Past Programmes
Winter 2013
Myths and Legends in Opera
Lecturer – Iain Scott
Monday Mornings – January 14 to March 25, 2013
Opera abounds in the mysterious and the unexplained. From the larger-than-life demigods of ancient Greece, Babylon, Egypt and Rome, to the medieval Knights-Errant of the Celtic Twilight, to the Heroic Sagas from the Norse Mists, to the enigma wrapped in a riddle which is Russia, to the Faustian Pact and the Eternal Feminine, to Fairy Tales for adults, - even to operatic x-files and the supernatural … there is a wealth of material to intrigue and delight in opera. In our exploration, we will encounter great literary figures such as Homer, Virgil, Goethe and Shakespeare ... and we will encounter great thinkers such as Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung. All because myths and legends – combined with the power of great music - tell us something about our inner selves.
Frontiers of Medicine
Lecturer – Maire Percy
Friday mornings– January 11 to March 22, 2013
During the past decade, remarkable advances have been made in biomedical sciences and medicine. However, pressing challenges still remain, and unforeseen, significant threats to human health are bound to arise in the future, in part from climate change and pollution. This series will feature the following frontiers: global health - premature mortality in developed and developing countries: The Next 40 Years (Dr. Prabhat Jha); genetics and genomics in medicine (Dr. Stephen Scherer); stem cells and their therapeutic potentials (Dr. Janet Rossant); how the brain can change itself: the woman who changed her brain (Barbara Arrowsmith-Young); microbes in our guts: do they affect our behaviour? (Dr. Derrick MacFabe); rehabilitation medicine (tba); the new diabetes “epidemic” (Dr. Patricia Brubaker); revolution in cancer diagnosis and treatment (Dr. Linda Penn); plagues, pestilence and pandemics: what is new in infectious diseases? (Dr. Allison McGeer); ageing, dementia and ethical issues in end of life care (Dr. Michael Gordon).
Plays That Shook the World
Lecturer – Philippa Sheppard
Friday afternoons– January 11 to March 22, 2013
During this whirlwind tour of drama through the ages, expect lavish illustration with clips from performances, tantalizing tidbits about the playwrights’ lives, and revelations about the plays’ commentary on human society. Each period of drama will be introduced with a brief description of performance conditions (for example, the Roman amphitheatres, the London theatres-in-the-round, the proscenium arch theatres). We will trace vital themes as they change through time, particularly the role of the supernatural, of the class system, and of the battle of the sexes.
Philippa Sheppard has had an enduring love-affair with drama; studied drama for three degrees, culminating as a Commonwealth Scholar at Oxford where she wrote her doctoral dissertation on Elizabethan Drama. She has taught university-level drama in Dublin, Newfoundland and Toronto. Philippa has written many articles on drama in both academic and popular publications, and appeared on TV and radio discussing her obsession.
Fall 2012
Reflections in the Hall of Mirrors: American Movies and the Politics of Idealism
Lecturer – Kevin Courrier
Monday Mornings – September 10 to November 19, 2012 (No class October 8, 2012-Thanksgiving)
What took us so long! Kevin Courrier is one of the best known lecturers and reviewers on the Toronto film scene. And finally he’s coming to Innis Town Hall to give us a new slant on how American movies reflect the political times. When Barack Obama was elected President of the United States in November 2008, the historic event ignited a fever of idealism not felt since 1960 when John Kennedy first declared the coming of a New Frontier. Due to that sixties’ utopian spirit, you could turn to almost any American film and recognize the political period that spawned it. In this series, Kevin examines how key American movies from the last forty years have come to echo the secret aspirations and dashed expectations of the country’s deeply divisive elements.
Ten Classical Masterpieces that Changed Music
Lecturer – Rick Phillips
Thursday Mornings - September 13 to November 15, 2012
We got to know him through the CBC Radio’s long-running Sound Advice and we got to love him as Later Life’s classical Man of Music. Now Rick Phillips, writer, speaker, musical tour guide and broadcaster, is back to take us on a journey through the ages. Throughout history, he says, great art, literature and music have caught and reflected
our lives and times – the human experience. Here the touchstone is music and he’ll be bringing us legendary recordings from the past and the present, often classical masterpieces that opened up new perspectives and altered the development of music. Plus, of course, his special insights designed to increase our interest, love and
enjoyment of classical music. Forever.
