TORONTO vs THE UNITED STATES: A HISTORY OF CROSS-BORDER TENSIONS
Toronto hasn't always gotten along with our neighbours to the south. Originally founded as a home for refugees from the American War of Independence, our city was created in direct contrast to the United States. And in the centuries since, cross-border tensions have deeply shaped our history.
Generations of Torontonians have stood strong against invasion and threats of annexation while working hard to make our city a safe haven for those fleeing hardships south of the border. In this online course, we'll explore those stories in four weekly lectures — from the War of 1812 to the Underground Railroad to the draft dodgers who refused to fight in Vietnam. Faced with our own unsettling times, we'll take a look back at the Torontonians who have lived through frightening eras before us — and how, in the process, they made our city into the place it is today.
This course is being offered on a pay-what-you-like basis.
Registration now open! The course begins March 24!
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TORONTO'S MOST NOTORIOUS MURDERS
Toronto has a bloody past. It's filled with stories of chilling crimes stretching back to the days when the city was founded. And while these tales may send shivers up our spines, they also have a lot to teach us about the place we call home. In this online course, we'll explore the history of the city through the stories of its most infamous homicides. From gangsters and serial killers to housemaids and schoolchildren, we'll meet the murderers who've been terrorizing Toronto for more than 200 years.
This course will likely return in Autumn 2025!
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FROM HOGTOWN TO DOWNTOWN: THE HISTORY OF TORONTO IN 10 WEEKS
The history of Toronto is filled with fascinating stories that teach us about ourselves and our community. In this ten-week online course, we'll explore the city's past from a time long before it was founded, through its days as a rowdy frontier town, and all the way to the sprawling megacity we know today. How did Toronto become the multicultural metropolis of the twenty-first century? The answer involves everything from duels to broken hearts to pigeons.
This course will return at a future date!
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LOVE, DEATH & CANADIAN HISTORY
Canadian history is much more than dry lists of dates and events. It's filled with gripping tales from the lives of historical figures who were people much like us — who fell in love, suffered broken hearts, were fascinated by death and devasted by loss. Those stories of love and death have a lot to teach us about our country. In this ten-week online course, we'll explore the history of this place from time immemorial to the recent past, uncovering torrid affairs and shocking scandals, duels, murders and executions. And we'll discover the ways in which those passionate and morbid tales have shaped the country we live in.
This course will return at a future date!
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A SUPERNATURAL HISTORY OF TORONTO
You can learn a lot about a city through the stories of the strange things said to lurk in its shadows. In four online lectures, we'll explore Toronto's past through tales of phantoms, monsters and mythical beasts. Whether it's the terrifying creature spotted in the tunnels beneath Cabbagetown, the sea serpent rumoured to live in the depths of Lake Ontario, or the unicorns hidden all over town, the supernatural stories told about our city illuminate the history of the place we call home.
This course will return at a future date!
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A DOWNRIGHT SCANDALOUS HISTORY OF TORONTO
Toronto has a lot of skeletons in its closet. The city's history is filled with stories of infamous love affairs, disgraced politicians and outrageous movie stars. Tales of vice, sin and impropriety have made headlines, shocked the public, and deeply shaped the place we call home. In this online course, we'll explore what those spicy stories can teach us about our city and its past by illuminating the boundaries of Torontonian morality — and we'll meet those who have challenged its limits, for better and for worse
This course will return at a future date!
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A FRUSTRATING HISTORY OF GETTING AROUND TORONTO
People in Toronto are no strangers to the challenges of getting around. Those frustrations have a long history in our city, stretching all the way back to its founding and beyond. In this four-week online course, we'll dive into some of the most fascinating Toronto transportation tales — from shipwrecks and stagecoaches to traffic jams and train derailments. We'll learn about the warships that once sailed the waters of Lake Ontario, the exciting summer when bicycles first arrived in our city, the portage trail that gave Toronto its name… and much, much more.
This course will return at a future date!
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A BOOZY HISTORY OF TORONTO
Alcohol has always been a dramatic part of life in Toronto — from the days of colonial treachery to modern debates over drinking in parks. In this four-week online course, we'll meet drunken rebels, beer-bashing mayors, notorious bootleggers, and alcoholic politicians. We'll witness booze-soaked murders, prohibition-era shootouts, and the kidnapping of one Canada's wealthiest brewers — plus, the bitter fight over whether drinking should be allowed at all. To truly understand Toronto, it helps to understand how this city has been shaped by centuries of people getting drunk.
This course will return at a future date!
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FROM SANDLOT TO SKYDOME: THE HISTORY OF BASEBALL IN TORONTO
Baseball was being played in Toronto more than a century before the Blue Jays were born. In this 4-week online course, we'll explore the game's evolution in our city — from the days when it was a working class sport played by "undesirables" to Joe Carter jumping for joy in front of 50,000 screaming fans. Along the way, we'll meet everyone from con artists and kidnappers to eccentric millionaires and feminist icons — the people who've made Toronto baseball what it is… and helped transform our city in the process.
This course will return at a future date!!
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A VERY GROSS HISTORY OF TORONTO
Ewww. Sure, Toronto has a reputation for being a remarkably clean city. But it also has a long history of being a filthy, disgusting mess. From its days as a muddy frontier town with mysteriously green puddles collecting in its streets to hordes of rats swarming the slopes of the Don Valley, we'll spend four lectures digging into some of the ickiest, smelliest, slimiest stories Toronto history has to offer. And we'll learn a lot about our city and how it works in the process.
This course will return at a future date!
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A HISTORY OF HOPE & RESISTANCE IN TORONTO
There seem to be frightening days ahead. And while I'm feeling thoroughly overwhelmed by it all, I thought one tiny little thing I could do at the moment is create a new online course looking back at some stories that might have something to offer us in these disturbing times. The history of our city is filled with stories of hope and resistance — people fighting oppression, overthrowing tyranny, working to help others, and making the world a better place despite those trying to stop them. So, over four weekly lectures, we'll explore everything from protest songs to armed rebellion, from secret book clubs to secret agents. We'll meet Victorian revolutionaries, grassroots organizers and life-saving doctors. We'll talk about battles over democracy, war against the Nazis, the struggle against slavery, and much much more — tales for troubled times.
This course is being offered on a pay-what-you-like basis.
This course will return at a future date!
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A SCORCHING HOT HISTORY OF SUMMER IN TORONTO
Canada might be famous for its winters, but Toronto comes alive when the weather gets warm. Our city was once billed as "the most delightful summer city" on the continent. And those few hot months between Victoria Day and the CNE have had a profound impact on this place: from heated legal battles over skinny dipping to the legacy of killer summer storms to the joyful festivals that have reflected the changing face of the city over the last two hundred years. And so, in this online course we'll spend four nights exploring some of the most fascinating, most revealing and weirdest stories from the history of summers in Toronto.
This course has been cancelled!
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GIVE A COURSE AS A GIFT
Looking for a unique gift for a Toronto lover in your life? I thought you might be! So, now you can give them the gift of an online Toronto history course. Any one of my four- or five-week courses is available on topics that range from murder to ghosts to baseball to booze.
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If you have any other questions, feel free to email me at adam@torontodreamsproject.com and I'll be very happy to answer them.
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