Missed this year's Annual Jackman Lecture in the Humanities? The recording is now available on YouTube! Philosopher Gwen Bradford explores the different ways uniqueness matters and why, for certain things, no substitute will do. ▶️ Watch now:

Varieties of Uniqueness: Defying Duplication

What can be lost in duplication? When is “the same” not the same thing? A perfect replica of the Rosebud Shakespeare Folio couldn’t fully replace it if it were destroyed. Your next labradoodle may be just as loveable as your dearly departed Biff, but not even Biff’s clone would be Biff himself. Such

youtube.com

Meet Ava Clarke, U of T Daniels MVS student and curator of the JHI's current art exhibition, Over and Over Again. Learn more about Ava's curatorial approach and the ideas behind the exhibition 👉 https://uoft.me/daD @artmuseumuoft Photo by Dominic Chan

📰 The latest JHI Newsletter is out! Featuring Ava Clarke on curating Over and Over Again, Soviet dissident memoirs on Humanities at Large, Gwen Bradford's lecture recording, fellowship opportunities & upcoming events. 👉 Read: mailchi.mp/utoronto/... Subscribe: uoft.me/jhi-news

🎙️ How do you speak out when protest puts your life at risk? In Humanities at Large, Ann Komaromi explores Soviet dissidents who challenged repression through uncensored writing, secretly circulated texts & networks built on trust. 🎧 Listen: https://uoft.me/hal-s3

The works in Over and Over Again use abstract interpretations of weaving to tell stories and transmit ideas, with materials that move between natural and synthetic: recycled plastics, organic matter, and synthetic textiles. Today we’re highlighting artist Kuh Del Rosario 👉 uoft.me/art26-27

TOMORROW! Anti-intellectualism is nothing new. For the 2026 CBC-JHI Lecture, philosopher Jacqueline Feke examines its history in Ancient Greece and the arguments ancient thinkers made in defense of the intellectual. October 20 | 4–6pm Register: uoft.me/2026-cbc-jhi

🚨 The deadline for the following 2027-28 JHI Fellowships is coming up very soon: Tuesday, October 27 at 4pm EST -JHI Distinguished Visiting Fellowships Call for Applications -JHI Postdoctoral Fellowships Info and application forms: uoft.me/calls

📰 Don't miss out! Be the first to find out about our funding calls, news and events by signing up for our newsletter Next issue comes out October 22 Subscribe uoft.me/jhi-news

Bring your ideas. Join the conversation. Here's your opportunity to share your work with people beyond your own field, encounter different perspectives, and contribute your own ideas to the intellectual life of the JHI. Applications due October 27 https://uoft.me/calls #Humanities #AcademicSky

Anti-intellectualism is nothing new. For the 2026 CBC-JHI Lecture, philosopher Jacqueline Feke examines its history in Ancient Greece and the arguments ancient thinkers made in defense of the intellectual. October 20 | 4–6pm Register: uoft.me/2026-cbc-jhi

📣 Eleven new Arts & Events activities across the #UofT are receiving JHI funding! From exhibitions and film screenings to symposia and workshops, these projects span art, history, cinema, cultural heritage and more. Congratulations to the successful applicants! Full list: uoft.me/cJM

You wanted the reading list? We've got the reading list! Here's the full lineup of dead authors that Margaret Atwood helped select for JHI's Dead Book Clubs, from Kafka and Munro to Butler, Bradbury, Poe and more Undergrads - you can still put your name on the wait list 👉 uoft.me/deadbookclubs

📰 Lots happening at JHI! From a packed Night Owls to 11 newly funded Arts & Events projects, our latest newsletter has plenty to catch up on. Plus South Africa's artist networks of resistance, fellowship calls, upcoming events & more. 👉 mailchi.mp/utoronto/... Sign up: uoft.me/jhi-news

What can art make possible when a government tries to dictate who you are and who you can become? Curator Qanita Lilla reflects on growing up under apartheid in South Africa, where artists created spaces that challenged state-imposed ideas about race and identity. Listen: https://uoft.me/hal-s3

In The Chronicle of Higher Education, JHI Director Randy Boyagoda reflects on the response to our new Dead Book Clubs. And the mystery is over! Our Dead Author Librarian, Margaret Atwood, helped select the books and will join us for our final gathering in December! 👉www.chronicle.com/ar... #UofT

