Our engaging 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 attend with a friend or family member. You can learn more about us from this website and from this 2022 article.

This September and October, in addition to three fascinating online series (see for yourself why participants love our fully supported online events), we are offering in-person series at the National Gallery of Art, the Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre (combined with walking tours of downtown Ottawa), and in new locations on main campus.

Below are details for our Early Fall 2022 session. Please see our policy page for important updates regarding in-person offerings. Sign up for our mailing list to receive notifications of our program offerings, as well as selected free events at Carleton University. We hope to see you soon!

Parking Note: At the moment we are no longer able to organize and take payment for parking for our participants, due to the many changes on campus since 2020. We appreciate your understanding as we continue to work on solutions for your best experience.

Lecture Series:

Please note: There will be two separate registration dates for this session. Please refer to our Registration page for more information.

ONLINE SERIES :
Art and Mythology: Classical Traditions
Behind the Headlines: Current News and World Events (Note: dates have changed)
African American Music of the 1940s-1970s: Blues, R&B, Soul and Funk

IN-PERSON GALLERY SERIES :
People, Places, Myths and Symbols: Viewing Art at the National Gallery
Muses & Makers: Women in Art

IN-PERSON SERIES:
Personal and Societal Relationships to Climate
The Elements of Fiction
Ottawology II: Ottawa’s Third Places
Poem of the Heart, Poem of the Mind

ONLINE SERIES

Lecture Series 1 (ONLINE)
Art and Mythology: Classical Traditions
Lecturer: Dr. Eric Weichel

Series description: What is the relationship between art and mythology? In this fast-paced new series with Dr. Eric Weichel, participants will examine the visual communication of mythologies from Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, the Classic Maya, and Early Modern India. Topics will include parallels between art and mythology, depiction of Greco-Roman Gods and the Trojan War, the pyramids of Ancient Egypt, and the Mayan Flood Myth. Participants will also explore how myth, symbol and tradition continue to inform contemporary modes of art production, reception and exhibition. (An additional series on Art and Mythology will be offered in Late Fall, but will not have pre-requisites.)

  • Days: Mondays September 12, 19, 26 and October 3, 17 and 24 (no lecture Thanksgiving Monday)
  • Time: 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time
  • Format: Online
  • 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: $160 (HST included)
  • Lecture Series Outline
  • Registration is now closed

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 Dr. Eric Weichel’s lecture series.

Lecture Series 2 (ONLINE)
Behind the Headlines: Current News and World Events
Lecturer: Dr. Elliot Tepper

Series description: In this World Affairs lecture series, we will discuss current events 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 a discussion with participants.

  • Days: Wednesdays September 14, 21, 28, and October 12, 19, 26 (NEW: Note there is no lecture on October 5; the series now ends on October 26)
  • Time: 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time
  • Format: Online
  • 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: $160 (HST included)
  • Registration is now closed

Dr. Elliot TepperLecturer biography: 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

Lecture Series 3 (ONLINE)
African American Music of the 1940s-1970s: Blues, R&B, Soul and Funk
Lecturer: Keith McCuaig

Series description: Join LLeaP lecturer Keith McCuaig for an overview of some of the most popular musical genres from the 1940s to the 1970s. Enjoy examples of blues, rhythm & blues, soul and funk music, while exploring their history. This will include main figures, important recordings, and the musical features of each style. We will also discuss the cultural importance and impact of this music, including the overlap between genres, and the ways in which one genre influenced another. From Muddy Waters and Marvin Gaye to Aretha Franklin and James Brown, this series will be an exciting musical journey.

  • Days: Thursdays September 15, 22, 29, October 6, 13, 20 (NOTE: Sept 15 lecture has been postponed)
  • Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time
  • Format: Online
  • 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: $160 (HST included)
  • Lecture Series Outline
  • Registration is now closed

Picture of LLeaP lecturer Keith McCuaigLecturer biography: With an M.A. in Music and Culture, and over 25 years experience as a musician, Keith McCuaig is dedicated to all things music and art. Keith has taught a dozen different courses through Carleton University’s Lifelong Learning Program; is a part-time professor at the University of Ottawa; and has presented at international musicology conferences. From performing, writing, and recording, to giving music lessons, lecturing, and working with community music programs, Keith’s life and passion is music. (Photo Credit: Anita Grace) Read what participants have said about Keith McCuaig’s lecture series.

