YCLML 001 - MCLL Lectures

Presenter: Tim Skene

Science has brought countless benefits to our everyday lives. It encompasses a vast range of disciplines, from the structure of molecules to human physiology and behaviour. We read about scientific activity in the media, but don’t appreciate what’s behind the scenes. This presentation will show what makes a scientist, and how their work is done and communicated to the public and other scientists. It will cover some examples as well as its problems. A brief video: Why Science is For Me, shows why understanding science is important for all of us. 

Presenter: Paul Kuai-Yu Leong 

The popular Fiddler on the Roof (1964 musical/1971 film) is mainly based on the book Tevye the Dairyman by Solomon Rabinovich. His pen name, Sholem Aleichem, means 'peace be upon you” in Hebrew'. This lecture focuses on the author's works. His popularity was such that he has been called 'The Yiddish Mark Twain’.  For more information, click here  or Google-search Sholem Aleichem, the Yiddish Mark Twain. 

Presenters: Alicia Zlatar & Patricia Hinojosa

This lecture offers an engaging introduction to the early career of renowned Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, presented through a visually rich PowerPoint and slide presentation. Participants will explore key elements of his cinematic style, recurring themes, and the cultural influences that shape his work. The session will also spotlight Pain and Glory, a deeply personal film that draws parallels with Almodóvar’s own life experiences.  

Presenter: Manon Wascher 

According to research, journal-writing is an extraordinary wellness tool. In this workshop, therapist Manon Wascher shares several journaling exercises centered on cultivating joy and mindfulness. A workbook is provided; participants are encouraged to explore these aspects of self in private writing. 

Presenters: Romano De Santis & Giovanna De Santis

AI chatbots are here to stay. How can they help lifelong learners carry out activities that they love to indulge in? Activities such as writing, structuring knowledge exchanges, learning foreign languages, staying informed, creating visual art, and similar activities. The premise is that you will not know the answer unless you try. The presenter did try and will report on the good, the bad and the ugly of what he found out.  

Presenter: Suzanne Charlton 

Canadiana includes great world class singers! From Paul Anka to Diana Krall …Lightfoot to K D Lang …Bublé to Joni Mitchell.and more great singing!  

Presenters: Alicia Zlatar & Patricia Hinojosa 

A cinematic journey through Almodóvar’s latest work (The Room Next Door), exploring how language, identity, and geography shape his evolving storytelling across cultures. We will explore how his deeply personal style translates across borders, and what remains uniquely, unmistakably Almodóvar. 

Presenter: Grace Rostig 

My presentation/interactive workshop will focus on ways in which we, as spouses, lovers, friends, children of the elderly, can bring joy, meaning and compassion to the daily lives or weekly visits with the elderly people we love. It will begin with suggestions based on an approach I have honed over 15 years of education and work with the elderly, coupled with 40 years of spiritual practice and exploration. Equally important, I will encourage participants to share their experiences. The workshop will also include a few one-minute periods of meditation. In this video, watch the magical Naomi Feil interact with Gladys Wilson, an elderly woman suffering from dementia.  

Presenters: Romano De Santis & Giovanna De Santis 

After a life centered on technical and scientific endeavors, I recently developed a passion for creative writing. Particularly in crafting short non-fiction family stories and composing sonnets (in several languages). In this new creative area of interest, I have replaced the traditional writer’s toolbox—dictionaries, thesauruses, rhyme manuals, poetry anthologies, and similar resources—with the assistance of an AI chatbot. I have found this experience not only exciting, but also deeply enriching and personally most rewarding. The idea of the lecture is to share my journey and show how this approach might open creative doors for equally minded and motivated others.  

Presenter: Anne-Marie Hubert

En français avec participation dans les deux langues officielles 

Techniques d’écriture pour captiver les lecteurs dès les premières lignes, incluant l’introduction, les personnages (même s’il s’agit de vous-même!), la création de liens émotionnels avec le lecteur, maîtriser la tension et le rythme, ainsi que la prose. La séance comprendra des exemples concrets. The lecture will be in French, but questions in English will be answered.  

