Members of the Academy for Lifelong Learning at
the University of South Florida, Sarasota-Manatee recently studied a Guide
to Evolution. This course looked at the “nuts and bolts”
of natural selection, while discussing its historical, scientific and
societal impacts.
Using Western Movies: John Wayne & Other Stars, members
of the Academy for Lifelong Learning of Cape Cod, Inc.
studied the development of fight scenes and explored the development
of color techniques. They also examined the development of the western
theme and two questions were asked abut the movies they viewed –
What is the theme of the movie and what impact did that theme have on
the audience?
Members of the Baylor ILR in Texas recently took another
look at World War I Background, Events and Consequences. The
course delved into the reasons behind the war, the major events that
took place and how the war itself shaped the modern world.
The Berkshire Institute for Lifetime Learning in Western
Massachusetts offered members a chance to study the novel “One
Hundred Years of Solitude,” this spring. In a close analysis of
this classic novel, participants will examine the use of magic, issues
of social conflict, American imperialism humor and family life.
The Community Academy for Lifelong Learning (CALL)
in State College, PA is offering its members a chance to study A
Medieval and a Modern “Witty Couple.” The course will
focus on style and vision in early and mature Shakespearean comedies.
This past winter, the Chemeketa Center for Learning in Retirement
in Oregon offered its members a change to try their hand at Journaling.
Over six weeks participants took a new look at this form of writing.
Members of the Drury Institute for Mature Learners
studied Venezuela this past winter. A faculty member from the
University spoke about her research in that country which deals with
Venezuelan literature and how women writers in Venezuela use literature
to enter into political and social dialogue.
Members of the ILR at Bergen Community College in
New Jersey can’t get enough of The Short Stories of deMaupassant.
Part III of this very popular course is being given this spring.
The ILR at Bluffton University in Ohio offered members
a class this winter entitled Mister (and Now Madam) Speaker.
Members looked at the duties of the Speaker of the House, why he/she
is so powerful and then took a look at some of the more famous of past
speakers.
Members of the Institute for Retirees in Pursuit of Education
(IRPE) at Brooklyn College in New York will be studying American
Constitutional History this spring. This course traces the development
of the Constitution from 1787 to the present. Emphasis will be placed
on the interpretations of the charter by the Supreme Court with special
attention to John Marshall, Earl Warren and the changes of the Burger,
Rehnquist and Roberts courts.
Traveler’s Tales is a series for four programs for members
of the Learning in Retirement program at Quinebaug
Valley Community College in Connecticut. They took a nostalgic journey
through Old England, went around the world in 80 slides, and covered
Australia and New Zealand.
Members of the Lifelong Learning program at Coastal
Carolina University in South Carolina enjoyed a lecture by Walter Edgar,
George Washington Distinguished Professor of History at the University
of South Carolina. He gave a talk titled “South Carolina and
the Global Economy: A Long and Rich History” This event was
free. Edgar is the author of “South Carolina: A History,”
“Partisans and Redcoats,” “South Carolina in the Modern
Age” and editor of the new “South Carolina Encyclopedia.”
In addition to his scholarship and teaching, Edgar serves as the director
of the Institute for Southern Studies. He was founder and first director
of USC’s acclaimed public history program.
The Lifelong Learning Institute, Inc. at Edison College
in Punta Gorda, Florida offered their members a chance to study Cuba
After Castro. The class examined the cultural values, critical
events and significant personalities who have influenced the present-day
Cuban consciousness and looked ahead to a Cuba after Castro.
Members of the Lifelong Learning program on Hilton
Head Island in South Carolina were treated to an unusual course this
past winter. Turning Harley-Davidson Around, a case study in
four sessions, used the Harley-Davidson turnaround to illustrate how
radical concepts of factory management, communications and worker participation
were able to save an American icon from bankruptcy. The course was presented
by an organizational psychologist who served as a Harley-Davidson advisor,
coach and external resource for 15 years, along with the retired CEO
of Harley-Davidson.