IN-PERSON GALLERY SERIES

Workshop Series 9 (GALLERY)
People, Places, Myths and Symbols: Viewing Art at the National Gallery
Lecturer: Maria Martin

Series description: This small-group series led by LLeaP lecturer Maria Martin will help you to develop your knowledge, appreciation and comfort level when viewing and discussing art. Each week you will gather together at the National Gallery of Canada to view artworks from the collection, with a light-hearted approach. There will be a different theme every week, including landscape art, portraiture, representations of history and historical figures, still-lives and symbolism, abstract and contemporary art. Lectures and discussions will take place in front of selected works in the Gallery’s collection.

NOTE: All gallery entrances are open again. Gallery entrance fees are required. Participants should leave themselves time to put their coats and bags in the free Coat Check room, and to purchase tickets or memberships. These can be purchased from box office, which is now located in the Great Hall, at the top of the ramp. Folding stools are also available in the Great Hall. LLeaP lecturers and participants will be required to follow whatever public health protocols are in place at the Gallery during the series. To safeguard other participants’, workshop leaders’ and staff’s wellbeing, the program strongly encourages mask-wearing, respecting other workshop members’ personal space, and staying home if feeling sick.

  • Days: Wednesdays, September 14, 21, 28, October 5, 12, 19
  • Time: TWO OPTIONS TO CHOOSE FROM
    • Morning: 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time
    • Afternoon: 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time
  • Format: In-person
  • Location: National Gallery of Canada
  • Fee: $195 (HST included)
  • Lecture Series Outline
  • Enrollment capacity: up to 15 participants
  • Parking: Paid parking at the Gallery (not included)
  • Registration is now closed

Picture of LLeaP lecturer Maria MartinLecturer biography: Maria Martin has studied and worked in the Arts for many years. She holds a Master’s Degree in the History of Art from Queen’s University, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Art History from Carleton University. Maria has recently retired as a Manager with the federal government, and previously worked at the Canada Council for the Arts as an Art Consultant at the Council’s Art Bank, and as an Education Officer and Guide at the National Gallery of Canada. Read what participants have said about Maria Martin’s lecture series.

Gallery Series 10 (IN-PERSON)
Muses & Makers: Women in Art
Lecturer: Angela Marcus 

Series description:  Join LLeaP lecturer Angela Marcus at the National Gallery to consider women as artists’ muses and objects of inspiration – and alternatively, as brilliant and determined makers of their own art while working against cultural odds to achieve their artistic aims. This small-group series will reference European, Canadian and American artworks in the National Gallery, as well as other sources. You will begin with Renaissance representations of the Virgin Mary and follow female artistic participation and accomplishment in art up to the modern era and evolving feminism. Makers & Muses who will be covered over the six weeks include the Virgin Mary as ideal woman, Artemisia Gentileschi, Women of the Pre Raphaelite Brotherhood, Louise Bourgeois, Mary Pratt, Judy Chicago, Helen Frankenthaler, Barbara Kruger, Sherin Neshat, Emily Carr, Mable May, Joyce Wieland, Daphne Odjig, and many more (see series outline).

NOTE: All gallery entrances are open again. There is no entrance fee for Thursday evenings. Participants should leave themselves time to put their coats and bags in the free Coat Check room (and if they wish to purchase memberships from the box office, now located in the Great Hall, at the top of the ramp). Folding stools are also available in the Great Hall. LLeaP lecturers and participants will be required to follow whatever public health protocols are in place at the Gallery during the series. To safeguard other participants’, workshop leaders’ and staff’s well-being, the program strongly encourages mask-wearing, respecting other workshop members’ personal space, and staying home if feeling sick.

