Hybrid Classes

Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About The Canadian Healthcare System, But Were Afraid To Ask​
Instructor: Mary Jane Hampton
Delivery: Hybrid
Dates: Wednesdays, Oct 8 - Nov 12
Time: 1:30 - 3:30 pm
In-person: ​Church Hall - Hope United Church, 3055 Connaught Avenue, Halifax
Online: Zoom webinar
COurse Description
The Canadian healthcare system is at a critical point in its evolution. While universal, comprehensive and publicly funded care has been a source of national pride, concerns about inequities, gaps and sustainability are mounting. Millions of Canadians don’t have a primary care provider, wait times exceed quality standards and navigating the system once inside it can be daunting. But this is not all doom and gloom. Understanding how the system works, and how to make the best use of it, and how to make it better is the focus of this lecture series. 

Instructor Biography
MJ Hampton brings more than 30 years of experience in health system leadership as a manager, policy maker, advocate and consultant. She began her career in Winnipeg at the Manitoba Health Organizations, moving to Ontario to become the Executive Director of a District Health Council. In 1991 she was recruited to Nova Scotia to establish the Provincial Health Council, the first such organization to be legislated in Canada. Her role shifted significantly when she was appointed as the province’s Commissioner for Health Reform to serve as the principal architect of Nova Scotia's Health Care Blueprint for restructuring. This included a new governance model with four health authorities and set the foundation for a stronger system of primary health care including home care, new ways to pay doctors and emergency health system.  Since leaving government, MJ has lead a busy consulting firm that specializes in turning good ideas into great practices. She is a trusted advisor by management teams, boards, business leaders and politicians, and sought after for her practical, down to earth approach to managing change.  She’s been a newspaper columnist, written two children’s books and one for grown ups about how to navigate the health care system. MJ is also well known as the health columnist for CBC’s Information Morning ‘Health Hacks’ in Nova Scotia
Popular Music in the Age of Rock: The 1970s
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Instructor: ​Steven Baur
Delivery: Hybrid
Dates: Fridays, Oct 10 - Nov 14
Time: 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
In-person: ​Church Hall - Hope United Church, 3055 Connaught Avenue, Halifax
Online: Zoom webinar
COurse Description
This course offers a historical survey of Western popular music produced during the 1970s. Students will become familiar with the most prevalent styles and genres of popular music from the period and will study representative songs and artists. The course will investigate the historical circumstances, social contexts, technological developments, and cultural imperatives that have influenced the production and reception of popular music, and students will explore popular culture as an arena in which social issues, relationships, and identities can be defined, negotiated, and contested. Students will become familiar with a variety of popular song traditions and will gain a greater understanding of North American history as it has influenced and has been influenced by popular music during the 1970s. No previous background in music is required.
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Tentative schedule of classes and topics:
 October 10: Review of the 1950s and 1960s; Art Rock
 October 17: Progressive Rock; Singer-Songwriters
 October 24: Funk
 October 31: Hard Rock/Heavy Metal; Glam
 November 7: Reggae; World Music; Southern Rock
 November 14: Disco; Punk Rock
Instructor Biography
Steven Baur is an Associate Professor of Music in the Fountain School of Performing Arts at Dalhousie University. He has published widely on topics in the nineteenth- and twentieth-century music including both “classical” and “popular” traditions, from Maurice Ravel to Ringo Starr, and from Felix Mendelssohn to the mambo. His work appears in leading international musicology journals, and he has co-edited two books. He is currently working on a book investigating drum kit performance practice since the dawn of recording, illuminating the musical effects and social meanings created by drummers on record over the last 150 years. Baur is also an accomplished drummer with dozens of recordings and hundreds of live performances in Canada, the United States, and Great Britain to his credit.