The Realm of Dance
Lecturer – Michael Crabb
Friday Afternoons - September 14 to November 16, 2012
Waltz, pirouette, jig, tango, flamenco…. so many words to describe a human activity so old, so fundamental that people danced before there was a name for it. Dance, says our lecturer, Michael Crabb, is the outer expression of the inner pulse of life. And how fortunate we are to have as our dance-master one of Canada’s leading literary exponents of this popular art form. Michael has written about the performing arts for almost 40 years. He is an author, radio producer, former host of CBC’s Arts Report, and currently dance critic for The Toronto Star. And this is not just a course about ballet. Richly illustrated with film and video, it goes to the very heart of the art – what is dance, and why do we dance? Dance has been a missing ingredient in the Later Life roster. Now we’re making up – in spades.
Update Notes Dec. 2012:
This was a very popular series; Michael Crabb was a wonderful lecturer. At the last class Michael delighted attendees with a live 'Gangnam style' performance by some Innis students. View it at LLL Gangnam style
Winter 2012
The Great Popular Singers - Lecturer – Mike Daley
Monday Mornings - January 16 to March 26, 2012
Back by popular demand, Mike will pay tribute to modern interpreters of the American songbook such as Michael Buble, Harry Connick Jr. and Diana Krall, as well as taking us back to where it all began, Tin Pan Alley, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong and others.
Not Only Enstein - Lecturer - Daniela Monaldi
Thursday Mornings - January 19, to March 29, 2012
Daniela Monaldi puts the lives and works of original thinkers such as Newton, Darwin, Marie Curie-Sklodowska, J. Robert Oppenheimer (and Einstein) in the context of their times.
Toronto History - Lecturer - Various
Chapters in Toronto's remarkable history will be presented by historians such as Marta O'Brien, Mike Filey, Derek Boles and others.
Past Programmes:
Fall 2011
Baroque Art - Lecturer – Francis Broun
Studies the works of some of the greatest masters in the history of Western are starting in Italy and travelling to Flanders, France, Spain and the Dutch Republic.
Pursuing Reality - Documentaries - Lecturer - Gillian Helfield
Examines various reality-driven aesthetics, theories, movements and genres in film and television realism.
Japan - Lecturer - Momo Kano Podolsky (replaced by James Heron and Koko Kikuchi)
From the disaster of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami to the ancient tea ceremony, this course provides clues to an understanding of how things work in Japanese culture and society.
Winter 2011
Humphrey Bogart
Named “The Greatest Male Star of All Time” by the American Film Institute, Humphrey Deforest Bogart (1899-1957) remains one of the most beloved and watchable film actors in celluloid history.
Lecturer – Stephen Scharper
One Hundred Years of Jazz
One Hundred Years of Jazz traces the development of jazz from slave songs and marching band music through New Orleans and the Big Band era to bebop, cool jazz and beyond.
Lecturer - Dr. Michael Daley
From RUS to RUSSIA
This course will examine Russia’s transformations, from medieval Kievan Rus to the modern Russian state.
Lecturer - Dr. Julia Zarankin
Fall 2010
Canadian Flavours
Lectures cover Canadian Architecture, Quebec Cinema, Canadian Music, Reading Trudeau and Canadian History though Art. Some of the lecturers are Joe Schlesinger, Carlos Ventin, Dr. Gillian Helfield, Dr. Robin Elliott, Dr. George Elliot Clark, and Shelley Falconer.
Exploring Great Scenes from Opera
Popular lecturer Iain Scott returns by popular demand.
Many Paths to God
Dr. J.W. Windland is returning to provide in-depth lectures about a number of religions including Jainism, Jehovah Witnesses and Sikhism.
Winter 2010
Galileo’s Legacies
Lecturer: Dr. John R. Percy
Dream Dresses – In Hollywood Film
Lecturers: Dr. Stephen Scharper and Dr. Hillary Cunningham Scharper
Canadian Rhapsody
Lecturers included: Dr. Stephen Clarkson; Dr. Nick Mount and Dr. Mary Ladky.
Fall 2009
St. Petersburg: A Portrait of a City
Dr. Julia Zarankin
Great Recordings
Lecturer: Rick Phillips
Human Nature – A Philosophical Perspective
Lecturer: Dr. Ronnie De Sousa
Winter 2009
Film Noir
Lecturer: Dr. Stephen Scharper
Literature for Our Time
Lecturer: Dr. Nick Mount
World Religions
Lecturer: Dr. J.W. Windland
