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2012 Toronto Pursuits in the Summer

Sunday, July 15 to Friday, July 20, 2012

Over 100 adults from across Canada and at least 20 states will gather on the shady garden campus of the University of Toronto’s Victoria College. About 80% will be returnees and the rest will be there for the first time. About half will be working and half will be retired. They will range in age from early thirties to mid-eighties. Some will stay in the economical campus residence; others will opt for a nearby hotel. Still others will commute each day from home.

Out-of-towners and first-timers get started on Sunday afternoon, July 15, with an optional demonstration in the Shared Inquiry method of discussion and a guided walking tour of Toronto’s art and architecture. The program gets into full swing on Monday morning with the convening of 12 concurrent seminars, which take place concurrently each morning. The groups are small, capped at 15 participants. At noon we gather for an excellent lunch. Each afternoon and evening, you may choose from a wide variety of cultural and social activities both on and off the campus – topical talks, a series of opera talks, walking tours, film screenings, small dinners and much more. On Tuesday evening, there will be an optional excursion to the historic Distillery District for a production of the Soulpepper Theatre Company. We have two gala receptions, one on Monday evening and the other at the conclusion of the week on Friday, and a dinner and movie evening on Wednesday.

Click here to see the schedule of activities for the week of Toronto Pursuits. Check back often, as will be updating the calendar as activities are confirmed.

Details for the 4th annual Stratford Shakespeare Festival Excursion (July 13 - 15, 2012) can be found by clicking here.

Add-on Theatre/Concert Performances now available for Thursday evening, July 19, 2012 there are two options for either a Soulpepper Theatre Performance or Concert Performance: Toronto Summer Music Festival. Click on your preferred performance for details.

Please let us know by July 1, 2012 which option you will choose as we only have a certain number of tickets on hand otherwise people will need to purchase any tickets on their own.

Also, please note participants who have registered before January 1, 2012 are eligible for a complimentary ticket for either Thursday July 19, 2012 performance providing no other discount has been applied. For those participants registered before January 1, 2012 please contact us by email to confirm your choice of performance.

Please choose one seminar for the week.

Catalog > 2012 Toronto Pursuits in the Summer

See details  01. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens David Copperfield was Dickens’ own favourite among his books because into this sprawling novel he poured his most intense and formative experiences. In this book alone he traces the development of a character who becomes an author, and he turns a searching light on the mysteries of... Price: $ 0.00 See details  02. A History of God by Karen Armstrong One of the major trends to emerge over the last two centuries, and to have gained significant currency in the last twenty years in particular, is a move in western societies towards a greater degree of secularism and a drifting away from the monotheism that has characterized so much of... Price: $ 0.00 See details  03. Terrible Beauty: W. B. Yeats and Seamus Heaney Even in his early years, W. B. Yeats, famously in love with the revolutionary Maud Gonne, wrote about what it meant to create a new kind of Irish identity in the midst of violent upheaval. He lived through the Easter Rising, the Irish Civil War, partition and the establishment of... Price: $ 0.00 See details  04. The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann The Magic Mountain is one of the enduring 20th century literary masterpieces. Set in a anatorium high in the Alps, the novel presents a detailed tapestry of characters and ideas drawn from pre-WWI European society. Price: $ 0.00 See details  05. Keeping Company with Montaigne: Essays Montaigne resists simple definition. He is the first essayist, a skeptic, an acute student of himself and humanity, a champion of human-based morality, a vivid stylist, and much more. Price: $ 0.00 See details  06. And When They Were Good, They Were Very Very Good This will be a wonderful week of women at their “worst” – their wits, their wiles, their wills and their won’ts – as displayed and directed by the men who conjured them that way. Price: $ 0.00 See details  07. A Holy Longing: Seeking the Divine in short fiction, drama and film Some of our most profound experiences can be the most difficult to put into words. At times we catch a glimpse of something ineffable just behind the world we ordinarily see. Price: $ 0.00 See details  08. Revenge and Justice in Ancient Greek Drama Payback. Getting even. Revenge. Call it what you will, we’ve probably all wanted it at one time or another. Price: $ 0.00 See details  09. In Search of the Russian Soul: Dostoevsky’s Idiot When Dostoevsky died in 1881, he left behind a literary legacy that has inspired and influenced Western writers, philosophers, psychologists and artists. Price: $ 0.00 See details  10. Actors Need Not Apply – Several plays plus coaching The choices that actors and directors make in moving a playwright’s script off the page and onto the stage are essentially acts of interpretation. Price: $ 0.00 See details  11. MUSIC – The Concerto: Studies in Contrast The concerto is a focal point of most orchestral concerts – a work for solo instrument(s) contrasted with the orchestra. Price: $ 0.00 See details  12. ART – Ways of Seeing by John Berger Aired in 1972, the four-part BBC television series Ways of Seeing was recast as this seminal book on visual culture and art history. Price: $ 0.00