The Massey Lectures is an annual five-part series of

lectures A lecture (from ) is an speech, oral presentation intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject, for example by a university or college teacher. Lectures are used to convey critical information, history, backgroun ...

given in Canada by distinguished writers, thinkers, and scholars who explore important ideas and issues of contemporary interest. Created in 1961 in honour of

Vincent Massey Charles Vincent Massey (February 20, 1887December 30, 1967) was a Canadian diplomat and statesman who served as the 18th governor general of Canada from 1952 to 1959. Massey was the first governor general of Canada who was born in Canada. Mas ...

, a former

Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada () is the federal representative of the . The monarch of Canada is also sovereign and head of state of 14 other Commonwealth realms and resides in the United Kingdom. The monarch, on the Advice (constitutional la ...

and coordinator of the 1951 Massey Report, it is widely regarded as one of the most acclaimed lecture series in the country. Notable Massey lecturers have included

Northrop Frye Herman Northrop Frye (July 14, 1912 – January 23, 1991) was a Canadian literary critic and literary theorist, considered one of the most influential of the 20th century. Frye gained international fame with his first book, ''Fearful Symmetr ...

John Kenneth Galbraith John Kenneth Galbraith (October 15, 1908 – April 29, 2006), also known as Ken Galbraith, was a Canadian-American economist, diplomat, public official, and intellectual. His books on economic topics were bestsellers from the 1950s through the ...

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a ...

, Jean Vanier,

Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian novelist, poet, literary critic, and an inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of nonfiction, nine collections of short fiction, eight chi ...

Ursula Franklin Ursula Martius Franklin (16 September 1921 – 22 July 2016) was a Canadian metallurgist, activist, research physicist, author, and educator who taught at the University of Toronto for more than 40 years.Lumley, Elizabeth (editor) (2008), ''Can ...

George Steiner Francis George Steiner, Fellow of the British Academy#Fellowship, FBA (April 23, 1929 – February 3, 2020) was a Franco-American literary critic, essayist, philosopher, novelist and educator. He wrote extensively about the relationship between ...

, Claude Levi Strauss, and Nobel laureates

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

, George Wald,

Willy Brandt Willy Brandt (; born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm; 18 December 1913 – 8 October 1992) was a German politician and statesman who was leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1964 to 1987 and concurrently served as the Chancellor ...

, and

Doris Lessing Doris May Lessing ( Tayler; 22 October 1919 – 17 November 2013) was a British novelist. She was born to British parents in Qajar Iran, Persia, where she lived until 1925. Her family then moved to Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), where ...

. In 2003, novelist Thomas King was the first person of

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

descent to be invited as a lecturer.

Sponsorship

The event is co-sponsored by

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

, House of Anansi Press and

Massey College Massey College is the postgraduate University of Toronto#Colleges, college of the University of Toronto located at the University of Toronto#St. George campus, St. George campus in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The college was established, built and ...

in the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

. The lectures have been broadcast by the

show '' Ideas'' since 1965. Prior to 1989, the lectures were recorded for broadcast in a CBC Radio studio in Toronto. From 1989 to 2002, the lectures were delivered before a live audience at the University of Toronto. Since 2002, the lectures have been presented and recorded for broadcast at public events in five different cities across Canada. The lectures are broadcast each November on ''Ideas'' and published simultaneously in book form by House of Anansi Press. Many of the lectures can be listened to online on the Ideas website, while others can be purchased on various sites. In addition to the print version for each individual year, several of the earlier lectures are available in compilations, including The Lost Massey Lectures.

Massey lecturers

*1961 – Barbara Ward, ''The Rich Nations and the Poor Nations'' *1962 –

, ''The Educated Imagination'' *1963 – Frank Underhill, ''The Image of Confederation'' *1964 – C. B. Macpherson, ''The Real World of Democracy'' *1965 –

, ''The Underdeveloped Country'' *1966 –

Paul Goodman Paul Goodman (September 9, 1911 – August 2, 1972) was an American writer and public intellectual best known for his 1960s works of social criticism. Goodman was prolific across numerous literary genres and non-fiction topics, including the ...

, '' The Moral Ambiguity of America'' *1967 –

, '' Conscience for Change'' *1968 – R. D. Laing, ''The Politics of the Family'' *1969 – George Grant, ''Time as History'' *1970 – George Wald, ''Therefore Choose Life'' *1971 – James Corry, ''The Power of the Law'' *1972 – Pierre Dansereau, ''

Inscape Inscape and instress are complementary and enigmatic concepts about individuality and uniqueness derived by the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins from the ideas of the medieval philosopher Duns Scotus.Chevigny, Bell Gale. Instress and Devotion in the P ...

and Landscape'' *1973 –

Stafford Beer Anthony Stafford Beer (25 September 1926 – 23 August 2002) was a British theorist, consultant and professor at Manchester Business School. He is known for his work in the fields of operational research and management cybernetics, and for his ...

