Each year IRDL hosts an open house, a speaker series, cross-departmental collaborative events, and supportive writing groups for graduate students and faculty members.
We are committed to providing space and support for research development and dissemination.
JOIN US THIS FALL 2026
Get It Done, Together!
1:00 – 4:00 PM, THURSDAYS
September 17, October 1 & 22, November 5 & 19, December 3
Get it Done Together is a drop in coworking group for grad students and faculty. Sessions use the Pomodoro Method with 30 minutes of work, 10-minute breaks. Bring anything you need to get done! We gather in the IRDL Lounge area on the 7th floor of Kaneff Tower (4700 Keele St, Ian McDonald Boulevard, behind the York University Subway Station and next to York Lanes). Coffee and snacks are provided! Join us, grab a bite, and work alongside scholars from a wide variety of disciplines!
Questions or to register contact Joel White: jaw24@yorku.ca
IRDL Speaker Series: Book Talk with Fenwick McKelvey
September 28, 2:30-4:00
For more than six decades, the public has been promised that computers will revolutionize politics, both nationally and internationally. In SimPolitics, Fenwick McKelvey traces the entwined history of politics and computers from the 1960s to the late 1980s. He shows how programmers, consultants, academics, political scientists, and peace activists all worked—sometimes in tandem, sometimes not—to build simulations to win campaigns, predict coups, forecast the future, and render politics as legible as a spreadsheet.
Drawing on novel archival and historical research, McKelvey recounts the history of efforts to simulate politics by building models of elections, voters, and international relations. Comparing attempts in the United States to simulate domestic electoral politics and international affairs, he reveals the unexamined connections and conflicts between the two projects. His book provides a helpful guide to taking stock of exaggerated claims that AI and technology will fix politics, while presenting the long history of such promised technological fixes.
Register in advance here. You will receive a confirmation email containing details about joining the meeting.
IRDL CHILLER SAVE THE DATE!!
OCTOBER 1, 4-6 PM EST – Immediately following the Get It Done, Together.
IRDL Lounge, 7th Floor Kaneff Tower
More details to come but there will be treats, drinks and great conversation and games!