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Online Program

Adventures Online: The Best of Newfoundland & Labrador

Program No. 24330RJ
Discover the history, people and UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Newfoundland and Labrador during this fascinating online learning adventure, live from Canada!

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At a Glance

With its location at the most eastern part of North America, the people of Newfoundland and Labrador are the very first on the continent to see the sunrise each day — and in their own, unique time zone. Discover the many other natural and cultural wonders of this beautiful region during an online learning adventure, live from Canada! Explore St. John’s during a field trip with local author Kevin Major who offers his insight into the history of Newfoundland and Labrador. Join a seabird expert for a look into the coast’s significant seabird colonies, learn about the fishing industry from a fisherman during a virtual field trip to Petty Harbour, and delight in the history of traditional folk dancing with a local dance scholar. Learn about Newfoundland and Labrador’s three UNESCO World Heritage Sites — Gros Morne, L’Anse aux Meadows and Red Bay — and discover Battle Harbour during a virtual field trip and Q&A session with your fellow Road Scholars.

Best of all, you’ll…

  • Join a local author and historian for a virtual field trip around the city of St. John’s, stopping to learn more about Cape Spear, Signal Hill, the Basilica of St. John the Baptist, Quidi Vidi Village and other local landmarks.
  • Enjoy a virtual journey along the coast to Petty Harbour to meet a local fisherman and hear about first-hand experiences in the fishing industry.
  • Explore Battle Harbour, a 19th-century fishing village on a small island in the Labrador Sea, during a virtual field trip that offers a look into this National Historic District of Canada.

