Dear friends of the UMIH, Please join us for a full agenda of exciting events covering a wide range of topics, several in collaboration with UMIH’s partners. Please advertise these events, circulate the information and attached posters in your units and with anyone who might be interested.
We begin today, Monday, October 20th, with another of our Brown Bag Lunch Series, on “Understanding Mediums: The Extensions of Spirit,” at 1pm, 409 Tier. This is a presentation by Catherine van Reenen, doctoral candidate in the Department of Religion and one of UMIH’s graduate fellows. Based on a chapter of her thesis, this presentation will highlight conceptual affinities between the media theory of Marshall McLuhan and the 'medium theory' of a group of psychical researchers who focused on a phenomenon known as 'teleplasm', a mysterious substance alleged to ooze from the orifices of entranced mediums.
-Workshop: “AI and Artmaking”
Erika Jean Lincoln,
-Organized by Creative Manitoba and Mentoring Artists for Women’s Art (MAWA), supported by UMIH
-Date: October 22, 7- 8:30pm, online, information available at https://creativemanitoba.ca/event/ai-and-artmaking/#tribe-tickets__tickets-f...
This online Boot Camp will break down artificial intelligence (AI) into bite-sized pieces that are easy to understand. It will explore the gateways and barriers that AI employs in image and sound generation, and generative text in performance and writing.
-UMIH Guest Lecture Series: “Strangely Friends. A History of Cuban-Canadian Encounters” Karen Dubinsky (Queen’s University)
Date: Thursday, October 23rd, 2:30pm, 409 Tier
In this presentation, Karen Dubinsky will discuss her new book Strangely Friends, which focuses on the often-neglected network of personal and cultural connections between Cuban and Canadians since the early days of the Cuban revolution. It addresses the stories of many Canadians, from teachers and activists, attracted to Cuban a well as of Cubans drawn to Canada. This presentation , organized by UMIH, also counts on the support of the Research Cluster on Power and Resistance in Latin America and the Centre for Human Rights Research
There will also be a book presentation and discussion of Dr. Dubinsky’s book the following day, also co-sponsored with the Centre for Human Rights Research: “An evening of Cuban-Canadian Encounters Through Music, Art, Politics, and More with Karen Dubinsky and Jorge Nállim.”
Friday, October 24, 7pm, Atrium at McNally Robinson Booksellers’-Grant Park
For more information, visit https://chrr.info/event/an-evening-on-cuban-canadian-encounters-through-musi... and https://www.mcnallyrobinson.com/event-18802/Karen-Dubinsky-Winnipeg-Book-Lau...
For next week, mark your calendars for two additional events:
UMIH Guest Lecture Series: “Research Subjectivity and the Politics of Israel/Palestine”
Mira Sucharov (Carleton University)
October 29th, noon, 409 Tier Bldg. In this presentation, Mira Sucharov, Professor of Political Science at Carleton University, will discuss the role of the scholar-activist as researcher in the context of the politics of Israel/Palestine. This event is possible due to the support of the Newcombe Family Foundation
-“Refusing to Harness a River: A Study of Drylands Farmers Resisting Irrigation in Mid-20th Century Saskatchewan. Shannon Stunden Bower (University of Alberta) Thursday, October 30th, 1-2:30pm, 108 St. John’s College This presentation will focus on dryland farmers from Saskatchewan’s Outlook-Broderick area in their efforts to resist the Saskatchewan government’s attempts to compel them to irrigate. This event, organized by the Centre for Human Rights Research, is also supported by the UMIH’s Research Cluster Food Matters. For more info on this event, see https://chrr.info/event/refusing-to-harness-a-river-a-study-of-dryland-farme...
Also, we continue reminding about one forthcoming event and a conference in February 2026, both organized by UMIH Research Affiliate Dr. Mariya Shymchyshyn:
-“The Great Overlooked – Prof. Leonid Biletskyi as Teacher and Scholar”
This is a one-day symposium honoring Leonid Biletskyi (1882–1955), an influential Ukrainian literary scholar, educator, and cultural leader whose work in Winnipeg left a lasting legacy. This one-day, mixed-format symposium will be held on November 18th, 409 Tier, beginning at noon and with the keynote address delivered via Zoom at 2:30pm by Prof. Rostyslav Radyshevskyi (Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv). We have several confirmed participants already and the program will be announced soon. For further information and potential participation, see attached pdf and contact Dr. Shymchyshyn at mariya.shymchyshyn@umanitoba.camailto:mariya.shymchyshyn@umanitoba.ca
- International Conference, “Identity in Motion: Literary Representations of Refugees, Exiles, and Immigrants”. UMIH, February 5-6, 2026. The Institute for Humanities at the University of Manitoba invites proposals for papers and panel presentations for the international conference Identity in Motion: Literary Representations of Refugees, Exiles, and Immigrants. This conference seeks to explore the diverse literary portrayals of displacement, migration, exile, and the refugee experience across genres, languages, and cultures. We welcome interdisciplinary approaches, including but not limited to literary studies, cultural studies, history, and sociology. The format for this conference is hybrid (in person/Zoom). The deadline for submitting proposals is January 5th 2026. For more information, please see attached pdf or contact Dr. Shymchyshyn.
Stay tuned, and do not forget to follow us in Instagram and our webpage!
Best, Jorge
Jorge A. Nállim Director, Institute for the Humanities Faculty of Arts Humanities Research Professor Department of History 405 Fletcher Argue Bldg. University of Manitoba Winnipeg, MB R3T 5V5 jorge.nallim@umanitoba.camailto:jorge.nallim@umanitoba.ca https://umanitoba.ca/arts/jorge-nallim
Sanda McGee Deutsch and Jorge A. Nállim (eds.), Antifascism(s) in Latin America and the Caribbean: From the Margins to the Center (Cambridge University Press, 2025). For more information, visit our blog, https://cambridgeblog.org/2025/08/antifascisms-in-latin-america-and-the-cari...