Media Advisory: Personal and Cultural Enrichment at McGill
McGill University's Centre for Continuing Education is pleased to introduce PACE: Personal and Cultural Enrichment, a new area designed to provide the local community with culturally enriched programming. PACE events will showcase art, writing, religion and film, performance and more.
The inaugural event, Writing Minds: Culture Matters at McGill, is a series of six conversations featuring well-known authors from McGill, starting May 4.
What: Writing Minds: Culture Matters at McGill
When: Series begins May 4 and ends June 14
Topics: May 4 -Writing Wild: My Wilderness Palette
David Lank | 7-9 pm
How does an aspiring author/artist get started? What are some of tricks of the trade? What should a discerning reader or observer look for? What is the role of "the public"? Do we all have the potential to be an author or illustrator, to share our thoughts and visions with a larger world? Prof. David Lank will talk about his writing career and specifically his major book on the art and life of John James Audubon, Audubon's Wilderness Palette, recommended by Time Magazine as one of the "must read" books of 1998.
May 11
Writing CuiZine: Ghosts of Dinners Past
Nathalie Cooke | 7-9 pm
Cooke will prepare a feast of sight and sound, sharing the bounty of CuiZine, Canada's Journal of Canadian Food Cultures. Read by more than 6800 people in 11 countries in its first year of production, CuiZine will launch its third issue in May 2010, once again serving up poetry, interviews, commentary about Canadians' food choices. Through discussion of CuiZine, Cooke will also invite you to explore the exciting possibilities of an online journal, one that has never and will never be bound to the printed page.
May 18
Script Writing: Fathers and Lovers
Antonio D'Alfonso | 7-9 pm
D'Alfonso discusses the process of writing, shooting and editing through his award-winning film BRUCO. All his works of art contain the hidden meaning: "I love you." The public is invited to view D'Alfonso's independent film about how a man changes his life at the peak of his career.
June 1
Writing Buddhist: Wild Geese Over Water
Victor Sōgen Hori | 7-9 pm
"The wild geese do not intend to cast their reflection upon the water,
The water has no mind to receive their image."
Buddhism came to Canada more than 100 years ago, but was confined to the Asian communities until the 1960s. Since then, Buddhism has experienced dramatic growth as Asian immigration increased and as more and more native-born Canadians converted to Buddhism. Victor Hori's talk presents a short history of Buddhism in Canada, illustrated with images of the great range of Buddhist communities in Canada stressing their global connections, and biographies of leaders of Buddhist communities.
June 8
Page to Stage: Performing the Text
Myrna Wyatt Selkirk, Catherine Bradley, Erin Hurley | 7-9 pm
German playwright and director Bertolt Brecht sought to create a theatre that would illuminate social conditions and foster social change. How do we respond to the challenges of Brecht's plays from the unique perspective of the director and the costume designer? What techniques does Brecht use to encourage social change? What is the role of emotion in his theatre? We use the example of our recent Main Stage production of The Good Person of Sichuan to illuminate the talk by Theatre Professor Erin Hurley, Director Myrna Wyatt Selkirk and Costume Designer Catherine Bradley.
June 14
Writing Geopolitics: A Perfect Storm
Cleo Paskal | 7-9 pm
Pascal's book Global Warring looks beyond climate change to environmental change, questioning how different economic societies work. The changing environment now has the attention of military establishments around the world. The CIA and U.S. Department of Defence are both researching and tracking the security implications of climate change. China has been on it for decades. India is not far behind. This talk will look at some of the existing challenges to security caused by environmental change, including the disruption of energy supplies, undermining of international law, a looming crisis in emergency management, and, of course, the Arctic.
Free admission, please register online at www.mcgill.ca/conted/pace
