EPL1-F The Ancient Greek Experience of Life
What were the principal political, intellectual, scientific, and artistic achievements of the Greeks? How did democracy work? What is the significance of philosophy in Greek civilization? How rational or irrational was their culture? This course will examine these themes and more through selected passages from the works of Homer and the poets; the dramatists Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and Aristophanes; the presocratic philosophers, and Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics and Epicureans; the orators; and the historian Thucydides. Basic selected passages will be provided for consideration in each class.
Instructor: James Beckman, Ph.D. Philosopher, theologian, and scholar
Date: 6 Mondays Sept. 29 – Dec. 10 * Oct. 13 holiday 2008
Time: 7 - 9pm
Fee: $130
Blue Card: Free
Partner School:$20
EPL2-F History of Violence and War: Why Do Humans Fight?
Human history is wreaked with unspeakable violence; this is so in all societies, and in all ages. Violence has often been made into something heroic and ‘manly’, and wars have been glorified by artists, poets and religions. Yet there is no denying that wars are barbaric, and their impact on all humans, and on our ecology, is devastating. As we struggle to define the ethos of the new millennium, surely we humans need to explore all ways possible to resolve our conflicts in a peaceful and ‘humane’ way. This course explores the political, religious, social and psychological dimensions of violence and of wars, and how we must attempt to move from the ‘barbaric’ to the ‘civilized’.
Instructor: Sehdev Kumar, M.A., M.Sc., Ph.D. Professor Emeritus
Date: 6 Tuesdays Sept. 30 – Nov. 4 2008
Time: 7 - 9pm
Fee: $130
Blue Card: Free
Partner School:$20
EPL3-F Clash of Civilizations: Reality or Myth
The dawn of the new millennium has witnessed new fears and new confrontations between the West and some other parts of the world, specifically the Muslim world. Some see this as an inevitable clash of civilizations that represent irreconcilably different sets of values, faiths and dreams of life. Others see it more hopefully as the emergence of new universal values that are a synthesis of many cultures, civilizations and times. We will explore, both historically and contemporaneously, the myths and facts behind these new, but powerful, points of views that are directing the political and cultural agenda in some countries, and what they augur for the world at large.
Instructor: Sehdev Kumar, M.A., M.Sc., Ph.D. Professor Emeritus
Date: 6 Wednesdays Oct. 1 – Nov. 5 2008
Time: 1 - 3pm
Fee: $130
Blue Card: Free
Partner School:$20
EPL4-F Women, Peacemaking and Narrative
This course will address the contributions that religious women – with an emphasis on Christian women – have made to peacemaking and protest efforts in contemporary North America. The course aims to analyse women’s theoretical and practical contributions to peacemaking efforts and social movements. Of specific interest are the ways in which women address the issues that arise out of organizing around gender and religious identities. This course uses narrative in the form of life stories, autobiographies, and ethnographies as a key lens through which to explore women’s experiences as non-violent activists. Of specific focus will be Barbara Deming’s Prisons That Could Not Hold, the ethnographic life story of a Canadian member of Christian Peacemaker Teams, and the significance of Dorothy Day.
Instructor: Carolyn Reimer Lecturer, University of Toronto, Volunteer tutor
Date: 6 Fridays Oct. 10 – Nov. 14 2008
Time: 1 - 3pm
Fee: $130
Blue Card: Free
Partner School:$20
EPL5-F Life, Self and God in Dostoevsky’s Fiction
This course will be devoted to in-depth exploration of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s long and short fiction, including such world-famous masterpieces as Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov. We will analyze these books’ major themes, including those of selfhood, faith, love, family, society, and ethics relating them to Dostoevsky’s major spiritual and artistic concerns. As we will discuss Dostoevsky’s writings, we will put them in context of Russian and world literature and culture. In our discussions we will rely on “shared enquiry” discussion method, which was developed by the Great Books Foundation. Prerequisites: read the texts before coming to class; be willing to share your thoughts about these texts and to listen to other seminar participants. Readings - Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment (novel) , The Brothers Karamazov (novel) Additional Readings, Dostoevsky,The Dream of a Ridiculous Man (short story), Bobok (short story),Excerpts from the New Testament, Lives of select Christian saints
Instructor: Svetlana Kobets, Ph.D., LMS Research Associate, PIMS
Date: 6 Tuesdays Oct. 14 – Nov. 18 2008
Time: 10 - 12 noon
Fee: $130
Blue Card: Free
Partner School:$20
EPL6-F What We Can Learn About Jews and Judaism from the Movies
Films are a very popular form of entertainment that often impact on our knowledge and view of people, cultures and events in the world. Maybe you’ve seen a scene with a Jewish custom or ritual and said to yourself: “That’s strange. What’s that all about?” While television and movies often generalize and lead one to superficial or false conclusions, nonetheless, the media is often helpful in exposing the public to various important religious practices. By request, this course will use a number of Hollywood film clips as a teaching tool to explore several Jewish customs, laws and ceremonies.