HAlifax Regional Municipality

A Brief Introduction to Human Evolution
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Instructor: Barnett Richling
Delivery: In-person
Dates: Tuesdays, Oct 7 - Nov 18 (no class on Nov 11)
Time: 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Location: ​Church Hall - Hope United Church, 3055 Connaught Avenue, Halifax
COurse Description
The discovery of numerous fossils and artefacts over the past two centuries, together with recent advances in genomics and research methods, have provided an ever-deeper understanding of the evolution of hominins, a group of bipedal species comprised of our own, Homo sapiens, and by current estimates, some thirty extinct relatives. Even so, the resultant picture of the human family tree, a lineage whose earliest known members lived as many as seven million years ago, is far from complete, the ongoing discovery of new evidence presenting paleoanthropologists and scientists in allied fields with many surprises and unanswered questions. Starting with the basics of biological evolution and the place of hominins among the primates, this course reviews key discoveries, past and present, and considers what they reveal about our ancient lineage, and about what it is to be human. 
Instructor Biography
Barnett Richling is an anthropologist with longstanding interests in the history of Indigenous peoples of Canada’s arctic and subarctic regions, and in the ever-changing story of human evolution.  Now retired, he is a senior scholar in the Department of Anthropology, University of Winnipeg. 
The Reluctant Hitch:  Unwilling Anti-Heroes in Alfred Hitchcock’s Postwar Films
Instructor: ​David Overton
Delivery: In-person
Dates: Tuesdays, Oct 7 - Nov 18 (no class on Nov 11)
Time: 1:30 - 3:30 pm
Location: Cameron Hall, Parkland Clayton Park, 114 Fairfax Drive, Halifax​
COurse Description
British film director Alfred Hitchcock has been intrigued with protagonists who are drawn into action against their will from his earliest days.  In this class we will look at how characteristics of these anti-heroes intersect with the personas of the stars playing them, and how they are driven by their sinister antagonists.  Some familiarity with Hitchcock’s work may be helpful but not essential.
Instructor Biography
Before he retired in 2008, David Overton was a Professor in the Dalhousie Theatre Department for almost forty years. During that time he taught a wide range of classes, including classes in film and musical theatre history. Since retiring he has continued to be active as a freelance director and writer. His musical, The Passion of Adele Hugo, was produced by Eastern Front Theatre in 2012, and he recently staged the new opera Memories Beyond the Grave for UpStream Music Festival in 2023 and subsequently staged a touring version of it for presentation at the Open Ears Festival in Kitchener, Ontario in the spring of 2025.   
Are You Living Your Best Retirement Life?
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Instructor: Susan Hutchinson
Delivery: In-person
Dates: Wednesdays, Oct 8 - Nov 12
Time: 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Location: ​Church Hall - Hope United Church, 3055 Connaught Avenue, Halifax
COurse Description
Some people—especially those who have been deeply attached to their work or professional role—struggle to find meaning and purpose in life post-retirement. This can often lead to depression or other negative health outcomes. Sometimes, it is often not until someone has retired that they come to realize how challenging it is to structure their time post-work, and to rebuild a sense of purpose and fulfillment to replace some of the valued meanings and social connections that work had provided. The overall purpose of this course is to support Nova Scotia retirees to feel more optimistic about their lives by providing tools, resources and information to help people think about and revisit plans for their lifestyle in retirement. Resources will be provided between sessions to guide deeper thinking, self-assessment, and planning.
Instructor Biography
Prior to graduate school Susan worked as a recreation therapist in long term care and neurorehab settings. She received her PhD from the University of Georgia and taught for four years at Penn State University before returning to Canada and Dalhousie University. She retired in 2023 from Dalhousie’s School of Health and Human Performance. With over 60 publications in academic journals, her research primarily focused on how leisure can be a resource for people living with challenging life circumstances, such as acute health events and chronic health conditions. Before retiring Susan conducted an online study with Canadian retirees (n = 748) asking how they planned for their lives in retirement. This research is the basis for workshops, and this SCANS course, focused on lifestyle planning for the retirement transition. Susan created ‘The Retired You’ website as a platform for sharing retirement-related stories and resources: www.retiredyou.com
Experiencing and Understanding Music through Movement with Dalcroze Eurhythmics
Instructor: ​Susannë Brown
Delivery: In-person
Dates: ​Wednesdays, Oct 8 - Nov 12
Time: ​1:30 - 3:30 pm
Location: Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts,  Studio 5, 6199 Chebucto Rd, Halifax​
COurse Description
What is Dalcroze Eurhythmics?  Dalcroze is a multi-sensory method of music education that uses gesture and movement to better understand different aspects of music.  In a Dalcroze class students expand the ability to listen, respond and adapt to others in the room, and learn to use the mind and body together as tools for analyzing and experiencing music.  These techniques make musical concepts vivid and the process is fun and challenging.  Dalcroze Eurhythmics is famously hard to describe because it is experiential, but it is a place for creativity, imagination and joy.  Come and give it a try!
Instructor Biography
Susannë Brown studied violin and viola growing up in Halifax, went on to do a Bachelor of Music in performance at McGill University, and then completed a Master’s degree in Musicology at the University of Western Ontario. Susannë teaches Dalcroze Eurhythmics to preschoolers and adults, lessons to violinists and violists of all ages and levels, and conducts string orchestras for children and adults at the Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts in Halifax.
Introduction to Birding
Instructor: Sheila Brown, Donald Wyllie
Delivery: In-person
Dates: Thursdays, Oct 9 - Nov 13
Time: 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Location: ​Church Hall - Hope United Church, 3055 Connaught Avenue, Halifax
COurse Description
This course offers an introduction for those interested in learning more about birds and how to enjoy watching and studying them. Topics covered will be the tools and equipment you can use to get the most out of your birding experience, the different species of birds, basic bird identification, bird migration, birding ethics, conservation, bird photography, the birds we typically see in Nova Scotia, places to go birding. Trips into the field will allow you to view birds in their natural habitats and practice your bird identification skills. All classes will be enhanced by drawing on a large data base of bird photographs taken by one of the instructors.
Instructor Biography
Dr Sheila Brown and Dr Donald Wyllie are, respectively, a retired university administrator (President, Mount Saint Vincent) and a retired university lecturer (Geography and Irish Studies, St. Mary’s). They both have a life-long interest in birds and have birded in many different locales including Atlantic Canada, other parts of Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States and Bermuda. Donald is also a keen bird photographer and has an extensive archive of images. They have been involved for a number of years in the Nova Scotia Christmas Bird Count, in Bedford, and are members of the Nova Scotia Bird Society and frequently participate in field trips in various areas of the province.
Design History in Context
Instructor: ​Jayne Wark
Delivery: In-person
Dates: ​Thursdays, Oct 9 - Nov 13
Time: 1:30 - 3:30 pm
Location: Cameron Hall, Parkland Clayton Park, 114 Fairfax Drive, Halifax​
COurse Description
This course will examine the history of design in the modern period, especially from 1900 to the present. The focus will be on Western (European and North American) design. The overarching theme is that design must be considered from the perspective of both production and consumption in historical and social contexts
Instructor Biography
Dr. Jayne Wark holds a PhD in Art History from the University of Toronto and is Professor Emerita at NSCAD University. During her 33 years at NSCAD she taught a wide variety of courses in modern and contemporary art and history. She has published widely in national and international scholarly journals and art exhibition catalogues, curated art exhibitions is the author of Radical Gestures: Feminist Performance Art in North America (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2006).  
A Close Reading of Henry James’ "The Wings of the Dove"

