About Our Lectures and Workshops
Our engaging lecture and workshop series offer meaningful learning opportunities without required readings, assignments, or tests. Participants can attend with friends or family members, and enjoy interacting with experts and other lifelong learners through both in-person and online formats (see for yourself why participants love our fully supported online events).
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About Our Early Fall 2023 Programming
From September to October, we are offering eleven engaging lecture and workshop series featuring new and returning lecturers. With two online and nine in-person lecture and workshop series, this session offers an array of topics to enhance your learning journey.
Below are the details for our Early Fall 2023 session.
Early Fall Lecture and Workshop Series:
ONLINE LECTURE SERIES:
Behind the Headlines: Current News and World Events
Visual Narrative: Motifs in 19th–century Painting
IN-PERSON LECTURE SERIES:
Looking Behind the Curtain: Personal and Societal Relationships with Climate
After the Cold War: War, Conflicts and Development in Post-Socialist Europe
Depictions of Mental Illness in Film
The Story of Rock and Roll, 1951-1966
IN-PERSON WORKSHOP SERIES:
Poetry: I Write Because I Must
IN-PERSON GALLERY SERIES:
ONLINE LECTURE SERIES
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. Come see why this series is an engaging and enlightening favourite for so many.
- Days: Wednesdays, September 13, 20, 27, October 4, 11, 18
- Time: 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm 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.)
- Lecture Series Outline: Each lecture will cover up-to-the-hour information on current news and world events, so an outline is not available
- Fee: $150.00 (plus HST)
- Enrolment Capacity: 150 participants
- Registration: Closed
Lecturer 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.
Visual Narrative: Motifs in 19th-century Painting
Lecturer: Dr. Eric Weichel
Series description: Storytelling is often defined as the central aspect of culture, and visual art’s histories are heavily intertwined with those of literature. How does visual art create narrative, and how does art history deploy its own narratives of progress, monumentality, and decadence? In this fast-paced lecture series, participants learn to use visual art, literature, story-telling and performance as critical tools of cultural analysis. Artists under consideration include Edmonia Lewis, John William Waterhouse, John Everett Millais, Pierre Renoir, Eugène Delacroix, Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, Suzanne Valadon and other towering figures of nineteenth-century painting.
Note: This is a fast-paced lecture.
- Days: Thursdays, September 14, 21, 28, October 5, 12, 19
- Time: 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm 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.)
- Lecture Series Outline
- Fee: $150.00 (plus HST)
- Enrolment Capacity: 150 participants
- Registration: Closed
Lecturer 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.
IN-PERSON LECTURE SERIES
Looking Behind the Curtain: Personal and Societal Relationships with Climate
Lecturer: Dr. Mike Brklacich
Series description: This six-lecture interactive series reaches beyond these sorts of headline-grabbing statements by unpacking the human consequences of climate change and delving into potential challenges and opportunities to address the current climate crisis over the short to longer-term. It will provide you with a better understanding of the science behind human-induced or anthropogenic climate change and we will collectively explore the prospects for addressing this far-reaching and difficult to resolve ‘wicked’ issue that is intertwined with our daily lives. Canadian and international examples will be used to illustrate both challenges and opportunities stemming from human interactions with climate processes at local through global levels.
- Days: Tuesdays, September 12, 19, 26, October 3, 10, 17
- Time: 9:30 am – 11:30 am Eastern Time
- Format: In-person
- Location: Carleton University Canal Building
- Parking: Parking is not included in the series fee. A parking discount link and code will be emailed within two weeks of the series start date
- Lecture Series Outline
- Fee: $150.00 (plus HST)
- Enrolment Capacity: 50 participants
- Registration: Closed
Lecturer biography: Mike Brklacich 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).
Mike Brklacich was part of the first wave of Canadian researchers to make the case that global climate change ought to be linked directly to broader issues of social and economic transformations in the Global South and in the industrialized world. His research, in Canada and internationally, focused on improving livelihoods in stressed rural communities. During his Carleton career (1992 to 2021), Mike 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).
After the Cold War: War, Conflicts, and Development in Post-Socialist Europe
Lecturer: Dr. Milana Nikolko
Series description: This series offers a comprehensive exploration of the collapse of the Soviet Union, its global impact, and the current dynamics and complexities faced by the countries that emerged from the Socialist bloc. This series critically analyzes the factors that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union and explores the global implications of the end of the Soviet era. It also investigates the current challenges faced by the former Soviet republics, almost three decades after the fall of the Iron Curtain.
Together, we will examine whether the ideological victory of liberalism marked the “end of history.” (F. Fukuyama, 1992). The series also evaluates the nation-building processes in Central and Eastern Europe from the late 20th century to the present day. Furthermore, the series investigates the recent developments of nationalism, anti-immigrant sentiments, and populism in Hungary and Poland, providing global perspectives on regional issues.
