Hamilton Third Age Learning – Fall Lecture Series 2026

Hamilton Third Age Learning (HTAL) is thrilled to present its Fall 2026 lecture series. HTAL offers affordable learning opportunities to older adults in Hamilton and the surrounding region.

This fascinating lecture series, with recorded versions available, caters to Hamilton’s large community of lifelong learners who want to be informed and inspired. The speakers are experts in their fields based on their robust credentials, strong presentation skills, and ability to communicate complicated information to the lay community.

Each program in the series includes a 50-minute lecture and an interactive discussion .

The series will run every Wednesday at 10:00am from September 23 to October 21, 2026.

FALL 2026 PROGRAM

SEPTEMBER 23: Tracy Dallaire – Cyber Security in Everyday Life: Staying Safe in a Connected World

Practical guidance for the digital habits, risks, and realities of modern life. Cyber security isn’t just an IT issue—it’s a life skill. As our daily activities move online, so do the risks. This talk demystifies cyber security for everyday users, focusing on practical steps anyone can take to protect their privacy, finances, identity, and devices. Participants will learn how to recognize scams, create a personal “defense-in-depth” plan that includes: strong and memorable passwords, secure their home networks, understand the risks of social media and AI, and navigate the digital world with confidence. The session blends real-world examples, clear explanations, and actionable advice designed specifically for adults who want to stay safe without feeling overwhelmed by technology.

About Tracy Dallaire

Tracy Dallaire is the Deputy Chief Technology Officer and Director, Digital Experience at McMaster University. Tracy joined McMaster in 2020 as the university’s Director of Information Security Services. She has led the development, implementation and long-term stewardship of strategies and roadmaps in areas such as cyber security, client services, communication and collaboration, AR/VR artificial intelligence and the internet of things. With 25 years of experience, Tracy has held senior leadership roles at Mohawk College and served as Chief Audit, Risk and Compliance Officer at eHealth Ontario. She also served in the Ontario Treasury Board, the Ministry of agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs among other ministries and public sector organizations. Tracy holds a B.A. in Political Science from Western University, a master’s in public policy and public administration from Concordia and is a certified management consultant.

SEPTEMBER 30: Shannon Kyles – What Can We Learn From Our Living Spaces?

The Indigenous peoples lived on this land for thousands of years and left no footprint. The European character was very different. Shannon will contrast the simplicity and charm of early buildings, when everyone was a farmer, with the opulence of the Victorian age. She will discuss the impact of electricity and plumbing, as well as social changes that resulted in the growth of single-family dwellings and the modern era of speculative housing that has changed our real estate landscape over the last several decades. In this talk, Shannon will introduce Ontario architecture through the building styles and types that have produced our towns, villages and cities. Her lifelong passion for this topic will help you see the buildings you thought you knew with fresh eyes.

About Shannon Kyles

Shannon taught Computer Design and Architectural History at McMaster and then at Mohawk College. She was the architecture expert on CBC’s Fresh Air for 10 years. She has served on the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario board for over 15 years and ran Doors Open Hamilton Region for six. In 1998, worried that the lack of information about Ontario’s historic buildings might be leading to the destruction of many of important sites, Shannon launched a non-profit online resource of building heritage information called ontarioarchitecture.ca. Last year she wrote a book called The Story of Ontario Architecture: What We Built and Why We Built It. In between, among other things, Shannon dismantled a Regency Cottage located in Ancaster, relocating and restoring it on a site in Prince Edward County.

OCTOBER 7: Dr. Caroline Dunton – The United Nations Beyond 80 Years

In 2025, the United Nations turned 80 years old. However, instead of a celebratory year, it was one of difficult decisions, crises, and funding cuts, all in the midst of deep geopolitical division. In 2026, many are still not sure how the organization will weather the storm. More changes are indeed ahead. Restructuring remains underway. The Security Council’s agenda is full of difficult conflicts. We are approaching the end date of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. And, after a decade under the leadership of Secretary General Antonio Guterres, there will be a new Secretary General. This talk will assess the possible futures for the organization, including its membership, structure, mandate, and geopolitical challenges.

About Dr. Caroline Dunton

Dr. Caroline Dunton is a Fellow at the Centre for International and Defence Policy at Queen’s University. She has been Senior Researcher at the United Nations University Centre for Policy Research, the Skelton-Clark Postdoctoral Fellow at Queen’s University, and both a Senior Policy Analyst and the Cadieux-Leger Fellow at Global Affairs Canada. Her book-manuscript in progress is titled To Play Our Full Part: The Pursuit of Status at the United Nations Security Council (McGill-Queens University Press)

OCTOBER 14: Dr. Bruce Milliken – Truth, the Mind, and Misinformation

Why do our brains leave us vulnerable to misinformation? Misinformation is an increasingly pervasive challenge to society that can influence public health, elections, climate change policy and much more. These alarming consequences are fueled by people believing that misinformation is actually true. How information comes to have truth value is therefore an important issue to understand. This talk will focus on why the human mind is vulnerable to misinformation, and what aspects of contemporary life have lifted this vulnerability to the forefront of societal concern.

About Dr. Bruce Milliken

Dr. Bruce Milliken is Professor (and former Chair) in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour at McMaster University. He earned his PhD at University of Waterloo in 1992 and joined McMaster soon after graduation. His research and teaching focus on human cognition, primarily memory and attention, with the research funded since 1996 by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Thanks to productive research collaborators, wonderful colleagues and graduate student trainees, he has authored more than 100 research articles and book chapters. He has been a resident of Dundas for more than 30 years.

OCTOBER 21: Stephen Adams – Remembering Their Faces: AI, Memory, and Making Museum Collections Searchable

Remembering Their Faces is a research project at Mohawk College that explores how artificial intelligence can help Canadian museums make photographic collections related to military service more accessible and searchable through museum websites. Military and community museums across Canada hold rich visual records of Canadian service, but these images were not always catalogued in ways that make people, places, objects, and stories easy to find. The challenge becomes greater for someone searching for a family member’s service history, since that history may be scattered across several institutions whose collections are not easily searched together. Designed for a non-technical audience, this presentation will explain tools such as facial recognition, object classification, and emerging AI search technologies in broad terms, while considering the human questions they raise. From the World Wars to Afghanistan and domestic service, the project must balance access, copyright, privacy, dignity, and remembrance.

About Stephen Adams

Stephen Adams is a Professor at Mohawk College, currently working with IDEAWORKS, Mohawk’s applied research division. Before this, he spent more than ten years in Engineering Technology teaching programming and mathematics, with a focus on making technical subjects accessible, practical, and engaging for students. Stephen holds a Master of Science in Computer Science from McMaster University. Prior to joining Mohawk, he worked in industry, including as a research assistant at IBM testing high-performance mathematical libraries and with Linatrol Systems on real-time control systems for robotic steel cutting. A lifelong Hamiltonian and lifelong learner, Stephen is active with the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 154 in Caledonia, where he serves as Veterans Services Officer. His current work includes Remembering Their Faces, a project using ethical AI to help museums make historical photographs more searchable, meaningful, and connected to the families and communities whose stories they preserve.

$55.00 for the series of 5 lectures. Includes lecture, Q&A, and 2 week password protected access to video recorded lectures.

Registration will be open from August 19-September 18, 2026

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