Building 21

On Doubt in Dance: A Conversation with Marisa Pauloni, Professeure de danse classique Les Studios Grands Ballet

Read in English here: www.building21.ca/podcast-articles/on-doubt-in-dance-a-conversation-with-marisa-pauloni

Marisa spent fifteen years developing her career as a professional classical and contemporary dancer. A graduate of the École Supérieure de Danse du Québec in 1995, she received honors twice during her training. Upon completing her studies, she was awarded two consecutive development grants—one from the Consulate General of France and the other from the Rosella Hightower International Dance Centre. She then landed her first one-year contract as a soloist with the Volkstheater Rostock in Germany.

After three years working as an independent artist, Marisa joined Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal (GBC) in 2000, where she built a successful career until June 2010. She then became ballet mistress for the internationally renowned company Lalala Human Steps and is regularly invited to teach by Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal.

Her classes focus on helping dancers refine their technique while nurturing their full potential for artistic expression.

Featuring: Marisa Pauloni, Professeure de danse classique, Les Studios Grands Ballet
Co-hosted by: Isabella Chiaravallotti & Anita Parmar
Produced by: Alex Nicholas Chen
Music by: Christian Denis
Graphics by: Sophie Wu
Learn more: building21.ca

What Happens When a University Shuts Down Its Most Creative Space?

The biggest thank you to everyone at CKUT Radio for making this possible.
On April 27th 2026, fellows Firuza Huseynova (MA Digital Humanities), Nina Zepcan (MISt), Annette Hong Kim (MEd Inclusive Education), and Tamara Pressman (PhD Economics) appeared on CKUT 90.3 FM's All Things Campus, hosted by Karla Stephan.
They shared deeply about their fellowship projects, their experience at Building 21, and the essentiality of interdisciplinary third spaces at the university.

• 👂 Listen to the Official CKUT 90.3FM Episode here: https://ckut.ca/playlists/shows/29279
• 👀 Read the full transcript on building21.ca here
• 📝 Accompanying Article here

Full credits: CKUT 90.3 FM & Karla Stephan
Introduction created by: Firuza Huseynova
Edited by: Alex Nicholas Chen

Article here: www.building21.ca/podcast-articles/the-distance-between-panels-mtl-cartoonist-michel-hellman

Michel Hellman, McConnell Professor of practice, is a comic book artist, illustrator and art teacher. He is the author of several graphic novels and has participated in numerous residencies and exhibitions. He is interested in the relationship between urban space and comics and, is currently working on a collaborative research and creation project with the CIRM to create a “cartographic" graphic novel focusing on different Montreal neighborhoods and detailing the experiences of their residents.

About "I'm Not Sure"
Everyone's always talking about what we're sure of: certainties, predictions, facts. Here at “I’m Not Sure”, we take a turn and ask: What are some things we aren’t so sure of? What do scientists, artists, practitioners, experts, and leaders wonder about? What are the questions and curiosities that guide us to explore the smallest particles, the farthest spaces, the deepest mysteries, and our closest relationships?

Co-hosted by: Ollivier Dyens & Anita Parmar
Produced by: Alex Nicholas Chen
Music by: Christian Denis
Graphics by: Sophie Wu
Learn more: building21.ca

 

Canadian VC veteran Jim de Wilde talks to Ollivier and special co-host, Anita Parmar, about how history may guide future innovation.

Throughout his career as an educator and venture capitalist, Dr. Jim de Wilde has focused on the issues of global competitiveness and the commercialization of knowledge through activities in both the private sector and the public sector.   Since the early 1990's, Dr. de Wilde has also been involved in venture capital activities as President of JdW Strategic Ventures.    

In his venture capital activities, Dr. de Wilde served on the Investment Committee of iNovia Capital in Montreal and has been involved in the development of Canadian venture capital capacity since the 1990s.

In his teaching activities, he has been on the faculty of the University Of Western Ontario School Of Business (now Ivey) and the Faculty of Management at McGill University.  He has also taught venture capital strategies at the Rotman School of Business at the University of Toronto. He has a PhD in political science from McGill with a dissertation focusing on the Canadian public policy process and competitiveness in technology sectors. He continues his engagement with global education and selective venture capital opportunities primarily in sustainability innovation.

