Interesting tidbits from the latest batch of LLI newsletters.
Glens
Falls Medical Mission: Project Guatemala was the title of a Lunch
and Learn held at the Adult Learning Institute at Columbia Greene
Community College in New York. The guest speaker described her
trips to Guatemala with the Glens Falls Medical Mission. The mission is
a non profit non-denominational group of 45 medical providers who go to
Nueva Santa Rosa, Guatemala twice a year to care for people who have limited
access to medical and dental care.
Members of the Chemeketa Center for Learning in Retirement
in Woodburn, Oregon studied the History of Slavery, this past
winter. The History of Slavery in the United States was an unforgettable
history of how slaves, especially black people, were viewed in the early
days of our country and even today when remnants of the past seem to
reappear on occasion. Today slavery is well and alive in many countries.
Can the world ever learn by past mistakes and the unfair treatment of
people of different cultures?
Members of the Institute for Continuing Learning at Young Harris
College in Georgia recently took a Journey through Comedy.
They discussed and compared the various types of comedy.
Members of the ILR program at Old Dominion University
in Virginia recently studied Cuba: The Reality of Communism and
the Embargo. In spite of the embargo the United States provides
30% of Cuba’s food. In 2004 a group of Cape Henry students traveled
to Cuba to examine the communist economic system and the effects of
the embargo. In this class they discussed Cuban communism in depth,
including exclusive video of homes, hospitals, factories and schools
as well as the reality of the U.S. Embargo.
This fall, members of the Jefferson Institute for Lifelong
Learning (JILL) in Virginia will be studying Blockading
the South: The Union Navy Civil War Squadrons. This course will
cover the four blockading squadrons used by the Union Navy to attempt
to close the southern coastline during the Civil War. All major Union
coastal operations will be covered, from the Burnside expedition to
the Fort Fisher to the Charleston campaigns, to Mobile Bay to the lower
Mississippi River. Also covered will be routine blockage life, pursuit
and capture of blockade runners and their disposition as prizes.
The Learning in Retirement program at Iona College (LIRIC)
in New York is offering a course entitled Pirates in History: Terror
on Land and Sea. This course will focus on the lives of brigands
and their impact on the history and population of their time.
This fall, members of the LIR program at the University of
Wisconsin, Oshkosh, are studying Every Rock Tells a Story.
They are starting with a visit to Weis Earth Science Museum, and will
learn some geology basics. Then they will be carpooling to High Cliff
State Park to explore the Niagara Escarpment and will also look at an
important pioneer industry.
WWII Resistance Movement in Belgium was the title of a program
held at The Learning Club at Winona State University
in Minnesota. The speaker joined the resistance movement in 1942 as
a 15 year-old girl in Belgium. She worked as a medic and performed numerous
acts in support of the allies. Later she traveled with the Red Cross.
She began giving talks to student about 20 years ago to inspire them
to remember WWII and the Holocaust.
This fall, the Lifelong Learning Institute at James Madison
University in Virginia is offering members a chance to study
Before, Behind and Around the New Testament. This course will
survey the background of the New Testament, introducing historical,
religious and cultural elements which shaped the world in which Jesus
and the first Christians lived. Emphasis will be on the period from
the reign of Antiochus IV (beginning 175 BCE) through the rule of Emperor
Domitian (d. 96 CE). Topics covered will include the Maccabean revolt
and its aftermath, Greek and Roman influences, the Dead Sea Scrolls,
the Apocrypha and non-Biblical writings, the destruction of Jerusalem
in 70 CE and the apocalyptic worldview found in this setting.
Members of the Lifelong Learning Program at Regis College
in Massachusetts will be studying Sherlock Holmes this fall.
During this course participants will read, discuss and enjoy several
of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes mysteries. The readings
will be supplemented by one or two 1930s radio shows dramatizing some
of the stories as well as the viewing of two Sherlock Holmes films.