Instructor: Victoria Rosenberg
Delivery: In-person
Dates: Thursdays, Oct 9 - Nov 13
Time: ​1:30 - 3:30 pm
Location: ​Hoyt Room - Hope United Church, 3055 Connaught Avenue, Halifax
COurse Description
We will analyze the words of the novel — at times word by word — looking for the patterns that emerge which reveal the points of view of the characters and of the narrator who describes those characters.
Instructor Biography
Dr. Rosenberg’s absorption in the writings of Henry James has not ebbed since she completed her Ph.D. studies with her dissertation, “The Development of Intelligent Consciousness in the Novels of Henry James”. She has presented papers on “The Wings of the Dove” at the Henry James conferences in Paris and in Rome. Her other interests are practising Bach on her 1918 piano and writing depressing, but mercifully short, depressing poems that have surprisingly nothing to do with James’ novels.
Triple Take: Writing Fiction, Poetry and Memoir
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Instructor: ​​Sue MacLeod, Lori Weber, David Wimsett
Delivery: In-person
Dates: Fridays, Oct 10 - Nov 14
Time: 1:30 - 3:30 pm
Location: Parlour Room - Hope United Church, 3055 Connaught Avenue, Halifax
COurse Description
Fiction:
International award-winning author David A. Wimsett draws upon his decades of experience to teach the basics of fiction writing. The course will cover subjects such as why people write, where to start, craft techniques, methods and processes, making your work stronger by accepting criticism and the writer’s life. The course will consist of lectures, class participation and writing assignments.

