Thursday
Spring 2012
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The Political Problem in the 21st Century
Day: 5 Thursdays Time: 1:15-2:45 p.m. Dates: 3/8 to 4/5 (last class is a field trip) Location: Room 204A, 3rd Fl., McCormack Hall, Umass Boston Facilitator: Hugh Stringer Description: Today’s Republicans and Democrats alike would do well to heed John Maynard Keynes who said, “The political problem of mankind [is] to combine three essential human goals – economic efficiency, social justice, and individual liberty.” In this course, we will discuss how government with the Treasury Department, Federal Reserve Bank, and Security Exchange Commission helps us reconcile those three human goals. We will consider how institutions like Social Security and the Environmental Protection Agency have helped move us closer to becoming the nation envisioned by the signatories to the Constitution. The facilitator will present websites, YouTube videos and news articles describing how these institutions work, and what their strengths and shortcomings are. Each presentation will be followed by discussion. Participants are encouraged to bring material or website addresses that argue either in favor of or against a governmental institution. For the last class, the facilitator will arrange a tour of the Federal Reserve Bank in downtown Boston. Course Materials
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Fore-Armed vs. Strong-Armed: Economics Explained for the Mature Adult (Cordage Park)
Day: 7 Thursdays Time: 1:15-2:45 p.m. Dates: 3/8 to 4/26 (No class on 4/12) Location: Suite 201 (Umass Boston), Building #3, 36 Cordage Park, Plymouth Facilitator: Randall Holman Description: The objective of this course is to stress the essentialness for working adults to re-engage themselves with the macro and microeconomic theories, concepts, decisions and consequences that guide Government policy makers globally. Focusing on “what does this mean to me,” a stronger understanding of economics is needed to protect one’s present and future. What is inflation, a recession, what does stagflation mean and how will any of it impact my personal/professional life? What are the economic successes/failures of capitalism, socialism, what are entitlements (Unemployment, Social Security, and Medicare) and can they be feasibly sustained? Is there such a thing as too much Government? What are the relationships between supply, demand, pricing and scarcity and what do they mean to me at the grocery store or in my retirement? Class discussions will be entirely Socratic, fed by the endless supply of impacting news events past and present.
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The Best of Psychology and Aging: Selected Topics to Maximize Successful Aging for Older Adults (Cordage Park)
Day: 3 Thursdays Time: 3-5 p.m. Dates: 3/22 to 4/12 (no class on 3/22) Location: Suite 201 (Umass Boston), Building #3, 36 Cordage Park, Plymouth Facilitator: Kenneth R. Texeira Description: This mini-course covers some of the most useful topics in adult development and aging from a positive psychological perspective. Applied topics will include identity, personality development in late life, selective optimization and compensation and how relationships change as we grow older. Students will be given information on how to do a life review and identify areas of strength to achieve the best possible life. Cutting edge research will be presented in a safe supportive learning environment. The class will be taught using a variety of methods including short film clips, diary studies, case examples and discussion. Applied development will be the larger framework to understand mood, personality and how we can selectively optimize our strengths while minimizing weaknesses as we get older.
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My French Table: Provincial French Cuisine
Day: 4 Thursdays Time: 10-11:30 a.m. Dates: 3/22 to 4/12 Location: Room 204A, 3rd Fl. McCormack Hall, Umass Boston Facilitator: Genevieve Forde Description: Join us as we explore French cuisine. The class will include regional specialties, products, and culinary influences. Please bring personal stories of experiences with French travels and food, and a hunger to learn where some of the world’s most delicious foods come from.
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Understanding American Conflict in the Middle East and Central Asia
Day: 5 Thursdays Time: 10-11:30 a.m. Dates: 3/8 to 4/5 Location: Room 204, 3rd Fl., McCormack Hall, Umass Boston Facilitator: Joseph Sarkisian Description: This course seeks to look past the front pages of newspapers and get into the real facts, reasons and ideologies behind America’s conflicts in the Near East. True reasons for the current war in Iraq, our chances of ensuring a positive outcome for all in Afghanistan, the consequences of our shadow campaign in Pakistan, and what can be done to solve our issues with Iran will be covered.
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The Big Read: In the Time of the Butterflies
Day: 4 Thursdays Time: 1:15-2:45 p.m. Dates: 3/22 to 4/12 Location: Room 421, 1st Fl., McCormack Hall, Umass Boston Facilitator: Phyllis Jennings Description: In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez transports us to the Dominican Republic in the mid-twentieth century when the country struggled under the brutal dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo. A work of historical fiction, the novel honors the lives of Patria, Minerva, and María Teresa Mirabal, who became icons of freedom and women’s rights when they were assassinated in the autumn of 1960 for their role in the underground movement against Trujillo’s regime. A great book combines enlightenment with enchantment. It awakens our imagination and enlarges our humanity. It can even offer harrowing insights that somehow console and comfort us. This class is part of the Big Read project funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and managed by UMass Boston's WUMB Radio. More than 40 local Boston organizations, schools & libraries as well as some UMass Boston departments will be producing in excess of 100 activities and events in celebration of the book. These activities will include book clubs, movie showings, lectures and much more. The book is easily available at libraries and bookstores. Free Reader's Guides, Teacher's Guides, Audio and some copies of the book will be available for class participants. Please click on this link to see Co-Facilitator Marguerite Stone's biography
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Inside The Apollo Project: The Story of the People That Made It Possible
Day: 6 Thursdays Time: 1:15-2:45 p.m. Dates: 3/29 to 5/3 Location: Room 612, 1st Fl., McCormack Hall, Umass Boston Facilitator: Tom Fitzgibbon Description: This series of lectures with accompanying films will focus on the people who made landing men on the moon a reality. The scope of the project led to some of the most remarkable technical advances and was done by ordinary people that you would never assume to have played such significant roles. Mankind’s great journey and technical achievement was accomplished with many back-room dramas coping with unforeseen hazards and chance failures. Tom will tell of his personal role in the design of the guidance system at MIT and some of the dramatic and near catastrophic events that are little known by the general public. The courage and character of the astronauts will also be highlighted.
