Larry Kardish – Mad Science and Popular Cinema 1910 – 2020 – November 2019

Although “Oscar” is a creature of an organization called the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Hollywood has for 110 years made the “sciences” a terrific villain in its films as the 2018 Oscar winner, The Shape of Water, demonstrably shows. With a few notable exceptions, American cinema has portrayed movie scientists as ambitious, driven, single-minded, demonic (but not necessarily evil) and slightly berserk. In their search for a better world, according to Hollywood, scientists have made a worse one.

And why not? Treating scientists seriously would make for boring cinema and deprive film lovers of many enjoyable genre films, like horror, science-fiction, mysteries and even biographies.

In an illustrated talk, Laurence Kardish, the former Senior Curator of Film at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, follows the image of scientists in a century plus of film as they create wondrous dramatic trouble and eye-popping havoc on planet Earth.

Join us on Thursday, November 7, 2019 at 7:00 pm in the auditorium of the Ottawa Public Library, 120 Metcalfe Street, Ottawa.

The eminent Cambridge Ancient Historian and TV presenter, Dr. Paul Cartledge, who is arguably the world‘s foremost authority on ancient Sparta (- The Spartans have made him an honorary citizen!) – will speak on:

DEMOCRACY ANCIENT AND MODERN: A GREEK ALTERNATIVE TO HOLDING ELECTIONS.

Our fourth and final meeting of 2017 will take place at the Auditorium of the Ottawa Public Library Main Branch, at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 8.

Dr. Brian McKillop, Professor Emeritus of History at Carleton University, formerly Distinguished Research Professor and Chancellor’s Professor and Chair of the history department (2005–2009) of Carleton University, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (2001), will speak on

A panel discussion to be chaired by Dr. Michael Bloom, a vice-President of the Conference Board of Canada. The panel will comprise health, legal and religious professionals who will examine the medical, legal , ethical and religious issues involved in this highly important topic.

More information on the panelists will be provided at a later date.

Date: Thursday, April 28, 2016
Time: 7:00 pm
Place: Ottawa Public Library Main Auditorium (120 Metcalfe Street, Ottawa, ON)

Free Admission

This celebration will commemorate the genius of Shakespeare for the 4th centenary of his death in 2016. The evening will consist of scenes and readings from the bard’s works and will be hosted by the Shakespearian scholar Dr.Ian Cameron. Passages and scenes to be drawn from  King Lear, MacBeth, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, Henry V, Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, Love’s Labor’s Lost among others together with readings from his Sonnets.

Date: Wednesday, May 18, 2016
Time: 7:00 pm
Place: Ottawa Public Library Main Auditorium (120 Metcalfe Street, Ottawa, ON)

Free Admission

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