Fundamentals of Effective Public Speaking

The Fear of Public Speaking

Self Care: Beyond the Bubble Bath

This session will explore the need for a new understanding of self-care – one that gives careful consideration to our current global context and offers meaningful approaches that are responsive to our changing individual and collective needs.

Hosted by Sarah Syrett. Syrett is a field coordinator for Laurier's Bachelor of Social Work program and a self-care facilitator. 

Intercultural Compassion and COVID-19

This workshop invites participants on a high-level exploration of cultural dimensions that impact how we understand and respond to collective traumas such as COVID-19.  By examining how these dimensions intersect and often conflict, we can move towards responses that prioritize equity, compassion and mutual aid over maintaining status quos that uphold or reproduce harm.  

Presenter Bio: Lauren Burrows (she/her) is a Black feminist and abolitionist whose experience in social change labour expands over a decade. She works as an educator, consultant, and equity practitioner and currently provides her labour to the Centre for Student Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at Wilfrid Laurier University. Lauren has a graduate degree in Social Justice and Community Engagement and is a proud Laurier alum.

*Please note that permission was granted by all of those who submitted questions to the discussion to include them in this recording as they contribute to the learning opportunity of the audience. 

Giving the Planet a Voice

From Good to Great Phone Photography

Leverage the power of your smartphone to improve your photography skills for any occasion, personal or professional. While professional photography gear is nice to have, you don't need to spend thousands of dollars on equipment to learn the fundamentals of great photography.

In this webinar, we'll dive into the five factors for better photography and discuss tools that will take your photos to the next level. Whether you want to step up your social media game or want to capture the precious moments around you, this webinar will leave you with the skills to get snapping. 

Join Olivia Rutt (BA'13) for this informative and photo-filled webinar. Rutt is a trained journalist and photographer who runs a travel blog, My Wandering Voyage. She is also the communications officer for Laurier's Brantford campus.

Seizing the opportunity to 'flatten the curve' of air pollution

This webinar will be hosted by Hind Al-Abadleh, professor of chemistry at Wilfrid Laurier University and the 2019 Fulbright Canada Research Chair in atmospheric chemistry, air quality and climate change at the University of California Irvine. Will our heightened sense of health awareness continue post-pandemic, or will we go right back to polluting the air we breathe?

The daily rhythms of millions of people have been drastically changed as governments around the world have declared states of emergencies and lockdowns so that people go home and stay home. Granted, these measures are necessary and will be life-saving as they are based on advice from public health doctors and scientists. These measures will work for as long as people comply. But will this heightened sense of awareness for our health continue once the coronavirus pandemic is under control, or will we go right back to polluting the air we breathe with nitrogen dioxide, ozone and fine particulate matter?

Once we pass the COVID-19 pandemic, which would have given us the best 'clean' air possible in metropolitan centres around the world, let's consciously and seriously decide to keep air quality and the health of the climate front and centre in our lives and political discussions. All is required is to make personal choices, vertical and horizontal co-operation and collaboration at all levels and maintaining the sense of interconnectedness locally and across borders that we acutely feel during these tough times.

This session will explore air pollution recognized as a public health issue, the current state of our air quality, the impacts of the COVID-19 on air quality and pollution and proposed next steps to the continued improvement of air quality and the health of all global citizens.

Moving from Ideas to Actions: How to use Courage to Live Sustainably

Laurier's Office of Sustainability Outreach and Program Coordinator, Katarina Milicic, will be joining us for an energizing webinar outlining practical ways to live a more sustainable lifestyle. Often times when it comes to living sustainably, we get overwhelmed with too many pathways to action that sometimes come at a premium. You might hear words such as “sacrifice” or “crisis,” and perhaps don’t even know where to start. We know that real action comes from changing behaviour, shifting your mindset, and widespread societal change – so what’s stopping us?

This webinar will help you to move beyond the overwhelming nature of living sustainably and get you to use the courage to enact impactful change. The Laurier Sustainability Office will present the history of sustainable development globally and locally, the current state of the world, and where we need to go. By using real-world examples of courageous, well-recognized leaders to local sustainability champions, you’ll start to understand the importance of one individual action that creates a ripple effect. The webinar will wrap-up with simple tips to move from ideas to action, along with helpful resources to start shifting towards a more sustainable lifestyle!