2024 CBC Massey Lectures: Ian Williams

November 18, 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM EST

Free

In Ian Williams’ series of lectures, which he delivered across Canada this past fall, the award-winning author and poet explores what makes a good conversation, and how to connect with strangers even when you disagree with them — leaving space to maybe even change your mind. He also explains why sometimes the most important part of a conversation is silence.

Lecture 1: Why we need to have a conversation about conversations

Ever felt that no one is really listening? In the first of his 2024 CBC Massey Lectures, Williams explores why we need to have a conversation about conversations.

Civic and civil discourse have deteriorated, and the air is raw with anger and misunderstanding on all sides. Part of the reason is the lack of nuance in online spaces; another is that we’re closer than ever before to people who are different from us. So we need to find ways to change how we approach each other — because conversation isn’t going away.

Lecture 2: Public conversations

Williams believes that public space is important for democracy. This is where we articulate our values, and perhaps change our minds.

So how do we open ourselves up to connection with strangers while safeguarding our personal sovereignty and resisting efforts to convert us? And what can we learn from our conversations with strangers and loved ones alike about how to navigate the murky waters of national conversations?

Lecture audio will be available Nov. 19, 2024.

Lecture 3: Personal conversations

Bookstores are full of titles that are supposed to help us deal with difficult conversations — about emotions, hurts and misunderstandings.

The problem is that difficult conversations are almost always about something other than what they seem to be about. And what we’re actually looking for in a conversation isn’t always answers — it’s communion.

Lecture audio will be available Nov. 20, 2024.

Lecture 4: Who can speak for whom to whom about what?

Children’s first words tell us that they are listening, learning and figuring out the shape of the world. They’re also learning who can speak for whom to whom about what.

We’re in an era where many people feel an ownership over certain words, and how a community expresses itself. The term “appropriation” has come to create guardrails around what can be said and by whom. Williams considers the role of speech and silence in reallocating power, and what it means to truly listen.

Lecture audio will be available Nov. 21, 2024.

Ian Williams is a Canadian author and poet. His debut novel, Reproduction, won the Scotiabank Giller Prize in 2019. His short story collection, Not Anyone’s Anything, won the Danuta Gleed Literary Award for the best first collection of short fiction in Canada. He is currently a professor of creative writing at the University of Toronto. He is also a Trustee and past finalist of the Griffin Poetry Prize.

Details

Date:: November 18
Time:: 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM EST
Cost:: Free
Event Categories:: Lecture, Online
Website:: https://www.cbc.ca/newsinteractives/features/2024-massey-lectures-ian-williams/massey-lecture-1-why-we-need-to-have-a-conversation-about-conversations

Venue

Online

Organizer

: CBC; View Organizer Website