Skip to main content
News release

Big ideas — and big minds — to descend on Montreal

Concordia’s Thinking Out Loud returns for 2016, an ideas festival on the ways we connect


Montreal, January 21, 2016 — 
Thinking Out Loud is back! Beginning January 28, Concordia’s signature public engagement series will bring together renowned researchers and thought leaders for discussions about ideas, big and small.

This year’s invited guests are Chantal Hébert, Kathy Reichs, Susan Pinker, Nora Young and Clive Thompson. Each speaker will be paired with a Concordia researcher for a conversation that explores an aspect of the ways we connect.

All conversations will be held at Concordia’s D.B. Clarke Theatre (1455 de Maisonneuve St. West, in downtown Montreal), and are free of charge and open to the public, although registration is required.

January 28: Games, Ethics and How We Connect

Clive Thompson, author of Smarter Than You Think: How Technology is Changing Our Minds for the Better, joins Concordia’s Mia Consalvo, Canada Research Chair in Game Studies and Design, for a conversation on how games help us connect socially, the ethics of communications technologies and the impact of online activities on our off-line lives.

February 11: Connecting and Wellness — Your Brain Matters

Susan Pinker, author of The Village Effect: Why Face-to-face Contact Matters, and Concordia’s William Bukowski, professor in the Department of Psychology, will discuss the importance of physical contact in a time of disbanded families and virtual connections. They’ll look at how our biology is affected by feeling and why connecting with others matters.

March 1: Connecting Your Tech Future — What’s Next?

Nora Young, broadcaster and author of The Virtual Self: How Our Digital Lives Are Altering the World Around Us, will join Jeremy Clark, assistant professor in the Concordia Institute for Information Systems Engineering, to explore what privacy means in a world where self-tracking and sharing are routine. What is your fitbit saying about you?

March 2: The post-election landscape — Can Quebec and Canada really get along?

For the Reader's Digest Annual Lecture in Journalism, CBC commentator and award-winning journalist Chantal Hébert will discuss the shifting post-election Quebec-Canada landscape — is it a poisoned gift for Quebec's federalist government? Moderated by Le Devoir’s Francine Pelletier.

March 14: Connect the Dots — The Science of Crime

Kathy Reichs, a forensic anthropologist and best-selling novelist, Concordia’s Cameron Skinner, an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Concordia PhD candidate Brigitte Desharnais will address the complex stories emerging from science and how they help us connect the dots.

Journalists are invited to contact Cléa Desjardins at 514-858-2424, ext. 5068 or clea.desjardins@concordia.ca to discuss opportunities to interview these speakers.


Source

Fiona Downey
Fiona Downey
Public Affairs
514-848-2424, ext. 2518
Fiona.Downey@concordia.ca
@fiodow



Back to top

© Concordia University