SUMMER of COVID BUFFET
Our popular Summer activities are on hiatus, so we have put together a group of online discussions and presentations to keep us connected and learning this season.
They will run between July 21 and Sept 9, 2020. Most are single (‘a la carte’) sessions, with two multi- part series.
Registration: Please note that the number of participants in each is limited, due to the nature of Zoom sessions, and registration is ONLINE ONLY, through 5CLIR’s website, on a first-come, first served basis. Please make every effort to register only for those sessions that you expect to participate in.
(Registration will open on Friday, July 10th at 10 am, and will close a week later on Friday, July 17th at noon.)
REGISTER HERE
Your membership must be current in order to be enrolled in a summer program.
You may pay your dues here.
Zoom assistance We need volunteers with proficiency using Zoom to support our program delivery. Ideally, every session will have a “Zoom Host” to issue invitations to registered participants, to assist the moderator/presenter (as she/he may request), and to trouble-shoot as needed during the session. Please contact Nancy Denig, our Summer program coordinator, at , if you are willing and able to do so. Listing the program(s) you intend to participate in, as well, will help us make preferential assignments.
HERE IS YOUR MENU OF PROGRAMS FROM WHICH TO CHOOSE:
‘GOTTA DANCE, GOTTA DANCE’
Format: Short seminar
Moderator: Katy van Geel
Date & Time: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 11 am – Three weeks starting July 21, 2020
Max number: 16
Participants: The moderator supplies the movie clips; participants supply the conversation. Short presentations are welcome but optional.
Description: Zoom through a tour of ballroom dancing, tap dancing, ballet, swing dancing, the Jitterbug, jazz, Lindy Hop, rock & roll, the Charleston, polka, tango, Argentine tango, contemporary/professional performance dancing, chorus line, cabaret, disco, funk, Riverdance, a Scottish Ceilidh, belly dancing, country western, Flamenco, Hawaiian, and of course, clips of movies with wonderful dance scenes. If you are interested in the history of tap-dancing, or if you love The Nutcracker, go for it! Bottom line, the goal is for participants to end each meeting with a smile and a bounce to their steps.Katy anticipates regularly spilling over into a second hour, especially if we decide to watch a complete movie. At the end of 3 weeks we can decide whether/how to continue as a group.
SUMMER READINGS
Format: Bi-weekly a la carte discussion groups
Moderators: Lise Armstrong (July 29 and August 12), Nancy Denig (August 26), Naomi Yanis (September 9)
Day & Time Wednesdays, 2pm
Max number: 20
Participants: Participants read and come prepared to discuss the book; ideally, including response to a discussion question (or two) provided by the moderator ahead of time
Description: Readers need not enjoy their books in isolation over the Summer. Lise Armstrong and Naomi Yanis (LIR’s Ongoing Program facilitators for “Reading the Classics” and “Book Interest Group,” respectively) are practiced hands at engendering lively book discussions. Nancy Denig is a veteran book group enthusiast who’s offered to share another timely classic. The short book list has been curated with our double-barreled pandemics (of racism and Covid-19) in mind, including:
Zora Neal Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God (July 29);
Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice (August 12);
Albert Camus’ The Plague (August 26); and
Debby Irving’s Waking Up White (September 9)
ENCORE PRESENTATIONS
Format: Weekly a la carte Power Point presentations
Day & Time: Fridays, 11 am
Location: Your home
Max number: 40
Participants: See and hear the presentation; add questions or comments afterward
Topic : The Information Revolution and its Impact on American Capitalism
Seminar: History of American Capitalism.
Presenter: John Armstrong
Date: August 21, 2020
Description: The last 70 years have seen a revolution in Information Technology, a revolution which has enabled profound changes in the nature of American Capitalism. It has also given rise to vast changes…many good, but some very troubling…in the fabric of our society.
Topic : The Cambrian “Explosion”
Seminar: The Ends of the World
Date: August 28, 2020
Presenter: Paul Cooper
Description: About 543 million years ago, life on this planet “exploded” in an unprecedented burgeoning of complex fauna. The vagaries of geology have preserved fossils of these creatures in stunning detail. The discovery and analysis of these fossils completely changed the way we view evolution.
VIEWPOINTS on AMERICAN SOCIETY – Single Discussion Sessions
Format: Topical discussions
Date & Time: Mondays, 11 – 12 am Dates as shown
Location: Your home
Max number: Unlimited Participants: Listen to a presentation and add your voice to a follow-up discussion
Topic 1: White Fragility
Date: August 3, 2020
Facilitators: Michael Miller and Christine Waters
Description: Screening of a provocative YouTube book reading from White Fragility by its author Robin DiAngelo. Q&A and further discussion will follow.
Topic 2: Education and Inequality
Date: August 17, 2020
Presenter: Francie Borden
Description: Francie will draw upon her enduring passion for teaching with her presentation, followed up with what promises to be a lively discussion about issues of poverty, race and ethnicity in our schools.
VIEWPOINTS on RECENT SUPREME COURT DECISIONS- Series Discussion CLASS FULL
Format: Panel Presentation with Q&A
Presenters: Elizabeth Davis, Ben Jaffee, Stephanie Levin, Jay Russell, Tyll van Geel, Miriam Whitney, and Katy van Geel as Zoom host
Dates & Time: 1:30PM on August 17, 20, and 27
Location: Your home
Max number: 20 (including moderators and host)
Description: Abortion, DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), sexual identity, contraception, religious employers, religious schools, Trump’s tax returns, and more have been the subject of a series of recent ground-shifting decisions of the Supreme Court. You may have read the headlines about these cases, but now you have a chance to hear a panel of several retired LIR attorneys offer their analytical summaries of the majority- and dissenting-opinions in these cases. This will give you the chance to exchange your thoughts with the panelists and other LIR members. There will be three 90-minute (maximum) Zoom sessions, with each session devoted to a presentation and discussion of two cases, each followed by a Q&A period.