Opinion | Long Live ‘Dead Book Clubs’

A solution to the reading crisis: Make space for students to discuss literature outside the classroom.

chronicle.com

This Thursday! Join us for the 2026 Jackman Lecture in the Humanities with philosopher Gwen Bradford who'll explore what makes some things replaceable and others unique, and why, for certain important things, no substitute will do. OCT 8 | 4-6pm Rm 100, 170 St. George St Register: uoft.me/ajl26

U of T faculty: make JHI your research home for 2027-28. The JHI Faculty Research Fellowship offers eligible faculty in the humanities and qualitative social sciences a full year away from teaching and departmental service to focus on their research. Deadline: OCT 16. Apply: https://uoft.me/calls

📖 It’s today! Our first Dead Book Clubs meet at the JHI this afternoon. #UofT undergrads will be putting down their phones and picking up The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka or Dance of the Happy Shades by Alice Munro.

Have you seen Over and Over Again at JHI yet? The exhibition uses abstract interpretations of weaving and materials that move between natural & synthetic to tell stories and transmit ideas. Featured artist: Esmelyn Miranda Orozco. 👉 uoft.me/art26-27

JHI Faculty Research Fellow Kevin Coleman recently joined CBC IDEAS for an episode examining the rise and fall of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship in Chile. 🎧 How to Defeat Authoritarianism | Augusto Pinochet’s Chile app.magellan.ai/list...

Is there still room at universities to explore ideas for their own sake? The Globe and Mail came to #UofT’s first Night Owls to check out the new series and the appetite for thinking and conversation in an increasingly career-focused university landscape. Read more

Popular Night Owls philosophy series builds new nest with first event at U of T

In a STEM-focused postsecondary landscape, evening with celebrity philosopher promotes talking about ideas purely for their own sake

theglobeandmail.com

Standing room only for the first Night Owls event! 🌙 Thanks to all the U of T undergrads who joined us for “Is Capitalism Ethical?”, a conversation between Agnes Callard and Joseph Heath. It was great to see the room packed for a conversation about a big question. See you at the next Night Owls!

What does a year at the JHI look like? Our 2025–26 Year in Review brings together the research, people, programs, events and conversations that shaped life at the Institute over the past year. Pick up a copy at JHI or read online: uoft.me/jhi-yir

📰 Catch up on the latest from JHI Our newest newsletter features the 2025–26 Year in Review, a new episode of Humanities at Large, fellowship and funding opportunities, and a full slate of October events Read now: mailchi.mp/utoronto/... Not subscribed yet? Sign up: uoft.me/jhi-news

What happens when an oil company builds not just an industry, but an entire community? Historian Luis van Isschot takes us to Standard Oil’s company towns in Colombia & Peru, and the workers and communities who challenged corporate control. Listen: https://uoft.me/hal-s3 #Humanities #UofT

Cartographies of Longing is now on view at the Doris McCarthy Gallery. Through family histories, oral traditions, and archival fragments, nine artists explore intergenerational relationships to land and imagine new relationships with the places they remember and inhabit. Full program: uoft.me/cGq

What can Ancient Greece teach us about anti-intellectualism, and how we might guard against it? For the 2026 CBC-JHI Lecture, Jacqueline Feke looks to ancient philosophers and mathematicians for lessons on defending the intellectual. Register: uoft.me/2026-cbc-jhi #Philosophy #Humanities #UofT

You can make the same coffee every morning. But could you replace a beloved pet with its clone? Philosopher Gwen Bradford explores what makes some things replaceable and others truly unique, and why, for certain important things, no substitute will do. https://uoft.me/ajl26

Applications are open for the 2027–28 JHI Postdoctoral Fellowships. Spend a year pursuing your research at U of T as part of an interdisciplinary community of scholars in the JHI’s Circle of Fellows. Deadline: October 27 https://uoft.me/calls #Postdoc #AcademicSky

🎙️Did you catch the first episode of Series 3 yet? Pianist and composer Eve Egoyan joins host Melissa Gismondi to talk about In Stone and the role music can play in confronting a history marked by silence and denial. uoft.me/hal-s3e1 #HumanitiesAtLarge #Podcast #Humanities #Music #UofT