Toronto's 12,000 Year History is an interdisciplinary seminar on the city of Toronto. Our goal is to deeply understand our city's past, make sense of its present, and grapple with its future together. The course will involve a core set of readings, lively discussions, hands-on activities, walking tours, and city excursions. There are no "lectures"—our goal is to learn from each other. All perspectives are welcome: we will be in conversation with activists, technologists, historians, planners, writers, scientists, artists and more. We are united by the shared goal of collective sense-making and rootedness in our city.
By this summer's end you should:
To learn more about the motivations behind this course, read the background essay here.
This course is completely open to anyone in Toronto, regardless of educational background, discipline, or experience. The only requirement is that you are curious, open-minded, eager to learn, abide by the discussion norms, and are able to commit to most in-person sessions. There is no virtual/remote option.
The course involves a mix of readings, discussions, excursions, and hands-on activities. We will visit the Toronto archives, design our own walking tours, make maps of the city, mock up heritagle plaques, and explore the sites of abandoned infrastructure projects. In-class sessions will be highly participatory, primarily involving discussions. There is quite a bit of flexibility to explore individual interests within the structure of the course—for instance, you can use this course to begin an archival research project or connect with a local advocacy group. The Hidden Rivers team will support your individual interests & ambitions.
Toronto's 12,000 Year History begins Thursday July 17th and meets twice a week.
The week-by-week schedule is still being developed. This is a preview of the kinds of works we will be reading. The final syllabus will include documentaries, works of fiction, and other media.
| Date | Theme | Example Reading |
|---|---|---|
| July 17 | What is Toronto? | Amy Lavender Harris, Imagining Toronto |
| July 20 | Toronto's 12,000 year history | Victoria Freeman, Where Histories Meet Denise Bolduc et al., Indigenous Toronto |
| July 24 | Burying rivers, moving waterfronts | Christina Palassio & Wayne Reeves, HT0 Jennifer Bonnell, Reclaiming the Don |
| July 27 | A city within a park | L. Anders Sandberg et al., Urban Explorations |
| July 31 | The shape of the city | John Sewell & Jane Jacobs, The Shape of the City Richard White, Planing Toronto |
| August 3 | Built and unbuilt | David & Nadine Nolan, The Bad Trip Mark Osbaldeston, Unbuilt Toronto |
| August 7 | Housing, ownership, and displacement | Graham Fraser, Fighting Back Ute Lehrer and Andrea Winkler, "The Pope Squat" |
| August 10 | Multiple multiculturalisms | Arlene Chan, The Chinese in Toronto from 1878 John Lorinc et al.,The Ward |
| August 14 | Cultures and scenes | Stephanie Chambers et al., Any Other Way Johnny Dovercourt, Any Night of the Week |
| August 17 | What could Toronto be? | Shawn Micallef, Frontier City Alana Wilcox and Jason McBride, uTOpia |
| Age | Price |
|---|---|
| Students & under 23 | $150 |
| Adults | $275 |
| Supporters By choosing this tier you are helping keep Hidden Rivers' educational programs financially accessible and inclusive. |
$500 |
If price is a reason you cannot participate, please email info@hiddenrivers.ca.