Medieval Stories, Modern Pilgrimages
[Editor’s note: We warmly welcome Denise Ahlquist back to Toronto Pursuits. A senior consultant at the Great Books Foundation, Denise has been a longtime leader of discussion groups for children and adults. Join her on an unforgettable journey in her seminar on Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.] “When April comes and with […]
Art à la Mode
[Editor’s note: Every year Betty Ann Jordan brings colour and style to Toronto Pursuits, and 2019 will be no exception. Join her for Seeing Through Clothes, a seminar that weaves art and history into a larger exploration of what clothes say about us.] Lingering in front of a historical portrait, […]
By the pricking of my thumbs …
… a Great Books weekend this way comes. Explore all manners of literary wickedness at the Great Books Foundation’s annual Chicago weekend, May 3 to 5, 2019. Book lovers from across North America will gather to discuss four readings that centre on the wickedness people contemplate and perpetrate: The Handmaid’s […]
What Does This Book Have to Do with Me?
[Editor’s note: We are thrilled to welcome Wendy O’Brien to Toronto Pursuits. Wendy is a philosopher and teacher whose wide-ranging interests have brought lively guided walks and museum visits to previous Toronto Pursuits programs. In 2019 she will lead a seminar on Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex. It’s a […]
Is Music a Universal Language?
Among the recent events marking the centenary of the end of World War I, French President Emmanuel Macron delivered a passionate speech at the base of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris warning against the current rise of nationalism in the world. Speaking in French, Macron likened this trend to […]
Why Middlemarch Can Change Your Life
[Editor’s note: Longtime Toronto Pursuits leader Nancy Carr returns in 2019 with a seminar on the unforgettable Middlemarch. The seminar is already half full; register today!] Middlemarch is the one book I’m willing to tell people they should read. I recommend many books, and advocate strongly for a few. But […]
The Quiet War: Virginia Woolf, Claudia Rankine, and the Fine Line between Resistance and Resignation
[Editor’s note: We at Classical Pursuits are excited to welcome back John Riley to Toronto in July 2018. In 2017, John led a seminar on the nature of knowledge. His upcoming seminar, Listening to the Voices of Resistance, has its roots in John’s experience of growing up in the American South […]
Seeing Things As They Really Are in Renaissance Florence
We at Classical Pursuits are excited to welcome back Stuart Patterson to Toronto in July 2018. In 2016, Stuart led a seminar on Ovid’s Metamorphoses in painting, music and poetry. He recently spoke with us about his upcoming seminar, The Birth of New Powers in Florence. Participants in Stuart’s seminar […]
What Price Power? Why Trollope Matters Today
[Editor’s note: We give a warm welcome back to longtime Toronto Pursuits leader Nancy Carr. Nancy’s seminar Through the lens of the under-appreciated Victorian novelist Anthony Trollope, participants in Nancy’s seminar will ask a timeless question: How far are we willing to go to obtain power?] As I ride the […]
Old Truths Made New: Interview with Toronto Pursuits Leader Mandy Burton
We are thrilled to welcome new leader Mandy Burton to Toronto Pursuits. Mandy comes to us through Toronto Pursuits’ education manager Mark Cwik. Participants in her seminar Power, Rights and Personhood will benefit from her true spirit of inquiry that crosses disciplines, and will read classics old and new. Classical […]