Instructor: Esphira (Happy) Iscove Ms Iscove is a graduate of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. Her special interest is Family Education.
Date: 6 Mondays Oct. 20 - Nov. 24 2008
Time: 1 - 3pm
Fee: $130
Blue Card: Free
Partner School:$20
EPL7-W The Human Predicament - The Meaning of Life
A look at some of the main answers to the questions: What is the meaning of life? What constitutes a good life? How is human happiness attained? The course examines some of the major answers given in religion and philosophy, East and West, as well as contemporary answers provided by our culture today. We will examine selected texts drawn from Taoism, Hindu Vedanta, early Buddhism, Jewish and Christian scriptures, Islam, and the ancient Greeks.
Instructor: James Beckman, Ph.D. Philosopher, theologian, and scholar
Date: 6 Mondays Nov. 3 - Dec. 8 2008
Time: 1 - 3pm
Fee: $130
Blue Card: Free
Partner School:$20
EPL8-W Bioethics and Human Destiny
With the laboratory becoming the new Garden of Eden, we humans are radically redefining what nature is and who we are as humans in all conceivable manners: biological, social, spiritual. Such issues as Cloning, Stem Cell Research, Euthanasia, use of animals in research and Genetically Modified Foods have far-reaching ethical implications for us both as individuals and as a human community, as well as for our planet. This course explores the issues in their scientific and social dimensions, and what lies ahead. Each week, all students will be sent current paper(s) to read by e mail, for discussion the following week.
Instructor: Sehdev Kumar, M.A., M.Sc., Ph.D. Professor Emeritus
Date: 6 Thursdays Jan. 22 – Feb. 26 2009
Time: 1 - 3pm
Fee: $130
Blue Card: Free
Partner School:$20
EPL9-W International Cinema: Reflections on the Human Journey
Our arts – literature, theatre, poetry – have reflected on the human condition since time immemorial. Though films are the newest of human arts, in their history of some 110 years, they have explored an extraordinary range of steps in the human journey. Despite the inanity and commercialization of cinema, a good many films from many lands have portrayed the psychological, social and political dimensions of human life in exalted and poignant images. Based on viewing and discussions of classics of cinema from different periods and lands, this course explores the elucidation and portrayal of human journey - tragedy and suffering, meaning and absurdity of life, struggle for justice and dignity, yearning for love or invocations for compassion - through the eyes of some of the great film artists of the 20th century. Some of the films may include: Cries and Whispers, Sweden Amarcord, Italy No Man’s Land, Bosnia Secrets and Lies, England Closely Watched Trains, Czechoslovakia Grapes of Wrath, USA Bicycle Thief, Italy Colours of Paradise, Iran Belle du Jour, France Lagaan, India
Instructor: Sehdev Kumar, M.A., M.Sc., Ph.D. Professor Emeritus
Date: 6 Thursdays Jan. 22 – Feb. 26 2009
Time: 6 - 9pm Location: Robarts Library – Media Commons
Fee: $130
Blue Card: Free
Partner School:$20
EPL10S The Jewish Home
When the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed twenty-five hundred years ago, the rabbis ordained that the Jewish Home would replace the Temple. It would become a mikdash ma’at - a small sanctuary - and our table would symbolize the altar, our bread and salt the sacrifice and every meal would be a holy occasion. The Jewish Home is ideally more than an abode of affection, more than the safe haven where one is known in all one’s many facets. Not only does the home provide the foundation for learning basic life lessons and for developing one’s identity, it has the potential to become a sacred space. This course will explore some of the fundamental elements which Jews traditionally have considered essential to making a home into a little sanctuary. Among the topics will be: shalom bayit (peace of the home), shabbat, kashrut (dietary laws), family purity, mezuzah, the Jewish prayer wardrobe and welcoming the stranger. A visit to a Jewish home will be arranged for our last session.
Instructor: Esphira (Happy) Iscove Ms Iscove is a graduate of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. Her special interest is Family Education.