General Notes

You’ll enjoy 2-3 hours of daily instruction, discussion and/or field trips, which includes sufficient breaks throughout the program. This online program is through Zoom, an easy-to-use web video service that includes closed captioning. All you need is an Internet connection and your computer. We’ll provide a how-to guide to make sure you’ll have a hassle-free experience. In keeping with our Traditional On-Site programs, ALL ADVENTURES ONLINE MULTI-DAY PROGRAMS (INCLUDING THIS PROGRAM) ARE PRESENTED LIVE; THESE PROGRAMS ARE NOT RECORDED. Please review the daily itinerary for start and end times to ensure you won’t miss a minute of this live experience. All times are listed in the EASTERN time zone. If you live in a different time zone, please adjust your schedule accordingly.
Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
As Near to Heaven by Sea: A History of Newfoundland and Labrador
by Kevin Major
For three centuries after Europeans rediscovered it, Newfoundland was thought of as little more than "a great English Ship moored near the Banks during the Fishing Season."Labrador, dismissed as the "land God gave to Cain,"commanded no more respect. But for the people who made its coastline their home, including the Aboriginal peoples who first settled there 9000 years earlier, Newfoundland and Labrador was of considerably greater significance. In these people lie a fascinating history: Leif Eriksson, James Cook, Black Bart, Benedict Arnold, Brigitte Bardot, Mary Walsh, Joey Smallwood, Amelia Earhart, Shanawdithit, D'Iberville, Audubon and Marconi are but a dozen of the better known. The history of Newfoundland and Labrador is no genteel excursion. Scandal coexisted with extraordinary feats of courage; disaster with daring acts of the imagination. The ritual burial of a Maritime Archaic child several millennia ago, the Viking landings, the exploits of Basque whalers, centuries of military and religious strife, confederation with Canada and the collapse of the fisheries — all are brought to life by Kevin Major in exciting, vivid prose.
The Atlantic Coast, A Natural History
by Harry Thurston
Thurston illuminates the geology, plant and animal life and nature of the Atlantic coast from Newfoundland and Labrador through the Maritime Provinces and the Northeastern United States south to Cape Hatteras in this illustrated, engaging survey.
One for the Rock
by Kevin Major
Sebastian Synard doesn’t want any more trouble than he already has. But when he leads a group of tourists along the cliffs of St. John’s harbour, one of them ends up dead. Not only is there a murderer in his tour group, but the cop assigned to the case is sleeping with Sebastian’s ex-wife. It seems like things can’t get any worse, but as he’s enlisted to help flush out the perpetrator, the trail leads deeper than expected, and Sebastian finds himself on the edge.
Vikings, The North Atlantic Saga
by William Fitzhugh (Editor), Elisabeth Ward (Editor)
An extensively illustrated volume of Viking culture, history and exploration that focuses especially on voyages to North America. Published in conjunction with a Smithsonian exhibit, it features essays and 400 color photographs
Baltimore's Mansion
by Wayne Johnston
A memoir and history of the author's family in remote coastal Newfoundland, including his father's days as a codfish-taster.
Cod, A Biography of a Fish That Changed the World
by Mark Kurlansky
A sparkling extended essay on the cod, looking at the importance of the fish to cuisine and history, as well as to Scandinavian, American and Canadian commerce.
Sylvanus Now
by Donna Morrissey
Morisette writes with authority of the struggles of cod fishermen and their families in a remote coastal village in the 1950s in this third novel of maritime Newfoundland.
Hungry Ocean, A Swordboat Captain's Journey
by Linda Greenlaw
A formidable skipper, Greenlaw details all the excitement, boredom, weather, and characters on a first-class fishing operation off the coast of Newfoundland.
A Traveler's History of Canada
by Robert Bothwell
A readable and admirably concise march through Canadian history from prehistory to today, including a timeline.
A Field Guide to North Atlantic Wildlife
by Noble S. Proctor, Patrick J. Lynch (Illustrator)
A comprehensive pocket guide to commonly encountered marine mammals, seabirds and other marine life of Northeastern North America, from North Carolina to Newfoundland and the Canadian Maritimes.
The Bird Artist
by Howard Norman
Memorably set in a remote coastal village in 1911, this vivid book is the tale of an odd local man who murdered the lighthouse keeper. It's as much about human character and motivation as it is about Newfoundland.
Theatre of Fish, Travels Through Newfoundland and Labrador
by John Gimlette
A rollicking account of Gimlette's adventures in Newfoundland and Labrador on the trail of a great-great grandfather. It's a witty tale, soaked in fishy history, myth, lore and incident.
Two for the Tablelands
by Kevin Major
Sebastian Synard is back. It’s the off-season, and the Newfoundland tour guide introduced in One for the Rock has crossed the island with his spirited teenage son for a weekend exploring the wonders of Gros Morne National Park. But on a hike across the spectacular rockscape of The Tablelands, they discover the half-buried body of a murder victim. Life as a tour guide had its twists and turns, but now Sebastian—with his offhand, Scotch-enriched nature—is crossing a more dangerous landscape, on a path that will leave him face-to-face with a killer.
The Surgeon's Mate
by Patrick O'Brian
The seventh book in the Aubrey-Maturin series, with American privateers in hot pursuit across Newfoundland's Grand Banks.
The Day the World Came to Town, 9/11 In Gander, Newfoundland
by Jim Defede
When thirty-eight jetliners bound for the United States were forced to land in Gander, Newfoundland, on September 11, 2001, due to the closing of United States airspace, the citizens of this small community were called upon to come to the aid of more than six thousand displaced travelers.
Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises
by Mark Carwardine
In the trademark, graphic Eyewitness style, this sturdy guidebook colorfully describes the world's cetaceans with numerous illustrations, range maps, fluke drawings and a few paragraphs on each species.
Island, The Complete Stories
by Alistair MacLeod
Raised in Cape Breton, Alistair MacLeod writes of family, the pull of old Gaelic traditions, love and the landscape and folkways of Nova Scotia in this collection of 16 stories. Winner of the Pen/Malamud Award.
True North
by Lawrence Millman (Introduction), Elliott Merrick
Merrick's 1933 ode to Labrador, a warmly detailed, affectionate account of abandoning city life for the wilderness, his experiences living and working with trappers and settlers, and the nurse he met and married.
The Iambics of Newfoundland, Notes From an Unknown Shore
by Robert Finch
With boundless curiosity and a deft way with words, Finch captures the people, places and wildlife of Atlantic Canada with grace and insight in this engaging series of essays, the result of his travels all over the Province.
This Marvellous Terrible Place, Images of Newfoundland and Labrador
by Yva Momatiuk, John Eastcott
This portrait of Newfoundland, compiled by two accomplished photojournalists, combines color photographs and oral histories of the area.
The Boat Who Wouldn't Float
by Farley Mowat
A laugh-out-loud account of Mowat's determination to refurbish and sail a clunky old boat in the not-always-forgiving waters of Newfoundland.
Sweetland
by Michael Crummey
Facing the prospect of losing his land, the fierce, enigmatic Moses Sweetland recalls stories about his home, a village founded by his ancestors on a storm-battered island in Newfoundland.





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