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The Raven Saxophone Quartet will be competing in the semifinals of the International Chamber Ensemble Competition at the New England Conservatory in Boston on March 7, 2020.

The Music Department’s saxophone Instructor and Director of Saxophone Ensembles (including The Raven Saxophone Quartet), Mike Tremblay says the Quartet has achieved this amazing feat through talent, diligence, and fantastic chemistry.   

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Open Space Lab 01: Gita Hashemi 11 am – 2 pm; 31 Jan – 4 Feb and 7 – 11 Feb, 2017 is thrilled to announce the new and experimental Open Space Lab (OSL), which turns the gallery into a space for research, creation and collaboration. OSL looks beyond conventional exhibition formats, offering artists the opportunity to explore, develop, test and talk about ideas and artworks. Gita Hashemi is the inaugural OSL artist. Join Hashemi in the gallery and online as she creates Grounding, a major new project that explores space, writing, gender and performance. Gita Hashemi’s practice draws on visual, media, performance, site-specific and live art strategies. Exploring social relations and the intersections of language and culture, Hashemi’s work is centred on marginalized histories and contemporary politics, often with an eye on women’s experiences. Open Space Lab is generously supported by the Stonecroft Foundation for the Arts and an Ontario Arts Council Culturally Diverse Curatorial Projects grant. Photo: Gita Hashemi, “Wonders of the Sea,” Triangle Gallery, Toronto, 2014, photo by Marc Lemyre

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Knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind.

— Plato, Republic 536e

Associate Professor in the College of the Humanities, Gregory MacIsaac must have been aware of these words when he held a very non-traditional course on the fourth-century Greek philosopher, Plato.

Professor MacIsaac ventured outside the confines of the classroom by offering two of his undergraduate students, Joey Baker and Ekaterina Huybregts, course credit to meet for weekly discussion and debate on the final two of three Platonic dialogues, Theaetetus, Parmenides, and Sophist, that MacIsaac had been working on for the better part of a decade.

This learning model was non-traditional in many senses 鈥� Huybregts and Baker weren鈥檛 required to write exams or hand in papers, and were graded solely on the quality of their discussion; meetings were held once a week in MacIsaac鈥檚 office, instead of a classroom; while formally a series of directed studies courses, the three held a continuous meetings for a year and a half, working even through the summer. 鈥淚 just happened upon this course set-up without really choosing it consciously,鈥� said MacIsaac. 鈥淚 did choose a discussion format, but once we agreed to make our meetings open-ended we found it possible to have an incredible depth of discussion, because we could take our talks in whichever direction we liked for as long as we liked. Sometimes we鈥檇 spend an hour and a half on a single paragraph. We could look at both the forest and the trees.鈥� Early on their plan became to continue reading and discussing until they finished the two dialogues that MacIsaac had left to work on, however long that would take.

MacIsaac knew that Parmenides and Sophist were two of Plato鈥檚 most complex dialogues and quickly realized how much his own research would benefit from his students鈥� two additional perspectives.

鈥淎 Platonic dialogue is a philosophical conversation where different ideas are put into the mouths of different speakers,鈥� explained MacIsaac. 鈥淪o in order to see why particular ideas are expressed, you have to think about the dramatic setting, the characters, and minor details like jokes. Plato doesn’t come right out and tell you what perspective to adopt in reading the dialogues, conveying it instead through his dramatic details, and these require interpretation. Kat and Joey鈥檚 insights were invaluable, often leading me in directions I very likely would not have taken on my own.鈥�

MacIsaac gave structure to their conversations by supplying an overarching interpretation of the dialogues. Against most scholars, MacIsaac contends that Plato is presenting his predecessors’ ideas in Theaetetus and Parmenides, in order to show how his own theories are superior, in Sophist. This dialogue, he thinks, is a sort of justification of all of Plato鈥檚 philosophy.

