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The Medium is the Message

By Louise Jarrett

Over many decades, courses that combine literature and film have proven very popular at the Thomas More Institute. Andrew Byers has designed and led many of these, including a course on Raymond Chandler, one on Henry James and the upcoming Graham Greene on Screen. This term, Friendship Through Fiction and Film was well attended and Shakespeare in the Spring is a TMI favourite.

Including films in a course presents a particular dilemma: should the films be watched in class or should participants view them at home before discussing them? Andrew Byers believes that “watching films is a communal experience,” so he always shows the films in class. He feels that the “immediacy of watching together” makes the discussion more spontaneous. Furthermore, watching together is also “a reward for doing the required reading” and a welcome “change of pace” from the TMI discussion method.

In the Friendship Through Fiction and Film course, participants watched the films at home via a streaming service. Interestingly, some participants elected to watch together at one location. This course has been rather unique as a group of friends registered together. They not only watched the films together, but offered lots of insights into friendship as one voice. When one member of the class could not access a film, she was invited to watch with a fellow classmate. This seemed in keeping with the TMI spirit of shared learning. Happily, the one man who signed up for the course continued, despite being seriously outnumbered. We have appreciated having a male perspective on friendship.

Asking people to watch movies at home does allow for more discussion time in class. Oftentimes, it is easier to hear at home than in a classroom. In a short survey of those taking Friendship Through Fiction and Film, the majority said that they preferred watching films at home. Participants also said that they experienced no discernible difference in discussing films as opposed to novels. This suggests that today, film really is just another form of text for most people.

In the case of this course, it was the topic of friendship that attracted people, rather than the novels and films selected. The majority of members of the class had never taken a course combining fiction and film before, and were unanimous in planning to do so again.

The Shakespeare in the Spring course provides short clips from films, courtesy of YouTube, during the discussions. This creates more work for the leaders, but can really enhance understanding and student engagement. Most fiction and film courses offer film versions of the texts read. If there is more than one film version, a difficult choice lies ahead. For Andrew Byers the choice is an easy one: always choose the original version, rather than a re-make and/or the version where the author has written the script.

In Friendship Through Fiction and Film, we read three novels and watched three films on the theme of Friendship. There were also weekly supplemental readings on current research. Each text revealed different aspects of what we now understand to be an extremely complex subject.

We live in a highly visual age, so it seems likely that courses offering literature and films will continue to appeal to members of the TMI community.

 

 

Spotlight on Our 80th Anniversary: The Associates Committee and The Feast of Lights

As we approach our annual holiday gathering, we wanted to look back at the celebrations from previous years. Members of the Thomas More Institute have been coming together at a Feast of Lights celebration since the late 1980s, when a dynamic committee called the Associates, hit upon the idea of a holiday get-together as a fundraiser for the Institute.

The Associates Committee was made up of a small group of dedicated Thomas More volunteers, including Rolande Sentenne, Uve von Harpe, Cassie Cahoon, Tony Joseph, and others. This group believed in the mission of the Institute and gave their time and ingenuity to finding ways of raising money to support Thomas More, which despite its popularity, was (and is) always in need of financial resources. The Associates were best known for putting on an annual art exhibition of Québec paintings (read more about this in the next issue of More News), but they also organized the following fundraisers every year: a book fair, a spring tea, a trip to the Stratford Festival, and, starting in the late 1980s, the Feast of Lights.

The first Feast of Lights celebration took place in 1987 as Thomas More was searching for a permanent home. All attendees were invited to come to enjoy classical music played by students, delicious food prepared by community members, and the good company of fellow learners. They were also asked to bring a financial contribution to support the institute and to help fund the purchase of a new home. Once Thomas More had moved to its new premises at 3405 Atwater in 1991, the tradition continued, made easier by the availability of a party room in our new home. Tony Joseph remembers greeting Thomas More students as they arrived at the party, and receiving cash or a cheque from each one.

As the years passed, Thomas More transitioned to receiving most donations by mail, and later online, but the Feast of Lights continued, giving staff, students, leaders, and designers a chance to gather and celebrate the holidays and our common passion for lifelong learning.

In Memoriam: Erika Podesser Romwalter  

Erika Podesser Romwalter  

November 26, 1933 – November 19, 2025 

It is with sadness that we announce the death of Erika Podesser Romwalter. Erika was born in Sankt Leonhard, Austria, and resided in Chateauguay, Québec. She was a dedicated member of the Thomas More community, having earned a Comprehensive Certificate and having served as a discussion leader both at the Atwater campus for many years and in the Seniors Program at Maison Desaulniers from 2010 – 2022. She is warmly remembered by those who volunteered with her. She will be missed. You can read more about her life at:  https://www.dignitymemorial.com/en-ca/obituaries/montreal-qc/erika-podesser-12625561 

 

History in Motion: Thomas More’s 80th Anniversary Fundraising Walk 

On Saturday, October 18, a group of 30 enthusiastic walkers met at D’Arcy McGee High School to trace the path that the Thomas More Institute’s rich history of education has travelled in the city. From D’Arcy McGee, where classes were held for many years at the beginning of our history, to Drummond Street, the second location where the Institute rented space, to our current location at 3405 Atwater, where we finally found a permanent home, the walkers celebrated 80 years of shared inquiry with a community of engaged, curious learners. Longtime students, leaders, designers, and administrators Heather Stephens and Irene Menear spoke at the first two locations, and current Chair Carol Fiedler wrapped up the event at our Atwater classrooms.  

