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 nature, history, politics. poetry, music, and art.
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 Late Fall 2021 session. We hope to see you soon!
Lecture Series:
Nationalist Movements in Western Democracies
Poetry: The Open Mind
Actively Listening to Music
Landscape and the Environment in Art
The Nature of Nature
Lecture Series 1
Nationalist Movements in Western Democracies
Lecturer: Dr. André Lecours
Series description: Nationalist movements have long shaped the politics of many Western democracies. Québec is one of the most prominent cases of nationalist movement within a democratic state, but quite a few others have also forcefully put forward self-determination claims, for either increased autonomy or outright independence. This lecture series will analyse the cases of Scotland (in the United Kingdom), Flanders (in Belgium), Catalonia and the Basque Country (in Spain), Puerto Rico (United States), and Québec. What do we know about the histories and current state of these movements? How do these cases differ from each other, and what features do they share? Join Dr. André Lecours for an examination and discussion of the origins, claims, consequences, and contemporary actions of these movements.
- Days: Tuesdays, November 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 (Note: this series is FIVE weeks)
- 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: $125.00 (HST included)
- Lecture Series Outline
- Registration closed
Lecturer biography: André Lecours is a Professor in the School of Political Studies at the University of Ottawa. He holds a PhD from Carleton University (2001). His main research interests are Canadian politics, European politics, nationalism (with a focus on Quebec, Scotland, Flanders, Catalonia, and the Basque country), and federalism. He is the editor of New Institutionalism: Theory and Analysis published by the University of Toronto Press in 2005; the author of Basque Nationalism and the Spanish State (University of Nevada Press, 2007); the co-author (with Daniel Béland) of Nationalism and Social Policy: The Politics of Territorial Solidarity (Oxford University Press, 2008); and the co-author (with Daniel Béland, Gregory Marchildon, Haizhen Mou and Rose Olfert) of Fiscal Federalism and Equalization Policy in Canada: Political and Economic Dimensions (University of Toronto Press, 2017). Read what participants have said about Andre Lecours’ lectures.
Lecture Series 2
Poetry: The Open Mind
Workshop Leader: Mark Frutkin
Series description: Poet Muriel Rukeyeser once said: “Breathe-in experience, breathe-out poetry.” Each week, we will take an enjoyable look at examples of poetry from some of the world’s great authors, from the classical to the contemporary. We will consider what skills to employ when writing poetry, complete in-class poetry writing exercises, and discuss writing and publishing. We will also look at some of your own poems in a non-threatening, open-minded atmosphere. This series is open to any style of poetic writing.
Note: This workshop is open to new participants and participants who have taken previous poetry workshops with Mark.
- Days: Wednesdays, November 3, 10, 17, 24, December 1, 8
- 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.)
- Workshop Series Outline
- Fee: Lecture – $200 (HST included)
- Registration closed
Lecturer biography: Mark Frutkin’s work, including ten novels, four poetry collections, and four books of non-fiction, has been published internationally and translated into seven languages. In 2007, his novel, Fabrizio’s Return (Knopf), won Ontario’s Trillium Book Award and the national Sunburst Award, and was nominated for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize (Canada/Caribbean region). His most recent novel is titled The Artist and the Assassin. His collection of poetry, Hermit Thrush, was shortlisted for the Ottawa Book Award in 2016. In the 1970s, he spent ten years living in the Gatineau Hills north of Ottawa in a log cabin with no electricity or running water. He has worked as a journalist and critic for the Globe & Mail, Harper’s, the Ottawa Citizen, the Montreal Gazette, amazon.ca/com, and other print and online media, and served as co-editor of ARC Poetry Magazine. Over the years, he has taught creative writing at Carleton University, and the Universities of Ottawa, New Brunswick and Western Ontario. He has received numerous grants for writing from the Canada Council, the OAC, and the City of Ottawa. See more details at markfrutkin.com.
Read what participants have said about Mark Frutkin’s poetry workshop series, including his Fall 2020 online workshop.
