Programs
LLARC Study Groups At a Glance - Spring 2013
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Monday 9:15AM-10:45AM |
Tuesday 9:15AM-10:45AM |
Thursday 9:15AM-10:45AM |
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Creative Writing
The Silk Road
The Gilded Age |
Women’s Rights Through Film
Current Events
Shakespeare’s The Tempest* |
Short Stories of Ray Bradbury*
Culture Shock; Changes in Chinese Life*
Child Labor in America |
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Monday 11:00AM-12:30PM |
Tuesday 11:00AM-12:45PM |
Thursday 11:00AM-12:30PM |
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Microsoft Word*
Microsoft Powerpoint*
The Amazing History of NE Geology*
Science and the Arts* |
Lunch, Listen and Learn |
The Civil War |
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Monday 1:00PM-2:30PM |
Tuesday 1:00PM-2:30PM |
Thursday 1:00PM-2:30PM |
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Hablamos Español
Love and Laughter
Exploring Ploughshares* |
Multi-Cultural Short Stories
Play Reading*
Introduction to Environmental History |
Learning Outside the (Mail)box*
Creative Memoirs |
*Denotes a Mini Course - Please see course description for dates
General Information
Most study groups meet for 10 weeks, mini courses meet for 5 or 6 weeks. Please note the specific meeting dates given for each course. Locations of classes will be announced shortly before classes begin. Study groups are typically "led" rather than "taught"— all by volunteers. Most use a seminar format, emphasizing discussion, usually with preparatory reading. There are variables, however, such as the amount and nature of weekly preparation, the opportunity or expectation for class members to give presentations, and the extent to which material is presented by the leader. Please read descriptions carefully for these details. Also note costs for materials provided (other than texts, which students should buy independently.)
LLARC Study Group Course Descriptions
Spring 2013
#1701 Creative Writing
In this writing group, the creative talents of the participants will be encouraged by their peers. Members are invited to write in any genre: memoir, poetry, fiction, non-fiction, essay, humor or play. Handouts will be provided to stimulate writing. Participants are given time to share their writings with classmates if they choose. Sometimes in talking about someone else’s writing, we are able to clarify our own thoughts and abilities; and this group is wonderfully encouraging, supportive and safe.
Leader: The group will be facilitated by longtime teacher and creative writing class participant, Virginia Slep.
Class Meetings: Course Closed
#1702 The Gilded Age
From the end of the Civil War to the end of the 19th Century America underwent a transformative journey from a rural self-employed people to an urbanized majority of wage earners. Society was obsessed by invention, industrialization, incorporation, immigration, and imperialism. Hardly any realm of life remained untouched: politics, education, family life, literature, and the arts. Rapid advances in transportation, communication and mechanization wrenched American from the moorings of familiar values. How the populace reacted to this cultural incorporation is the theme of the course. We will also visit the major politicians, robber barons, and reformers of the era.
Text: Pivotal Decades: The United States, 1900–1920 by John Milton Cooper. ISBN # 0393956555
Leader: Bernie Shuster earned his BA at UMass Amherst as a history major, and his LLD at Boston University School of Law. After practicing law in Boston for several years, he founded and served as CEO of a financial services company. Bernie has led many courses at LLARC, Harvard and Brandeis.
Class Meetings: Course Closed
#1703 The Silk Road or How Caesar Got his Silk
Yes, ole Julius, like his fellow wealthy Romans, loved silk (reputed not to show blood stains) so much that he was constantly checking the Appian Way for merchants bringing him the latest colors. As Casey Stengel said in a different context on a matter of baseball lore, “You can look it up.” Byzantium/Istanbul and Damascus were the western termini for this maze of overland routes which started from what is now Xian in eastern China. Over these routes flowed languages, religions, and goods. There was a corresponding sea route from Canton to Suez. Ibn Battuta and Marco Polo were two of the more famous travelers. Let us go then, you and I, to explore. Readings, reports and tea. There will be a $20 materials charge for this course, and reports will start on the second session.
Leader: Brooks Goddard is a retired high school English teacher and department head who has taught many courses at LLARC. He and his wife in 1999 traveled the Silk Route from Islamabad in Pakistan, north to China and west to Uzbekistan. On other trips they visited Xian, Damascus and Istanbul. Brooks has also been overland between Istanbul and Delhi on two occasions in his youth.