, ''Designing Freedom'' *1974 –

, ''Nostalgia for the Absolute'' *1975 – J. Tuzo Wilson, ''Limits to Science'' *1976 – No Lecture *1977 –

Claude Lévi-Strauss Claude Lévi-Strauss ( ; ; 28 November 1908 – 30 October 2009) was a Belgian-born French anthropologist and ethnologist whose work was key in the development of the theories of structuralism and structural anthropology. He held the chair o ...

, ''Myth and Meaning'' *1978 –

Leslie Fiedler Leslie Aaron Fiedler (March 8, 1917 – January 29, 2003) was an American literary critic, known for his interest in mythography and his championing of genre fiction. His work incorporates the application of psychological theories to American ...

, ''The Inadvertent Epic'' *1979 –

Jane Jacobs Jane Isabel Jacobs (''née'' Butzner; 4 May 1916 – 25 April 2006) was an American-Canadian journalist, author, theorist, and activist who influenced urban studies, sociology, and economics. Her book ''The Death and Life of Great American Ci ...

, ''Canadian Cities and Sovereignty Association'' *1980 – No Lecture *1981 –

, ''Dangers and Options: The Matter of World Survival'' *1982 –

Robert Jay Lifton Robert Jay Lifton (born May 16, 1926) is an American psychiatrist and author, chiefly known for his studies of the psychological causes and effects of wars and political violence, and for his theory of thought reform. He was an early proponent of ...

, ''Indefensible Weapons'' *1983 –

Eric Kierans Eric William Kierans (2 February 1914 – 10 May 2004) was a Canadians, Canadian economist and politician. Early life Eric Kierans was born on 2 February 1914, in Montreal to Irish Canadians, Irish immigrant parents. He grew up in a working- ...

, ''Globalism and the Nation State'' *1984 –

Carlos Fuentes Carlos Fuentes Macías (; ; November 11, 1928 – May 15, 2012) was a Mexican novelist and essayist. Among his works are ''The Death of Artemio Cruz'' (1962), '' Aura'' (1962), '' Terra Nostra'' (1975), '' The Old Gringo'' (1985) and '' Christop ...

, ''Latin America: At War with the Past'' *1985 –

, '' Prisons We Choose to Live Inside'' *1986 – No Lecture *1987 – Gregory Baum, ''Compassion and Solidarity: The Church for Others'' *1988 –

, '' Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies'' *1989 –

, ''The Real World of Technology'' *1990 –

Richard Lewontin Richard Charles Lewontin (March 29, 1929 – July 4, 2021) was an American evolutionary biologist, mathematician, geneticist, and social commentator. A leader in developing the mathematical basis of population genetics and evolutionary theory, ...

, ''Biology as Ideology: The Doctrine of DNA'' *1991 – Charles Taylor, ''The Malaise of Modernity'' *1992 –

Robert Heilbroner Robert L. Heilbroner (March 24, 1919 – January 4, 2005) was an American economist and historian of economic thought. The author of some two dozen books, Heilbroner was best known for ''The Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times and Ideas of th ...

, ''Twenty-First Century Capitalism'' *1993 –

Jean Bethke Elshtain Jean Paulette Bethke Elshtain (January 6, 1941 – August 11, 2013) was an American ethicist, political philosopher, and public intellectual. She was the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics in the University of C ...

, ''Democracy on Trial'' *1994 –

Conor Cruise O'Brien Donal Conor David Dermot Donat Cruise O'Brien (3 November 1917 – 18 December 2008), often nicknamed "The Cruiser", was an Irish diplomat, politician, writer, historian and academic, who served as Minister for Posts and Telegraphs from 1973 ...

, ''On the Eve of the Millennium'' *1995 –

John Ralston Saul John Ralston Saul (born June 19, 1947) is a Canadian writer, political philosopher, and public intellectual. Saul is most widely known for his writings on the nature of individualism, citizenship and the public good; the failures of manager-l ...

, ''The Unconscious Civilization'' * 1996 – No Lecture (see Notes below) * 1997 – Hugh Kenner, ''The Elsewhere Community'' * 1998 – Jean Vanier, ''Becoming Human'' * 1999 – Robert Fulford, ''The Triumph of Narrative'' * 2000 –

Michael Ignatieff Michael Grant Ignatieff ( ; born May 12, 1947) is a Canadian author, academic and former politician who served as leader of the Liberal Party and leader of the Opposition from 2008 until 2011. Known for his work as a historian, Ignatieff has ...

, ''The Rights Revolution'' * 2001 – Janice Stein, ''The Cult of Efficiency'' * 2002 –

Margaret Visser Margaret Visser (born May 11, 1940) is a Canadian writer and broadcaster who lives in Toronto, Paris, and South West France. Her subject matter is the history, anthropology, and mythology of everyday life. Biography Born in South Africa, she att ...

, ''Beyond Fate'' * 2003 – Thomas King, ''The Truth About Stories'' * 2004 –

Ronald Wright Ronald Wright (born 1948, London, England) is a Canadian author who has written books of travel, history and fiction. His nonfiction includes the bestseller '' Stolen Continents'', winner of the Gordon Montador Award and chosen as a book of t ...

, '' A Short History of Progress'' * 2005 –

Stephen Lewis Stephen Henry Lewis (born November 11, 1937) is a Canadian politician, public speaker, broadcaster, and diplomat. He was the Canadian ambassador to the United Nations in the 1980s and was the leader of the social democratic Ontario New Democr ...