鈥淲e were continually testing whether my overall interpretation could make sense of each part of the argument. But along the way Plato discusses what knowledge is, how material objects participate in ideal forms, the character of true and false language, and the catalogue of fundamental metaphysical concepts,鈥� said MacIsaac. 鈥淏y figuring out these dialogues, Joey, Kat and I had to think about all of these topics. So we were also learning how to think about core philosophical ideas.鈥�

In assisting MacIsaac with his reading of the dialogues, the students themselves were learning how to read a rhetorically sophisticated text. 鈥淚f you have an entire dialogue, like Theaetetus, that tries to figure out what knowledge is, but ends in failure, you have to ask yourself why Plato would write something like that. Are the theories in it Plato’s own or someone else’s? These two possibilities yield completely different philosophical results, so it presents you with demanding interpretive as well as intellectual hurdles,鈥� said MacIsaac.

Although the subject matter was challenging, the three were able to concoct an effective research and learning setting.

鈥淚t was very informal and comfortable. I sat on one couch while Joey and Kat sat facing me on the other. Normally, I would begin by giving a recap of what we discussed the previous week. Then we would read the next section of text together. If there were any tricky words or phrases, I would consult the Greek text. Finally, we would discuss what we read,鈥� said MacIsaac.

Their discussion always focused on how the argument of the 200 pages of text worked. The group would often struggle to decipher Plato鈥檚 meanings in the paragraph they had most recently read, but more often than not, they were also figuring out how the text fit into Plato鈥檚 argument as a whole.

鈥淧lato gives seven different definitions of a sophist in the dialogue Sophist,鈥� explained MacIsaac. 鈥淚t’s not enough to understand each definition on its own. You have to ask why there are seven of them and why they are given in that particular order. Do the later ones replace the earlier ones or are they complementary? How do the definitions which make up the first half of the dialogue relate to the abstract metaphysical investigation of Being and Non-Being in the second half of the dialogue?鈥�

Everyone who has every urged us to say just how many beings there are and what they are like…appear to me to have been telling us a myth, as if we were children. One tells us that there are three beings, and that sometimes they’re somehow at war with each other, while at other times they become friendly, marry, give birth, and bring up their offspring. Another one says that there are two beings, wet and dry or hot and cold…And our Eleatic tribe…tells us their myth on the assumption that what they call ‘all things’ are just one.

— Plato, Sophist 242c-d

What do you signify when you say the word ‘Being’? Obviously you’ve known for a long time. We thought we did, but now we’re confused about it. So first teach it to us, so we won’t think we understand what you’re saying when just the contrary is the case.

— Plato, Sophist 244a

Considering these dialogues have been grappled with for two millennia, carrying on an exhaustive discussion of them was not a light task. The two students began reading Plato in September of 2014 and kept reading each week, with a few interruptions, until they finished Sophist and Parmenides, in the summer of 2016 鈥� a week after they both had graduated.

“The directed studies experience gave me the opportunity to read and think in a much more focused way than in any other aspect of my degree,鈥� reflected Baker. 鈥淗aving the study structured by Professor MacIsaac’s own career-length research project provided an especially unique and advanced opportunity to become a better student of Plato in particular, without the years of work and responsibility involved in conceiving and executing such a project.鈥�

鈥淚 doubt I could have learned nearly as much about philosophical method or any particular subject matter in a regular course, seminar or tutorial at the undergraduate level.”

Both the students and professor found this non-traditional learning and teaching undertaking to be very rewarding in a variety of capacities. 鈥淎 big advantage of this way of working was that we were not pressed for time. The dialogues that we read were very complex and contained many obscure passages. Sometimes we spent an entire session on a single paragraph, or even on a few lines. Because the work was open-ended 鈥� early on we decided to keep on reading together as long as they were both in town 鈥� we could spend the time we needed to get to the nitty-gritty of things,鈥� said MacIsaac.

MacIsaac asserts that they did just that. He believes there was not a single part of their readings that they did not come to fruitful conclusions about. Reading closely together without a timetable made for a truly creative collaboration of three minds.

