The Lifelong Learning Program will remain online only for the entire Fall season due to pandemic-related booking restrictions on Carleton’s campus. While we will miss seeing you in person, the response to our online format makes us glad that we are still able to connect and engage, and provide opportunities for learning and entertainment.

While so much remains ‘on hold’, one thing remains sure: this fall our wonderful lecturers can bring you on guided travels that illuminate the past, and connect the past and the present.

Our 6-week lectures series provide participants with entertaining learning opportunities, without required readings, assignments, or tests. Participants can easily interact with the experts and with other lifelong learners, and many participants even attend with a friend or family member. See for yourself why participants love our fully supported online events, and sign up for our mailing list to receive notifications of our program offerings, as well as selected free events at Carleton University.

Below are details for our Early Fall 2021 session. We hope to see you soon!

Lecture Series:
Physics Around Us
Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: A Sampling of the Humanities
Memoir Writing: Writing Stories From Your Life – FULL, WAITLIST OPEN
Six Centuries of Chamber Music
Road Trip USA: Exploring the Musical History of Six American Cities
Art & the Mythic Environment
Behind the Headlines


Lecture Series 1
Physics Around Us
Lecturer: Dr. Andrew Robinson

One of the pleasures of our non-credit program is that participants can take risks with topics that they would not necessarily have tackled in their own formal education. And when we have outstanding educators like Dr. Robinson (winner of four science teaching awards just since 2012), it’s the perfect time to push past our qualms and learn something new. A participant from the last time this series ran echoed many others’ feedback by writing, “Dr. Andrew Robinson is a gift to people like me who struggled, unsuccessfully, to understand physics teachers throughout high school and thereby considered themselves shut out of that world.”

Series description: Physics is an experimental science based on observation of the world around us. Familiar everyday examples will show the important principles of physics in a gentle and non-mathematical way. Examples from biology, chemistry, engineering, and medical science will be used as illustrations. The classes will be highly interactive, with many opportunities for discussion and questions, on topics of interest to those attending.  An interest in science is recommended, but no scientific knowledge is needed. Note: This popular series has been offered previously as “Physics of Everyday Life”.

  • Days: Mondays, September 13, 20, 27 October 4, 18, 25 (no lecture October 11, Thanksgiving)
  • Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time
  • Location: Zoom (This lecture series is offered via Zoom, which can be used on computers and mobile devices. We recommend you use a computer/laptop with high speed internet. A camera and microphone will enable you to participate more fully, but they are not required. See our Support page for details.)
  • Fee: $150 (HST included)
  • Lecture Series Outline
  • Registration form closed, please email us to register

Picture of LLeaP lecturer Dr. Andrew RobinsonLecturer biography: Dr. Andrew Robinson is a Contract Instructor in the Physics Department at Carleton University. He has degrees in Chemical Physics and Physical Chemistry from Bristol University and Bath University. He has worked as a professional scientist in Germany and the UK, and moved to Canada in 2000. After working at the University of Saskatchewan, he moved to Ottawa in 2010. His current research interest is the teaching of Physics at the post-secondary level, and he uses innovative technology and pedagogical methods in his classes. He has won Faculty of Science Teaching Awards in 2012, 2014, 2017 and 2020. Read what LLeaP participants have said about Dr. Andrew Robinson.


Lecture Series 2
Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: A Sampling of the Humanities 
Lecturer: Sarah Cook 

Sarah Cook will guide participants through a variety of key texts, starting with the first human texts in ancient Sumer and ending with “modernity and monsters” in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Along the way, participants will dip into Greek pre-Socratic philosophers, the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, Thomas Aquinas, Dante, and more. This series is clearly enticing for those with a background in Humanities and the Arts. However, a passionate and knowledgeable guide can give all participants an opportunity to enjoy and understand previously unfamiliar material.

Series description: As humans, we generate new ideas while standing on the shoulders of ancestral giants. Join us for a lively sampling of the humanities: the study of human intellectual thought. This lecture series will discuss texts from key periods and explore how they build on and engage with the works that precede them. Our study will range from ancient Sumer to 19th century Europe, surveying a variety of texts that offer insight into what it has meant to be human throughout history. No previous experience with these texts or traditions is required.