Class Meetings: Course Closed
#1705 Introduction to Microsoft Word
Students will learn to use Microsoft Word 2007 as a word processing tool and to create professional looking documents as well as creative pieces on their personal laptops. Students must have their own laptop with Windows and Office 2007 installed, and bring a flash drive. Participants will learn how to open, close, save a file, and how to enter, edit, copy and paste text. They will build on these skills and become proficient through in-class group exercises and individual practice.
Leader: Donna Papapietro has been an educator/trainer for over 20 years and is currently the principal of Independent Instructional Design and Educational Services.
Class Meetings: Five Mondays, February 25–March 25; 11-12:30pm. No class on Patriot’s Day, April 15.
#1706 Introduction to Microsoft PowerPoint
Students will learn to use Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 as an instructional tool and create fun presentations, photo albums, and more on their personal laptops. Students must have their own laptop with Windows and Office 2007 installed on it. After learning basic skills, students will work on a project of their choosing and then run the final presentation for the class as a podium speaker. The podium presentation is optional, but encouraged in a non-judgmental setting. Students must be familiar with Microsoft Word 2007 (not 2003) and know how to open, close, save a file, and how to enter, edit, copy and paste text. Please bring a flash drive to class.
Leaders: Donna Papapietro has been an educator/trainer for over 20 years and is currently the principal of Independent Instructional Design and Educational Services.
Class meetings: Five Mondays, April 1–May 6; 11-12:30pm. No class on Patriot’s Day, April 15
#1707 How on Earth?! The Amazing History of New England Geology
Did you know?
- There have been at least four mountain building events in New England that have created mountains as high as the Alps.
- Sediment underlying the Boston area was deposited by glaciers at the South Pole!
- Bedrock under eastern Massachusetts is more closely related to that of Africa than to the bedrock of Worcester!
- The New England climate in the past was tropical and the landscape was equatorial swampland!
And we can see these phenomena all around us if we know where to look. From volcanoes to earthquakes, from glacial lakes to distorted rocks, we have it all! Join us for an engaging and fun look at the New England landscape.
Leader: Frank Villa has a lifelong interest in the natural sciences. He is a natural teacher who finds great joy in explaining complex principles and processes and bringing the latest quests and discoveries of science to a general audience. He has developed curricula and taught courses in many settings on topics as diverse as the formation of the universe, alternative energy sources and human genetics.
Class Meetings: Course Closed
#1708 Science and the Arts; There's No Accounting for Taste—Well Maybe There Is!
Throughout history artists have used their intuitive skills to challenge commonly held scientific principles and to contribute to great advances in human knowledge. Each of our meetings will explore a different field of art—from music to painting to gourmet cuisine—and discuss the work of ground breaking artists and the science behind their discoveries.
Leader: Frank Villa has a lifelong interest in the natural sciences. He is a natural teacher who finds great joy in explaining complex principles and processes and bringing the latest quests and discoveries of science to a general audience. He has developed curricula and taught courses in many settings on topics as diverse as the formation of the universe, alternative energy sources and human genetics.
Class Meetings: Course Closed
#1709 ¡¡Hablamos Español!!
Spanish is fast becoming a second language in the U.S. This small, informal class is designed to enhance speaking skills and improve grammar. It will be conducted at an intermediate rather than beginner level. We also read literature, preferably short stories, and discuss their contents. Therefore it will be necessary to buy some books. In addition, a Spanish-English dictionary will be very helpful.
Leader: Aida Dudelson was born and grew up in Montevideo, Uruguay. She received a BA in liberal arts at the University of Montevideo. Shortly after moving to the United States with her family, she worked in the foreign department of a Boston bank. She then volunteered at New England Medical Center, translating for Spanish-speaking patients. She has taught at Wellesley High School as a short- and long-term substitute and has tutored privately for the past 26 years.
Class Meetings: Six Mondays, March 25–May 6; 1–2:30pm. No class on Patriot's Day, April 15.*
#1710 Exploring Ploughshares
Ploughshares has grown from its founding in Cambridge during the 1970's to become one of the premier literary journals in this country, now housed at Emerson College. Each issue is edited by a guest author and focuses either on fiction or poetry or sometimes on both. This course will review current issues of Ploughshares, consider selected stories and poetry for discussion to enhance both our understanding of the writings and of the process involved in producing the magazine.
