Contexts: Lectures at the ROM

Come to the ROM to hear experts in the fields of natural history, world cultures, the environment, anthropology and archaeology. Lecturers will share new discoveries, amazing artifacts and cutting edge science in a fascinating series of monthly lectures.

10 AM Coffee an Tea in Food Studio, Level B1

11:00 AM Lecture in Eaton Theatre

Note: FM assistive devices and ASL interpretation are available on request. ASL interpretation requires three weeks advance notice.

Contexts talks are supported by The Currelly Society

Wednesday March 27 -- KEVIN SEYMOUR
What the Fossil Record Tells Us About The Evolution of Flight and Echolocation in Bats

Most living bats use echolocation to detect and capture flying prey.  Echolocation and the ability to fly are the key innovations largely responsible for the evolutionary success of bats today.  But how did these two characteristics evolve?  Up until recently, the fossil record has been mute on this subject because all fossil bats looked pretty much like living bats.  The world’s most primitive bat was described by Kevin and his colleagues in 2008, and this changed all that.  Because of the preserved features in this fossil, now we know that in the evolution of bats, flight evolved first and echolocation evolved later.

Kevin Seymour is an Assistant Curator in Vertebrate Palaeontology and is Collections Manager for the ROM’s famous collection of fossil vertebrates.

Wednesday May 29 -- SARAH FEE

The BIG Impact of Textiles and Fashion on Human History

 

From time immemorial, humans have expended incredible efforts to adorn their bodies, homes and gods. This tour through the exhibition, BIG by one of the curators, Dr. Sarah Fee, will explore stories behind key objects and how they express the idea of largesse and grandeur, be it as major innovations, important events, oversized personalities, or simply for gigantic proportions or extreme amounts of time expended in their making. In 2006 alone, US online purchases of clothing came to $18.3 billion; discover some of the forces driving such great investments around the globe and across time.

 

 

Wednesday June 26 -- GAYLE GIBSON

Nakht: A Hard Life in Interesting Times

 

In 1974, the wrapped and coffined but unmummified body of a teenage boy was given the first modern autopsy of an ancient Egyptian. The results showed that he had lived a very hard life, plagued by parasitic and environmental illnesses.

This young Egyptian boy named Userkare-Nakht lived during the Twentieth Dynasty, around 1180 BCE. .

Recent studies of his coffin have deepened the mysteries surrounding his burial, and given us a more complex vision of life in a period that saw civil war and the early reign of one of Egypt’s greatest kings, Ramesses III.

ROM teacher and Egyptologist, Gayle Gibson will be talking about the findings of industrial pollution and environmental hazards around the body of Nakht, and sharing new information about his life

 

Check back soon for more information about upcoming Contexts lectures.Included with Museum admission.