Unsupported Browser

Your Browser is out of date and is not supported by this website.
Please upgrade to Firefox, Chrome, or Microsoft Edge.

The Founding College of the University of Toronto
event banner image with rubble in background and event title in foreground

2024-25 R. K. Teetzel Lecture in Architecture

Endowed Lecture Series
Alumni
Current Students
Faculty
Instructors
New Students
Public
Students in Residence

Right to Heal: Resettler Nationalism and Architecture after Conflicts and Disasters

Hybrid Lecture
Friday February 7, 4:30-6:00 p.m. ET
In-person and online (followed by a reception)
Paul Cadario Conference Centre at Croft Chapter House 
15 King’s College Circle, Toronto ON M5S 3H7

*This event is free and all are welcome though registration is required and seating is limited for in-person attendance. Please sign up for the virtual or in-person sections below.

Headshot of Esra Akcan

Presented by

Esra Akcan

Director of Graduate Studies
Department of Architecture
Cornell University

In this lecture, Esra Akcan will introduce her forthcoming book, Architecture and the Right to Heal: Resettler Nationalism in the Aftermath of Conflict and Disaster (Duke University Press, 2025), and focus on the chapter on climate disasters. This book examines architecture's role in healing societies after conflict and disasters, focusing on buildings and spaces in relation to transitional justice and energy transition. It identifies areas of political and ecological harm, advocating for their transformation into healing spaces where violence and violations are confronted, and accountability and reparations are established. By framing healing as a right and a holistic form of justice, the book critiques the causes of and opportunistic responses to crises while showcasing architecture's potential for meaningful restitution. Distinct types of conflicts or disasters are discussed alongside their related architectural programs, revealing connections and incompletions that highlight the ongoing struggle for social, global, and environmental justice involved in the right to heal. The book also introduces the concept of resettler nationalism to provide a nuanced global history and explores the aftermath of the Ottoman Empire's dissolution and similar global examples.  

Register for In-person Attendance

*Registration for in-person attendance has now closed. Please register below to view the lecture virtually, or follow our YouTube channel to see a recording of the lecture when it is posted.

Register for Virtual Attendance

To attend this lecture virtually please click the link below. A webinar link will be sent to the email listed on the registration. Please submit a registration under the name of each person who plans to attend.

About the Speaker

Esra Akcan is Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Architecture and board member at the Institute for Comparative Modernities. Akcan's research on modern and contemporary architecture and urbanism foregrounds the intertwined histories of Europe, West Asia, and Northeast Africa and offers new ways to understand architecture's role in global, social, and environmental justice. She has written extensively on critical and postcolonial theory, racism, immigration, reparations and transitional justice, architectural photography, translation, neoliberalism, and global history. 


The Teetzel Lectureship was established under the terms of the will of Mrs. Rita K. Teetzel, who graduated from University College in 1912. In her will, Mrs. Teetzel requested that a portion of her estate be used "for the furtherance of studies in Architecture for women in University College." This Lectureship aims to bring to the College and to the University of Toronto distinguished lecturers in art and architecture.