Biweekly, Wednesday 10-12, Week 1
workshop full

The intent of this workshop is to delve into the diversity of Toronto’s uniquely various and vibrant neighbourhoods. Presenters will choose a neighbourhood and research its history, significant buildings, unknown (to many people) attractions, parks and landmarks, development over time, changing demographics and future prospects. There are a lot of options for choosing a neighbourhood: a family connection; where you live/ moved to/ grew up; stories from family or friends; or simply researching a neighbourhood that interests you. Some workshops could be supplemented by field trips. Photographs then and now, based on research via the Toronto archives/library, etc. are a possibility.

Biweekly, Friday 10-12, Week 1   Term 2 (January through March) Only
space available 

This workshop explores the problems and potential solutions surrounding the crisis in Toronto housing. Participants will be expected to read four non-fiction books and prepare a 20-minute presentation. We will watch and discuss two films.

A sampling of the issues to be addressed: affordability; Sidewalk Labs; the influence of global forces; how class, race and ethnicity affect place in the city; climate and resiliency of our housing; homelessness and shelters; public housing and public space; density versus sprawl; zoning and the ‘Yellow Belt’; housing for seniors, disabled, migrants; lane housing, co-ops, communes and rooming houses.

Biweekly, Friday 12-2, Week 2
space available

Virginia Woolf has fascinated biographers, critics, and the common reader since she published The Voyage Out in 1915.  Along with T.S. Eliot, James Joyce, and Ezra Pound, Woolf was the voice of modernism in English literature. Virginia Woolf’s unique life and contribution to literature offer an intriguing insight into writing and living with originality and courage.

In this workshop we will explore Woolf’s life and work, both fiction and non-fiction.   The workshop is appropriate for students of Woolf as well as those looking for an introduction to Woolf and the Bloomsbury Group.  Participants are expected to give a short presentation.

Biweekly, Thursday 12-2, Week 1    
space available

Our natural world is a web of wonder, beauty and complexity. In this workshop we will take a broad look at natural phenomena through many scientific disciplines. These may include psychology, chemistry, physics, geology, bacteriology and more. We will see that there are many ways in which scientific studies overlap to inform our everyday existence. Each session will focus on an article of your choice, generally from the current year of the journal Scientific American. Other source material may include scientific magazines such as Discovery Magazine, Science News, Science, and The New Scientist.

Biweekly, Wednesday 12-2, Week 1    
space available

Each participant will present on a specific philosopher in the Western tradition, from the ancient Greeks onward, describing his* life and one or more of his* ideas, as he tries to think clearly. We will primarily reference two recent (2016) acclaimed books by Anthony Gottlieb: The Dream of Reason and The Dream of Enlightenment. These books are “well-researched, eminently readable” and available through the Toronto Public Library. Here is a chance to dip your toes in an intriguing stream of literature or return to an old love. Even experienced readers will enjoy Gottlieb’s take.

(* Sorry, but it’s true: they are all old, dead, white males.)