Presenter: Paul Kuai-Yu Leong

Dame Vera Lynn and Marlene Dietrich were enchanting singers known as the ‘WWII (Allied) Forces Sweethearts'. Their songs We'll Meet Again, The White Cliffs of Dover, and Lili Marleen uplifted the spirits and hopes of the fighters and strengthened a resilient mood, despite the harsh reality of war. It was said that Winston Churchill didn't (alone) beat the Nazis, but those two singers sang them to defeat as well. 

Presenters: Tony Frayne & Hélène Robillard-Frayne 

Our presentation will show photos of Peru in 1972 and of Chile in January earlier this year. Two neighbouring countries but with very different cultures and landscapes. The photos include Cuzco and Machu Picchu in Peru, and Valparaiso and the The Road to the End of the World, (Torré del Peine) in Chile.  

Presenter: Barry Lane

The years between the end of the Civil War and the early 20th century became known as the Gilded Age because the country was glittering on the surface but problematic underneath. In this period, the U.S. became an economic powerhouse with its railroads and its steel, oil and banking industries, and the “captains of industry” - Carnegie, Rockefeller, Morgan, Vanderbilt and the like - amassed vast wealth while many citizens crowded into tenements and worked in factories under dangerous conditions. 

Presenter: Marna Murray

Didion chronicled the world as she saw it from the middle of the 20th century forward. Her insights provided in essays, novels, and screenplays, articulate the idealized vision we have and offers us a different reality. Her poignant Year of Magical Thinking on the illness of her daughter and death of her husband helps many to understand the complexities of grief. 

Presenter: Lewis Cattarini 

How did a group of American scientists in June 1945 try to prevent the nuclear bombing of Japan? This lecture examines the diplomacy behind the Franck Report, including the involvement of Szilard versus Oppenheimer. 

Presenters: Frank Nicholson, Nadine Ozkan, & Elisabeth Robino 

Born in Paris to Armenian refugees in 1924, Charles Aznavour went on the stage at age nine. After earning a reputation as a singer and songwriter in Montreal, Aznavour launched a career lasting seventy years, in which he wrote or co-wrote 1,000 songs, sang in several languages, visited 90 countries, sold 180 million records and became an international star. Lecture attendees will watch and discuss videos of Aznavour singing five of his classics first in English and then in French, and then five other songs sung in French accompanied by English lyrics onscreen.  

Presenter: Iryna Malynovska 

By posing such a provocative question, I invite the audience to reflect on the challenges that people face when trying to communicate their ideas to others. If reaching mutual understanding between people is never easy, then these difficulties increase tenfold when it comes to communication between people who speak different languages. We will try to understand the reasons for such difficulties and the ways of overcoming them. Examples from political, mass media and literary discourses will be considered.  

Presenter: Eduardo Cabrera 

Nostalgia may be one of the deepest feelings socially shared and dearly celebrated. This sometimes-overwhelming longing for the past, for our common history, for our personal memories or for an idealized long-gone era, can shape our identity, influencing our behaviour. This lecture is an invitation to immerse ourselves through the diverse ways and mechanisms used in art to evoke the past and its regrettable absence. 

Presenter: André Berdais 

Malta was the most heavily bombed location during the Second World War. 25 % of the aviators on the island were Canadians. They flew fighter planes against Axis attacks on the tiny Mediterranean island and used reconnaissance and bomber aircraft to stop supply convoys to German and Italian armies in North Africa. Their actions and sacrifices directly contributed to Allied victories at the Battle of El Alamein, the invasion of Sicily and the liberation of Italy. If Malta had fallen, the war in Europe would likely have had a different ending. 

Presenter: Doug Woolidge 

After looking at a map of China and learning about regional dialects, we will focus on the sounds of Mandarin, and the way that Chinese characters are written and classified. Finally, we will look at aspects of Chinese language that might interest those with a casual interest as well as people who are considering learning Chinese. 

Presenter: Laurie Nixon 

In this lecture, I will go over the iconography, the historical context, the original location and the original function of several of the art works, from the Middle Ages to the 19th century, in the permanent collection of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.