2017 CBC MASSEY LECTURES: EARLY BIRD TICKETS NOW ON SALE

Aug 14, 2017

Discounted early bird tickets go on sale today for the 2017 CBC Massey Lectures in Whitehorse, Vancouver, Montreal, St. John’s and Toronto. For a limited period of one week (August 14–20*), Canadians can get a $5 discount on regular price tickets with the promo code “Massey2017.” All remaining tickets will be available at full price beginning August 21. This year's five Massey Lectures, In Search Of A Better World: a Human Rights Odyssey, will be presented by renowned UN prosecutor and human rights scholar Payam Akhavan.

A call to action for our times, Akhavan’s 2017 CBC Massey Lectures will offer a powerful survey of some of the major human rights struggles of our times -- and what we can do about them.

Throughout his life and career, Akhavan has encountered the grim realities of genocide. He argues that false utopias, political cynicism and public apathy have given rise to major human rights abuses: from the religious persecution of Iranian Bahá’ís that shaped his personal life, to the horrors of ethnic cleansing in Yugoslavia, the genocide in Rwanda, and the rise of the Islamic State. But Akhavan also reflects on the inspiring resilience of the human spirit, and the reality that we need each other to set us free from toxic ideologies and go about building a better world.

The five individual lectures will be recorded on a cross-Canada tour, beginning in Whitehorse on September 13. The lectures will also travel to Vancouver, Montreal, St. John’s and Toronto. For all dates and full ticket details, please see below.

The five In Search Of A Better World lectures in the 2017 CBC Massey Lectures series will be broadcast on CBC Radio One's Ideas the week of November 6, 2017 at 9 p.m. (9:30 NT). Ideas explores contemporary thought and how ideas shape every aspect of our lives.

The book of Payam Akhavan’s Massey Lectures, In Search Of A Better World: A Human Rights Odyssey will be released by House of Anansi Press on September 9, 2017.

Akhavan is a Professor of International Law at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, a Member of the International Court of Arbitration, and a former UN prosecutor at The Hague. He has served with the UN in conflict zones around the world, including Bosnia, Cambodia, Guatemala, Rwanda, and Timor Leste, and as legal counsel in landmark cases before the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court, the European Court of Human Rights, the Supreme Courts of Canada and the United States.

*Presale begins August 14 for all locations except Montreal. Presale tickets will be available in Montreal later in the week.

2017 CBC Massey Lectures venue and ticket information (including taxes)

In Search Of A Better World: a Human Rights Odyssey

Presented by renowned UN prosecutor and human rights scholar Payam Akhavan.

Whitehorse, YT – September 13, 7 p.m.

One: The Knowledge of Suffering

Yukon Arts Centre, 300 College Dr.

Tickets: $30, students /seniors $25