THOUGHT AND CULTURE
FALL II - 2025
ART HISTORY Instructor: Lilian Elvir
The Other Renaissance refers to the extraordinary cultural changes that took part in Northern Europe, the Netherlands, France and Germany during the 15th and 16th centuries, coinciding with the Renaissance in Italy.
Everyone thinks of the Italian Renaissance, but the Northern countries were responsible for supporting a unique re-birth that can be explored as a regional renaissance in its own terms.
Week 1: The Burgundy Court: Being in the middle of Europe the Burgundy Court was a major center of art, culture and chivalry.
Week 2: Nature and human nature: welcome to the strange and fascinating world of Hieronymus Bosch.
Week 3: Playing with paint. Oil paint revolutionized the art world. Let’s meet the Flemish artist who made the change.
Week 4: The oil revolution continues as the Flemish style spreads across Europe and influences the Italian Renaissance and vice-versa.
Week 5: Let’s discuss prints! The Gutenberg print revolutionized the art scene, and the world, by making art more accessible with prints. Let’s meet the rock star of prints in Germany.
Week 6: Art and Reformation. With the split from the Catholic Church, no more bible stories, Protestant painters discover the art of everyday life.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) Moderators: Divya Kamath, Chong Hu and Muhe Yang, Ph.D. students at McGill university
Curious about AI and its use in everyday life? It is the way of the future and the future is NOW!
ENCORE is very privileged to be working in collaboration with the McGill University the School of Computer Science, the School of Information Studies, and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in offering this course.
After taking this course, you will have a better understanding of the W5’s of AI: what it is, who needs it, when it is used, where it is used, and why it is necessary. You will also feel more confident about how to make use of it yourselves.
The 6-week session consists of a series of workshops, where active participation is encouraged but not mandatory. There is no research component in this course.
Workshop Schedule (tentative)
1 AI Voice Assistant, November 10, 2025
2 AI Chatbots (1), November 17, 2025
3 AI Chatbots (2), November 24, 2025
4 AI for Daily Tasks (1), December 1, 2025
5 AI for Daily Tasks (2), December 8, 2025
6 AI Bias, December 15, 2025
What You’ll Do
Learn how to access and use popular AI tools (e.g., chatbots, voice assistants) for everyday tasks, their benefits and limitations, along with guidelines on cautious use of AI.
Brainstorm & envision new AI features to serve your needs.
LIMIT of 15 Participants
CLASSICAL COMPOSERS AND THEIR MUSIC – A CLOSER LOOK COMPOSERS S – T. Instructor: Roxanne Martel
This course is continuing with the series of classes on composers in alphabetical order. It will take a look at the music of classical composers in greater depth than previous sessions.
We will explore a greater variety of music from well-known, and some lesser-known composers. Each composer has left a body of works, and the plan is to go beyond the “popular” repertoire and listen to a broader choice of works including symphonies, concertos, sonatas, and chamber works.
We did not cover all the composers from S in the previous session and so we will start there and add T . Composers starting with S include Satie, Scarlatti, Schoenberg, Stanford, and those starting with T include Tartini, Tavener, Tchaikovsky, Tippett, to name a few.
There has been a new feature added to the final class, which is to listen to a large work by a prominent composer in its entirety, with a brief look at the structure, style and compositional elements of that work in closer detail.
EASTERN EUROPEAN SHORT FICTION: WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT? Instructor: Harold Hoefle
This course surveys short fiction by writers from Czechia (Jaroslav Hašek), Poland (Bruno Schulz), Russia (Isaac Babel), Ukraine (Nikolai Gogol), Hungary (Géza Csáth), and Romania (Herta Müller). The stories range from comic to grotesque; from realist to magical. Humour is everywhere, and often black. Two world wars; the end of empire (the Soviet Union and the Habsburg): the writers weigh it all up. This course will also explore the biographies of the writers and their countries of origin.
GRIEF – AN EMOTIONAL SHIFTING JOURNEY Instructor: Georgia Remond
Grief is not something you simply "get over" like a cold. Contrary to the popular saying, time does not heal all wounds—because grief is not a wound. Grief is a reflection of a meaningful connection that has been lost. That loss may come in the form of a loved one's death, a divorce, a miscarriage, the end of a career, or even displacement from your cultural roots. Significant loss can reshape your sense of identity and your normal routine.