About "I'm Not Sure"
Everyone's always talking about what we're sure of: certainties, predictions, facts. Here at “I’m Not Sure”, we take a turn and ask: What are some things we aren’t so sure of? What do scientists, artists, practitioners, experts, and leaders wonder about? What are the questions and curiosities that guide us to explore the smallest particles, the farthest spaces, the deepest mysteries, and our closest relationships?

Co-hosted by: Ollivier Dyens & Anita Parmar
Produced by: Alex Nicholas Chen
Music by: Christian Denis
Graphics by: Sophie Wu
Learn more: building21.ca

Last month, Dr. Norman B. Sandridge gave an exquisite talk at Building 21 on the topic 'Can we truly lead without the humanities?'. 

The talk was so good that we decided to share it as a podcast! The handout he prepared for the 2026 Mila-B21 Fellowship cohort can also be found below.

"Dr. Norman Sandridge is an Associate Professor of Classics in the Political Science Department at Howard University and co-founder of Kallion Leadership, an organization dedicated to designing and developing learning communities for those committed to leadership development through the study of the humanities.

He is also the author of Rise of the Benevolent Octopus: On the Conditions and Practices of Leadership Development, which introduces the metaphor of the “Benevolent Octopus” as a model for cultivating humane and intellectually generous leadership."

Handout here
Professor Sandridge's substack: https://sandridge.substack.com/
Produced by: Alex Nicholas Chen
Music by: Christian Denis
Emerged in Montréal, Canada

Read the article on building21.ca here.

In this episode of "I’m Not Sure?", produced at Building 21 at McGill University, science fiction writer Alexander Weinstein reimagines fiction structured by hope, joy, pure celebration.

Speculative fiction writer Alexander Weinstein has built a career exploring the emotional and technological fault lines of modern life. Known for his short-story collections Children of the New World and Universal Love, Weinstein examines dystopian futures shaped by intimacy, technology, and loss. One of his stories even became the basis for the acclaimed film After Yang (A24, 2021), launching him into television and screen adaptation.

 

Yet after years of writing conflict-driven narratives, Weinstein finds himself questioning one of fiction’s most sacred assumptions: that conflict must be the central engine of every story.

 

About "I'm Not Sure"
Everyone's always talking about what we're sure of: certainties, predictions, facts.
Here at “I’m Not Sure”, we take a turn and ask: What are some things we aren’t so sure of? What do scientists, artists, practitioners, experts, and leaders wonder about? What are the questions and curiosities that guide us to explore the smallest particles, the farthest spaces, the deepest mysteries, and our closest relationships?

Co-hosted by: Ollivier Dyens & Isabella Chiaravallotti
Produced by: Alex Nicholas Chen
Music by: Christian Denis
Graphics by: Sophie Wu
Learn more: building21.ca
Emerged in Montréal, QC 2025

Read the article in English here.

In this episode of "I’m Not Sure?", produced at Building 21 at McGill University, literary historian Frédéric Charbonneau reflects on a life shaped by curiosity and doubt.
From science to Chinese studies to French literature, Charbonneau explores how uncertainty guides research, how ideas of progress reshape our understanding of the past, and why history can never be fully known. Rather than seeking definitive answers, he argues for working with provisional certainty—embracing uncertainty as the condition that keeps thought alive.

About "I'm Not Sure"
Everyone's always talking about what we're sure of: certainties, predictions, facts.
Here at “I’m Not Sure”, we take a turn and ask: What are some things we aren’t so sure of? What do scientists, artists, practitioners, experts, and leaders wonder about? What are the questions and curiosities that guide us to explore the smallest particles, the farthest spaces, the deepest mysteries, and our closest relationships?

Co-hosted by: Ollivier Dyens & Isabella Chiaravallotti
Produced by: Alex Nicholas Chen
Music by: Christian Denis
Graphics by: Sophie Wu
Learn more: building21.ca
Emerged in Montréal, QC 2025

 

Every story need a listener. Going from personal trauma healing to building a more peaceful and just society.

In March, we had the pleasure of a talk from Michael Lapsley, founder of the Institute for Healing of Memories in South Africa. Here we present the introduction of his talk; for the whole event, including questions from students, please visit our Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxtHb7K3bPw

In part 1 of this series, we discussed what it means for a human to grow up. But we're not the only organisms who develop and grow older. And some of the others have much more extreme changes in their lives than even the most awkward of adolescences.