  • Days: Tuesdays, September 14, 21, 28, October 5, 12, 19
  • Time: 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time
  • Location: Zoom (This lecture series is offered via Zoom, which can be used on computers and mobile devices. We recommend you use a computer/laptop with high-speed internet. A camera and microphone will enable you to participate more fully, but they are not required. See our Support page for details.)
  • Fee: $150.00 (HST included)
  • Lecture Series Outline
  • Registration form closed, please email us to register

Picture of LLeaP lecturer Sarah CookLecturer biography: Sarah Cook is a PhD candidate at the University of Georgia, where she has taught hundreds of students over the past five years. She is currently working as a contract instructor at Carleton University. She has earned both a bachelor’s of Humanities and a master’s in Religion and Public Life from Carleton University. Her dissertation deals with editing techniques in the first five books of the Hebrew Bible (Torah). Her research interests include anything related to the ancient near East, translation in the ancient world, and the transition from oral storytelling to written texts. 


Lecture Series 3
Memoir Writing: Writing Stories From Your Life – FULL, WAITLIST OPEN
Lecturer: Dr. Anna Rumin 

Series description: Hemingway said, “in order to write about life, you must live it”. Whether we call ourselves writers or not, writing gives clarity to our lived experiences. This hybrid workshop/lecture series is for those who are interested in honouring their lives through daily writing, experimenting with a variety of writing strategies, examining some of the ideas, objectives and approaches to memoir writing, and sharing their writing with fellow writers. This lecture series is intended for beginners.

Each week there will be a 2 hour lecture-based class (maximum enrolment 50 people) with the following structure:

  • All six classes will begin with a mini-lecture.
  • In the next hour, participants will be given prompts, time to do quick-writes, and the opportunity to share their writing with the group.
  • In the last half hour Anna will answer questions, share the writing prompts for the following week, and in some weeks, we will have guest speakers.
  • Participants will have the opportunity to post and share their writing on a blog which Anna will use to model how to give supportive and effective feedback.

There is also a voluntary option to enroll in break-out sessions (maximum enrolment 10 people each), for an extra cost:

  • For those interested in sharing their weekly writing in small groups, we offer an additional 30 minutes to the lecture for online break-out sessions at the end of class beginning in week 2.
  • Participants will work in small break-out rooms to share their writing, provide feedback to their peers, and develop skills to facilitate and participate in small writing groups.
  • Anna will visit one group each week for five weeks and give feedback on writing.

Participants can expect:

  • A lecture series outline that includes writing topics and prompts, suggested readings, a bibliography
  • A general overview of how to begin, maintain and sustain a writing life
  •  A general overview of some of the commonly discussed topics in memoir writing
  • The opportunity to experiment with “freewriting” using prompts during class time
  • The opportunity to share writing with the larger group (on a volunteer basis)
  • The opportunity to engage with a writing community for a six-week period during voluntary break-out sessions
  • The opportunity to learn how to give effective feedback to fellow writers
  • The opportunity to begin collecting stories from your life
  • The opportunity to forge new writing friendships with fellow writers

Participants should not expect personalized feedback on their writing, or writing instruction. NOTE: THIS IS A LECTURE SERIES WITH SOME WRITING AND Q&A COMPONENTS, NOT A SMALL-GROUP WORKSHOP FORMAT.

  • Days: Wednesdays, September 15, 22, 29, October 6, 13, 20
  • Time: Lecture – 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.  Eastern Time; Breakout Session – 12:00 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time
  • Location: Zoom (This lecture series is offered via Zoom, which can be used on computers and mobile devices. We recommend you use a computer/laptop with high speed internet. A camera and microphone will enable you to participate more fully, but they are not required. See our Support page for details.)
  • Lecture Series Outline: n/a
  • Fee: Lecture – $190 (HST included) ; Breakout Sessions – $25 (HST included)
  • REGISTRATION FULL – please click here to join the waitlist

Picture of LLeaP lecturer Dr. Anna RuminLecturer biographies: Dr. Anna Rumin is a native Montrealer whose identity has been shaped by the political landscape of her home province, her Russian roots, a passion for life-long learning that has been woven both formally in academia and informally through travel, voracious reading and writing, and a love for the stories hidden in our natural world. Her interest in narrative inquiry stems from her belief that not only do we all have a story to tell but that our stories help us to better understand who we were, who we are and who we are becoming. She has now designed nine memoir-based writing courses that invite participants to think of themselves as the narrators of their life as seen and written through a particular lens. Regardless of who she is working with, Anna is committed to supporting those she leads, by providing them with opportunities to set and meet their goals. In her spare time, Anna writes short fiction and has been the recipient of numerous awards. Read what LLeaP participants have said about Anna.


Lecture Series 4
Six Centuries of Chamber Music 
Lecturer: Julian Armour

Come discover why the chamber music repertoire has some of the most varied, exciting, profound, deeply moving and intimate music ever written. Did you know that most of the great composers wrote vastly more chamber music than orchestral music? They often saved their most profound musical thoughts for chamber music. The repertoire is enormous, including strings, woodwinds, brass, keyboard instruments, percussion and vocal music; some chamber music works include more than 20 players! However, because chamber music is one player on a part, the listener has direct contact with each of the players. Your expert guide will be Julian Armour, who has programmed over 3,000 chamber music concerts featuring some of the greatest chamber music ensembles of our time. As with his previous series, Julian will share many of the great stories behind the music, as well as resources for further listening.