  • Days: Thursdays, September 15, 22, 29, October 6, 13 and 20
  • Time: 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time
  • Format: In-person
  • Location: National Gallery of Canada
  • Fee: $195 (HST included)
  • Lecture Series Outline
  • Enrollment capacity: up to 15 participants
  • Parking: Paid parking at the Gallery (not included)
  • Registration is now closed

LLeaP lecturer Angela MarcusLecturer biography: Angela Marcus (BA Hons/78 MA/93) has taught in Art History and Art Appreciation for over two decades. She has taught for several years for the Lifelong Learning (formerly Learning in Retirement) Program. She has been an independent researcher, art writer, and curator. Read what participants have said about Angela Marcus’ Gallery lecture series.

IN-PERSON SERIES

Lecture Series 11 (IN-PERSON)
Personal and Societal Relationships to Climate
Lecturer: Dr. Michael Brklacich

Series description:

IPCC Working Group 1 report is a code red for humanity. The alarm bells are deafening, and the evidence is irrefutable: greenhouse‑gas emissions from fossil-fuel burning and deforestation are choking our planet and putting billions of people at immediate risk.

UN Secretary-General, 9 August 2021

Are the human consequences of climate change of interest to you? This interactive series picks up on the Secretary-General’s recent statement that frames climate change as a far-reaching ‘wicked’ issue (that is, an issue that is complex, dynamic and difficult to resolve). Together with Mike Brklacich, you will start with a climate science primer and then explore personal and societal relationships with climate processes through multiple lenses. Canadian and international examples will be used throughout the series to illustrate both challenges and opportunities stemming from human interactions with climate processes.

Each week will start with an interactive Climate in the News discussion (up to 20 minutes) with participants. Topics will be identified one day in advance of each session. These discussions will help illustrate how our day-to-day activities collectively interact with climate processes, as well as reinforce the long-term importance of short-term decisions. This will be followed by an exploration of a major theme such as Human Interactions with Climate Systems, Framing the Issues, Canadian Perspectives, Food Security and Food Systems, and so on.

  • Days: Tuesdays, September 13, 20, 27, October 4, 11, 18
  • Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time
  • Format: In-person
  • Location: Nicol Building, Carleton University, Main Campus
  • Fee: $160 (HST included)
  • Lecture Series Outline
  • Enrollment capacity: up to 30 participants
  • Parking: Main Campus paid parking, not included
  • Registration is now closed

Mike BrklacichLecturer biography: Mike Brklacich has studied society and climate relationships for +40 years, initially as a researcher at the University of Guelph and at Agri-food and Agriculture Canada (1980 to 1992) and then as a faculty member in Carleton’s Department of Geography and Environmental Studies (1992-2021). He was part of the first wave of Canadian researchers to make the case that global climate change ought to be directly linked to broader issues of social and economic transformations in the developing and industrialized world. His research, in Canada and internationally, focused on improving livelihoods in stressed rural communities. He also played a leading role in the development of international research programs on Human Security and on Food Systems, as well as assisting with the development and advancement of the Inter-American Institute for Global Change. He contributed to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change over a 15-year period and was part of the international team that was co-awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. Prior to retiring from Carleton in January 2022, he was Chair of the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies (2006-12), an Associate Dean (Graduate Programs, Research and International) in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (2015-21) and a Chancellor’s Professor (2014-19).

Workshop Series 12 (IN-PERSON)
The Elements of Fiction
Lecturer: Kate Heartfield

Series description: We tell stories to understand the world, and to change it. The skills in the fiction-writer’s toolkit have many applications, as narrative forms the basis of most kinds of writing, from journalism to personal memoir and beyond. Regardless of length, format or genre, all storytellers need a grounding in core skills and concepts. Each week’s class will focus on one of six elements of fiction (character, plot, narrative voice, dialogue and description, conflict and tension, prose style), through a combination of instruction, class discussion, in-class exercises and optional peer feedback.