Poetry:
In my two sessions, you’ll get a hands-on intro to writing poetry. To quote Emily Dickinson, “Tell all the truth but tell it slant.” We’ll focus on both. First, we’ll write poems that come straight from our own lives—a “list poem” about things we have (or haven’t) done; and a “letter poem” to a long-lost friend. Then we’ll write poems that force us to leap away from logic, letting go of the narrative line. I’ll give you writing prompts to guide you through this! We’ll also read sample poems for inspiration, and handouts will include a book list of contemporary Atlantic poets. Bring lots of blank paper and be prepared to have fun.

Memoir:
Memoir has become a popular literary genre. We all have life stories to share. These two classes will inspire participants to write them down. We will do exercises that engage memory and turn experience into text. Then we will turn that text into engaging writing, using all the literary devices found in fiction: setting, symbolism, imagery, and dialogue. We will also play with different structures (linear or fragmented) that a memoir can employ. We will do exercises that focus on scene vs. summary. When to gloss over details and when to slow a text down and develop a scene that pulls the reader into the writer’s world. We can also discuss issues like how to deal with the exposure a memoir brings, how to write about real people without worry, and how to get published. Mainly, we will have fun mining our memories and sharing our words.
Instructor Biography
David A. Wimsett is an international award-winning author of poetry, short stories, novels, children’s books and screenplays. He holds a certificate in TV writing from UCLA.
Mr. Wimsett has appeared on stage in leading roles of comedies, dramas, Improv and musicals, as well as on TV and radio talk shows. He teaches writing workshops and mentors writers from around the world.
He’s a member of the Writers' Union of Canada, the Canadian Freelance Guild and the Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers.

Sue MacLeod has published three collections of poetry, most recently Mood Swing, With Pear (Signature Editions, 2016). She was Halifax’s inaugural Poet Laureate from 2000 to 2005. Sue has read from her work at festivals and reading series across Canada, and has taught poetry for organizations including the Quebec Writers’ Federation, the Art Gallery of Ontario and Dalhousie University. She is also an editor and fiction writer, and has written one critically acclaimed novel for teens. 

Lori Weber is the author of We Walked Him to the Door: My Husband’s Death by MAID, which won the 2025 Pottersfield Prize for Nonfiction. She is also the author of nine young adult novels, including The Ribbon Leaf, a historical novel set in WWII, which won the 2023 Canadian Jewish Literary Award for Fiction; one short-story collection, Deep Girls; two middle grade novels, Lightning Lou and Picture Me; as well as one picture book, My Granny Loves Hockey. She has also published short fiction, poetry and non-fiction in several Canadian literary journals. She holds a BA in Creative Writing and English from Concordia University, an MA in English from Acadia University, and a Diploma in Education from McGill. She taught at Memorial University before moving back to her home province of Quebec in 1993 and teaching English at John Abbott College in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue until her retirement in 2020. As a long-standing member of the Quebec Writers’ Federation, she delivered several writing workshops and was their young adult fiction mentor for many years. She represented Quebec twice for TD Canadian Book Week and offered workshops around Quebec as a member of the Culture-in-the-Schools Program. Lori moved back to the east coast in 2022, settling in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, where her daughter’s family lives. ​