Date: 6 Thursdays March 5 - April 23 * no class Apr. 9 or 16 2009
Time: 1 - 3pm
Fee: $130
Blue Card: Free
Partner School:$20
EPL11S Reading Plato
For Socrates, the unexamined life was not worth living. His was the life of philosophia, the love of and search for wisdom, in discussion with his fellow Athenians. Socrates never wrote anything, but he is the central figure in the voluminous Dialogues of Plato – one of the pinnacles of ancient Greek achievement. The aim of the course is to read selected passages from the Dialogues representing key themes of Platonic philosophy. The course begins with Apology, Socrates’ self-defense at his trial. Other themes are: the search for human excellence and well-being, the Forms, or Ideas; education, culture and the shaping of the human polis, soul and the afterlife. This aim is to read selected passages and develop an appreciation of their historical context and their lasting contribution to philosophical understanding. Selected texts will be provided.
Instructor: James Beckman, Ph.D. Philosopher, theologian, and scholar
Date: 6 Mondays Mar. 15 - Apr. 27 * Apr. 13 holiday 2009
Time: 7 – 9pm
Fee: $130
Blue Card: Free
Partner School:$20
EPL12S Movie Monsters, Colonizing the Body
The dictionary tells us that a monster can be “an imaginary or legendary creature, a creature having a strange or frightening appearance, one who inspires horror or disgust.” Movie monsters can be all these at once. We look at four movies and their monsters, focusing our attention on what they reveal to us about our culture’s concept of the body and the uses to which it may be put. The bodily constructs of Elvis, or Michael Jackson for example, force us to consider the bodily imagery projected in stardom, and our culture’s complementary obsession with piercings and tattoos. To what extent is this mirrored in our imaginative appetite for the monstrous? Is life once again imitating art? Films: Frankenstein (Whale 1939), The Horror of Dracula (Hammer 1958), Carrie (DePalma 1976), The Silence of the Lambs (Demme 1991). Screening followed by discussion.
Instructor: Dennis Duffy taught English literature at the University of Toronto and continues to offer lectures on Canadian cultural, historical and literary subjects.
Date: 4 Wednesdays Apr. 7 – Apr. 28 2009
Time: 6 – 9pm Location: Robarts Library - Media Commons
Fee: $130
Blue Card: Free
Partner School:$20
EPL13S Madness and Civilization 11: Folly and Lunacy in World Literature and Film
Some of the most celebrated works of literature and art offer intriguing and captivating musings on the topic of madness and folly, raising time and again burning questions pertaining to our civilization, ethics, and selfhood. “Why are some people rejected by society and labeled “mad”? What is wrong with them? What is madness?” In this course we will contemplate these questions as we undertake a comparative study of socio-cultural conceptualizations of madness and folly in several cultural traditions. While this course pursues the same theme as the one taught in the fall of 2007, its readings and screenings are different. It will focus on the contemporary rather than ancient texts and films, which we will analyze relying on “shared enquiry” discussion method. There are no prerequisites for this course, yet it is important that you read the texts and view the films prior to our meetings. The success of the course will depend on your preparedness and readiness to discuss our chosen texts and films.
READINGS and FILMS
Nikolai Gogol, The Diary of a Madman (short story) Mikhail Bulgakov, Master and Margarita (novel) Gary Sinise’s Of Mice and Men (film adaptation of John Steinbeck’s novel) Robert Zemeckis, Forest Gump (film) Frank Darabont, The Green Mile (film) Pavel Lungin, The Island (film)
Instructor: Svitlana Kobets, Ph.D., LMS Research Associate, PIMS
Date: 6 Tuesdays Apr. 14 – May 19 2009
Time: 10 - 12 noon
Fee: $130
Blue Card: Free
Partner School:$20
EPL14S Imperfection
Does human imperfection make happiness impossible? And how can imperfect humans come together to form a happy community? We will start our investigation by looking at the supremely sensible and inspiring answers to these questions given by Aristotle; then we will move on to the more pessimistic and realistic answers given by Thomas Hobbes. Finally, we will examine the paradoxical position that happiness and community happen through (and not in spite of) our many imperfections by considering the writings of Jean Vanier. Throughout the course, we will be looking at our own experience to see which answers resonate most deeply.
Instructor: Sean Mulrooney Assistant Professor, Toronto School of Theology
Date: 6 Mondays May 4 – June 15 *May 18 holiday 2009
Time: 7 – 9pm
Fee: $130
Blue Card: Free
Partner School:$20