Ideas at Stratford:  The Shock of the New

Why does change happen? Human society seems to lean towards things not changing at all. And why do there seem to be moments in history where a tsunami of significant things happen at more-or-less the same time? And what about events perhaps years beforehand, the tremors that might have set the stage for the earthquake?

Moderated by Ideas host Nahlah Ayed, The Shock of the New is a series of panel discussions about five years that profoundly shaped the modern world, ‘hinge’ years that have had a profound effect on our lives today. Each year signifies a ‘new beginning’ in politics, the sciences, human rights - and illuminates some of the obvious and not-so-obvious forces that have shaped the modern world.

In photo: Nahlah Ayed

The Year 1947: Fractures and Tectonic Shifts

The Partition of India creates the largest mass migration in human history, the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict begins, the Cold War divides the world into opposing camps, and empires collapse and retreat.

Cindy Ewing is a professor of History at the University of Toronto. Her research and teaching focus on the international history of the Cold War in postcolonial South and Southeast Asia. She studies the interconnections between decolonization and other global processes of the twentieth century, and the development of international institutions such as the United Nations.

Sanjay Ruparelia is a professor of Politics and Public Administration at Toronto Metropolitan University. He studies the politics of democracy, equality and development in the postcolonial world, as well as the role of parties, movements and institutions in politics.

Bessma Momani is a professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Waterloo and a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation. She works in the fields of international organizations, international political economy, gender and diversity, and the geopolitics and political economy of the Middle East.