Leader: Joan Parrish is an experienced group leader with a master's degree in adult education from Boston University and a master's in theology from Episcopal Divinity School. She has taught courses for adults and children in a variety of settings. Marillyn Zacharis is a graduate of DePauw University and holds a master's degree in English from Indiana University. She has taught high school and was manager of a choral organization for many years. Both leaders have led courses in literature for LLARC.
Class Meetings: Five Mondays, April 1–May 6; 1–2:30pm. No class on Patriot's Day, April 15.*
#1711 Love and Laughter: The Battle of the Sexes in British Comedy from Congreve to Stoppard
Throughout the history of the stage, the battle of the sexes has been the primary subject of comedy, particularly for British playwrights. We will examine various treatments of this battle by seven British playwrights from William Congreve (The Way of the World) in the 17th century to Oliver Goldsmith (She Stoops to Conquer), Richard Brinsley Sheridan (The School for Scandal), Oscar Wilde (An Ideal Husband), George Bernard Shaw (Man and Superman), Noel Coward (Blithe Spirit), and Tom Stoppard (Arcadia). We will read and discuss these plays, view film clips from some of them, do some readings aloud, and discuss what makes each of them funny and dramatically effective. Preparation should require about two hours of reading per week. Reports from class members on the playwrights are encouraged but not required.
Leaders: Verne Vance is a retired corporate attorney who has had a lifelong interest in the theatre. He is the 2012 winner of the T.F. Evans Award of the Shaw Society of the United Kingdom for a 2012 preface to one of Bernard Shaw's plays written in the manner of Shaw. Vance has written and performed short monologues, and acted in other roles at the Open Eye Theater in New York state. He has served as a study group leader for several courses on contemporary playwrights and American musicals.
Class Meetings: Course Closed
#1712 The Women's Rights Story in Film and Modern Media
Continuing our studies from the previous course, The Women’s Rights Movement, we will study the history of the movement as portrayed in modern media, including film, television and internet sites. We will critique written, oral and visual telling about the women themselves, and about the movement towards equal rights. Using both visual and printed material, voluntary reports and discussion, we will broaden our knowledge about the history of particular groups and individual women and their contributions to women’s rights, all the way up to the historic achievement of women in the 2012 election.
Text: (suggested, not mandatory) Ward, Geoffrey C. and Burns, Ken: Not for Ourselves Alone; and Gurko, Miriam: The Ladies of Seneca Falls. Readings are available through the library or on the internet. Cost for handouts not to exceed $10.
Leaders: Mary Nowak has a MA in American History from Boston University. She was a teacher in Brookline of American history and of US and World Geography. She previously led study groups on Northern and Southern Women in the Civil War, The Women’s Rights Movement, and Women and Children in the Labor Movement.
Class Meetings: Course Closed
#1713 Current Events
This is a study group open to discussion of any subject considered “current”. Students should bring to class topics and relevant reference materials that are of particular interest to them. While lively debate is encouraged, order must be kept! Class participants are encouraged to give brief presentations on subjects of personal interest during the second hour of each session.
List of Readings: Major nationally recognized newspapers and news magazines
Leaders: Bob Willis and Joe Lyons. Bob is a veteran of the Korean War. He is a graduate of Boston College with a degree in chemistry and has worked in various capacities at Itek and Exxon. Joe is a World War II veteran and served in the CBI Theater. He is a Boston College graduate and a retired sales manager for United Electric. Joe and Bob have led several courses at LLARC and at Boston College Learning in Retirement.
Class Meetings: Ten Tuesdays, February 26–April 30; 9:15–10:45am.
#1714 Studying Shakespeare’s The Tempest
One of Shakespeare’s last plays is an exploration of power and parenthood, and of how an aging protagonist finds his place in the world. Humor, magic and love at first sight combine in this tale of Prospero and his daughter, Miranda, when the world they have been isolated from for years arrives on their island. We will read The Tempest, and learn more about Shakespeare’s use of language. We also will learn about Shakespeare’s life and times, including the social and cultural context for his work. It will be helpful to view Julie Taymor’s movie of the play, starring Helen Mirren as Prospera, sometime during the course, and you will need a copy of the text to bring to class.
Leader: Ann Berman is a retired special education teacher and administrator who is thrilled to have more time to pursue her love of Shakespeare, and to share that passion with others.
