For the 2025 Robin Burns Lecture, Dr. Jessica van Horssen will uncover the history of the community of Asbestos, Quebec (now Val-des-sources) and its role in the global asbestos trade by calling attention to the ways in which the American Johns-Manville Company used the people and the land to manipulate medical evidence, global trade networks, and company profits. The people of Asbestos were left to survive what had become an experiment, where company officials could test methods to maximize profits while deflecting international criticism of the health impacts of the industry. This talk will explore the small and extreme ways in which this occurred, as well as the distinct manner in which the people of Asbestos forged their resilience against known and unknown dangers by drawing on their community identity.

The Robin Burns lecture will be held in Bishop Williams Hall at Bishop’s University. This is a bilingual event: the lecture will be delivered in English, the slides and Q&A will be in English and French.