by Stuart Phillips |
Show/hide more details.Skip the peptides, gadgets, micro-doses and miracle cures. Decades of evidence point to five everyday habits that actually move the needle on ‘healthspan’, and they cost almost nothing. Drawing from evidence, this talk distils what really works. Stuart Phillips explores why these pillars outperform pricey interventions, how to start small without overhauling your life, and which changes deliver the biggest returns. Practical, evidence-based, and refreshingly free of hype, this session offers a beginner-friendly road map to aging well today, no boutique clinic or biohacking budget required. Dr. Stuart Phillips is a Distinguished University Professor and Canada Research Chair in the Department of Kinesiology at McMaster University. |
Past
Our Annual Brochure
Our annual brochure provides information about our current season's lectures and our awards program for aspiring teen-age prose prose writers, poets, scientists and musicians. It also lists the officers and other members of our Executive Council, briefly summarizes the Association's long history, and provides essential contact information.
The printed brochure for our upcoming lecture season (September to April will be available in late July or early August.
We have mailed a printed copy of the current season's brochure to our life members, our current annual members, our recent former annual members (those whose membership expired within the past 7 years), and those among the Association's friends (persons who have never been a member) who have communicated with our Corresponding Secretary or Treasurer during the past seven years and for whom we have a presumably current postal address.
A downloadable printer-friendly version of the brochure will be available here by early September.
A downloadable, printer-friendly version of the brochure is available here.
The brochure is always available for pickup at our public lectures. You may also contact our Corresponding Secretary to request a copy of the printed brochure.
You may contact our Corresponding Secretary to request a copy of the printed brochure.
When and Where
WHEN
The start times and other details (title, presenter's name, abstract) of our upcoming lectures will be provided on this page by early August.
Except where noted above, each lecture will be presented on a Saturday evening, starting at 7:30 pm.
Each lecture will begin with the President's welcome and the introduction of the evening's presenter. The latter will speak for about 50 to 60 minutes. A question and answer (Q&A) period will follow. The duration of the Q&A period depends on the audience. Our experience is that the Q&A seldom exceeds 10 minutes.
Each evening will end by about 9:00 pm. Presenters often stay for a few minutes after the Q&A in order to answer additional questions from audience members one-on-one.
WHERE
Except where noted above — see MmmmmmM dd — each lecture will be presented in Room 1A1 of the Ewart Angus Centre (EAC).
The Ewart Angus Centre is an area in the north-west (left-rear, relative to the Main Street entrance) corner of the McMaster Children's Hospital on Main Street West. See our Campus Map.)
The EAC is wheel-chair accessible. Enter either via the Centre's front (west ) or rear (east) ground-floor doors or via the corridor that runs through the Red and the Purple areas to the rear of the hospital building. If entering the hospital via its front (Main Street) doors, turn left, go down the corridor, and take a Red elevator down one level to Floor 1. On exiting the elevator turn left and, after a short jog to the right and then the left, carry on past the Purple elevators and into the open space just beyond. That open area is the Ewart Angus Centre's lobby.
From the EAC Lobby to Room 1A1:
- If you enter the hospital building via the rear (north-end) doors facing University Crescent, you are already in the Ewart Angus Centre. Carry on into the lobby and enter the first corridor on your left. (Event signs will be posted at the start of this corridor.)
- If you enter the hospital building via the rear (north-end) doors facing the building's inner courtyard, you are already in the EAC lobby. Go past the staircase and enter the first corridor on your right. (Event signs will be posted at the start of this corridor.)
- If you enter the EAC lobby via the corridor that ends at the Purple elevators, turn left on entering the lobby, walk past the staircase, turn right, and enter the corridor ahead of you. (Event signs will be posted at the start of this corridor.)
- Room 1A1 is on your right at the end of the corridor. An event sign will be posted on the entrance to assist you.
Parking On and Off the McMaster Campus
CONCERNING THE McMASTER CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL (MCH) PARKING LOTS
We suggest that you not park in the Hospital's underground lot or the surface (emergency short term) lots. When we last checked, on July 4, 2026, the Monday to Sunday rates were $4.50 (underground) and $5.00 (surface) per half hour or less to a daily maximum of $24 (underground) and $29 (surface) respectively (MCH's rates).
OFF-CAMPUS PARKING ON NEARBY RESIDENTIAL STREETS
There are some off-campus parking spots on the streets running left or right off Stirling, north of King St. West.
Spots are usually unrestricted on Saturday evenings along most streets (except Stirling) in the area near McMaster campus. Nonetheless, before leaving your vehicle, read carefully the city's signs regarding on-street parking. Before leaving your vehicle, ensure that any valuable objects are locked in your trunk or otherwise not visible to prying eyes.
ON-CAMPUS PARKING
For lot locations near the hospital building and vehicle access details see our Campus Map and associated instructions.
McMaster University provides no free on-campus parking at any time.
The charge for entering any gated lot and for metered on-street parking
on a Saturday is a one-time payment which is valid until at least midnight.
You pay when leaving a gated lot or when obtaining your ticket from any nearby on-street meter. Payment is by credit card only.
(See, generally, the information for visitors on the McMaster website, at https://parking
When we last checked, on July 4, 2026, visitors without a transponder or seasonal parking permit could park for a flat rate of $8.00 (Mon-Fri, 4 pm to 6:30 am, and any time Sat, Sun, and holidays) in gated lots A (Divinity College), B, C, D, G, H, I, Q, Underground Wilson, Underground Stadium, or in a metered on-street parking spot. All gated parking lots are located farther from the Ewart Angus Centre than the two on-campus bus stops nearest the EAC.
Metered on-street parking spots are available on the east side of College Crescent, next to the Bourns Science Building and the John Hodgins Engineering Annex. Note the permit dispensers at regular intervals along the sidewalk.
Our understanding is that Parking Services' enforcement of the metered on-street parking rules is lax or non-existent on Saturday evenings after 7:00 pm. In the past some members have parked in one of the on-street spots on College Crescent, forgotten to purchase a permit from the nearest meter, and not been ticketed.
One final caution: Do not park in a designated fire route, such as behind or beside the Ewart Angus Centre, or spot reserved for disabled persons and those with accessibility issues unless, of course, you have an up-to-date Ministry of Transportation Accessibility Permit for such spots. You risk being ticketed and towed for either offence.
The Association is not and will not be held responsible for any parking ticket you might receive, no matter where you parked.
If Coming By Bus
BUSES TO THE MAIN McMASTER CAMPUS
The HSR's #51 University bus stops on the main McMaster campus on University Avenue opposite the Life Sciences building, which is the building immediately east of the Ewart Angus Centre (EAC), our usual venue. The EAC is in the north-west corner of the Purple section in the McMaster University Medical Centre (MUMC). (See sub-section "Where", above, for additional directions.) Note that the #1A King bus, which also stops opposite the Life Sciences building, does not operate on Saturdays and Sundays.
The #5 Delaware and the #10 B-Line Express buses do not enter the McMaster campus. However they do stop on Main St. West opposite (when west-bound) or at (when east-bound) Emerson Avenue. These stops are near the front entrance to the MUMC. As noted above, the EAC is in the purple section of the Medical Centre. (Again, see sub-section "Where", above, for additional directions.)
For up-to-date HSR route information visit the HSR website at
"www.hamilton.ca