- Days: Wednesdays, September 13, 20, 27, October 4, 11, 25
- Time: 10:00 am – 12:00 pm Eastern Time
- Format: In-person
- Location: Carleton University Athletics Building
- Parking: Parking is not included in the series fee. A parking discount link and code will be emailed within two weeks of the series start date
- Lecture Series Outline
- Fee: $150.00 (plus HST)
- Enrolment Capacity: 50 participants
- Registration: Closed
Lecturer biography:Milana Nikolko, PhD, is an adjunct professor at the Institute of European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (EURUS), Carleton University. From 2005 to 2014 she was associate Professor of Political Science (Docent) at V.I. Vernadsky Taurida National University (Ukraine), and in 2008 was appointed as visiting professor in the Political Science Department, Valdosta State University (USA).
Dr. Nikolko is co-editor of Post-Soviet Migration and Diasporas: From Global Perspectives to Everyday Practices (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017). Her fields of interest include research on Ukraine’s nation-building process, mediation of grey zone conflicts, migration and diasporas in post-Soviet space.
Plato’s Republic
Lecturer: Dr. Gregory MacIsaac
Series description: Through the construction of an ideal city, as a model for the human soul, Socrates argues that it is Justice rather than Injustice that makes human beings happy. It is through Plato’s Republic that we will examine this argument. This series assumes no previous instruction in Philosophy or familiarity with Ancient Greek culture. The text of Plato’s Republic is highly recommended, but not mandatory. Participants are responsible for acquiring a copy of the text should they wish to read it.
- Days: Thursdays, September 14, 21, 28, October 5, 12, 19
- Time: 9:30 am – 11:30 am Eastern Time
- Format: In-person
- Location: Carleton University Richcraft Hall
- Parking: Parking is not included in the series fee. A parking discount link and code will be emailed within two weeks of the series start date
- Lecture Series Outline
- Fee: $150.00 (plus HST)
- Enrolment Capacity: 50 participants
- Registration: Closed
Lecturer biography: Dr. Gregory MacIsaac is Associate Professor of Humanities at Carleton University. He has taught in the B.Hum program since 1998. He spent the academic year 1994-95 visiting the Hoger Instituut voor Wijsbegeerte (Higher Institute of Philosophy) at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, studying Neoplatonism and Contemporary Continental Philosophy. In 2005-06 he was a Chercheur Étranger at the École Pratique des Hautes Études and C.N.R.S., Paris.
In 2011-12 he was a visiting research at the Plato Centre, Trinity College Dublin, and at the Institute of Classical Studies, University of London. In 2019-20 he was Chercheur Associé, at the Laboratoire ‘Logiques de l’Agir’, Université de Franch-Comté, Besançon, France. Professor MacIsaac spent twenty years working on aspects of the soul’s knowledge in the Neoplatonist Proclus. More recently, he has begun working on Plato, with a major research project on the dialogues Theaetetus, Parmenides, and Sophist.
Depictions of Mental Illness in Feature Film
Lecturer: Dr. Barry Schneider
Series description: It is not just about challenges with paying attention and being over-energetic. Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) is difficult to recognize and characterized by many obstacles in addition to attention problems. The name of the disorder changes every few years as do the criteria for its diagnosis. In this series, we will briefly trace the history of the concept of ADHD and theories about what causes it. The majority of the series will be devoted to the assessment and treatment of ADHD in children, adolescents and adults, focusing on recent research. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss their own perspectives about the disorder and its treatment.
- Days: Tuesdays, September 12, 19, 26, October 3, 10, 17
- Time: 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm Eastern Time
- Format: In-person
- Location: Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre (CDCC)
- Parking: Parking is not included in the series fee
- Lecture Series Outline
- Fee: $150.00 (plus HST)
- Enrolment Capacity: 35 participants
- Registration: Closed
Lecturer biography: Barry H. Schneider is a retired clinical psychologist and professor of psychology. He has taught full-time at the University of Ottawa, the University of Toronto and Boston College as well as visiting professor appointments in 11 countries. He also has some background in film studies, including academic coursework and consulting work with independent filmmakers.
The Story of Rock and Roll, 1951-1966
Lecturer: Keith McCuaig
Series description: This series explores the explosion of creativity in American and British popular music, starting with the birth of rock and roll through to the British Invasion. Styles to be discussed include rockabilly, Brill Building pop, surf rock, folk, and more. The social and historical context of this music – including a growing youth culture and changing race relations – will also be examined. From Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan, to the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, the music of the 1950s and early 1960s exerted a cultural influence that lives on to the present.
- Days: Wednesdays, September 13, 20, 27, October 4, 11, 18
- Time: 10:00 am – 12:00 pm Eastern Time
- Format: In-person
- Location: Trinity Anglican Church
- Parking: Parking is not included in the series fee
- Lecture Series Outline
- Fee: $150.00 (plus HST)
- Enrolment Capacity: 45 participants
- Registration: Closed
Lecturer biography: With an MA in Music and Culture, and over twenty 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 has taught courses through Carleton University and the University of Ottawa, and presented at international musicology conferences. From performing, writing, and recording, to lecturing, giving music lessons, and working with community music programs, Keith’s life and passion is music.
