Inquiring minds want to know the best way to get a good brain workout

Irwin Block Special to The Senior Times

September 2011

Now that we’re all getting lots of physical exercise, or planning to, what about exercising the mind?

A rich and varied menu of courses for the inquiring mind is available at McGill University’s centre of continuing education and the Thomas More Institute.

McGill’s newly named Community of Lifelong Learning (formerly the McGill Institute for Learning in Retirement) offers courses led by volunteers in a peer-learning format.

Through discussions and presentations, members actively participate in small study groups covering topics in art, music, culture, history and politics. There are no exams, grades, age limits or prerequisites.

Who was this guy? The Thomas More Institute knows.

Membership is $85 a term, which includes entrance to Friday and Saturday lectures at $5 a lecture, for special activities and social programs, and use of McGill’s libraries during the term.

Registration for the fall term begins September 19. Registration and most of the 50 classes are held at 688 Sherbrooke W. Registration is held in Suite 229. A few study groups are held at McGill’s Macdonald Campus in Ste. Anne de Bellevue.

Registration forms and calendar: 514-398-8234; mcgill.ca/conted/milr The Thomas More Institute is patterned on discussions and participation covering topics in the liberal arts, from classics and current affairs to religion and philosophy.

It offers a menu of 20 courses for the fall session, and gives credit for most of them toward a liberal arts degree through its affiliation with Bishop’s University in Lennoxville. Most students participate for their own enlightenment.

The institute has acquired a strong reputation in the years since it began offering courses and the range this year is fascinating, from Ancient Rome through Opera to Who Was William Shakespeare?

The courses are given at 3405 Atwater. Open house and Discover Café September 9, 6 to 8 pm, and September 10, 10 am-4 pm. For a list of courses and info: 514-935-9585; thomasmore.qc.ca