Please take time to explore our course offerings and see what else is new and exciting as we prepare for the upcoming Winter 2012 term. You now have a number of ways to find the courses you’re looking for: you can download an interactive PDF of our course catalogue, browse via via the left navigation menu or the top drop down menu, or search via an interactive course calendar. This feature allows you to sort based on the decision factors that are important to you. Just select the subject, stream, term, and location of interest to narrow the results to suit your needs.

We also welcome you to try our new Live Help option, where you can have a live chat with one of our helpful agents, and have your questions answered on the spot.

Now, it is easier than ever to discover opportunities to expand your horizons. Whether you wish to advance your career or deepen your engagement with the world of ideas, the School of Continuing Studies makes it easier to learn more.

Westoll’s account of the months he spent volunteering and becoming acquainted with thirteen rescued chimpanzees in an animal refuge in Quebec also made the 2012 Canada Reads Top 40 and is a finalist for the BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction.

The Charles Taylor Prize is awarded yearly to the author whose work of literary non-fiction displays excellence, elegance, and subtlety of thought and perception.  The winner of the $25,000 award will be announced in March.

Westoll will be teaching  SCS 1691-029 – Creative Non-Fiction: Introduction this semester, and the new SCS 2697-001 – Writing True Stories which will be offered at the School of Continuing Studies in Scarborough in the Spring.

Marina Nemat graduated from the SCS Creative Writing Certificate program, where she developed her debut book Prisoner of Tehran, before becoming an instructor with the School. Prisoner of Tehran will be defended by Arlene Dickinson, CEO of a major marketing company and panellist on CBC’s “Dragons’ Den.”

Dave Bidini’s first book, On a Cold Road, will be defended by Stacey McKenzie, Canadian model and judge on Canada’s Next Top Model. Bidini, singer/songwriter of The Rheostatics, is scheduled to teach Songwriting (SCS 1720) beginning in April 2012. Marina Nemat will teach Writing the Memoir (SCS 1769) in the upcoming Spring/Summer semester.

Congratulations to our accomplished instructors.

The School of Continuing Studies’ Creative Writing Program is an emerging hub for Toronto’s literary community. If you would like to find out more, please visit our website, order a free copy of our course catalogue, or call us at 416-978-2400.

25 November 2011

Each year, SCS staff has increased its total donation to this worthwhile charity. In 2007, the inaugural year of the campaign, staff contributed a total of $1055 plus food and unwrapped gift items. 2008 saw $1125 in assistance, followed by $1725 in 2009. Last year’s donation totalled $2575. This year, SCS has continued the tradition of surpassing previous years with a grand total of $2720! That is a 157% increase in donations from year one.

Money is raised amongst the staff with two Jingle Bells raffles. The traditional raffle includes prizes donated by generous friends of the School, with a number of secret hot ticket items reserved for the Jingle Bells Mystery Raffle.

Thank you to the volunteers on the Jingle Bells committee for bringing the spirit of giving to the School of Continuing Studies.

2 December 2011

“I am honoured to receive this award again,” said Toor, who was voted one of Canada’s Top 100^TM Most Powerful Women in 2008 for her educational initiatives in developing countries. Winners are selected based on their strategic vision and leadership, their organization’s financial performance, and their commitment to their communities.

Rumeet Toor teaches Leadership at Humber College and is the president of Jobs in Education, a for-profit online job board for the Ontario education sector, which she acquired in the second year of her BA at U of T Mississauga. Within a short time her passion for driving change through education sparked a decidedly more global initiative – to build schools in Africa and South America.

“It is one thing to build schools but you must also ensure that educators are well equipped with the knowledge and skills to successfully guide the next generation of leaders,” says Toor.  The Toor Centre for Teacher Education, which she opened in 2010, provides much needed training as well as employment and leadership opportunities in the Mbooni region of Kenya.

Toor is currently a PhD candidate in Higher Education at the University of Toronto but says she often refers to notes from the Strategic Leadership courses she took at the School of Continuing Studies. “The School of Continuing Studies helped me grow personally and professionally. I gained the skills I needed to propel my business forward. Being exposed to passionate leadership instructors opened many doors.”