MAHONE BAY

Topics in Cyber Security​
Instructor: James (Jim) Farmer
Delivery: In-person
Dates: Tuesdays, Oct 7 - Nov 18​ (no class on Nov 11)
Time: 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Location: ​Mahone Bay Centre, 45 School Street, Mahone Bay
COurse Description
95% of Canadians use the internet.  Have you ever wondered what information about you and how it is gathered as you use the internet?  It has become common to read about the loss of our personal information via security breaches in organizations such as Nova Scotia Power as well as the Provincial and Federal Governments.  Would you like to explore the world of cyber security and learn some methods and tools to protect yourself?  Then this course is for you!
Instructor Biography
Jim Farmer recently retired from Dalhousie University where he was Deputy Chief Information Officer, as well as holding other positions including Director of Infrastructure and Systems, Managing Director of the Atlantic Canada Organization of Research Networks and member of the Governing Committee of Canarie, Canada’s National Research and Education Network.  Jim is a graduate from the Royal Military College with a degree in Electrical Engineering with an MBA from University of New Brunswick. He has over 40 years of experience in the Information Technology field.  
HIV/AIDS – Stories from the Front Lines
Instructor: ​Barbara Ross
Delivery: In-person
Dates: Wednesdays, Oct 8 - Nov 12
Time: 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Location: Mahone Bay Centre, 45 School Street, Mahone Bay
COurse Description
My plan is to spend the 6 weeks sharing real life stories integrated into the origin and history of HIV in Europe and North America, highlight the lived experience of social and systemic stigma and discrimination; particularly in the gay community, dispel some of the common myths around HIV and AIDS and finally summarise where we are at in Canada. It’s not what you think.
Instructor Biography
I am a retired Public Health Nurse with 44+ years of experience working in community outreach with the most vulnerable and disenfranchised members of our community – people who use drugs, men who have sex with men, sex trade workers, and street youth. Throughout the late 80’s and 90’s I worked as a Designated HIV Public Health Nurse providing care and support for people infected and affected with HIV/AIDS at a time when the public was frightened and misinformed.  Every day was different, and every patient was different – except most of them were young and the most of them would die. My HIV career took me all around the world from Oakland, California to Ljubljana, Slovenia and Vancouver, BC to Mwanza, Tanzania.