Keith is a popular Lifelong Learning Program lecturer who has taught over a dozen offerings in the last three years.
The Changing World of Work
Lecturer: Jon Peirce
Series description: The world of work has recently undergone huge, perhaps irreversible changes. What have some of those changes been, and what is their significance, both to those still working and to those of us who have left the work force? In this series, we’ll look at changes in the world of work that have occurred since the middle of the 20th century. We will consider, among other things, changes in the type of work being done, in the equipment we use to get work done, and in the schedules according to which we work, as well as changes in the people doing the work and in our overall attitude toward work and its significance to our lives as a whole.
We will even look at changes in what people wear to work, and how they socialize at work. While major emphasis will be put on shifts occurring since the COVID-19 pandemic, and as a result of that pandemic, we’ll also consider the important roles played by the introduction of new technologies and the move to a more diverse work force.
- Days: Thursdays, September 14, 21, 28, October 5, 12, 19
- Time: 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm Eastern Time
- Format: In-person
- Location: Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre (CDCC)
Parking: Parking is not included in the lecture fee- Lecture Series Outline
- Fee: $150.00 (plus HST)
- Enrolment Capacity: 35 participants
- Registration: Closed
Lecturer biography: Jon has completed a master’s (MIR) and other graduate work at Queen’s University and the University of Toronto. He has worked as a researcher-writer-editor at the Economic Council, as a board member of Ottawa Independent Writers, as a professor, and as a labour relations practitioner.
During his years as a professor, Jon taught Canadian and international industrial relations at Memorial University of Newfoundland, and industrial relations and human resource management at Carleton and University of Ottawa. Throughout his time in labour relations, Jon worked for the Federal Public Service as the research director for the Advisory Committee on Labour-Management Relations, and as a researcher and labour relations officer at the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC). After his retirement in 2011, Jon taught a wide variety of Seniors’ College of Nova Scotia courses, acted in many community theatre plays, and served on a number of local boards.
IN-PERSON WORKSHOP SERIES
Poetry: I Write Because I Must
Lecturer: Nicola Vulpe
Series description: Even if Oscar Wilde never did say “I spent the morning putting in a comma, I spent the afternoon taking it out again” few poets will fail to recognize this angst-steeped toil required to make a poem work. In this series we will focus on experimenting with our revisions so that our poems surprise even ourselves. We will start by examining great poems by great poets and revising them to make them fail, in order to better understand how we can revisit our own work to make it better. We will then turn to our poems to discuss them in an open and respectful dialogue, using these discussions and in-class poetry writing and revision exercises to develop your skills and help you complete the poems you want to write, in whatever style you prefer.
- Days: Fridays, September 15, 22, 29, October 6, 13, 20
- Time: 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm Eastern Time
- Format: In-person
- Location: Carleton University Nicol Building
- Parking: Parking is not included in the series fee. A parking discount link and code will be emailed within two weeks of the series start date
- Workshop Series Outline
- Fee: $182.00 (plus HST)
- Enrolment Capacity: 12 participants
- Registration: 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.
IN-PERSON GALLERY SERIES
(AM) Adventures with 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. In this new series, we will explore a range of subjects including sculptural and decorative art works, colour theory and the history of primary, secondary and other colours; as well as ground-breaking art of the 1960’s, 1970’s and more recent contemporary art. Art techniques and conservation and restoration will also be touched upon. The aim is to develop participants’ knowledge, appreciation and comfort level when viewing and discussing art at the Gallery, with an emphasis on having fun while learning.
- Days: Fridays, September 15, 22, 29, October 6, 13, 20
- Time: 9:30 am – 12:00 pm Eastern Time
- Format: In-person
- Location: National Gallery of Canada
- Parking: Parking is not included in the lecture fee (see the National Gallery of Canada website for more details)
- Lecture Series Outline
- Fee: $182.00 (plus HST)
- Enrolment Capacity: 20 participants
- Registration: Closed
Lecturer 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. She 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.
(PM) Adventures with 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. In this new series, we will explore a range of subjects including sculptural and decorative art works, colour theory and the history of primary, secondary and other colours; as well as ground-breaking art of the 1960’s, 1970’s and more recent contemporary art. Art techniques and conservation and restoration will also be touched upon. The aim is to develop participants’ knowledge, appreciation and comfort level when viewing and discussing art at the Gallery, with an emphasis on having fun while learning.
- Days: Fridays, September 15, 22, 29, October 6, 13, 20
- Time: 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm Eastern Time
- Format: In-person
- Location: National Gallery of Canada
- Parking: Parking is not included in the lecture fee (see the National Gallery of Canada website for more details)
- Lecture Series Outline
- Fee: $182.00 (plus HST)
- Enrolment Capacity: 20 participants
- Registration: Closed
Lecturer 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. She 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.