The University of British Columbia

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for Students

Jump-start your mind and heart

Join your peers at UBC Connects for Students, for a unique opportunity to connect with some of the world’s most esteemed thought leaders in an intimate and interactive setting. UBC connects the dots — and people — to shed light on the world’s most pressing issues.


Featured Speakers

Desmond Cole and Robyn Maynard

This special event for UBC students will provide an opportunity to connect with Desmond Cole and Robyn Maynard during an interactive question and answer session.

This event will take place on March 12, 2021
1:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Presented in partnership with UBC Okanagan

Register Now

Visit the UBC Bookstore to purchase the speakers’ books

Social Justice

About the Speakers:

Desmond Cole
Desmond Cole is a journalist, activist and author. He has spent the last 10 years reporting and commentating on politics and social justice. He is especially interested in the struggle for Black liberation within Canada. Cole’s work includes 10 years of local and national news coverage, five years of radio broadcasting at Newstalk 1010, a disruptive opinion column with the Toronto Star and an award-winning magazine feature. His first book is the national #1 bestseller The Skin We’re In: A Year of Black Resistance and Power.

Robyn Maynard
Robyn Maynard is a Toronto-based writer and the author of Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present. Her writing on policing, criminalization, gender and anti-Black racism is taught widely in universities across North America.

Maynard has a long history of activism toward the abolition of policing, prisons, and borders. Most recently she is the author of toolkit called “Building the World We Want: A Roadmap to police-free futures in Canada”, and the forthcoming Rehearsals for Living, an epistolary collection co-authored with Leanne Betasamosake Simpson (Knopf Canada, 2022).



Social Commentary

November 15, 2022

UBC Connects with Fran Lebowitz

An evening with Fran Lebowitz

Media

October 27, 2022

UBC Connects with Tanya Talaga

Covering the Apocalypse: What it is like being an Indigenous journalist in Canada

Geopolitics

April 20, 2022

UBC Connects Masterclass with Dr. Roland Paris

The Ukraine Crisis and Europe’s Future: A New Cold War?

Social Theory

January 25, 2022

UBC Connects Masterclass with Gurminder K Bhambra

Decolonising Social Theory

Resilience

December 2, 2021

UBC Connects with Michelle Good

Education through dialogue: the human cost of colonialism

Pluralism

May 18, 2021

UBC Connects Masterclass with Maaza Mengiste

Pluralism: Strengthening respect for diversity

Social Justice

March 12, 2021

UBC Connects with Desmond Cole and Robyn Maynard

Beyond the Police state: a conversation with Desmond Cole and Robyn Maynard

Representation

March 4, 2021

UBC Connects Masterclass with Kevin Kwan

Represent, Represent: The stories we tell change the world around us

Justice

November 3, 2020

UBC Connects with Justice Edwin Cameron

Prisons and the F-word: Has the time come for a fundamental rethink?

Identity

September 23, 2020

UBC Connects with James Makokis and Anthony Johnson

“Our Existences Are Political”: Identity and History as Pathways for Transformation

Biodiversity

July 31, 2020

UBC Connects Masterclass with Vandana Shiva

The Future of Food and Farming in a Pandemic World

Bassem Youssef

Freedom

March 2, 2020

UBC Connects with Bassem Youssef

The Middle Eastern Monologues

Donna

Physics

November 25, 2019

UBC Connects with Donna Strickland

Laser Focus: Insight from a Nobel Laureate

Ziya

Science

November 4, 2019

UBC Connects with Ziya Tong

Blind Spots: Rethinking Your Reality

Helen

Love

September 10, 2019

UBC Connects with Helen Fisher

Swipe, Right?: The Future of Romantic Relationships in the Digital Age

Chimamanda

Author

March 13, 2019

UBC Connects with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is an award-winning Nigerian author whose work has been translated into over thirty languages.

Tarana

Activist

March 6, 2019

UBC Connects with Tarana Burke

A movement that empowers: “Me too” and the role of empathy in healing and change

John Kasich

Politician

February 26, 2019

UBC Connects with John Kasich

Two-term former Ohio Governor John R. Kasich is a politician, a New York Times best-selling author, and a Senior Political Commentator for CNN

Michael

Plants

February 11, 2019

UBC Connects with Michael Pollan

Food, plants and psychedelics: Revolutionary approaches to human health and well-being

Isabel Allende

Literature

November 20, 2018

UBC Connects with Isabel Allende

The Alchemy of Truth: The power of story to change the world

Michio Kaku

Physics

September 26, 2018

UBC Connects with Michio Kaku

The Universe in a Nutshell: Why physics is the key to pretty much everything

Waneek Horn-Miller

Society

April 19, 2018

UBC Connects with Waneek Horn-Miller

The Wisdom of Reconciliation: A roadmap for multiculturalism

Jeremy Rifkin

Economics

March 8, 2018

UBC Connects with Jeremy Rifkin

The Third Industrial Revolution: Can we prevent the next mass extinction of life on Earth?

Thank you for supporting UBC Connects.