, '' Race Against Time: Searching for Hope in AIDS-Ravaged Africa'' * 2006 – Margaret Somerville, ''The Ethical Imagination'' * 2007 –

Alberto Manguel Alberto Manguel (born March 13, 1948, in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine Canadian, Argentine-Canadian anthologist, translator, essayist, novelist, editor, and a former director of the National Library of Argentina. He is a cosmopolitan and polyglo ...

, ''The City of Words'' * 2008 –

, '' Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth'' * 2009 – Wade Davis, ''The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World'' * 2010 –

Douglas Coupland Douglas Coupland (born 30 December 1961) is a Canadian novelist, designer and visual artist. His first novel, the 1991 international bestseller '' Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture'', popularized the terms Generation X and McJob. He ...

, '' Player One: What is to Become of Us'' * 2011 –

Adam Gopnik Adam Gopnik (born August 24, 1956) is an American writer and essayist, who was raised in Montreal, Canada. He is best known as a staff writer for ''The New Yorker,'' to which he has contributed nonfiction, fiction, memoir, and criticism since 19 ...

, '' Winter: Five Windows on the Season'' * 2012 – Neil Turok, ''The Universe Within: From Quantum to Cosmos'' * 2013 –

Lawrence Hill Lawrence Hill (born January 24, 1957) is a Canadian novelist, essayist, and memoirist. He is known for his 2007 novel '' The Book of Negroes'', inspired by the Black Loyalists given freedom and resettled in Nova Scotia by the British after the A ...

, ''Blood: The Stuff of Life'' * 2014 –

Adrienne Clarkson Adrienne Louise Clarkson ( zh, c=伍冰枝; ; born February 10, 1939) is a Canadian journalist and stateswoman who served as the 26th governor general of Canada from 1999 to 2005. Clarkson arrived in Canada with her family in 1941, as a refuge ...

, ''Belonging: The Paradox of Citizenship'' * 2015 –

Margaret MacMillan Margaret Olwen MacMillan (born 23 December 1943) is a Canadian historian and professor at the University of Oxford. She is former provost of Trinity College, Toronto, and professor of history at the University of Toronto and previously at Ryers ...

, ''History's People: Personalities and the Past'' * 2016 –

Jennifer Welsh Jennifer Mary Welsh (born 1965) is a Canadian professor of international relations, currently working as the Canada Research Chair, Canada 150 Research Chair in Global Governance and Security at McGill University. Welsh is the director of the Ce ...

, ''The Return of History: Conflict, Migration and Geopolitics in the Twenty-First Century'' * 2017 – Payam Akhavan, ''In Search of a Better World: A Human Rights Odyssey'' * 2018 – Tanya Talaga, '' All Our Relations: Finding the Path Forward'' *2019 – Sally Armstrong, ''Power Shift: The Longest Revolution'' *2020 – Ronald J. Deibert, ''Reset: Reclaiming the Internet for Civil Society'' (shortlisted for the 2020

Donner Prize The Donner Prize is an award given annually by one of Canada's largest foundations, the Donner Canadian Foundation, for books considered excellent in regard to the writing of Canadian public policy. The prize was established in 1998, and is meant t ...

) *2021 – Esi Edugyan, ''Out of the Sun: On Art, Race and the Future'' *2022 –

Tomson Highway Tomson Highway (born 6 December 1951) is an Indigenous peoples in Canada, Indigenous Canadian playwright, novelist, children's author and musician. He is best known for his plays ''The Rez Sisters'' and ''Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing'', ...

, ''Laughing with the Trickster: On Sex, Death and Accordions'' *2023 – Astra Taylor, ''The Age of Insecurity: Coming Together as Things Fall Apart'' *2024 – Ian Williams, ''What I Mean To Say: Remaking Conversation in our Time''Vivian Rashotte
"'Politeness constrains us': Massey lecturer Ian Williams on developing our own opinions amid cancel culture"

CBC News CBC News is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC ...

, April 10, 2024.

Notes

For

's Massey Lectures in 2013, the CBC Radio website featured a visual narrative to accompany that year's theme ''Blood: The Stuff of Life''. The story included full-screen images of blood, animations that visually demonstrated historical attitudes towards blood and videos of people affected culturally by it. 1996 did not feature a lecture because ''Ideas'' producers and the selected Lecturer Robert Theobald could not agree on an appropriate

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

for the programme. The theme was to have been on the future of work. Theobald later published his manuscript as ''Reworking Success: New Communities at the Millennium'' (1997).

References

External links

CBC Ideas siteCBC Massey Lectures Archive
{{University of Toronto 1961 establishments in Ontario CBC Radio One programs Canadian talk radio programs Massey College, Toronto University and college lecture series 1960s Canadian radio programs 1970s Canadian radio programs 1980s Canadian radio programs 1990s Canadian radio programs 2000s Canadian radio programs 2010s Canadian radio programs 2020s Canadian radio programs Recurring events established in 1961

Sponsorship

Massey lecturers

Notes

See also

References

External links