Campaign School: Shelley Carroll
Shelley Carroll, the Toronto city councillor from Ward 33 whose political career has taken her from school trustee to chair of the Budget Committee to deputy mayor, will visit to talk about her experiences in the arena — including the unprecedented attention paid to activities at City Hall in the past year.
New and returning students to Campaign School can get insights on how Councillor Carroll went from a career in banking to over a decade in the public service, what role social media has played in keeping in touch with constituents and her status as a downtown-boosting representative of a non-downtown riding.
PLEASE NOTE: These sessions start promptly at 2 p.m. and last for around 90 minutes.
Impossible Ideas: The Trial of Byron Sonne
With the trial of accused G20 Summit bomber Byron Sonne due to resume in mid-March, journalist Denise Balkissoon will join moderator Jesse Hirsh to discuss the process of reporting on the story, along with how the legal system has grappled with the impact of social media.
“Did this man plan to bomb the G20?,” the cover story that Balkissoon wrote for Toronto Life magazine last spring, was published just before computer security expert Sonne was granted bail after being jailed for 10 months on charges of possessing explosive substances.
The trial — which Balkissoon covered in its first week last fall for OpenFile — is scheduled to continue on March 19. What has been learned about Sonne through the court system so far? And how has public opinion about the events surrounding the G20 transformed since June 2010?
Programming the Impossible
This past week our programming committee met for the first time and it was a joyous occasion to reflect on how far we’ve come in such a short time. A number of great programs have been submitted. Expect to see them appear on the calendar in the near future.
Lily Ames produced a segment on the Academy for CBC Radio. In the piece Emily describes achieving the impossible as involving a lot of small steps.
The Rise of Maker Culture
The emergence of the Academy of the Impossible is not an isolated event, but rather part of the larger rise of “maker culture”.
For example there are already similar spaces in Toronto, in Ontario, in Canada, and around the world.
Off To a Great Start
We're still in the process of getting the Academy up and running, yet we're thrilled with the response we've had from friends and the public. For example Joshua Errett wrote a great article in NOW magazine emphasizing our desire to adapt education for the internet age.
We also had a wonderful first event to kick off our Impossible Ideas series, with Rick Salutin joining us to discuss popular uprisings and protests around the world. Video from that event is now available via YouTube.
There are currently two programs active at the Academy, the Street Writers who meet on Tuesday evenings, and the Hacking Reality program presented by Metaviews, which meets Thursday evenings and Sunday afternoons. There are four other programs currently in development, and we have received several other applications for programs that we hope will start in the weeks and months to come. Keep an eye on this site and our events page for updates.