The walkers not only enjoyed a lovely stroll on a cool fall day, but they also prepared for the event by spreading the word about the 80th anniversary of the Institute to family and friends, asking for donations to support Thomas More. When they arrived at the Atwater campus, they were greeted with warming, delicious coffee from the B Hive Café (2313 Ste-Catherine West, located in the Montreal Forum building) and delicious sandwiches from Chez Nick (1377 Greene Avenue, a longtime favourite restaurant of Thomas More students) and tasty sandwiches, fruit, and water from les 5 saisons (1280 Greene Avenue), our three generous sponsors for the event. 

As a fundraiser, the event far surpassed our expectations. When all donations were counted, the fundraising walk had raised $17,693 from 145 generous donors, 92 of whom were new to the Thomas More Community.  

A huge thank you to the walkers and other fundraisers for their dedication to Thomas More and for their willingness to ask friends and family to support this beloved institution dedicated to lifelong learning. We also want to thank our sponsors, the B Hive Café, Chez Nick, and Les 5 saisons for their support. Thanks also to our hospitality committee (Giovanna D’Alesio, Jennifer MacGregor, and Tina Nussbaum) for creating a wonderful welcome for the walkers at Thomas More. Finally, a huge thank you to our Manager of Development, Marleigh Greaney, who had the inspiration for the event and made it happen (down to ironing the Thomas More logo onto bandanas for the walkers).  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Intergenerational Art Morning: Interview with Artist Saeun Song

A few weeks ahead of the Intergenerational Art Morning, the Thomas More Institute had the opportunity to sit down with Saeun Song, an artist from Toronto pursuing a Ph.D. at Concordia University in Montreal. An Intergenerational Art Morning will be held at the Thomas More Institute on Saturday November 8, from 10 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and is an activity that aims to give parents/grand-parents and children an opportunity to bond by collaborating on making works of art. Song will guide the participants in a series of child-friendly workshops, and lunch for all will be served!

What do you love about teaching art?

That’s a great question! I love teaching art because art class is very dynamic and multi-dimensional. It’s never linear, never one-dimensional. Everyone brings their own experiences and backgrounds, and their own skillset, which requires me to be more flexible and give them spontaneous directions and responses, which makes art class really abundant and makes it come alive. There are lots of different ways of working in art class, and materials [you could work with] are unlimited, so this is what I love about teaching art because there is potential and tons of possibilities.

You’ve offered workshops in Korea, China, Lebanon, and other countries. What’s something you learned from interacting with kids from around the world?

My work is community-oriented, so I’ve worked and taught in many different countries, especially in under-privileged areas, where the concept of art education doesn’t exist or public art education is limited. But you know, art comes from human beings, so whenever I see them working on art, I can see that [the children] already have the key aspect of being an artist, like creativity. They don’t hesitate, they don’t set limitations for themselves, which is really inspiring, because as you grow up, you start to think too much, and worry about making a mistake, hesitating, but they never do that. So that’s something really fascinating to watch, and also, that’s something that I learned from them a lot.

What’s the most important lesson or experience you want kids to take away from their workshops?

I want them to have fun. Because this is an intergenerational workshop, they will have their parents and grandparents as a collaborator, not just as a supporter or helper, so I want them to have lots of conversation creating beautiful memories. Because when you grow up, when you think of your parents or grand-parents, you just look back at all the memories that you shared when you were young, so I want them to have this workshop as a good memory, so that they can cherish it throughout their lifetime.

What do you find interesting or valuable about adults and kids doing a workshop together?

Honestly, when I heard you guys were preparing this intergenerational workshop, I thought: Wow, this is exactly what we need these days. Because we live in a world dominated by  individualism, and families are often scattered, and they don’t have a real conversation under the same roof, even if they live together… So in that sense, I think this workshop is really meaningful, collaborating with your family members. So, I wouldn’t say collaboration is easy work—it’s actually a hard job, because you have to negotiate, communicate, and compromise, but at the end of the day, you will get a new perspective on each other, on different ways of working, or on the world. So this is really meaningful. And also, I believe they all bring different skill sets, which can lead to unexpected outcomes that would be really fun to witness. And I want them to have a really good conversation whenever they see the art, because art class will finish, but artwork remains forever.

Spotlight on our 80th Anniversary: How Did Dialogue Come to Transform Education at the Thomas More Institute?

For our 80th anniversary, the More News will be publishing articles highlighting elements of our rich history.  

