THOUGHT AND CULTURE

SPRING II - 2025

ART HISTORY – GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES Instructor: Lilian Elvir

These are participatory chats, where the attendees’ experiences and comments are encouraged to stimulate discussion. Let’s explore the visual arts in non-Western countries, focusing on a specific period.
Can art shape a national identity? Yes, it can: consider the Muralists of Mexico,  Brazil, and the Tropicália art movement (think samba in visual arts). Also, reflect on how Japanese art inspired Van Gogh to see differently and explore the stunning creations of African artists from five countries.

THE BROADS OF BROADWAY PART II Instructor: Cynthia Jones

In the first part of the Broads of Old Broadway, we explored the ground breaking superstars of Broadway. In this second half, we will look at those broadway stars that form the bridge between the broadway pioneers and the modern day stars. Some women you will be very familiar with and others may be a complete surprise. Enjoy the music of Broadway being sung by the stars while learning about the history of American Musicals.

THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF ELVIS PRESLEY Instructor: Bruno Paul Stenson

A look at the King of Rock & Roll, from the cities, cultures and suspected murderer that shaped him, to the heights of fame, his decline in Hollywood, and his sad demise at age 42 as a subject of mockery who gave away cars, jewellery, horses, and guns. But as we will hear in each lecture, his music was always impressive (well, except for most of his movie songs, but nobody is perfect).
1) The Road to the Kingdom
Tupelo, Mississippi; Memphis, Tennessee; and Elvis's life from birth to the day he recorded his first hit song for Sun Records.
2) The King of Rock & Roll
The 1950s, from Elvis' first hit record for Sun Records, and his move to RCA Records with the help of a suspected murderer, to the peak of his career, and his stint in the Army.
3) The First Comeback: In the Studio
The 1960s: Elvis' part-time return to music after two years in the Army.
4) The First Comeback: Hollywood
The 1960s: Elvis the full-time movie star.
5) The Second Comeback: 1968 - 1972
Elvis' full-time return to music, and the modest resurrection of his singing career.
6) The Decline and Fall
The last years of Elvis' life, when his fame declined and his girth increased until he died on the toilet in his house, drug addled, bloated, and very much alone.

MOVIE MATINEE

Here is the selection of movies for this session. I hope the variety will appeal to you all.Thanks for coming out!

1. Miss Potter – 2007 – Drama / Romance

2. Here – 2024 - Comedy

3. Me Before You – 2016 - Drama

4. The Conspirator - 2010 - Historical Drama

5. The Intouchables – 2011 – Comedy

6. The French Lieutenant’s Woman – 1981 - Drama

A NEW GLOBAL HISTORY: EAST AND WEST, Part 4. Instructor: F.X. Charet

With the rise of China as a leading economic and military power, the uncertain role of Russia, the increasing emergence of India, and the challenges and divisions faced in the West, the future remains unclear. Topics covered: Unipolar vs Multipolar world, Shifting Global Alliances, Economics, Politics and Military Conflict.

THE SPIRIT OF THE SIXTIES: PART 2: WOMAN’S LIBERATION AND PSYCHEDELICS Instructor: Zsolt Alapi

In this second half of the course, we will look at the advent of the Women’s Liberation Movement, focusing on the writings of its seminal figures like Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, and Kate Millett, women who reshaped our social structure and values.
After, we will learn about the Psychedelic Movement: the use of drugs, particularly LSD, which revolutionized human consciousness and led, through an emphasis on alternate forms of spirituality, to the New Age Movement. The activism of LSD guru Dr. Timothy Leary and his famous saying: “Turn on, tune in, drop out” became a statement to the youth of America culminating in the Summer of Love and, eventually, Woodstock.
We will also listen to and assess the music of bands like The Beatles, Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead, culminating with Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock, to understand the influence of pop music and its “message” that revolutionized the youth of that time.
Required Text: Charters Ann. The Portable Sixties Reader (Penguin Books)

STORIES IN STONE – HISTORY & ARCHITECTURE OF SHERBROOKE ST. WEST. PART III Instructor: Ingrid Birker

Featuring outdoor visits to some of Montreal’s proudest institutions and parks to discover the stories behind their construction and social history.

May 5, 2025 – Snails, squids and mottles – the fossils of the Le Chateau apartment and the Mont-Royal Club.  We will examine the variety of stones and fossils on the exterior walls.
May 12, 2025 – Bones and stones in Place du Canada. We will examine the markers left over from Montreal’s first cemetery and then go inside the Sun Life building to find exotic marbles.
May 26, 2025 – Fossils, whales and cows at McGill’s downtown campus. We will start at the marble friendship fountain sculpted by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney and installed in 1931 and then check out the fossils in the Redpath Museum.