Class Meetings: Five Tuesdays, April 2–April 30; 9:30–10:45am.*
#1715 Play Reading
Participate in live drama! Read plays aloud, develop a sense of character, plot and historical context and character interaction. All participants will take turns reading various roles from a list of plays available through your community library (free) or via your local bookstore. We will find meaning in these plays for your present day lives and situations. Plays for this session will be announced prior to the session’s start. Join the cast!
Leader: John Archer is a trained singer, actor, musician and veteran of straight and musical theater productions for many different companies in New England. John runs a business in Beverly and is an active civic leader and philanthropist for several arts organizations. He has led play reading courses at North Shore community venues and study groups for LLARC since 2005.
Class Meetings: Six Tuesdays, March 26–April 30; 1–2:30pm.*
#1716 Multi Cultural Literature
How does our ethnic background inform our experience of being American? By reading two short stories per session that are by “multi-cultural” authors, we will explore issues of identity, otherness, and belonging in America as we try also to gain insight into other cultures. We shall read stories by Native- Americans, African-Americans, Jewish Americans, Asian-Americans, Hispanic- Americans and others as we delve into these questions. Participants will be responsible for obtaining their own materials and/or covering the costs of the photocopying for more difficult to obtain stories.
List of Readings: What You Pawn, I Shall Redeem (Alexie); Everyday Use (Walker); Defender of the Faith (Roth); Who’s Irish? (Jen) and others.
Leader: Ronna Frick retired after teaching high school English for forty years, the last nine also serving as the English Department Head at Wellesley High School. Having previously taught LLARC courses on Jane Austen, the Bible as literature, comedy & tragedy, and novellas, she looks forward to another meaningful and fun experience with other life long learners!
Class Meetings: Course Closed*
#1717 Introduction to Environmental History; Tribal Customs, English Law and Environmental Change
Even before European settlement, Native Americans had changed the “natural” world of North America into a “man-made” environment. We will see how their customs affected these changes and later conflicted with market forces brought by white settlement. The extraction of waterpower changed both the landscape and the nature of work much more rapidly. Struggles over law often decided how these changes occurred and who profited from them.
We will see how builders of the early mills of Waltham and Lowell altered the ancient Anglo-American laws of water to their own advantage and turned the entire Merrimack River watershed into a multi-state system of waterpower. Expect 60 pages of reading per week.
Leader: George (Fritz) Mohn After retiring from the Social Security Administration, George F. (Fritz) Mohn returned to college to study history. The material for this study group is a shortened version of a course he took a few years ago at Framingham State University.
Class Meetings: Ten Tuesdays, February 26–April 30; 1–2:30pm.
#1718 Child Labor
Two centuries ago, only the children of the elite were educated, the rest were set to work in their teens. Children in early America worked on farms, as apprentices and in the mines and factories.
They were cheap labor. When the cost became too high in New England, the cotton mills moved to the South. The eradication of child labor and the stress of education for all are measures of a nation’s social advancement. Now, we are concerned that children in Asia and Africa are put to work, again as cheap labor. In our course on Child Labor in the United States we will discuss why children were put to work, where they worked (textile mills, mines, farms, tenement industries, glass factories, tobacco factories, street trades, canneries, factories), the arguments for and against child labor, the legal battle to end child labor, and the reformers who believed that children should be in school, at least until age sixteen. I will assign readings and invite individual reports. The research can be done on-line at no cost, other than pencil and paper.
Leader: Chiam Rosenberg While working as a psychiatrist I became interested in the role of work in fashioning our lives. I have written several books on American industrial history, and taught adult education classes at Brandeis and the University of Massachusetts.
Class Meetings: Ten Thursdays, February 28–May 9; 9:15–10:45am. No class on March 28
#1719 Short Stories of Ray Bradbury
How does the work of Ray Bradbury fit into the wider genre of literature? Do we think of his stories as cautionary fiction, science fiction, dystopian fiction, or a quirky take on small town life? We will also note ways in which he was a visionary in technology and morality. Three short stories will be assigned for each session; a list of titles and dates will be provided.
Leader: Karen Mallozzi As a history major in college, Karen had a lifelong interest in English and Literature. Karen is a 1981 graduate of the University of Rhode Island with a BA in history. She earned her MA in 2010 in Religious Studies. An avid reader she averages about 100 books a year over a wide range of genres. She facilitates several book and scripture groups as part of her position as Coordinator for Parish Ministries at St. Bridget Parish in Framingham. Karen also facilitates online theology courses for Notre Dame of Indiana.