Dr. Morgan Jackson and Viola H. Ruzzier discuss insect development, memory, and what growing up means for this very different group of beings.

"All children, except one, grow up."

Thus begins the book Peter Pan, the story of the only boy who never grows up. But for the rest of us, what does that term mean, exactly? At what point have you grown sufficiently "up" to be considered an adult? What does the process entail? Is it a good thing or a bad thing (or both)?

Thank you to Souren Vahdatfarimani and Professor Paul Yachnin for their insightful thoughts on the subject.

In many ways, our lives are entirely dependent on others, both human and non-human. We constantly interact with coworkers, friends, partners, family, and complete strangers. But how exactly do all these different relationships affect us?

Listen to what B21 community members Shuting Wang, Arkana Fuentes-Pilafidis, Nakiya Noorbhai, and Viola H. Ruzzier think about the importance of others in the first B21 podcast episode of the year.

The idea of a soul, of the intangible something that makes up a person, has existed for millennia. But souls aren't confined to people -- we talk about soulful food, soulful music, soulful art, and we can describe both people and inanimate things as soulless.

But are we referring to the same concept every time we say the word "soul"? Is one person's definition different from everyone else's? How do religion and spirituality play into this? Can souls outlive people?

Join operatic tenor and McGill professor John MacMaster, archaeology student Katrina Kosyk, and B21 program assistant Viola H. Ruzzier for a fascinating discussion on the soul.

La question du sublime se pose depuis des milliers d'années. Nous le cherchons dans les paysages, les arts, les mathématiques. Nous le trouvons entre la beauté et la peur, le connu et l'inconnu.

Mais qu'est-ce que le sublime, exactement? Quand peut-on le ressentir? Peut-on en faire l'expérience ou simplement l'entrevoir? Réside-t-il à l'intérieur ou à l'extérieur de nous?

Rejoignez une discussion sublime et animée avec Ève-Marie Marceau, Antoine Poulin, Sarah Ambroise, et Viola H. Ruzzier, pendant laquelle nous essayerons de décortiquer ce sentiment vertigineux.

Welcome to Part 1 of our new miniseries, Matterless Matters! In this series we'll be discussing matters that maybe don't matter too much, but are fun and surprisingly deep anyway.

This first episode will ask the following crucial questions: Are mermaids fish or mammals? Why do zombies need to eat, given that they're already dead?

You can find the written version at https://building21.ca/matterless-matters.

Narrated by Dr. Maria Morrison, German professor at McGill University.

How do we define language? What is the difference between language and other types of communication? Is music a language? How does language shape our way of thinking? Join us for this follow-up to one of our latest I'm Not Sure discussions.

What's the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word "alien"? Is it something threatening? Something unknown? Something different? Join us along with Prof. Samuele Collu and Vincent Laliberté to dive into this surprisingly ancient question.

What if there were no cars in cities? What if we used hypothetical questions to solve real problems? What if asking these questions made us happier, more empathetic people? Join us for a thoughtful celebration of two of the most freeing words in the English language: "what if?"

Join us for a in-depth discussion on what creates rich and beautiful learning environments. 

David Peña-Guzman is Associate Professor at San Francisco State University. In his latest book, When Animals Dream, Dr. Peña-Guzman wonders whether humans are the only dreamers on Earth. What goes on in the minds of animals when they sleep? When Animals Dream brings together behavioral and neuroscientific research on animal sleep with philosophical theories of dreaming. It shows that dreams provide an invaluable window into the cognitive and emotional lives of nonhuman animals, giving us access to a seemingly inaccessible realm of animal experience.

Radical Futures: Foundations for a Better World will not explore solutions, since solutions already exist. Instead, it will ask: what are the conditions we must create for humanity to change and adapt? What foundations, what values and beliefs, could be at the heart of a better society? In the second part of this podcast, we discuss one particular foundation which has been at the heart of recent Radical Futures talks: spirituality. We ask what spirituality is, whether it could serve as a foundation for a better world, and how spirituality could be manifested in a society.

 

With David Jhave Johnston, Viola Ruzzier, and Claudia Raihert