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Joining the Academy
Crucial to an active and healthy retirement is having an active and healthy mind. That's what the Academy is all about. Join us and find yourself among intellectually curious, well-read, and outgoing people who enjoy our wide range of academic programs, augmented by social events.
The backbone of the Academy is the series of academic workshops that run from September to April every year. Unlike other continuing education organizations that have teachers at the front of the class, at the Academy we stress peer-led learning. Each workshop has a facilitator but it is the members who select the topics to discuss, who research their topics, and who make short presentations to their fellow students.
The Academy is an entirely volunteer-run organization. Members not only make classroom presentations, they also enthusiastically act as workshop facilitators, and sit on the myriad committees that keep the Academy vigorous.
To learn more about us, please read the comments from some of our members below, or contact the Membership Committee who will be pleased to answer your questions.
Liz Feltes
Chair - Membership Committee
416-489-7983
liz.feltes@gmail.com
 Dugal Campbell
Joined in 1995
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I see the Academy as a way to explore ideas and topics that I have not had an opportunity to look into before. Each year there is an opportunity to fill different gaps in my education. What is also important is that the original friends whose advice got me into the Academy remain as friends and my circle has been enlarged by others whom I have come to know in workshops and while doing the shared tasks of running the Academy. |
 Don Nicol
Joined 2002
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A friend invited me to the Academy to participate in her workshop on IMF Structural Adjustments in Argentina. Then someone asked me to co-facilitate Fundamentalism and Fanaticism. Who could resist Mediaeval Architecture, Photography as Social Comment, Opinions, and Africa Through African Eyes? The Academy has been both gift and dilemma - learn new things, explore other ways, encounter different points of view, and spend good times together. |
 David Kister
Joined in 2003
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I spent a great deal of time and effort throughout my career learning to do my job better. I enjoyed the learning experience immensely. Now I am continuing and enhancing that process, spending even more time and effort in learning, learning that makes my life better and richer. The Academy is a major contributor to my process, providing a great environment for me to learn and grow, to experience and share.
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Margaret Robertson
Joined in 1994
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Two things make the Academy experience so enjoyable for me: the opportunity to learn and make friends with like-minded individuals, and the Academy’s location on the University of Toronto campus. I find the campus setting raises the expectation of a learning experience at a high level. |
 Julia Matthews
Joined in 2005
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I feel fortunate that I can go to a Spring Talk on a subject I’d like to know more about and - after an hour - find enlightenment. Workshops are a slower and deeper way of learning, both sociable and challenging.
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Janet Li
Joined in 2008
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The academy has been a great find for me in retirement. Its long list of workshops that ranges from the esoteric to the applied and the academic to the light- hearted appeals both to my curiosity and itch to learn. I am sure to find something exciting, interesting and engaging. As well, I like the seminar format that requests each member to contribute a presentation during the course of the workshop. It not only provides the space and freedom to explore a topic of one’s choice but also fosters an informal, collegial atmosphere to the discussions. Inevitably, I find myself gaining many times more than what I have contributed. And that is just terrific. |
 Karen Melville
Joined in 2005
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Much as I enjoy the workshops, I think what really impresses me about the Academy are the members. They are the least passive people I have ever met. They are curious, enthusiastic, wonderfully opinionated, likeable, and highly engaged - not just in Academy activities but in society as a whole. I’ve made some great friends since joining.
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 Sandra Walsh
Joined in 2000
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A friend suggested I join the Academy. I became a member as soon as I retired in 2000 and remain an active promoter to prospective members. I enjoy the variety of challenging workshops. I think our formula of small classes and peer facilitators encourages active participation and the development of meaningful friendships which is not available in other learning environments for seniors. |
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