Class Meetings: Five Thursdays, April 12–May 10; 9:15–10:45am.*
#1720 Culture Shock: Changes in Chinese Life and the Impact on its People
A glimpse at transitions in everyday Chinese culture caused from both the outside (Western influences) and the inside (political upheaval and cultural purging). Not a history course, this class is more involved with showing, through three foreign films and two nonfiction books, how individuals in one of the world’s most ancient civilizations were and are being pulled into a very different future. Three relatively new Chinese foreign films: Shadow Magic (2001) 115 minutes, set in turn of the century Peking (early twentieth century), The King of Masks (1996), 1930’s Sichuan province, 101 minutes and Shower (2000), set in modern Beijing, 94 minutes.
Text: Two books, River Town: Two years on the Yangtze (2001) by Peter Hessler and selections from The Corpse Walker: Real Life Stories (2009) by Liao Yiwu, further dramatize the effects of modernization on people steeped in tradition, reluctant to change.
Leader: Nan Feldon grew up in what is now considered “inner city” Los Angeles in a multi-ethnic, multi-racial school system with lots of diversity. Her degrees include a BA from UCLA in English, with a minor in French, plus teaching credentials, a MA from UCLA. She has been a bibliophile of nearly all literary genres and lover of film (usually foreign).
Class Meetings: Five Thursdays, April 11–May 9; 9:15–10:45am.*
#1721 The Civil War
When most Americans think of the Civil War, they think of large numbers of infantry moving bravely across fields of combat. However, many of the specialized weapons that one associates with the First and Second World Wars first came into being during the years 1861 to 1865. While the first year of the war saw battles that were indistinguishable from the Napoleonic era, by the end of the war, the weapons used were precursors of the wars of the 20th century. The course will focus on the modern aspects of the Civil War, in both land and naval combat.
Leader: John Northgraves is a Maine native and a Viet Nam era naval officer veteran. He had a career as a Programmer and Business Analyst and is a current substitute history teacher at the high school level. John participated in two Gettysburg re-enactments in 2003 and 2008. He has taught at the Tufts LLI.
Class Meetings: Course Closed
#1722 Learning Outside the (Mail)Box — A Study of US History Using Postage Stamps
By viewing United States commemorative stamps that celebrate famous people, events and places, we will glimpse a unique look at American history as seen through the eyes of stamp designers for the U.S. Post Office. The course will offer information about the history of stamps and the post office, as we discuss the many ways mail has been delivered. We will focus on specific famous events and people that have appeared on stamps from all periods of American history. The class will also share memories of favorite letters and other recollections of people’s correspondences plus an update on the problems facing the U.S. Post Office. Participants are welcome to bring their own stamps to share.
Leader: Henry Lukas is the Education Director at the Spellman Museum of Stamps & Postal History at Regis College. He is a retired high school social studies teacher and principal. In his job at the Spellman Museum he presents programs to senior citizens, schools, libraries and scouts.
Class Meetings: Five Thursdays, April 11–May 9; 1–2:30pm.* This class will meet at the Spellman Museum of Stamps and Postal History at Regis College.
#1723 Your Legacy; Writing Creative Memoirs
We will write memoirs in narrative or poetic or essay form, depending on each writer’s preference. Participants will find a supportive environment in which to tell their unique “story.”
Some writers seek out the structure of our ongoing writers workshop as opposed to writing in a solitary environment. We will provide incentives and innovative prompts to write at home and occasionally in the group; we will have the opportunity to read our work to each other, and develop supportive critiquing skills which provide the feedback all writers look forward to as well as require for their own progress; this is called workshopping. Please note that there will be no formal writing instruction in this workshop.
Please bring a lined notebook and pen to class, along with your sense of humor. There will be a minimal fee for handouts. Limited to 8 participants.
Leader: Mimi Aarens has been facilitating creative memoir workshops for more than ten years, with groups at the Boston College and Tufts University Lifelong Learning Centers, in addition to senior and local adult education centers and the Rowe Conference Center in western Massachusetts.
Class Meetings: Course Closed
Lifelong Learning
781-768-7135
LLARC@regiscollege.edu
Free LLARC parking behind the Fine Arts Center
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