by Gary Schoepfel, leader of the 2020 Toronto Pursuits seminar The Proper Study of Mankind is Man You’ll read it on tattooed bodies. It makes an appearance in the Matrix films. It was a Delphic maxim echoed by Aeschylus, Socrates and Plato. It shows up in political writings, paintings, anatomical […]
[Editor’s note: Only a few places remain in longtime Toronto Pursuits leader Gary Schoepfel’s seminar Benefit of the Doubt. If you’ve never taken part in a discussion led by Gary, you are in for a rare treat. His questions open up new ways for participants to examine their beliefs about […]
The wheel of Fortune turns; I go down, demeaned; another is carried to the height; far too high up sits the king at the summit – let him beware ruin! lyrics from “O Fortuna” in the Carmina Burana Beware “lovely rose” King Richard. Beware “Judas” Bolingbroke. Beware wayward “heir-apparent” Prince Hal. […]
Eureka! The Stratford Festival Excursion (July 17–19, 2015) You are invited to join us for the Stratford Excursion. We have limited seating available and hope you will not procrastinate. There has been an unexpected early rush and we are over 50 percent booked already. We have announced the plays on […]
I’ve spent the better part of my professional life encouraging people to talk about books, and not just any books, great books. It turns out that these great books are often times difficult books too. Occasionally I get the prickly questions: Why would a bunch of equally ignorant people even […]
We just can’t get enough Shakespeare at Classical Pursuits! In this latest blog post, Katherine Barber, founding editor-in-chief of the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, has a lively discussion with educator and Travel Pursuits leader extraordinaire Gary Schoepfel about our February 25 email blast on words coined by Shakespeare. Katherine is the […]
Ashish, you have given us a great and wonder-filled gift: India You have given us India’s sights: • Palaces and mountains, • Lakes and mighty forts, • Tombs and gardens, elephants, Persian wells, and Punjabi suits, • Temples and mustard fields, • Tools to read the heavens and camels, • […]
This past fall I took my soul for a stroll. When I set out from León, Spain, with Santiago on my mind, I had no notion of just how much that undefinable part of me wanted to walk. Apparently, it had been whispering to me for some time. Apparently, I […]
So many things meet at the Bosphorus: continents, East and West, mosque and basilica, silk hijab and leather skirt, ancient ruins and post-modern skyscrapers, tribal sensitivities and nationalistic pride, complex history and a hope-filled future, 100 different tongues… May I tell you who I met up with on my recent […]
We are now two thirds of the way to Santiago and looking forward to completing the journey we began together only one week ago. After meeting in Madrid, our group made our way to Leon where we were met by our guide Jason, an expat Brit who has made Spain […]