Over the 5 weeks we gather together, in shared experience, to explore the different types of loss and the areas that impact our life so we can build resilience going forward. Together, we will explore a variety of artsy exercises for creative expression. Artistic ability is not required since it is the experience of doing that matters; all you need is an open mind. All materials are supplied.
MOVIE MATINEE
A Switch to Wednesdays
By popular demand, we are bringing back our movie matinee. However, due to our room restrictions, we will be meeting on Wednesday mornings from 11:00 – 1:00. We will have the option of returning to our Monday afternoons for the Winter session.
Here is the program we have chosen. We hope you enjoy each and every one of them.
See you at the movies!!
1. Annie Hall, 1977 – comedy-drama – 1hr, 33min
2. The Room Next Door – drama – 1hr, 50min - director Pedro Almodovar
3. If Beale Street Could Talk – 2019 - drama/romance – 1hr, 59min
4. Coda – 2021 – drama – 1hr, 51m
5. Ladies in Lavender – 2004 – romance – 1hr, 43m
6. The Quiet Girl, 2022 – drama – 1hr, 34min
THE MUSIC AND HISTORY OF THE BEATLES – PART II. Instructor: Bruno Paul Stenson
Part 2: The Studio Years, 1967 – 1970
Course outline
From 1967 to 1970, The Beatles became the first band to abandon concert performances. They became a studio-only band, recording songs that they could not reproduce in concert. In this course we will follow them on this pioneering journey, and listen to every song they recorded during this period. We will find out each song's origin, and how they were recorded (who played what, and the sneaky studio tricks they used).
Schedule
1) 1967, The History: The Summer of Love
From the triumph of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band to the failure of Magical Mystery Tour, we follow The Beatles in this new phase of their career now that they have abandoned concert performances.
2) 1967, The Music: Sgt. Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour
The psychedelic era and what might be the greatest album ever recorded.
3) 1968, The History: The disintegration begins
The Beatles learn to meditate, make a double album, and John, Paul, George and Ringo begin pursuing individual projects as the band begins to fall apart.
4) 1968, The Music: Yellow Submarine and The Beatles (the ''White Album'')
The return to rock, but the beginning of the group's disintegration.
5) 1969 – 1970, The History: And in the end...
The Beatles break up, but not before making one last glorious album.
6) 1969 – 1970, The Music: Let It Be and Abbey Road
From a cursed project to one last, glorious kick at the can.
STORIES IN STONE Instructor: Ingrid Birker
Monday, Nov. 10, 2025 – The Centre for the Great War and Maison Forget. Guided tour and workshops. Additional fee $10/participant payable on site. Meet at Maison Forget, 1195 Rue Sherbrooke O, Montréal, QC H3A 1H9.
Monday, Nov. 17, 2025 – Notman House and Jardin pour Tous urban gardens. Meet at Maison Notman, 51 Sherbrooke St W, Montreal, Quebec H2X 1X2.
Monday, Nov. 24, 2025 – Ancient Sea snails and Mount Royal Club. Meet at Mount Royal club, 1175 Rue Sherbrooke O, Montréal, QC H3A 1H9.
Monday, Dec. 1, 2025 – Montreal’s oldest hospital, the park and the walled garden. Meet at the Hôtel-Dieu of Montreal, Musée des Hospitalières, 201 avenue des Pins west.
Monday, Dec. 8, 2025 – Griffintown and ghosts. Meet at outdoor park located at the corner of avenue Wellington and rue de la Montagne. This park features the ruins of the Ste. Annes church.
Monday, Dec. 15, 2025 – From the park to the Glen – a walking tour of lower Westmount. Meet at Westmount Library, 4574 Rue Sherbrooke O, Westmount, QC H3Z 2L5.
THE WORLD ORDER: OLD AND NEW, UNIPOLAR AND MULTIPOLAR, PART II. Instructor: F.X. Charet
There has been much commentary recently on international standards and regulation largely coming out of the 20th century post war period. These are enshrined in various institutions and agencies and embodied in declarations and policies that the majority of states have either signed on to or been influenced to abide by. In the last decades of the 21st century this agreed upon system has been severely challenged and appears to be undergoing significant change, the outcome of which is currently unclear. This course will explore various aspects of this topic drawing upon a number of sources