From all of us at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies – congratulations, Rumeet, on your outstanding initiative and leadership.

2 December 2011

Canada Minds is a not-for-profit initiative formed in 2007 by Srikanth Mangalam and Vasumathi Srikanth, with the aim of promoting social, literary, and intellectual community events in Mississauga. Canada Minds features fun and challenging open competitions for Canadians of all ages that test individuals and teams in trivia, humour, speech, and theatrics.

This year’s Winterfest took place on Sunday, November 6th at The Living Arts Centre in Mississauga. The multicultural family event featured a special Triwizard Tournament for junior & high school students, as well as Trivia For All, designed for thinkers of all ages. Prizes were awarded to the winning teams, including $500 gift certificates for School of Continuing Studies courses, won by Vijay Shankar, Raghu Sampath, and Anath Lionel. For more information, visit the Canada Minds website at www.canadaminds.org.

Alissa York, another popular instructor at the school, was also short listed for the Toronto Book Prize; a testament to the talent and success of the Creative Writing program at the School of Continuing Studies.

Robin is currently teaching SCS 1679 Writing the Novel: Introduction and SCS 1701 Writing the Novel II, and will be teaching an additional section of SCS 1679 Writing the Novel: Introduction in April 2012.

This year, the national battle of the books is devoted to non-fiction, and with more than 20,000 votes cast online, Canadians have chosen Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Nemat and On a Cold Road by Dave Bidini amongst the top ten non-fiction titles.

The top ten selections are distilled from a list of forty Canadian biographies, memoirs, and literary non-fiction novels. Congratulations go to three other School of Continuing Studies instructors for making the long list: Andrew Westoll, for The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary; Karen Connelly, for Burmese Lessons; and Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall, for Down to This.

CBC Books has also announced that Terry Fallis, winner of the 2010 Canada Reads competition and instructor at the School of Continuing Studies, is the resident blogger of this year’s competition. His award-winning satirical novel, The Best Laid Plans, is the first ever self-published book to win the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour.

With the announcement of the Top 10, CBC has also launched a contest entitled “Perfect Pairings,” which asks Canada Reads fans to match their dream panelist with one of the Top 10 titles. The On November 23, CBC will unveil the five celebrity panelists and the five titles they’ll champion, chosen from the Top 10 list. The debates will take place over four days in Toronto in front of audiences and will be broadcast live February 6-9, 2012.

The School of Continuing Studies’ Creative Writing program is an emerging hub for Toronto’s literary community. Our accomplished instructors take joy in sharing their expertise, and we congratulate them on their passion, determination, and success.

We invite you to explore how the SCS Creative Writing program might help develop the voice within you. To discover more about our Creative Writing program, click here.

The University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies is pleased to expand its initiative of encouraging lifelong learning. This fall, the School of Continuing Studies signed a reciprocal agreement with School of Continuing and Professional Studies of The Chinese University of Hong Kong providing graduates of either institution the opportunity to enrol in continuing education courses at substantial discounts.

The School of Continuing Studies will provide a credit of up to CDN$600 for CUHK alumni and the CUHK SCS will provide a credit of up to HKD$3,000 for any recent U of T graduates. This program will continue through fall 2012. This collaboration is a natural fit since both schools share a strong commitment to providing lifelong learning that helps individuals, organizations and communities become more connected and successful.

“Lifelong learning is essential to success in contemporary society,” says Marilynn Booth, Director, University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies. “Our intention is to be a world leader in developing and delivering lifelong learning that has the power to change lives. This can best be done with effective collaboration with other educators such as The Chinese University of Hong Kong. We share the goal of increasing our alumni’s access to quality continuing education.”

Victor Lee, Director, School of Continuing and Professional Studies of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, is also enthusiastic. “As the need for continuous learning increases it is imperative that, as educators, we are more responsive, more technologically progressive, and more collaborative. There has never been a more exciting time for lifelong learning. This partnership is at the leading edge of that change.”

If you’d like to take advantage of this alumni benefit, please click here for details or contact us at learn@utoronto.ca or 416-978-2400.