International Issues Discussion Series

Dear Friends,

The International Issues Discussion (IID) series at Toronto Metropolitan University is proud to present its third talk of the Winter 2026 series, “Taiwan as a Gateway to Exploring the Sinosphere".

Our guest will be Julia G. Bentley, a former Canadian diplomat whose work focuses on Asia, where she lived for over 20 years. She served as a diplomat in China, Taiwan, India, and Malaysia, where she was High Commissioner. She is now affiliated with three universities and the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. In spring 2025 she undertook field research on Taiwan as a gateway for exploring the Sinosphere, cross-Strait relations, and regional issues in Asia. Her report on this research can be found here: https://lnkd.in/excZkx5i

Her talk will be held in-person on Wednesday, February 25th between 6:30 and 8:30 pm in ENG 103 (the Vari Engineering Building, 245 Church Street, Toronto). Attendance is free and everyone is welcome.

Founded in 2005, the IID is a non-partisan, student-led forum designed to engage all members of the TMU community on major events and issues in contemporary global affairs through reasoned, objective, and scholarly discourse. For further details about the IID and our series please see http://iid.kislenko.com or contact the IID student leaders at [email protected]

Dear Friends,

The International Issues Discussion (IID) series at Toronto Metropolitan University is proud to present its fourth talk of the Winter 2025 series: "Genocide in Sinjar: Uncertain Futures in Iraq."

Our guests will be:

Nathaniel Brunt, an interdisciplinary scholar, documentarian, and educator. His documentary and academic work critically examines modern armed conflict and the way it is, and has been, represented photographically. Brunt recently completed his PhD in the Communication and Culture joint program at Toronto Metropolitan University and York University. His research was supported by SSHRC and the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation. Prior to beginning his doctoral studies, he obtained two Master's Degrees from the University of Kent's War, Media and Security program and the Communication and Culture joint program at Toronto Metropolitan University and York University. Brunt's photographic work has been widely published and exhibited internationally. He is currently working on a long term documentary project in Northern Iraq and Kashmir and is a cross-appointed post-doctoral fellow at the Centre for Global Studies and the University of Victoria Libraries. While diverse in format, Brunt's work is connected by a commitment to producing creative projects that personalize the often-abstract nature of modern war.

Mike Fleet, a Defence Policy Officer with the Department of National Defence, Government of Canada. He previously worked as a Senior Analyst with the Privy Council Office where he focused on Iraq and Gulf States. He also has worked as a Senior Researcher with the Institute on Governance on the Iraq Team that implemented the Fiscal Decentralization and Resiliency Project. His current research focus is on Iraqi politics, federalism, state-building, and conflict dynamics. He has published with the Middle East Institute and the American University of Iraq-Sulaimani with the Institute of Regional and International Studies, and published a chapter in "Middle Power in the Middle East," where he with his co-author, Nizar Mohammed, examined Canada's security capacity building programming in the Middle East via Op.IMPACT and Op. PROTEUS. He has been quoted in Reuters and The National. He tweets .

Their talk will be held in-person on Wednesday, March 12 between 6:30 and 8:30 pm in ENG 103 (the Vari Engineering Building, 245 Church Street, Toronto).

Attendance is free and everyone is welcome.

Founded in 2005, the IID is a non-partisan, student-led forum designed to engage all members of the TMU community on major events and issues in contemporary global affairs through reasoned, objective, and scholarly discourse. For further details about the IID and our series please see http://iid.kislenko.com or contact the IID student leaders at [email protected]