LIVERPOOL

From Big Data to Artificial Intelligence: How We Got Here and What It is Good For
Instructor: Tony Schellinck, Jen Schellinck
Delivery: In-person
Dates: Mondays, Oct 6 - Nov 10; no class on Oct 13 
Time: 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Location: ​Trinity Anglican Church Hall, 196 Church Street, Liverpool
COurse Description
In the early seventies large corporations began to discover the potential value in the “legacy” data that they had always collected about their customers for the purpose of running their businesses. Retailers, utilities, government agencies, and health related organizations could also make use of these large data sets to improve their offerings and services to consumers. Simultaneously, analysts were developing new techniques to process this “big data” to achieve organization goals. These advances allowed the organizations to custom fit their offerings to the needs and preferences of individual consumers. As the capacity to collect, store and analyze consumer data advanced, so did the ability to interact with consumers in real time. The first four weeks of the course will expose the students to the changes that organizations went through in their marketing and how this changed the shopping patterns of consumers. There will be many examples given as well as one project that we will conduct using real data from a retailer who shall remain anonymous. The possible negative effects of the use of algorithms will also be discussed.
In the final two sessions of this course Jen Schellinck will talk about how these algorithms led to the “Age of AI.” She will talk about what AI is currently good for and which aspects of the technology are still a work in progress. She and the class will discuss how current AI technologies can be used in practical, everyday situations and what to watch out for when using AI. She will also provide some hands-on demos of popular and available AI services like ChatGPT.
Instructor Biography
Dr. Tony Schellinck was the F.C. Manning Chair in Economics and Business for eighteen years at Dalhousie University. During that time, he also was Management Informatics Chair Associate and ran the Marketing Informatics Program at the undergraduate, master’s and PhD levels. During those years he and his students worked with large and small organizations to explore the potential for big data analysis in their operations and marketing. Corporations and organizations they worked with include large grocery retailers, financial institutions, life and auto insurance, telephone companies, pharmacies, and non-profits. As a consultant Tony worked with several large organizations designing algorithms and analytics for their use, and in responsible gambling (RG) for which his firm, Focal Research Consultants Limited won the best RG technology Provider Worldwide in 2024. Tony enjoys making the complex easy to understand and anyone who takes his class should learn something they can use for the rest of their lives.
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Dr. Jen Schellinck has a PhD in Cognitive Science, is an adjunct professor in the Cognitive Science Department at Carleton University and is the CEO of Sysabee, an Ottawa-based data science consulting company. Jen has been active in the data science and artificial intelligence fields since 2009.  She helps organizations understand the value that data technologies bring to their work, and uses her knowledge of artificial intelligence, machine learning and data science to help people and organizations achieve their greater potential. She regularly holds workshops for people who want to learn about AI and has worked with government, not-for-profits and industry. 
Only the Dead Can Dance: Choreographies of Mortality
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Instructor: ​Steven Bruhm
Delivery: In-person
Dates: Wednesdays, Oct 8 - Nov 12
Time: 1:30 - 3:30 pm
Location: Trinity Anglican Church Hall, 196 Church Street, Liverpool
COurse Description
Dance is arguably the most embodied and physical of the arts, signifying health, strength, and agility. Yet there is a huge tradition going back at least as far as the European Middle Ages that makes of the dancer a figure of death: skeletons of the danse macabre; deadly wilis and female vampires of the 19th century; long-dead ancestors and cultural ghosts; pop-culture stars and their “created” selves. This class surveys the broad range – both historical and cultural – of the figure of dancing death. Along the way it visits representations of women’s sexuality, gay men in the AIDS epidemic, beleaguered celebrities, and the great revolution in dance made possible by the invention of the toe shoe. At the heart of the exploration is the startling notion that one must “become dead” in order truly to dance.
 
This class will proceed by lecture and discussion, most often in relation to a film or video clip shown in the class. We will also consider the impossible task of writing dancing, and will consider how written text holds up against or interacts with embodied movement. While participants will not be expected to dance, they will always be more than welcome to bust a move should the appropriate time arise!
Instructor Biography
Steven Bruhm is the Emeritus version of the Robert and Ruth Lumsden Professor of English at Western University, London, Ontario. He earned his PhD from McGill in 1992 with a dissertation on the body in pain in British Gothic Fiction. That dissertation went on to be his first book, Gothic Bodies: The Politics of Pain in Romantic Fiction (1994), which was followed in 2000 by Reflecting Narcissus: A Queer Aesthetic. He is the past president of the International Gothic Association and the Association of Canadian College and University Teachers of English, as well as former editor of the journal, Horror Studies. He has published widely on the Gothic (including Dances of Death), children and horror, sexuality, and queer studie. He has taught at Mount St Vincent University, Dalhousie, McGill, Bishop’s, and Western, with forays (long ago) into aerobics and aquafit as well as many forms of dance. 

TRURO

Poetry Potpourri
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Instructor: Sandra Barry, Rosaria Campbell, Richard Dittami
Delivery: In-person
Dates: Tuesdays, Oct 7 - Nov 18​ (no class on Nov 11)
Time: 1:30 - 3:30 pm
Location: Douglas Street Recreation Centre, Room A, 40 Douglas Street, Truro
COurse Description
Poetry is just one of the creative arts that allow people to explore and understand the world around them. This course, ‘Poetry Potpourri’, will have four weeks of presentations and readings of published poets (Elizabeth Bishop; Richard Dittami). The final two weeks of the class will provide class members with an opportunity to share their favourite poems and poets and to share any of their own poetic writings.