As background, the facilitator will give the class small peeks of life
in the United States and Europe during this time period.
The Lifelong Learning Society at Christopher Newport University
in Virginia is offering a program this fall entitled World Geography
Sampler. Regional geography looks at places in a synthetic manner,
including elements of the physical environment, as well as politics,
culture, economy and human settlement. This course will examine a sampling
of countries and regions that feature prominently in today’s news
headlines.
The new LLI at Armstrong Atlantic State University
is off to a great start with some excellent courses. The Expressive
Power of Great Music: Searching for Meaning Behind the Notes was one
such course. Participants attempted to convey the richness, variety,
and stimulation afforded by listening alertly to recorded examples of
great orchestral music from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Primary
emphasis was placed on symphonic music as represented by concertos,
symphonic poems and overtures.
Over last summer members of the Lifetime Learning Institute
at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale took a
Three Embassy Tour. Participants visited the Russian, Swedish
and Indonesian embassies in Washington, DC.
The Ever Changing Earth is the title of a course being given
this fall at the Lifetime Learning Institute at SUNY New Paltz
in New York. The Earth is a very different planet from its nearby planets,
Venus and Mars. It contains large amounts of liquid water and the atmosphere
is rich in oxygen. For us the most significant difference is the abundance
of living forms. These four lectures will discuss the unique features
of our planet, how it came to be, and what the future holds.
The L.I.F.E. program at Mount Saint Mary College in
Newburgh, New York is offering its members a chance to study Nature,
Naturally. Members will take some delightful nature-walks/hikes
to some familiar and some not-so-familiar locations.
The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Berkshire Community
College in Massachusetts is offering members a chance to study
The Spanish Civil War Through Film. Two documentary films To
Die in Madrid and The Good Fight, will establish the historical component
of the course. Then four additional films that incorporate in varying
degrees the war and its aftermath will be viewed and discussed.
Understanding Islam was the title of a course given this past
spring at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Rutgers University
in New Jersey. Topics included The Spirit of Islam – the Five
Pillars of Islam – Islamic History – Islam and the West
– Gender Equity – Faith and Reason/An Islamic Perspective
– Commonalities among Abrahamic Faiths – Jihad – Importance
of Peace and Justice in Islam – Challenges for American Muslims.
The course was led by the Co-Founder and President of the Center for
Understanding Islam.
Members of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University
of Michigan in Ann Arbor recently took a course entitled Democracy
in America. This book, written by Alexis deTocqueville is often
referred to as the single best book ever written about the U.S. Participants
discussed Volume I in the spring and Volume II this fall of the Lawrence
translation currently published by Harper.
Last summer, members of the OLLI program at Yavapai College
in Arizona took part in a course entitled Labyrinths: Paths
to Peace and Well-Being. Participants experienced the many aspects
of the labyrinth. They learned the history and symbolism of the two
most commonly used labyrinth circuit designs, explored the connection
between them and chakras and looked at how labyrinths are being used
in schools, hospitals, churches, communities, prisons and other venues
to promote body, mind and spirit healing.
The Rose Institute for Lifelong Learning in Beachwood,
Ohio offered some delightful courses this past spring. One of them was
The Mad hatter. Humans have covered their heads from the beginning
of time. Initially, headwear offered protection from the elements and
from injury. Later, head coverings became symbols of status and authority.
Today, hats are a fashion statement and are sometimes considered an
art form. Participants learned the history of hats and viewed samples
from the instructor’s historic collection. They also had the opportunity
to be photographed in their favorite hat of the collection.
Members of the Worcester Institute for Senior Educations (WISE)
at Assumption College in Massachusetts will be studying Emerson
and Transcendentalism. This is a lecture/discussion course focusing
upon one of the major figures n American literary, aesthetic, and cultural
history. They will consider a selection of Emerson’s major essays
and poetry in light of his seminal role in the development of American
Transcendentalism.
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