Luminism and James A. Suydam was the title of a course
given at the Academy for Learning in Retirement, Saratoga
Springs, New York. This course explored aspects of the Hudson River school
through the life and art of James A. Suydam. The course examined his work,
social circles and the impact he had on the culture of American painting.
Members of the Academy for Lifelong Learning at the
University of South Florida, Sarasota-Manatee recently learned How
to Become a Speed Reader. They sped up their reading and learned
to separate the more important from the less important words and sentences.
They learned to understand even difficult concepts. The training guided
them through the various steps for different kinds of speed reading
as it is customized for various kinds of literature and personal needs.
Members of the Baylor ILR in Texas recently studied
The Beginning in Biblical Archaeology. This course studied
what archaeology is, now it is done, and how it contributes to understanding
the Bible. They studied both methods and important discoveries made
in recent years.
The Community Academy for Lifelong Learning (CALL)
in State College, PA offered its members a chance to study Fairytales:
Wisdom of the Ages, For All Ages, By All Ages, this spring. The
course offered a Jungian psychological approach to unlocking the wisdom
of fairytales that affects varied aspects of the human psyche. Participants
received handouts of fairytales to be read before each class and then
discussed in class for deeper appreciation of fairytales from a variety
of cultures.
Members of the ILR at Bergen Community College in
New Jersey will be studying The Binding of Issac this spring.
A radical new interpretation of Genesis 22 consistent with what is known
about Abraham and the Noahide code will be presented. Biblical texts
supporting the above and ramifications of the older interpretation will
also be covered.
The ILR at Bluffton University in Ohio offered members
a class this winter entitled I’m Right, You’re Wrong:
Why We See Things Differently. The course emphasized the difference
in thinking and learning styles of students who are right-brained and
those who are left-brained. The participants used these ideas to investigate
why we all see things in a different way.
Members of the Institute for Retirees in Pursuit of Education
(IRPE) at Brooklyn College will be studying Pixel Painting
with a Computer this spring. Beginners can easily create abstract
and contemporary conceptual compositions with a computer mouse and paint
software. Participants will paint their creations as they explore line,
shape and color.
Members of Learning in Retirement, University of Georgia,
Athens recently studied The Americas before Columbus. This
reading-discussion course examined the book 1491: New Revelations
of the Americas before Columbus by Charles C Mann. The book is
the synthesis of the last 30 years of archeological and anthropological
research that gives a new interpretation of the technology and culture
of the Native Americans before the arrival of Europeans. It presents
a series of vignettes that take the reader from the shores of New England
in North America thousands of miles south to the Amazon and coast of
Chile. Speakers from the Anthropology Department will visit the class
as schedules permit.
Members of the L.I.F. E. program at Mount Saint Mary
College-Desmond Campus, in Newburgh, NY have been studying the Italian
language. This past winter participants took Beginner Italian
Two.
Members of the Lifelong Learning Program at Coastal
Carolina University in South Carolina took part in the Lifelong
Learning Book Club at Waccamaw and discussed the Book A Good
Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor with Louise Heroux leading
the discussion. In this collection of stories Flannery O'Conner exposes
the underside of life in the rural south of the United States. One of
the powers in her writing lies in her ability to make the vulnerability
of one into that of many; another is her mastery of shifting "control"
from character to character, making the outcome uncertain.
The Short Stories of Tennessee Williams was the title of a
course given at Lifelong Learning of Hilton Head Island.
In this course members read and discussed eight of Williams’ stories,
looking at their structure, dramatic value, characterizations, and how
they predict or foreshadow more famous works that were yet to come.
The Lifelong Learning Institute, Inc. at Edison College
in Punta Gorda, Florida offered its members a chance to study Where
in the World (Geography). During this course participants were
presented with a wide variety of highly motivating, intellectually stimulating
and increasingly challenging world and United States geography activities.
All of the activities were designed to extend and enrich knowledge of
geography in a relaxed, fun-filled classroom setting.
Members of the Lifelong Learning program on Hilton
Head Island in South Carolina took a short course this past winter entitled
Tracking a Diamond’s Journey. This one-time illustrated
session told members how diamonds are mined and distributed to cutters
throughout the world. The lecture also assessed the impact of diamonds
on the economies of South Africa and Botswana, and showed how cutters
add to their value before they reach a jeweler’s display case.
The latest developments in synthetic diamonds were also discussed.
Members of the Lifetime Learning Institute at Northern
Virginia Community College in Annandale recently took a course entitled
Civil War Dynamics: “I Will Have Justice Done.”
Whether described as a faithful soldier, a brilliant engineer, or, in
the words of one of his men, “the very best of our army,”
Governor Kemble Warren was the brightest light in the Union Army of
the Potomac during the American Civil War. He played a role in all major
battles and campaigns of the Eastern Theater, surviving early Army shale-ups
and brother officers’ falls from grace. Throughout the last two
decades of his life, Warren waged a constant battle against some of
the icons of the civil War – Union heroes such as Ulysses S. Grant,
William T. Sherman, and especially Philip H. Sheridan.
The LINEC program at New England College in Henniker,
New Hampshire offered members the opportunity to study European
History and European Lives. This course examined 18th and 19th
century history through the biographies of many of the important and
talented people of the period.
Members of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at
the University of Alaska, Fairbanks will be studying Global Change
Science: Facts and Fiction this spring. They will examine three
major elements of global change, based on the most current scientific
record, with attention to alternative views and degree of scientific
certainty.
The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University
of Massachusetts Boston is offering members a course this spring entitled
Food Around the World. This first of this three-part course
will cover an overview of human nutritional requirements, a brief history
of the origin of agriculture and an examination of the diets in the
three primary centers where agriculture began. The second part is a
field trip to see tropical foods markets and a bakery, plus an Indian
store for spices. The third part is also a field trip to downtown Boston
to visit a market in Chinatown and then to walk to the North End to
an Italian market.
Staying Hopeful: Wrestling with Moods and Changes as We Age
was a program given at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
at Yavapai College in Arizona. Members learned how to deal with mood
changes, lack of interest in things that used to matter, physical, mental,
housing and family situations and their emotional reactions to things.
They found out what to look for and where to turn for help.
Members of the OLLI program at the University of Pittsburgh
recently studied Five Plays by Euripides. They read and discussed
the plays by Euripides, who was one of the less popular successes of
his time.
Members of QUEST: A Community for Lifelong Learning
in New York City will be studying One-Act Plays this spring.
The course will include a variety of one-act plays, written by well-known
playwrights. Selected plays will be read in class and discussed. The
first semester will focus on American plays; the second semester will
cover a range of British and European plays.
Senior College at the University of Maine Hutchinson
Center in Belfast offered members a course entitled War Crimes,
The Laws of War, and the Global War on Terror. This course surveyed
the history of conflicts between and within nations and the perpetration
of cruelty on combatants, prisoners, and civilians.
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