Six Great Trials (ZOOM) [] LIFELONG LEARNING

Instructor: Sylvia Solomon
January 23, 25, 30 February 1, 6, 8 ZOOM 1-3 p.m.

Human Rights remains on our minds these days as more and more of the world seems to be in the process of diminishing these rights. The notion of Social Justice percolates through so much of our thinking. Six trials – in Europe, the U.S. and Canada – spanning nearly 150 years – will be presented. All of them in some way pushed us forward as human societies. President Barack Obama said that: “If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you make progress.” Let’s look at these trials and see if we think he is right.

The six trials are:

(1) Luis Riel (1869 – indigenous rights)
(2) Leo Frank (1913 – antisemitism)
(3) Nuremberg (1946-the notion of a World Court)
(4) Brown v Board of Education (1951 – desegregation)
(5) Roe v Wade (1967 – abortion)
(6) Carter v Canada (2015 – Medical Assistance in Dying)

Dr. Sylvia Solomon is a retired educator who worked in schools, universities and the Ontario Ministry of Education. Since her retirement she has presented the Great Trial series at the University of Toronto, the Toronto Metropolitan University, the Toronto Reference Library, the Worcester Institute for Senior Education, the 92nd St. Y, the OLLI program (University of California Channel Islands) and the Instituto Allende in Mexico.