The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: Beyond Cowboy and Indian Stories

Join us for an evening of insight, conversation, and connection! Brought to you in partnership by: Glendon College, York University & The Rosedale Centre

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: Beyond Cowboy and Indian Stories

~ with Professor Elaine Coburn

Like many of us, Emma LaRocque vividly recalls watching her first movie, when she was about nine years old: "I remember ‘the Indians’: grotesque, wild-eyed, lurking creatures with painted bodies and hideous faces, tomahawks on hand, howling and whooping, crouching like animals across the screen, preying on beautiful white people on their way west to bring law and order. Like everyone else in the audience, I cheered for the beautiful people and I hated ‘the Indians.’” Unlike some of us, she was in for a shock: "Little did I know that White North American society had dubbed us ‘Indians’.” This conversation invites us into the life story of Emma LaRocque, who was born in 1949 in Lac La Biche to a Cree speaking Métis family. Through her unique vantage point, in both poetry and prose, LaRocque invites us to revisit the cowboy and Indian stories we have inherited. She asks us to rediscover the humanity of Indigenous peoples, too long cast as "Indians" and, perhaps more surprisingly, to rediscover what cowboys and Indians might have in common, moving us beyond stereotypes to recognize the good, the bad and the ugly in every human life.

Program:

A Soirée for Curious Minds brings the richness of university-level thinking directly into the community. Designed for inquisitive spirits, the series offers a rare opportunity to engage with exceptional scholars in an intimate, welcoming setting.

Each evening begins with doors opening early, inviting neighbours and friends to gather in our art gallery. Purchase a glass of wine or sparkling water from our licensed bar, while a live pianist fills the room with a captivating soundtrack – the perfect prelude to an evening of ideas.

What follows is a thoughtfully curated academic experience, led by esteemed professors from Glendon College, York University, whose teaching and research span literature, psychology, cultural studies, and contemporary political thought.

The series explores big ideas across time and disciplines, from Shakespearean history and the psychology of memory to cultural mythologies and modern populism, offering intellectual depth without pretense. It’s an invitation to learn, be inspired, and savour conversations that linger, echoing the brilliance of the ideas shared.

Join us as we offer Season 2 of this successful lecture series.

Biographical Note:

Elaine Coburn is professor of International Studies at Glendon, York University. She has a PhD from Stanford University and held a research position at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes in Sciences Sociales in Paris France for sixteen years, before returning to Canada a decade ago. Her work is concerned with unjust inequalities and her writing has appeared in scholarly journals, including the International Feminist Journal of Politics, Philosophy Today, and Political Studies and in venues for general publics, including the Literary Review of Canada, the London School of Economics Review of Books and Philosophy Now. Among other roles, she is the former Director of the Centre for Feminist Research and the former co-editor of the Journal of Canadian Studies, alongside Andrea Davis. Finally, she is the editor of On Being Human: The Emma LaRocque Reader available here.

Event venue & nearby stays

The Rosedale Centre, 159 Roxborough Drive, Toronto, Canada

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