Weekly Schedule:
October 7, 14, 21: Sandra Barry & Rosaria Campbell on Elizabeth Bishop
October 28: Richard Dittami
November 4 and 18: poetry appreciation by class members
 
Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979) is one of the most influential poets in English of the late 20th century; and even in the 21st century her work finds its way into diverse realms: academia, and the literary, film, music and visual arts. Though born in the United States, Bishop can be described most accurately as a Pan-American poet. She had deep, abiding and influential connections to Nova Scotia and a powerful, long-term relationship with Brazil, where she lived for over 15 years. She spent time in Europe and Mexico and lived across the U.S.: New York, Key West, Washington DC, San Francisco and Boston. All of Bishop’s poetry and prose emerged directly from her complex connections with the people and places that filled her life. The three presentations will look at 1. Bishop’s life; 2. Her poetry and prose; and 3. Her continuing presence and influence in the world.
 
Biography: Bishop has been the subject of a half dozen biographies (in addition to countless literary critical studies). While the full scope of her biography cannot be covered, this presentation will offer an overview of her life from her birth in Worcester, MA, in 1911; through her childhood, some of which was spent in Nova Scotia; through her Vassar College years, her extended time in Brazil and return to Massachusetts in the last decade before her death.
 
Poetry and Prose: This presentation will be a reading of and conversation about Bishop’s poetry
and prose by Sandra Barry and Rosaria Campbell.
 
Influence: This presentation will be a survey of the academic response to Bishop, which began before her death in 1979, and has been steadily increasing since. Also a glimpse into the Bishop Societies and their work. Also a look at the way contemporary poets and novelists have responded to and integrated her work into their own. Also a glance at how documentary filmmakers, visual artists and musicians have been inspired by Bishop’s work.
 
The poetry of Richard Dittami, a former construction worker turned published poet, have been called ‘madly compassionate and gravely sane contemplations on the nature of extinction, evolution, and civilization.” Having Richard share his poetry is timely as, “ … is a guy that the world needs right now.” Richard will read from his poems and share his own personal evolution as a poet.
 
Weeks 5 and 6 will be a class-based interactive opportunity to share and learn from
classmembers’ favourite poets and the poetic endeavours of some of our Truro class members.
Instructor Biography
Sandra Barry is a poet, independent scholar and freelance editor. Her poetry has been published in The Antigonish Review, CV2 and Canadian Women’s Studies, and most recently in the anthology Seasons’ Light: Contemporary Poetry and Images by Nova Scotians, (A. Hart Press, Halifax, N.S., 2010). She is the co-founder, past president and current secretary of the Elizabeth Bishop Society of Nova Scotia. She was the co-artistic director of the Elizabeth Bishop Centenary Festival (EB100), 2011. She was the co-owner and administrator of the Elizabeth Bishop House Artists’ Retreat in Great Village, N.S., from 2004 to 2015. She has published many essays about Elizabeth Bishop. Most recently, “‘Something About My Life’: Elizabeth Bishop and the Biography Bogey,” The Cambridge Companion to Elizabeth Bishop (2013). Her book, Elizabeth Bishop: An Archival Guide to Her Life in Nova Scotia was published by the Elizabeth Bishop Society and Lancelot Press in 1996. She is co-editor of Divisions of the Heart: Elizabeth Bishop and the Art of Memory and Place, Gaspereau Press, 2001. Her biography Elizabeth Bishop: Nova Scotia’s “Home-Made” Poet was published by Nimbus Publishing in 2011. She co-edited with Laurie Gunn Echoes of Elizabeth Bishop, a collection of the Elizabeth Bishop Centenary Writing Competition winners, published by the EBSNS. She is not very actively seeking publication for a monograph, Lifting Yesterday: Elizabeth Bishop and Nova Scotia. Sandra writes regularly for the Elizabeth Bishop Centenary blog.

