Dr. John Ferris, PhD

The Politics of Cyber Security and Surveillance — a Q&A

The Politics of Cyber Security and Surveillance — a Q&A

This year’s Lecture of a Lifetime ended long before honouree Dr. John Ferris, PhD, addressed the flood of audience questions about cyber security, surveillance and politics. Dr. Ferris returns to dig deeper during this hour-long Q&A-only session. 


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About the guest

Dr. John Ferris, PhD

Dr. Ferris, PhD, is a specialist in strategy and diplomacy during the interwar years, power politics in the Asia-Pacific region, 1856-1945; signals intelligence; and the role of intelligence in war and peace. He has authored 120 academic articles and chapters and five books; including the newly released Behind the Enigma: The Authorised History of GCHQ, Britain's Secret Cyber-Intelligence Agency – a 100-year history of British Intelligence code-breaking.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and a professor of history at UCalgary, where he also is a Fellow of the Centre for Military, Strategic and Security Studies. Dr. Ferris is an honorary professor at University of Aberystwyth and Brunel University London, and an associate member of Nuffield College, Oxford.

About the moderator

Deborah Yedlin

Chancellor, University of Calgary

Community leader and Calgary journalist Deborah Yedlin became the 14th chancellor of the University of Calgary in 2018. She has been observing, commenting and writing about business and politics for more than two decades as a journalist for the Financial Post, Globe and Mail and Calgary Herald. In addition to her writing, she has been a regular commentator for the CBC and CTV since 1996. Follow @ddyedlin on Twitter.