(This pandemic) will change the way we move, build, learn, and connect.
Professor Aisha Ahmad, Why You Should Ignore All That Coronavirus-Inspired Productivity Pressure
Overview
Five months into the global COVID-19 pandemic, what can we learn from the experience that might help us confront the many other challenges facing our planet, including the ultimate existential challenge of climate change?
Join students from around the world for an interactive discussion about how to accept, embrace and navigate the “new normal” brought about by global crises. Listen in as Professor Ahmad explains to Hart House’s John Monahan how “(c)alamity is a great teacher.” Global Commons alum Mahrukh Ahmed hosts.
Don’t miss this essential opportunity for conversation and connection.
How to join the conversation / What to know
- This event will take place entirely online. Students will be participating through Zoom. You should have a reliable internet connection, computer or phone, and a working microphone and camera.
- We invite you to read Dr. Ahmad’s article “Why You Should Ignore All That Productivity Pressure” prior to the event. (10 min read)
- Once you register, you will receive confirmation of your spot in the event.
- The Zoom meeting information and link and password will be provided 24 hours before the event via email.
Featured Guests
-
Scene SetterAisha Ahmad
Dr. Aisha Ahmad is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto, the Director of the Islam and Global Affairs Initiative at the Munk School of Global Affairs, and a Senior Fellow at Massey College.
She is the author of the award-winning book Jihad & Co: Black Markets and Islamist Power, and has conducted fieldwork in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Mali, and Lebanon, and has advised both government and international organizations on global security policies.
Dr. Ahmad teaches advanced courses in International Security at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Her research looks at the economic drivers of conflict in war zones across the modern Muslim world.
-
ModeratorJohn Monahan
Warden, Hart House
John Monahan has been the Warden (i.e., chief executive officer) of Hart House at the University of Toronto since 2015. In that role, he leads Hart House’s strategic, operational, programming and public communications functions.
From 2008 to 2015, John was the inaugural Executive Director of the Mosaic Institute, an award-winning “think and do” tank focused on engaging diaspora communities in conflict-resolution and peacebuilding efforts in Canada and around the world.
John has also been a bureaucrat for the Province of Ontario; a labour and employment lawyer with a global firm; and a diplomat posted to the Canadian Consulate-General in New York. He holds a BA in International Relations from Trinity College, a JD from the University of Toronto, and an MPA from Dalhousie University.
-
HostMahrukh Ahmed
Mahrukh Ahmed has spent the last three years working in community engagement and wellness outreach. She currently works at Evergreen Brick Works, a Canadian organization dedicated to enabling sustainable cities, based in Toronto. Prior to joining Evergreen, she was as a community engagement ambassador at Hart House, where she worked with a dedicated team to animate spaces at the University of Toronto to increase community building and promote well-being.
She recently graduated from the University of Toronto, in a double major in Environmental Studies and Psychology. Mahrukh is passionate about the practical intersections of her areas of study, particularly how both disciplines can align to mobilize collective action geared towards sustainability.
Hart House Global Commons
The Hart House Global Commons is an international dialogue space that connects students participating from multiple global locations to engage in real-time conversations about issues that are pressing and pertinent to everyone, regardless of place. We hope you will join us for a unique opportunity to connect across contexts, exchange dialogue and perspectives, and learn from each other—all without leaving your living space!
International Partners
University of Toronto Sponsors
