The Toronto History Lecture – Call for Lecture Proposals

Proposals are requested for the 12th Toronto History Lecture to be delivered on the evening of Tuesday, August 8, 2023. The mode of presentation—virtual, in person in Toronto, recorded, or a blend of all three—will depend on various circumstances, including the location of the selected lecturer.

We seek an interesting, innovative and well-presented lecture on any aspect of Toronto’s history.

At this stage your proposal should be brief and should address:

Your topic
Why the topic is interesting
How your treatment of the topic will be innovative (previously undisclosed information? fresh insight? a new thesis?)
you bona fides as an engaging public speaker

Be sure to include all your contact information (e-mail, postal, telephones) and relevant online links (website/blog/social media).

While submissions are encouraged from specialist communities (e.g. genealogists, academics), prospective lecturers are reminded that this event will be open to the public and that any topic must be of potential interest to the layperson and readily comprehensible without specialist knowledge.

We expect that the lecture will be one hour in length, plus a 5–10 minute Q&A session.

We will provide the online platform and technical support for the speaker. To accommodate audience members from different time zones, we’ll record the presentation and make it available on our website for a limited time.

There will be a modest honorarium of $200 (plus HST if applicable) plus reasonable travel expenses if needed.

Submissions should be made via e-mail to toronto [at] ogs.on.ca. Deadline is May 5, 2023.

The Toronto History Lecture was inaugurated in 2011 in memory of well-known local and family historian Paul James McGrath and his love for telling people about Toronto and its past. For more information, see: https://torontofamilyhistory.org/learn/torontohistory-lecture/

The Toronto History Lecture is a project of the Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society.