鈥淚n a nutshell, we had the intellectual satisfaction that comes from really getting to the bottom of something,鈥� said MacIsaac, 鈥渨hich of course requires spending as much time as it takes to figure each problem out.鈥�

The students also found this format satisfying. 鈥淧articipating in such a close directed study of Plato with Professor MacIsaac gave me insight into what research in academic philosophy could be like,鈥� said Huybregts, 鈥淏eing a part of a project of this size and at this level gave me skills and confidence that I will carry into all of my future projects, regardless of the subject matter.鈥�

The thoroughness of their discussions has paid dividends. MacIsaac recorded every session, fifty hours of slow, methodical work through the dialogues, that he plans to hire a work-study student to transcribe. When added to his already completed efforts on the first of the three dialogues, this will allow him to produce a solid first draft of a book-length commentary on Theaetetus, Parmenides, and Sophist. The transcription won鈥檛 yet be a final text, and will have to be cut down quite a bit, but it will provide a thorough philosophical core for his interpretation of Plato鈥檚 argument.

Concurrently, he is also working on a final draft of a textbook on how to write a university paper, called The Humanities Writing Guide. This textbook will be based on his work in HUMS 1200 Humanities and Classical Civilization, which is a required writing course in the Bachelor of Humanities program.

With this course now in his rear view mirror, and Huybregts and Baker both pursuing post-undergraduate ventures, MacIsaac maintains that the format he and his two students used could be a more common undergraduate practice given the right circumstances. He believes the key ingredient is highly motivated and engaged students who are interested in pursuing a longer-term scholarly journey.

He has already signed up a few new students and a retired professor of English for a challenge a little further from his own research, Heidegger鈥檚 Being and Time, which they plan to begin reading this September.

*The image in the banner is a panoramic view of Professor MacIsaac’s office — the meeting place for MacIsaac, Baker, and Huybregts.

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杏吧原创 Music student was recently featured on CBC’s program Our Ottawa with host Adrian Harewood.

In the interview, the r&b/soul/jazz/reggae/blues artist discusses life as a member of a very musically inclined family, her busy performing schedule, and her diverse musical influences and inspirations.

Over the past few years, Francis has risen through the ranks of the Canadian Blues scene at warp speed.

After a cross-Canada search, the second-year student was selected as a top six emerging Blues artist for the Toronto Blues Society showcase, and was later chosen to represent the blues society at the International Blues Challenge In Memphis Tennessee. She was a finalist in the Canadian female youth artist competition at the Ottawa Blues Festival and was one of the winners in the cross country Canada鈥檚 Walk of Fame RBC Emerging Artist Music mentorship program. This highly sought after musician was a feature act at the Aurora Winter Blues Festival, Mont-Tremblant Blues Festival, Trios-Rivieres Blues festival, Calabogie Blues festival, Unity Festival, Ottawa Blues Festival, Montreal Jazz festival and the list goes on.  Francis was also a recipient of an Artchild Award (youth making a difference through music), and was featured on the cover of the July/August issue of Ottawa Women鈥檚 Magazine.

Among her many accomplishments are performances at the Canada Walk of Fame festival and Gala, Ottawa Blues festival, Youth day Festival Toronto, Canadian War Museum and National Archive Library, opening for Canadian rock legends Trooper, Toronto Honey Jam, Museum of the City of New York, The Quebec Ontario Music festival (She walked away with a total of 16 awards over a two-year period. She was awarded one of the festival’s highest awards 鈥渕ost promising鈥� both years). Angelique has also been featured in various radio, television and print media, such as Much Music, CTV, Own, Huffington Post, Boom 997, CKCU and the Ottawa Citizen.

. Skip to 23:10 for the segment on Francis.

Should Have Known – Angelique Francis (杏吧原创 Music)

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Are you interested in using the knowledge and skillset acquired through your Bachelor of Arts degree towards a graduate degree in Architecture?

If so, you are invited you to participate in a five-week intensive studio at where we will help you hone your skills and prepare a design portfolio ready to help you reach that next step.