PLEASE NOTE: You may wish to attend the book launch for Mark’s latest novel, The Artist and the Assassin, on Zoom, on Thursday, October 7 at 7:30 pm. Contact us for details.
Lecture Series 3
Actively Listening to Music
Lecturer: Keith McCuaig
Series description: When you listen to a song, do you wonder which instruments you’re hearing, or how the musicians got the guitar to sound like that? Can you identify the different sections, like verse, chorus, pre-chorus, etc.? This lecture series will help you to fine tune your ears and develop strong listening abilities. Join Keith McCuaig to learn about musical forms like the 12-bar blues and 32-bar chorus, and how to identify individual instruments through sound. A wide variety of popular music genres will be covered including rock, pop, blues, country, R&B, reggae, and more. The ultimate goal of this lecture series is to increase your enjoyment of music through a greater understanding of what you are hearing. Our analyses will not be overly technical, and you don’t need to have a musical background; all you need is a love of music.
- Days: Thursdays, November 4, 11, 18, 25, December 2, 9
- 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 closed
Lecturer 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.
Lecture Series 4
Landscape and the Environment in Art
Lecturer: Dr. Eric Weichel
This Early and Late Fall, Dr. Weichel presents two new 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. In Late Fall, Dr. Weichel presents some of the world’s major landscape traditions. 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: In this fast-paced and wide-ranging series, participants will examine environmental art and visual culture through a close analysis of the landscape genre, installation and intervention, and film. Join Dr. Weichel to explore notions of space and place as they relate to geographical, topographical, colonial, and national constructs concerning the environment. In particular, this Late Fall series surveys some of the world’s major landscape traditions, including contemporary Land Art by Robert Smithson and Olafur Eliasson, regional traditions in both east and west (from Fan Kuan to Renoir and Monet), and the colonial dimensions of the settler landscape (especially in Canada, featuring Lawren Harris, Emily Carr, Jean-Paul Riopelle, Kent Monkman, Christi Belcourt and many more). The series will also address colonization and resistance in tropical landscapes (from Meirelle to Gaughin to Veranoa Hetet), the emancipatory potential of landscape in film and popular culture, and the depiction of animals, magic, and danger. (Note: Dr. Weichel’s related Early Fall 2021 series Art and the Mythic Environment is a good companion to this series, but is not a pre-requisite.)
- Days: Thursdays, November 4, 11, 18, 25, December 2, 9
- 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 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. Read what LLeaP participants have said about Eric Weichel’s lecture series.
Lecture Series 5
The Nature of Nature
Lecturer: Michael Runtz
Series description: Many of us have come to appreciate and explore the natural world around us even more during the last two years. This lavishly illustrated series will explore this dynamic world in detail, to help you better understand and enjoy what you see and hear. Join Carleton University’s celebrated naturalist Michael Runtz for fascinating information and spectacular photography that will bring to life local birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians, and insects (including a focus on butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies). The series will explore the lives of the local animals inhabiting six diverse habitats in our area: beaver ponds, hardwood forests, coniferous forests, peatlands, rivers and lakes, and marshes. You will learn how to observe and identify the different groups, as well as gain insights into their unusual lives, from an expert naturalist, photographer, and educator.
- Days: Fridays, November 5, 12, 19, 26, December 3, 10
- 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 closed
Lecturer biography: Michael Runtz is one of Canada’s most highly respected naturalists, nature photographers, and natural history authors, with 14 bestselling books to his name. (See an article featuring Michael Runtz and his new Algonquin Park book.) A dynamic communicator, Michael Runtz is equally at home in the television or radio studio, lecture hall or classroom. His Natural History course is the most popular of its kind in Canada, due to his award-winning infectious and enthusiastic teaching style. You may have seen (and heard) him hosting the international television series Wild by Nature, speaking as a frequent guest on television and radio shows such as CBC Radio Noon, or delivering presentations for groups as diverse as outdoor educators, professional biologists, schoolchildren, and naturalists’ clubs.
Read what participants have said about Michael’s lectures.