  • Days: Tuesdays September 13, 20, 27, October 4, 11, 18
  • Time: 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time
  • Format: In-person
  • Location: Nicol Building, Carleton University, Main Campus
  • Fee: $220 (HST included)
  • Workshop Series Outline
  • Enrollment capacity: up to 20 participants
  • Parking: Main Campus paid parking, not included
  • Registration is now closed

Picture of LLeaP lecturer Kate HeartfieldLecturer biography: Kate Heartfield writes novels, novellas, stories and games. Her works include The Embroidered Book, a bestselling historical fantasy novel published in spring 2022 from HarperCollins. Her debut novel, Armed in Her Fashion, won Canada’s Aurora Award. Formerly a journalist at the Ottawa Citizen, Kate now teaches journalism at Carleton University. Read what participants say about Kate Heartfield’s workshop series.

Lecture Series 13 (IN-PERSON)
Ottawology II: Ottawa’s Third Places
Lecturer: Dr. Tonya Davidson

Series description:

Dr. Tonya Davidson follows up her popular Ottawology series with a second set of lectures drawing on sociology, cultural geography, and social history that will offer a spotlight on Ottawa’s third places. Sociologist Ray Oldenburg defines third places as places that are neither home, nor work; third places include cafes, bars, malls, libraries, and community centres. In these places, people can interact with strangers, develop a sense of community, and be exposed to new and surprising things. In this series, the lectures will focus on many of the cherished third places in Ottawa: libraries, pools, arenas, malls, markets, hotels and parks. The series will include three walking tours that situate Ottawa’s locally-cherished and crucial third places within the context of Ottawa’s role as Canada’s capital city.

NOTE: This series has a concerted focus on developing an experiential understanding of Ottawa’s hidden (and well-known but perhaps less understood) places; 50% of the lectures in this course will be downtown walking tours. This series is a good companion to, but is distinct from, the initial Ottawology lecture series. It has no pre-requisites. It ran in Spring 2021 as an entirely-online series.

  • Days: Fridays, September 16, 23, 30, October 7, 14 and 21
  • Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time
  • Format: In-person
  • Location: Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre, and downtown walking tours
  • Fee: $160 (HST included)
  • Lecture Series Outline
  • Enrollment capacity: up to 30 participants
  • Parking: Paid Parking at CDCC parking lot or surrounding streets/lots, not included
  • Registration is now closed

Picture of LLeaP Lecturer Tonya DavidsonLecturer biography: Tonya Davidson is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Carleton University. Her research interests have focused on questions of memory, national belonging, the built environment, and Ottawa. She most recently published Seasonal Sociology (co-edited with Ondine Park), which won an American Association of Publishers award for “best textbook in the social sciences” in 2021. Read what participants say about Dr. Davidson’s lecture series.

Workshop Series 14 (IN-PERSON)
Poem of the Heart, Poem of the Mind
Lecturer: Nicola Vulpe

Series description: The Welsh poet R.S. Thomas defined poetry as that “which arrives at the intellect/ by way of the heart”. We might also say that poetry reaches the heart by way of the intellect. In this series, together with award-winning author Nicola Vulpe, workshop participants will start by examining some poems by great poets to try to understand how these poems reach both the intellect and the heart. They will then turn to their own poems to discuss them in an open and respectful dialogue, using these discussions and in-class poetry writing exercises to develop their skills and help them write the poems they want to write, in whatever style they prefer.

  • Days: Fridays, September 16, 23, 30, October 7, 14 and 21
  • Time: 2:45 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. Eastern Time
  • Format: In-person
  • Location: Residence Commons, Carleton University, Main Campus
  • Fee: $220 (HST included)
  • Workshop Series Outline
  • Enrollment capacity: up to 12 participants
  • Parking: Main Campus paid parking, not included
  • Registration is now closed

Lecturer biography: Nicola Vulpe has taught literature at the University of Ottawa, and at the Universities of León, La Laguna, and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. His recent work has appeared in journals such as The Antigonish Review, The Manhattan Review, Montréal Serai, and Stand Magazine. He has published a novella, The Extraordinary Event of Pia H., who turned to admire a chicken in the Plaza Mayor, and four collections of poetry, including, most recently, Through the Waspmouth I Drew You, and Insult to the Brain, which received the Fred Cogswell Award for Excellence in Poetry. Read what participants say about Nicola Vulpe’s workshop series.

Photo by Chris Lawton on Unsplash