This is the launch of the first program of its kind in Canada- an immersion studio for participants with no formal academic background in architecture. The main goal of the program is to generate portfolio material appropriate for application to the three-year Master of Architecture accredited degree. This degree option is offered at 杏吧原创, and at four other universities in Canada.

The program is a five-week intensive introduction to studio culture, including field trips to prominent architectural landmarks in the Capital Region and Montreal, as well as focused lectures from major thinkers in the theory and practice of architecture, and workshops in digital applications, portfolio preparation, and statements of interest.

Program Cost:

$2900 + hst (includes some studio supplies, and all computer software)

Participants will cover their housing and transportation costs, including a field trip to Montreal.

The School will host an  on the Studio First program on February 25, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. at the Azrieli School of Architecture & Urbanism on the 杏吧原创 University campus.

杏吧原创 the Program:

Program Director

The Director for the Summer 2016 program is Claudio Sgarbi, PhD. Professor Sgarbi is a practicing architect and educator who divides his time between Italy and Canada. He has been a visiting professor at 杏吧原创 since 2007.

Applications for the Summer 2016 program will be available February 1st.

For more information, please contact:  Brynne.Campbell@杏吧原创.ca

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Masada, The Gardens of Gethsemane, The Bahai Gardens, The Al Aqsa Mosque and The Western Wall

In May 2016, 杏吧原创 students will again be traveling to Israel and walking through these ancient sites, experiencing them not only as travellers but as young scholars. poster touts 5000 years of religion and culture in 23 days. If that sounds like a marathon, it is!

The course explores religion and culture in the land of Israel from the ancient period to the present day. Practically, that means that our traveling classroom will include exploring 11 archeological sites, walk each of the stations of the Cross along the Via Dolorosa, experience the beauty of Al Aqsa, move through the cool stone interiors of a medieval fort in Akko, and hear from contemporary activists such the Women of the Wall.

Living History

Sophie Crump 鈥� currently MA student in Religion and Public Life

This year’s course also brings together 杏吧原创 students with international scholars and students through a partnership with Hebrew University and Tel Aviv University. Fortified by much falafel and ice cream, students experience the rhythms of life in Israel as a culturally and religiously diverse modern country: from lunch with the Druze, to a traditional home Shabbat in Jerusalem, floating in the Dead Sea, camel riding in the Judean dessert, hearing the call to prayer from Mosques against the chiming of church bells and the loud beats of dance music in the streets.

Climbing Masada

Natalie Pochtaruk 鈥� current Humanities student

FASS is home to several travel courses with good reason; former FASS Dean John Osborne fostered these courses in the conviction that students will recall these courses as highlights of their time at 杏吧原创. For students in FASS, who have studied the texts, architecture, art, history, religion, literature, politics, and culture of what we call the “West”, the Israel Travel course experience brings their studies to life. It is one thing to study, for example, the diversity of Christianity from a textbook. It is another to see the that cannot be moved in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher because of strict rules about each denomination’s rights in this venerated sacred space.

Participants are characteristically diverse in their backgrounds and academic interests. The course has no prerequisities and attracts students from all programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels as well as auditors who are interested in traveling with an academic focus and experts in the area.

Thinking about Israeli Independence Day – Appreciating Different Perspectives

Simon Zeldin 鈥� 4th year student in 2014

Sarah Cook 鈥� 4th Year student in 2014, student MA in Religion and Public Life currently

Religious difference, cooperation, conflict and coexistence is entangled in the history and modern reality of this land, and is frankly part of the appeal of the course for many students 鈥搕hey want to understand what they see in the news. While the the focus of the course is not the conflict, student participants inevitably come away with a richer, more personal and more nuanced understanding of the history of this place and how that history drives contemporary debates.

This year’s course is again being offered by Professor Deidre Butler, Religion program, College of Humanities. In the hopes of building a long term sustainable Israel travel course bi-annual program through university partnerships, Professor Mary Hale (Religious Studies, St-Mary’s University, Halifax) will be joining the course with several of her undergraduate and MA students.