Series description: Join Julian Armour, one of North America’s leading experts on chamber music and the Artistic Director of Ottawa’s Music and Beyond festival, for a guided tour through the chamber music repertoire of six centuries. This lecture series will bring insight into both well-loved masterpieces and forgotten gems. In six sessions you will explore and discover more about this remarkable music through musical examples, images and anecdotes. Questions and discussion will be welcomed in this lively and informative series. Whether you are a staunch classical music fan, or have very little knowledge of the classical repertoire, you will find this course fascinating and illuminating.

  • Days: Wednesdays, September 15, 22, 29, October 6, 13, 20
  • Time: 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time
  • Location: Zoom (This lecture series is offered via Zoom, which can be used on computers and mobile devices. We recommend you use a computer/laptop with high speed internet. A camera and microphone will enable you to participate more fully, but they are not required. See our Support page for details.)
  • Fee: $150 (HST included)
  • Lecture Series Outline
  • Registration form closed, please email us to register

Picture of Julian ArmourLecturer biography: Julian Armour has distinguished himself over the past 25 years as a performing musician, arts administrator, and artistic director. He is currently Artistic and Executive Director of one of Canada’s major cultural festivals, Music and Beyond. As well, he is Artistic Director of the Chamber Players of Canada, Principal Cellist of the chamber orchestra Thirteen Strings, and teaches regularly at the University of Ottawa and Carleton University, offering courses in both music performance and arts administration. One of Canada’s most active cellists, he has performed throughout Canada and Europe and has been heard regularly on CBC Radio and Radio-Canada. As a chamber musician, he has appeared in television broadcasts on CBC, CTV, PBS, EWTN, and Vision TV. He has played in most of Canada’s concert halls and many in the United States and Europe. He has recorded over 30 CDs for many labels including Marquis, Crystal, ATMA, CMS Classics, CentreDiscs, SRI, CanSona, Studea Musica, NAXOS and CBC. One of the country’s foremost experts on Canadian music, Julian Armour has programmed and performed works by over 400 different Canadian composers and premiered over 200 different works, most of which were written especially for him. Read what LLeaP participants have said about Julian.


Lecture Series 5
Road Trip USA: Exploring the Musical History of Six American Cities 
Lecturer: Keith McCuaig

Which of the 20th century’s major music traditions started in New Orleans, changed in Chicago, and then yet again in New York, all in the space of 30 years? How did blues and jazz travel up the Mississippi River from New Orleans through Memphis to Chicago, changing to suit the new locales? Long-time LLeaP lecturer Keith McCuaig guides participants through the musical history of six cities to help them better understand the music they thought they already knew. According to participants, he does this through “slides, live guitar demos, audio listening and analysis, plus questions and dialogue” as well as socio-cultural context: “I grew up with this music, but never full appreciated how it all fit together across time as well as across genres.”

Series description: The 20th century saw an explosion in regional musical styles in several areas of the United States. During this lecture series, we’ll delve into the music of six great American metropolises, along with relevant historical and socio-cultural context. Join us for a musical road trip that will include New Orleans jazz; Memphis rock ‘n’ roll and blues; Chicago jazz and blues; Detroit R&B and soul; New York City jazz, punk and hip hop; and Nashville country. Get ready to explore and listen to a wide variety of musical genres from six of the most fascinating music cities. 

  • Days: Thursdays, September 16, 23, 30, October 7, 14, 21
  • Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time
  • Location: Zoom (This lecture series is offered via Zoom, which can be used on computers and mobile devices. We recommend you use a computer/laptop with high speed internet. A camera and microphone will enable you to participate more fully, but they are not required. See our Support page for details.)
  • Fee: $150 (HST included)
  • Lecture Series Outline
  • Registration form closed, please email us to register

Picture of LLeaP lecturer Keith McCuaigLecturer biography: With an MA in Music and Culture, and over 25 years’ experience as a musician, Keith McCuaig is dedicated to all things music and art. He loves exploring the histories of popular music, especially the interconnectedness of genres, and the socio-cultural significance of music. Keith has extensive experience in researching, writing, and teaching a variety of music-related topics; he’s taught musicology courses through Carleton University and the University of Ottawa, and presented at international musicology conferences. From performing, writing, recording, and producing, to lecturing, giving music lessons, and working with community music programs (such as Ottawa Bluesfest’s Blues in the Schools and Be in the Band), Keith’s life and passion is music. Read what participants have said about Keith McCuaig’s lecture series.