TMI Course, 1945/1949

When the Thomas More Institute began as the “Catholic Education Committee” in 1945, it took its inspiration from a series of lectures that had been offered at Loyola College in 1944. By the late 1950s, however, the Institute was known not for its lectures, but for its discussion courses. How did informed dialogue and shared inquiry come to take center stage at Thomas More? 

The Thomas More Institute and its young founders continually sought to experiment and search for the best ways to provide adult education. In the late 1940s, Great Books programs were gaining popularity. Founded in 1947 by two University of Chicago Professors, Robert Maynard Hutchins and Mortimer Adler, the Great Books Foundation “sought to promote lifelong education through the reading and discussion of outstanding literature.”(1) In May of 1949, Eric O’Connor, Charlotte Tansey, Martin O’Hara and other members of the Institute took a weeklong training with the Great Books Foundation. In 1951, Thomas More co-sponsored another training with the Foundation, which led to the creation of seven First Year Great Books discussion groups in the greater Montreal area, two under the direction of the Thomas More Institute. What began as a way to discuss the classics of the Western tradition, however, soon transformed into the method of education for most courses at the Institute. These reading-discussion courses, as they were referred to, fit beautifully with another of the inspirations behind the Institute, the thought of Bernard Lonergan.  

Speaking on the importance of Bernard Lonergan’s lecture course in 1945, the first year of the institute, Eric O’Connor said:  

“What came through from him was that all questions could be asked and should be asked, that in fact one didn’t begin to learn until one began asking questions. This was a shock to anyone educated before 1945… Having those lectures didn’t become as important as a theory. That is definite. It became important as an experience: the way you learned anything was by slow questioning.” (2)

What reading-discussion courses sought to do was to create the experience of questioning in the classroom. Have you ever wondered why every description of a course at Thomas More is filled with questions? Thomas More discussion courses don’t push a particular point of view or seek to repeat the orthodoxies of a tradition. They inquire into the meaning of the texts read by the group and seek to understand them along with the questions of the course. As William Mathews put it in his article on the work of Eric O’Connor and the Thomas More Institute:  

“The Thomas More did not mean to question the correctness of the traditions, be they literary, religious, political, or cultural. The point was, had they been understood, what did they mean?… [It is mere] dogma that the world begins with “our generation” and the past, tradition, has nothing to teach us. The fact of the matter is that there is a wisdom in one’s past traditions, which properly assimilated equips a modern generation to understand, diagnose, interpret and respond to the pathologies and the creativities of the human spirit in its own era. Without the proper awakening of our questioning to the meaning and truth of our traditions and their wisdom figures we will be in bondage to them and become bigots. Or we will discard them and become rootless, be at the mercy of the whims of our present with no past wisdom to guide us.” (3)

One becomes an adult learner, a thinker, when one questions deeply and seeks to understand the thought of others, whether the classical great works or those of current writers. This in turn leads to one’s own insights about the world we live in. What is attempted in every reading-discussion course at the Thomas More Institute is to enable understanding to take place through shared inquiry into the questions of the course and the questions of our time.  

TMI Course, 2023

–Carol Fiedler 

(1) https://www.greatbooks.org/nonprofit-organization/history/

(2) Inquiry and Attunement, Thomas More Institute Papers/81. Montreal 1981, quoted in: William Mathews S.J.,
“Curiousity at the Center of One’s Life: Reflections on Eric O’Connor and the Thomas More Institute,” p 3.
(3) Mathews, 1981, p. 4.

A Word From the Chair: The Thomas More Institute at 80

A warm welcome to all as we embark on our 80th year as an institute of
higher learning where people come to take charge of their own education
and to learn in dialogue with others.

Eighty years ago, the founders of the Thomas More Institute responded to
a need. They set out to create a place where adults of all ages could pursue
university-level education in the post-World War II era. Many came to
Thomas More to work on a Bachelor of Arts Degree in the evening, while
others came to experience its vibrant intellectual culture, one where
thinkers such as Bernard Lonergan, Northrop Frye, Eric Voegelin, and
Eric O’Connor made important, stimulating contributions.
Today we are proud to continue that tradition and to fill another need,
that for a community of curious, intellectually serious adults in which
participants are invited to engage in thoughtful conversation, a meaningful
exchange of ideas, all guided by a curated curriculum that speaks both to
the issues of the day and to the perennial concerns of human beings.
This year, we will be looking back to our origins and ahead to our future.
We are proud to be a part of the vibrant cultural life of Montreal, a city
home to four major universities, known around the world as meeting
places for intellectual exchange.

In the pages that follow, you will see the rich offerings at Thomas More
this year: 33 newly designed reading-discussion courses, 8 instructor
courses in music, art, and writing, and 4 courses under the rubric TMI and
Our City, that invite us to bring our curiosity to some of the treasures our
wonderful city has to offer. In addition to this, keep an eye out for special
events this year as we celebrate our 80th anniversary and look forward to
a rich future ahead.

–Carol Fiedler
Chair, Board of Directors of the Thomas More Institute