More Information

Spaces are still available for both students and auditors with online applications and a deposit due Feb 1.

• For more information, contact deidre.butler@gmail.com
• The Zelikovitz Centre for Jewish Studies Newsletter

is fundraising to assist students with their travel costs. We have just closed a successful futurefunder campaign that raised over 2500$. With the Canadian dollar’s fluctuations, students need even more support and several students have had to cancel with regret as the Canadian dollar has dropped. To help our students participate, please and specify the donation is for the Israel Travel Course.

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Health 鈥� both mental and physical 鈥� was a hot topic at this year鈥檚 Power of the Arts National Forum, and for good reason; based on all the projects covered by Saturday鈥檚 workshop and Sunday鈥檚 dialogue sessions, there鈥檚 a lot going on when it comes to pairing these two together.

The discussion wasn鈥檛 relegated to the professionals, though. It really started on Friday night, when singer Kellylee Evans got up on stage and told us she鈥檇 been 鈥渇rapp茅 par la foudre.鈥� In French, she said, this can mean one of two things: that you鈥檝e fallen in love (here everyone giggled) or, literally, that you鈥檝e been struck by lightning.

For her, it was the literal sense that held true.

The chances of being struck by lightning in Canada, according to the superficial and questionably reliable Google search I just did, are slightly less than one in a million for any given year. And for most people 鈥� certainly for me 鈥� that鈥檚 all it is: a statistic, convenient for comparing against your chances of winning the lottery or getting attacked by a shark but not much else.

What you don鈥檛 think about is the aftermath. The recovery. And what kept Kellylee motivated to recover, to work past the limitations of a one-in-slightly-less-than-a-million accident, was her music. She wanted to keep touring, keep singing, keep playing guitar and ukulele.

If the story sounds familiar, it鈥檚 probably because you鈥檝e heard something similar before, in various iterations. Maybe it鈥檚 even something you鈥檝e experienced yourself. When one of the presenters asked participants in Saturday鈥檚 Mental and Physical Health workshop to think back to a hard time in their life and share what helped get them through it, there were certainly a lot of people whose answers involved some form of art, from singing in a choir to dancing to painting.

My answer, unsurprisingly, was books鈥攅ither reading them or writing them. If I鈥檓 upset or stressed out, there鈥檚 nothing like submerging myself in the beauty of someone else鈥檚 reality (or struggling to create my own) to help me out. Like other forms of art, it gives you an opportunity for self-expression鈥攁n opportunity, moreover, where you鈥檙e in complete control. It鈥檚 a pretty powerful experience, one many people gravitate towards intuitively.

What鈥檚 interesting, though, is where it starts to go beyond intuition. The moderator for Saturday鈥檚 workshop on mental and physical health was a doctor himself, and he opened by saying that the medical profession has a lot to learn from the arts. Medicine is heavily curative right now, when it needs to start being more promotive. And combining the two isn鈥檛 just an fun thought experiment: for all of the presenters, and for a significant portion of the audience, it鈥檚 a reality. It鈥檚 their job.

Between the workshop鈥檚 three presentations 鈥� put on by representatives from Ontario鈥檚 ARTS-REHAB project and B.C鈥檚 On the Map project, plus an independent study by M.A. candidate Janet Creery 鈥� a few things started to become obvious. One: it鈥檚 important 鈥� essential, even 鈥� to start developing a whole-body approach to healing. We tend to focus on the physical, but how you feel about yourself and your life depends on a whole lot more than how well your body works. Two: the people who run arts-and-health related projects need taking care of too. If you鈥檙e running a small program in a small community, it鈥檚 easy to start feeling isolated; just like any other profession, there need to be opportunities for networking and sharing resources and knowledge. Three: arts-and-health programs can鈥檛 be all about art, nor can they be all about health. It鈥檚 all about being interdisciplinary, from research to implementation.

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