Lecture Series 6
Art and the Mythic Environment 
Lecturer: Dr. Eric Weichel

This Early and Late Fall, Dr. Weichel presents two series on Art & the Environment, using examples from a wide range of visual art including film. In Early Fall, he begins with depictions of fire from the earliest human environments through to Van Gogh’s The Potato-Eaters. Subsequent weeks highlight water (ships, seas and survival), agriculture, the heavens, gardens of paradise, sand painting, and much more.  Come see why participants write “I was so glad when I found out that Dr. Weichel was giving a series during this pandemic. Seeing the paintings on my IPAD from the comfort and safety of my home was fantastic. I can’t tell you how much this meant to me to have something to look forward to during this pandemic.”

Series description: Join Dr. Eric Weichel to examine environmental art and visual culture through a close analysis of the landscape genre, installation and intervention, and film. Participants differentiate notions of space and place as they relate to geographical, topographical, colonial, and national constructs concerning the environment. We explore a wide range of mythic and cultural associations with historical landscapes, focusing on the themes of fire, water, domestic animals, astronomical phenomena, plants, and sand paintings and other ephemeral environments. Topics may include the role of environmental representation in visual art and environmental modification, Indigenous land ownership, filmic discourse, and the wider philosophical and cultural associations of the environment. 

  • Days: Thursdays, September 16, 23, 30, October 7, 14, 21
  • Time: 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time
  • Location: Zoom (This lecture series is offered via Zoom, which can be used on computers and mobile devices. We recommend you use a computer/laptop with high speed internet. A camera and microphone will enable you to participate more fully, but they are not required. See our Support page for details.)
  • Fee: $150 (HST included)
  • Lecture Series Outline
  • Registration form closed, please email us to register

Picture of LinR lecturer Dr. Eric WeichelLecturer biography: Dr. Eric Weichel has taught several popular lecture series for the Lifelong Learning Program. He received his PhD in Art History from Queen’s University (Kingston) in 2013, and completed a SSHRC-funded Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Concordia University (Montreal) in 2015. His research specialties involve the role of palace women in facilitating visual and literary cross-cultural exchanges in the courtly sphere. Eric has curated an exhibition on eighteenth-century French prints for the Carleton University Art Gallery, and was a research assistant at the prestigious Rembrandt Specialist conference at Herstmonceux Castle, Sussex. Eric currently teaches at Nipissing University. Read what LLeaP participants have said about Eric.


Lecture Series 7
Behind the Headlines: Current News and World Events 
Lecturer: Dr. Elliot Tepper

Many Ottawa residents know Dr. Elliot Tepper for the informed political commentary he provides to various news outlets, and love the opportunity to get more in-depth analysis – and to ask questions!—during his Behind the Headlines series. The new online format has allowed newcomers to participate, and tell us, “The topic is fascinating, and Dr. Tepper’s experience and expertise in the subject matter made this truly interesting. Great way to stay current (obviously!) and to remain intellectually stimulated through lectures and discussions about important topics.” Topics will include the upcoming Canadian federal election.

Series description: In this World Affairs lecture series, we will discuss current events that are making the news, affecting our lives and our world. Hot topics of the week will be explored in depth, providing context and background for stories in the headlines. We will also be exploring some topics that did not make the headlines, but should have. The content will be determined weekly by emerging issues of importance to Canadians. Come for lively discussions of the news that matters, led by a veteran Carleton University political scientist and media commentator. Perspective and analysis will be provided by the lecturer, followed by discussion with participants.

  • Days: Fridays, September 17, 24, October 1, 8, 15, 22
  • Time: 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time
  • Location: Zoom (This lecture series is offered via Zoom, which can be used on computers and mobile devices. We recommend you use a computer/laptop with high speed internet. A camera and microphone will enable you to participate more fully, but they are not required. See our Support page for details.)
  • Fee: $150.00 (HST included)
  • Lecture Series Outline: n/a
  • Registration form closed, please email us to register

Dr. Tepper is a veteran professor of comparative politics and international relations at Carleton University. He regularly provides media commentary at home and abroad on a wide range of topics, providing context and deep background to the news stories of the day. Dr. Tepper’s career in academia and public policy provides the basis for thoughtful analysis on current events, and his lifetime of teaching on-campus and through the public media provides the basis for an engaging, interactive classroom experience. An internationally recognized scholar, Dr. Tepper provides analysis and policy advice to national and international organizations. Read what participants have said about Dr. Tepper and the Behind the Headline series.