The Ontario Library Association is Canada’s largest library organization and OLA’s Super Conference is Canada’s largest continuing education event in librarianship.

Super Conference plays host to some of the country’s and the world’s leading speakers, both from inside the library world and outside.

The African American Legacy Lecture honors the life and legacy of Howard Thurman, Mordecai Wyatt Johnson, and Martin Luther King Jr. in the late 1960’s recognizing their contributions to the Black Church tradition and liberation theology, to society and the world.  The African American Legacy Lectures honors African American people who have shaped and honed who we are as an Institution.

An Institution that is the first in the country to have a Black Church Studies Program.

An Institution that educated Leaders who were are pastoral, prophetic and learned.

The Brady-Johnson Program in Grand Strategy addresses large-scale, long-term strategic challenges of statecraft, politics, and social change. The program focuses on the study of history, classics, and political thought as essential tools for understanding the contemporary world.

Grand Strategy explores how to achieve large ends with limited means, whether in military conflict, foreign policy, domestic politics, or social movements. The program engages security questions from a wide range of perspectives, including national security, global security, and social security. The program emphasizes interaction between academics and practitioners, and between participants of differing political views. Grand Strategy aims to develop students’ capacities not only to analyze the past and present, but to act as responsible, thoughtful leaders and citizens of the future.

Protest is vital form of collective work. Most, if not all, of the democratic rights that we enjoy—including democracy itself—are arguably the result of social protest. And yet it seems increasingly clear that contemporary protest is not working. So why is protest broken? And how can we make protest work?

Micah White in conversation with Zephyr Teachout and Uday Mehta.

The crisis facing democratic regimes today is cause for serious concern; it is also an opportunity for deep reflection on questions and assumptions concerning liberal representative democracy. Instead of assuming a defensive posture and taking up arms to defend the status quo, our conference asks: How can we take advantage of this crisis to make democracy stronger?

Does contemporary activism value spectacle over substance? One might argue that memes and media attention are not mobilisation, that protest alone does not grant political power. What happens the day after the march?

From the Women’s March to Occupy and Standing Rock, we have entered a new wave of activism – but is protest working? Celeste Liddle, Laurie Penny and Micah White discuss the need for innovation in activism to enact real political change.

Activism is undergoing a re-evaluation. Is protest still effective? What can work today? Micah White (co-creator of Occupy Wall Street and author of ‘The End of Protest: A New Playbook for Revolution’), named by Esquire as one of the most influential young thinkers alive today, and Becky Bond (former senior advisor to Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign and co-author of ‘Rules for Revolutionaries: How Big Organizing Can Change Everything’) will offer guidance and action for a new era of social change and activism. If you’ve ever thought of joining a march or demonstration, White and Bond will make you smarter about it. Mother Jones’ Monika Bauerlein moderates.

Alta Stage at Freight & Salvage

Book signing information: Freight & Salvage Lobby

Sponsored by : Mother Jones Magazine

In this discussion at the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics, Micah White will explore best practices on how to organize a movement, if protests are the most effective way to enact change, and how electoral politics factor in a successful organization. The discussion will lead to one central question-What is the future of activism?

Join us for a discussion of Micah's book, The End of Protest

Protest is undeniably cool again. And yet, if we evaluate recent protests by their outcome, not their rhetoric, it is increasingly clear that contemporary forms of activism are resulting in diminishing effectiveness. Despite their size, their sophistication and their speed, the last decade of social protests have largely failed to achieve their desired social change objectives. If protest as we know it is broken, how do we fix it?

WE INQUIRE: Are we still convinced that democracy as we know it, will spread to the entire earth? Is the new technology most useful for those who want to remain in power or for those who want to challenge it? Will our definition (and our belief in) democracy change in the coming decades? 

BACKGROUND: Over the past few years are the democratic rights victory once been slowed in countries worldwide. Also places where a moment ago thought that dictatorship and autocracy was relegated to the history books. And in both the US and Europe have new parties / politicians suddenly stood up with a force that testifies to 'the people' have very strong - and conflicting - views. It may look as though we often live in completely different worlds than those we disagree with. 

WHAT WE WANT TO KNOW: How will democracy meet its challenges - and its challengers? 

“Culture and Political Subjectivities” is a two and a half day workshop on anthropological approaches to political subjectivities.  “Political subjectivities” are thoughts, feelings, motivations, identities, and memories, not just about electoral politics, but more broadly regarding public policy and disputes over the social distribution of power, status, and economic rewards. 

This panel will analyze the social and political crises triggered by new technologies, the shifts in the balance of power within society they are bringing about, and the role of art in defining a new paradigm of social justice. The age of network culture offers new, powerful tools for individual and collective expression, and in response, the act of protest is rapidly evolving; individuals, groups, and entire communities once conveniently invisible to decision-makers are self-organizing to make their voices heard. 

Micah White goes to Brazil to celebrate the launch of GUME, Regina Augusto’s new reputation and engagement agency. Former editor of Adbusters magazine, White will discuss the future of protest and social movements and in what way the current global socio-economic context influences how people, institutions and brands build their reputation. GUME is the new venture of journalist Regina Augusto, one of Brazil's most renowned specialists in the national and global fields of communication, marketing and media. 

The dominant theory of revolutionary change is too heavily influenced by materialist analysis. Social change materialism cannot fully account for postmodern spiritual insurrections like May 1968 and ultramodern uprisings like Occupy Wall Street. Nor can it explain pre-modern paradigm shifts like the epiphany of St. Paul and the conversion of Constantine that ushered in the Christianization of Western Civilization. Ultimately Micah White calls for another approach to social activism: an inquiry into the power of metanoia (epiphany).