About this class

We live in a civilization of slogans and marketing and products that are compellingly designed, from the clothes we wear and the things we say, to the food we eat, the people we talk about, the phones and computers and devices we use to communicate with each other and gather our daily information.

How do we know what is authentic and what is not? How do we ensure we are not being deceived?

Our invited doer in this class, Cynthia Rowden, has worked extensively in the field of global brand protection and trademark law as both a counsel and researcher on everything from advice on selection of new brands and clearance to enforcement. The conversation will be guided by her real-life examples, and the questions we will explore are:

  • How do we know when something today is not what it claims to be?
  • What are important examples we can learn from?
  • How do we prevent fraud in a digitally connected world?
Please connect 15 minutes before the start of the class and sit close to your camera and microphone.

If there are resources you would like to add, please send them to Lon.Appleby@durhamcollege.ca.

Format

The objective of a global class is to encourage interaction between groups of people from different parts of the world while giving them the opportunity to engage directly with an accomplished global thinker, doer, or researcher.

The class is a conversation, an intercultural back-and-forth in which the host and guest are among the participants, as opposed to a lecture followed by formal questions and answers.

Before the class, please familiarize yourself with the resources posted here on the page for this class (“class page”). Give some thought to what you might want to ask or say in the class, perhaps even prepare a statement you would like to make. 

The intent of a global class is to give participants the opportunity to develop their creative and critical thinking for the complex planet-wide world we live in. By the end of the 90-minute class, the participants will have explored an important shared issue, been introduced to new perspectives, improved their problem solving skills, enriched their understanding of world as a whole.

After the class, participants are welcome to continue the conversation on the blog on the class page, where the live class also remains. Assignments can be posted on the class page, along with resources that participants may wish to share with one another.

See you in class!

Host

Lon Appleby, Durham College

Founder, Professor

Guests

Cynthia Rowden, Intellectual Property Institute of Canada

Cynthia specializes in all areas of trademark and copyright law. Much of her practice relates to man...

Resources