Rosaria Campbell
Rosaria Campbell is a fiction writer, poet, and acoustic musician. Originally from Campbell's Creek, Newfoundland, she now lives with her partner on a small farm in Wallace Station, Nova Scotia. She writes about the people and events that helped shaped her life and times, and has a particular interest in form and oral traditions. Her short fiction has been published in The Fiddlehead and Prairie Fire and     has been nominated for the Journey Prize. She is currently working on novellas, short stories, and a collection of poems. Rosaria is a member of the Elizabeth Bishop Society of Nova Scotia (EBSNS), and is a member of the EBSNS board. As part of the society, she has spent many happy hours in Great Village with myriad writers, artists, musicians, and community members working to keep Bishop’s legacy, and her Great Village connections, alive and well.
​The Highland Bagpipe: its History and Cultural Significance for Nova Scotia Gaels
Instructor: ​George Macintosh
Delivery: In-person
Dates: Thursdays, Oct 9 - Nov 13
Time: 1:30 - 3:30 pm
Location: Douglas Street Recreation Centre, Room A, 40 Douglas Street, Truro
COurse Description
The objectives of the course are: 
  1. to gain an understanding of the history and development of bagpipes in Scottish, and more widely, British and European culture;
  2. to appreciate the variety and diversity of instruments in the world of bagpipes;
  3. to understand the form and structure of its unique music, and notation; and,
  4. to appreciate its cultural importance in Nova Scotia and the Maritimes, and other settlements of the Gaelic Diaspora around the world. 
 Course Outline:  
Week 1:  The history of bagpipes from ancient times to the modern age. Week 2:  Bagpipe construction and the great makers.
Week 3:  Music notation systems for the Highland Bagpipe.
Week 4: “Setting the standard”, the great composers, and the “Comunn na Piobaireachd”. Week 5:  The role of bagpipes in popular culture, Remembrance, and religion.
Week 6:  Reeds and bags: technical innovations in piping, or “tradition meets the space age”.
 
 Each class will include a “tune of the week” section to discuss some of the great compositions of pipe music.
Instructor Biography
​Well known in piping circles in Nova Scotia, George Macintosh started piping at the age of 9 under the direction of Pipe Major I.M. Downie in Fredericton, NB.  He has been a member of the Frederiction Society of Saint Andrew Pipe Band, the Oromocto Legion Pipe Band, the Fredericton Kirk Hall Pipers, Old Scotia Pipes and Drums, the Clan Thompson Pipe Band, the Black Watch Association (Atlantic) Pipes and Drums and currently, the Pipes and Drums of Clan Farquharson in Bedford, NS.

He has been an active teacher of piping and a band director for over thirty years.  He conducted a piping class in Colchester County for many years and has also served as instructor to the Fraser Holmes Memorial Ladies Pipe Band in Pictou County, as well as the Halifax Regional Municipality Massed Cadet / Youth Pipes and Drums.  He performed in the first Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo in 1979, and after a 30-year break, returned to the show in 2009 with the Black Watch Association band which performs every year as the house band of the Tattoo. He served as Pipe Major of the Black Watch Association band from 2011 to 2018.

George is composer of pipe music and in 2022 had several of his tunes published in Barry Shear’s latest Pipe Music book, “Legacy: A Collection of Photographs and Music”.  As an active soloist he frequently gives recitals on Highland Bagpipes and Smallpipes and performs regularly at farmer’s markets and other community events around the province.  He has been a featured soloist with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (as part of their celtic pops series), as well as the Mill Creek Colliery Band (a British brass band).
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George is also a pipemaker when time allows.  His instruments have been exhibited on two occasions at the Nova Scotia Centre for Craft and Design: “Sound Craftsmanship: Making More Than Music” in 1996; and “Sound Craftsmanship: Instrumental Progression” in 1999. He is a regular exhibitor in the annual Alumni Fine Art and Craft shows at the Agricultural Campus of Dalhousie University.
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