Conversation circle at the Nelson Library explores Carol Off’s Ideas

Going Off on Carol’s Ideas

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Agreed upon language is the bedrock of public civil discourse, but what happens when certain words start to mean different things to different people?

Join the library and the Mir Centre for Peace as we explore the ideas of CBC personality and journalist, Carol Off, who advocates for a shared political vocabulary. The free discussion is open to everyone on Saturday, March 1, 7-8:30 p.m. at the library. Carol Off will not be in attendance but her ideas will be alive and present.

Chair of the Mir Centre for Peace, Jennie Barron, is excited about the event because “it gives us all a chance to continue reflecting on the ideas our speakers bring, long after their talks are done. This means deeper engagement and more lasting impact.”

As co-host of the CBC’s current affairs program As It Happens, Carol Off has first-hand experience at how words are being wielded in our polarized society. She recently wrote a book, At a Loss for Words: Conversation in an Age of Rage, which explores six chosen words — freedom, democracy, truth, woke, choice and taxes — and how the right and left political camps have changed their meanings in recent discourse.

The Mir Centre for Peace recently invited Off to present at the Brilliant Cultural Centre where she offered ideas on how we can reclaim that shared political imagination.

For those in the community who have read Off’s book or attended the MIR lecture, the conversation circle offers a chance to wrestle with her ideas and think about how we can find ways to reclaim language in our own context.

Reading the book and attending the lecture are not necessary for attendance. Anyone interested in exploring how language is being used in our society will benefit from this discussion.