Why study bird brains?
Dr Andrew Iwaniuk, Professor of Neuroscience
Thursday, February 5, 2026 12:00 PM
Lethbridge Senior Citizens Organization
Why would anyone bother studying bird brains? This is a question that I frequently get from many people. As I will discuss, studying bird brains led to the discovery that adults can add new cells to the brain: this has informed current treatments and experiments in human brains. Birds also provided some of the first evidence that hormones can affect human brain anatomy and function. A lot can also be learned about bird behaviour from studying their brains, which I will illustrate from our own studies of hummingbirds, vultures, and the Dodo.
Whatever Happened to Good Old-Fashioned Manifest Destiny? Imperialism and Colonialism in our Modernity
Don McIntyre, Professor of Indigenous Governance and Business Management
Thursday, February 12, 2026 12:00 PM
Lethbridge Senior Citizens Organization
Whatever Happened to Good Old-Fashioned Manifest Destiny? Imperialism and Colonialism in Our Modernity asks why ideas we claim to have outgrown continue to surface in today’s political, economic, and business decisions. Drawing on current events—from resource extraction and land disputes to assertions of sovereignty and inevitability—I explore how colonial and imperial logics persist, often unnamed. As a professor of business specializing in Indigenous business and governance and in the structures of colonialism, I approach Manifest Destiny not as history but as a lingering framework.
Should Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) be Available to People with Mental Illnesses?
Dr. Nicholas Dunn, Assistant Professor of Philosophy
Thursday, February 19, 2026 12:00 PM
Lethbridge Senior Citizens Organization
Since the legalization of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) in 2016 and its subsequent expansion in 2021, Canada has been at the forefront of global debates about assisted dying. The most contentious issue at present is the pending inclusion of mental illness as the sole underlying medical condition (MI-SUMC). Now postponed twice, it is set to take effect in March 2027. The decision to delay the expansion of MAID MI-SUMC was framed as a matter of readiness, allowing further consultation and the development of proper safeguards.
Alberta — America’s 51st State? “Do you want Alberta to join the United States?”
Tom Sindlinger
Thursday, February 26, 2026 12:00 PM
Lethbridge Senior Citizens Organization
Long-term impacts of the possible Alberta separation referendum will shape its future, no matter how a likely (October) Alberta Separation Referendum is worded. A significant “Yes” would arguably, in the long run, mean joining the United States. The speaker will provide context and highlight the many unintended consequences of not only a referendum, but what Albertans would be faced with, should the separatists actually win the vote. The United Farmers of Alberta governed Alberta for 14 years from 1921 to 1935 and even held seats in Parliament.