We are proud to offer a summer program for students who are passionate about the Humanities and who would like to explore what it means to be human. Our series of four-day workshops is designed to unpack how several essentially human concepts have been viewed and attended to historically, philosophically, and artistically, and how this compares to today’s experience. While each four-day workshop is its own mini-course, all four workshops will explore different aspects of a common theme and are a “Reflection on Being Human”.
July 10th - 13th 10:30am - 1:00pm
Cost: $355
Week 1 - "Beauty"
The concept of “Beauty” changes depending on who interprets it and in what context. In this workshop, the multiple facets of “Beauty” will be explored through historical, philosophical, and artistic lenses to determine how the concept of “Beauty” might have changed over time.
July 17th - 20th 10:30am - 1:00pm
Cost: $355
Week 2 - "Belonging"
As humans, we want and need to belong. In this workshop, we explore how the need for belonging and attachment has shaped and influenced humanity throughout the ages. We will also examine how the need to belong plays out in contemporary society.
July 24th - 27th 10:30am - 1:00pm
Cost: $355
Week 3 - "Thinking"
From Heraclitus’ “Day by day, what you choose, what you think, and what you do is who you become” to Rene Descartes’ “Cogito, ergo sum” (I think, therefore I am), the ability to think has been lauded as the essence of being human. In this course, we will explore how and what philosophers, artists, politicians and people in general have thought about “Thinking”.
July 31st - August 3rd 10:30am - 1:00pm
Cost: $355
Week 4 - "Freedom"
In the final four-day workshop in the series, “Reflection on Being Human”, we will address the notion of “Freedom” as the ultimate goal of humanity. We will examine various philosophical perspectives on “Freedom”, and we will analyze how this concept has changed and developed throughout history.
Philosophers Guild
"Knowledge is the food of the soul".
Summer Teachers
A Reflection on Being Human
Junie Brayley (B.A., M.Ed.)
Junie Brayley has been an educator for over 30 years. She has extensive experience teaching at both the elementary and secondary level in BC’s public schools and independent schools. She has also taught at Langara College and the University of British Columbia (Continuing Studies). Junie has a Master’s Degree in Educational Psychology and Special Education and has presented at conferences in Asia, Europe and all over North-America. Until June 2016, she was head of Learning Support at one of Vancouver’s top-ranked independent schools, where her job was to ensure that students received necessary and appropriate learning supports, such as extra help with specific subjects or tasks, ESL services, enrichment, etc.. She was also responsible for the scoring and interpretation of admission assessments. In July 2016, she joined Fairview Educational Consulting Ltd. as one of its founding partners.