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Prolongevity and Scientific Inquiry into Aging (Online Course)
Day: 5 Thursdays Time: 4 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. Dates: 3/29 to 4/26 Location: anywhere in the world with the Internet connection Facilitator: Judith Griffin Description: This course will explore the ‘prolongevity movement’ across the ages through a multidimensional lens with religious, philosophical, medical and scientific inquiry. It will examine the views and cultural attitudes of prolongevity held by Islamic, Taoist, Asian and Western cultures. There will be a critique of philosophical enthusiasts of longevity, such as Benjamin Franklin, Francis Bacon, Renee Descartes and Louis Dublin. Emphasis will be on the modern age of scientific inquiry with discussion of new biological theories of aging, and on current and futuristic scientific avenues toward prolongation of life. Along with the scientific trend to prolong life, ethics associated with prolonging life will be reviewed, by studying the works of Gerald Gruman, Frederick Paola, Robert Walker and Richard Lamm.
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Boston in the Early Twentieth Century: Selected Topics
Day: 5 Thursdays Time: 1:15-2:45 p.m. Dates: 4/5 to 5/3 Location: Room 204, 1st Fl., McCormack Hall, Umass Boston Facilitator: Thomas McMullin Description: Early 20th Century Boston was characterized by dramatic changes and events. The main goal of the course is to introduce details of four subject topics: prohibition, the police strike of 1919, The Sacco-Vanzetti case and the rise of the political bosses. These subjects all reflect conflict in the Boston area. The influence of ethnicity in the four subjects is a connecting theme of the course.
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Great Conversations
Day: 5 Thursdays Time: 10 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. Dates: 4/12 to 5/10 Location: Room 125, 3rd Fl., Wheatley Hall, Umass Boston Facilitator: Alicia Coletti Description: Participants will read and discuss selections from Great Conversation #5, put together by the Great Books Foundation. Members will discuss selections in the second half of the anthology, which contain readings of Sartre, Welty and Lessing, among others. The readings are designed to engender discussion and will please those who enjoy reading great books and the lively pleasure of conversing about the ideas included in the books. Note: Great Conversations #5 may be ordered from the Great Books Foundation at 1-800-222-5870.
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The Positive and Negative Effects of Religiosity in Modern Times
Day: 5 Thursdays Time: 10 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. Dates: 4/12 to 5/10 Location: Room 204, 3rd Fl. McCormack Hall, Umass Boston Facilitator: Corina Oala Description: Religion, important in the lives of many Americans, has been shown to be linked to a number of health benefits. For example, religiosity (the involvement in religious activity) is associated with benefits across physical health, psychological, and social domains. However, the benefits derived from religiosity differ by one’s gender and race. This course will provide students with recent research findings from religiosity studies, promote weekly class dialogue, and also discuss situations when religiosity may actually be harmful.
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Neglected Opera Gems
Day: 5 Thursdays Time: 1:15-3:15 p.m. Dates: 4/19 to 5/17 Location: Room 204A, 3rd Fl., McCormack Hall, Umass Boston Facilitator: James J. Buckley Description: Are you tired of seeing the same operas performed over and over again (e.g. La Boheme, Madame Butterfly, etc)? Here is an opportunity to see and discuss some equally good but seldom performed operas, such as La Giaconda, Samson and Dalila. We’ll view operas in class and enjoy informed discussion.
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Healthy Lifestyles to Improve Brain Health: Evidence-based Recommendations (Video Conference Class)
Day: 6 Thursdays Time: 1:15-3 p.m. Dates: 4/12 to 5/17 Location: Presentation Room 3, Lower Level, Healey Library, Umass Boston; Cordage Park. Plymouth & Hingham Public Library via video conference Facilitator: Nancy Emerson Lombardo and Lynn Serper Description: This information-packed series of interactive workshops is pertinent to the overall goal of wellness for older adults. It emphasizes brain health in the context of body health and will update participants on research-based ideas about how to modify life style to help reduce the risk of and delay the progression of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other dementias, as well as maintain or restore emotional health. Research suggests that a variety of nutritional factors, social engagement, mental stimulation, physical exercise, complex activities incorporating multiple domains, and management of stress and depression help preserve brain health. Adequate sleep is also essential for a healthy brain. Music, art and certain spiritual practices also enhance brain health. Intervention studies indicate the independent and synergistic efficacy of nutrition, cognitive rehabilitation, physical exercise, and various alternative medicine practices in improving cognition, mood and quality of life of persons who already live with AD or other memory or brain disorders.
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Culinary Italy: From North to South
Day: 5 Thursdays Time: 10 a.m. -11:30 a.m. Dates: 5/3 to 5/31 Location: Room 204A, 3rd Fl., McCormack Hall, Umass Boston Facilitator: Genevieve Forde Description: This four-week class will give you the insight into Italian cuisine that you have always wanted. Join us as we learn where Telligio comes from, where Chianti is produced and the differences in styles. Learn techniques and ingredients as you move from north to south culminating with a trip to Boston’s historic North End. It will be like visiting Italy without having to renew your passport. Bring all your questions, personal experiences and your love of all things Italian. Limit to 15.