Members of the Lifetime Learning Institute at Northern
Virginia Community College in Annandale recently took a course entitled
History in Your Hand: Collecting, Buying, Caring for and Disposing
of Autographed Letters, Photographs, Documents, Books, Etc. This
course was designed for persons who have an interest in collecting historic
autographed documents, etc. or for those interested in disposing of
them.
Members of the L.I.F.E. Program at Mount Saint Mary
College in Newburgh, New York will be viewing Trail of Tears: Cherokee
Legacy this spring. They will view and discuss this video, produced
in partnership with the Cherokee Nation and Eastern Band of Cherokee
Indians of North Carolina. It chronicles events leading up to the forced
removal of the Cherokee people in 1838 from their southeast homelands
to Indian Territory, now Oklahoma. It is presented in the Cherokee language
with English subtitles by Cherokee actor Wes Studi, known for his lead
role in the film “Geronimo,” as well as roles in “Last
of the Mohicans” and “Dances With Wolves.” The narrator
is actor James Earl Jones.
Members of the Learning in Retirement program at Sacred
Heart University in Stamford, CT studied A Dozen Most Significant
Jews of Poland. The leader had a list of over 200 biographies on
prominent Jews who once lived in Poland. He selected 12 to discuss,
based on the importance of their contributions and the diversity of
their fields, including Ba’at Shem Tov, who created the Hasidic
Movement, Julian Tuwin, a poet and writer, Arthur Szyck, renowned painter
and founder of a political movement and Roman Polanski, the filmmaker.
Members of the McGill Institute for Learning in Retirement
in Montreal will be studying Civilization: Is There a Problem? Civilization
is widely perceived as humanity’s highest accomplishment. Yet
there are voices who say that by its very nature, it profits a few but
brings misery to many, and that, ultimately, it will destroy its creators,
together with many other lives. Participants will discuss these issues,
with guidance from writers like Sigmund Freud, Daniel Quinn, Lewis Mumford,
James Burke and Robert Ornstein.
The Middlesex Institute for Lifelong Education in
Connecticut offered members the opportunity to learn about Birding
Babylon and a Soldier’s Experience of Nature in Iraq. This
program was based on the presenter’s observations made while on
duty in Iraq during 2004-2005. The lecture included various ecological
zones, the importance of the Mesopotamian Marshes to migratory birds
and the emerging Iraqi environmental movement.
Members of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at
the University of Alaska, Fairbanks will be studying Film: Great
Directors Series this spring. Session I will look at the films
of John Ford, while Session II will review the films of Robert Altman.
The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University
of Massachusetts Boston is offering members a course this spring entitled
The Indigenous People of Australia: The History, Culture and Social
Issues of the Real People. Participants will discover The Real
People of Australia (the indigenous term for themselves.) During this
six-week program they will come to see the Real People as they are.
They will learn through film music, art, history and their spirituality.
Active participation will b fostered through open discussion, reading
and questioning, as well as written creative exercises such as responding
to the Indigenous voices and their poetry with their own voices and
poetry.
OLLI members at the University of Alabama Huntsville
took an Industrial Tour recently. They toured the Huntsville
Waste Energy Facility, one of the newest state-of-the-arts plants in
the country. They were able to see garbage being turned into steam and
the steam used for heating and cooling buildings.
Members of the OLLI program at the University of Pittsburgh
recently studied Authors of the Reformed Faith: Luther, Zwingli,
Calvin, and Knox. They looked at the lives, thinking and mutual
interaction of these four men, noting how their ideas impact our lives
four and a half centuries later.
Members of QUEST: A Community for Lifelong Learning in
New York City will be studying the Development of Scientific Thought
this spring. This course will emphasize the history and philosophy of
science, including all fields of the subject and all time periods. It
will present the people behind key advances in each field, how their
ideas evolved, the major controversies, and the impact of scientific
advances on general thought.
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