THOUGHT AND CULTURE
SPRING-I 2026
A LA CARTE Various speakers
This is a series of lectures and/or documentaries we have the opportunity to share with our members. Topics are varied – you get to pick and choose what strikes your fancy!
Thursday, March 19th – Speaker: Bruno Stenson – Tissés Serrés: The Peoples of Quebec – Contrary to popular belief in some quarters, Québec is not now – nor has it ever been – populated exclusively by the French. In this lecture we look at immigration to Québec over the millennia.
$15.00
Thursday, April 2nd – PRIME Documentary - The Price of Everything (2018) – a brilliant and captivating documentary about how the art world got converted into a money market” (Owen Gleiberman, Variety)
$5.00
Thursday, April 9th – Speakers: Cynthia Lapointe, Anita Mehta – The Myths of Palliative Care - This interactive session will focus on:
Clarifying what Palliative Care really is and what it means.
Learning about the goals and the focus of this type of care.
Reviewing the common myths of palliative care practice.
Providing evidence to show that the myths have no basis in fact.
$15.00
Thursday, April 16th – Speaker: Jaclyn Chabot – Medical Assistance In Dying (MAID) – a lecture about the ethical questions still surrounding MAID even though it is now legal in our country.
$15.00
Wednesday, April 22nd – Speaker: Gwen Baddeley - The Role of Photography in Art History – how photography is used to catalogue ancient to present day art.
$15.00
Thursday, April 23rd – Speaker: Bruno Stenson - This Astronomy is for the Birds - The night sky does not need to be the domain of astronomers alone: many of its wonders are related to other fields, including birds.
In this lecture we look at the many birds immortalized in the stars, dust clouds and mythology of the night sky.
$15.00
ATWATER LIBRARY OFFERINGS
ENCORE and ATWATER LIBRARY are delighted to have reached an agreement that will suit both our schedules and our respective commitments.
The 2026 Atwater Library project is described as follows: This project aims to improve the overall quality of life for older adults on the island of Montréal, promoting access to health services, reducing isolation and loneliness, and advancing education through the deployment of the Atwater Library and Computer Centre’s Digital Literacy Programming at resource access points for seniors across Montréal.
The Atwater Library is developing courses to address these specific goals and are offering each organization such as ENCORE one course per month. The 2 courses being offered for Spring Session I are the following:
INTRODUCTION TO CYBERSECURITY – THURSDAY – MARCH 26 th , 2026 – the first hour is informative while the second hour is devoted to answering questions. It is recommended that you bring your own devices but we will havesome tablets available for your use.
$15.00
CLIQ SANTE – WEDNESDAY – APRIL 15 TH , 2026 – the first hour is to show the participant all that Cliq Sante website has to offer; the second hour is to help the user navigate the website. It is recommended that you bring your own devices but we will have some tablets available for your use.
$15.00
CANADIAN SHORT FICTION. Instructor: Harold Hoefle
There is no simple way to explain what happens in a Canadian short story. The whole world lives here; people have emigrated from all nations, and that means our writers bring layers of family history with them—history, living in our present-day towns and cities.
This course will showcase six of our best writers: all alive, all walking the streets that we do. We’ll study short fiction by Souvankham Thammavongsa, Madeleine Thien, Alexander MacLeod, Sheila Heti, David Adams Richards, and Anuja Varghese.
In this course, instructor and students will analyze how power functions in the stories; how men and women “get along” (or don’t); how the writers show us how the wounded live.
CLASSICAL COMPOSERS. 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 broad choice of works including symphonies, concertos, sonatas, and chamber works.
We will continue to explore composers whose names begin with V and then on to the end of the alphabet. Composers include Vivaldi, Wagner, Wolf, Xenakis, Zemlinsky to name a few.
During the last class we will 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.
MOVIE MATINEE
Most of the movies we have selected for this session are over 2 hours long so be prepared to have a later cup of coffee!! We hope you enjoy all of them but we know from past experience, that even if you don’t enjoy the movie that much, you all enjoy the camaraderie that comes along with it.
For those of you who have never signed up for the movies, don’t forget that the first one is on us; that is to say, if you don’t like the experience, you can send an email to deregister!
1. The Good House (2021) – Drama / Comedy / Romance – 1h43m
2. Meet the Parents (2000) – Laugh Out Loud Comedy – 1h43m
3. All The President’s Men – 1976 – Political Thriller – 2h18m
4. Running on Empty – (1988) – Crime / Romance – 1h56
5. Gosford Park (2001) – Comedy / Drama – 2h17m
6. Beautiful Boy (2018) – Drama – 2h
THE SHIFTING WORLD ORDER AND THE ROLE OF LATIN AMERICA PART II. Instructor: F.X. Charet
A good deal of interest in the issues related to the shifting balance of political, economic and military power has focused on the US, Russia and China. Yet, there are also other regions of the world that are undergoing their own realignments related to these three peer competitors that have largely been ignored in the media.
One of the most significant of these regions is that of Latin America.
This series will examine Latin America and its role in the emerging new world order.
SOCIAL HISTORY PART II - Instructor: Bruno Paul Stenson
NOTE: No boring History was used to create this course.
More history of common folk and their daily lives. This time we cover food, cleanliness and other elements that touch us all.
Week 1) Food
The story of when some foods were kept from us by geography, the calendar and the belief that they were poisonous.
Week 2) Sewers
The invention, development and use of underground streams to carry away our waste and cheat death.
Week 3) Cleanliness
The beliefs, practices and technologies of keeping ourselves clean.
Week 4) Night
The superstitions, navigation, activities of humans after the sun goes down.
Week 5) Ice
Humans' adaptation to ice for food, transportation, amusement and more.
Week 6) Christmas
To celebrate the end of this year’s endless winter, we look at the Holiday’s traditions from gift-giving, to holly, to Rudolph the Red-Nosed reindeer.
STORIES IN STONE. Instructor: Ingrid Birker
Outdoor with some indoor warm-up options. Please note that 2 of these classes require an additional fee for the indoor guided visit.
Monday, March 16 - Stones and footprints at McGill’s Faculty Club. We will find ancient footprints in the exterior walls and then visit the interior rooms to find where Maude Abbott broke the gender barrier to have lunch.
Monday, March 23 - Baking and the stones of the Glen – a walking tour of lower Westmount including an indoor tour of the old POM Bakery. Meet at Westmount Library, 4574 Rue Sherbrooke O, Westmount, QC H3Z 2L5.
Monday, March 30 - Stones, ducks and golf at the Old Fort. The oldest schools in North America are the stone towers at the Old Fort. The limestones used for the towers and the external wall contain bryozoan fossils. We will look for thes fossils together and then visit the interior Chapel of the Grand Seminaire.
Monday April 13 – Milestones, farming and the spine of Westmount. We will meet at the oldest milestone in North America and walk to the oldest standing farmhouse in Quebec where we will have a guided indoor tour with Philippe Monteil, Directeur Général / Executive Director of Heritage Canadien du Québec. This guided tour will cost an extra $10/person payable upon arrival.
Monday April 27 - McCord Museum and Houdini. This will include a guided tour of the Indigenous exhibits. The senior rate for the guided tour is $15/person payable at the door.