Brown Bags
In addition to taking courses, members have an opportunity to attend a series of nearly 40 mid-day Brown Bag presentations on a broad range of topics. Members will be notified about specific dates and locations of these presentations one month before each event. You may register once you receive notice of the dates from our office.
Please feel free to bring your own brown bag lunch.
Click here for more details on our Spring 2013 brown bags, date to be announced.
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The Prettiest Places in the Commonwealth
Day: Wednesday Time: 11:30-1 p.m. Dates: March 6, 2012 Location: UMass Boston; McCormack Hall, 3rd Fl., Room 201(formerly cafeteria near OLLI Office) Facilitator: Lynn Hildenbrand Description: Spring is the perfect time to visit Massachusetts State Parks as the sun brightens the landscape and warming air invites explorers outdoors. The health and happiness of people across Massachusetts depend on the accessibility and quality of our natural resources, recreational facilities, and great historic landscapes. The Department of Conservation and Recreation is steward of one of the largest state park systems in the country. Its 450,000 acres include forests, parks, greenways, historic sites and landscapes, seashores, lakes, ponds, reservoirs, and watersheds. Travel through the Commonwealth’s natural, cultural, and recreational resources in this hour long power-point presentation. The audience is welcome to share their experiences. Helpful brochures will be available for audience members to plan their next trips.
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What Happens in Probate and Family Court and Why Should We Care?
Day: Wednesday Time: 11:35 a.m.-1 p.m. Dates: March 13, 2013 Location: UMass Boston; McCormack Hall, 3rd Fl., Room 201(formerly cafeteria near OLLI Office) Facilitator: Loretta S. O’Brien Description: This session will explore jurisdiction, the process, and war stories from the facilitators’ years of experience in Probate and Family Court. Probate court cases involve the distribution of property of the deceased. Issues of marriage, spousal abuse, legitimacy, surrogacy, child abduction and abuse are the domain of Family Court. The serious and difficult work of the courts is important for every citizen to understand and appreciate.
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Self-Help Gurus in Modern Times: An Introduction
Day: Thursday Time: 11:35 a.m.-1 p.m. Dates: March 14, 2013 Location: UMass Boston; McCormack Hall, 3rd Fl., Room 204A Facilitator: Patricia Delval Description: This presentation will introduce some of the modern self-help gurus in the physical, emotional and spiritual health arenas: Andrew Weil, Dr. Oz, Joel Fuhrman, Sarah Ban Breathnach, Wayne Dyer, Thich Naht Hanh, Eckhart Tolle, Mark Nepo, Deepak Chopra, Suzy Orman, Tony Robbins, and others. Each will be presented with a statement of his/her premises, notable quotations, and examples from the main tenets of the philosophy. The goal of the presentation is to introduce a wide variety of self-help leaders in today’s world.
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The Suriname Diary: The Wild Adventures of Daniel Rolander (1723-1793)
Day: Monday Time: 11:35 a.m.-1 p.m. Dates: March 18, 2013 Location: UMass Boston; McCormack Hall, 3rd Fl., Room 201(formerly cafeteria near OLLI Office) Facilitator: James Dobreff Description: Swedish naturalist Daniel Rolander studied under the famous Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus for ten years. In their work together, Linnaeus sent Rolander to Suriname, in northern South America. The expedition lasted two years. Rolander describes the entire journey in a wildly entertaining journal that has existed as a single manuscript, which Professor Dobreff and translators translated to English in 2009. Dobreff’s most recent book on Rolander was nominated for the prestigious Augustpriset, the Swedish National Book Award.
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Solo Trip to The Caucasus
Day: Wednesday Time: 11:35 a.m.-1 p.m. Dates: March 20, 2013 Location: UMass Boston; McCormack Hall, 3rd Fl., Room 201(formerly cafeteria near OLLI Office) Facilitator: Nicholas Johnson Description: This past October presenter Nicholas Johnson traveled to Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. The Brownbag will be a narrated slide show focused on this fascinating part of the world.
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John Adams and the Boston Massacre (Video Conference)
Day: Friday Time: 11:35 a.m.-1 p.m. Dates: March 22, 2013 Location: UMass Boston, Healey Library, Lower Level, Presentation Room 3 & Cordage Park, Plymouth Facilitator: Gary Hylander Description: On the evening of March 5, 1770, a crowd of rowdy Bostonians, angry over taxes and the presence of British soldiers in their town began throwing snowballs and rocks at a squad of soldiers guarding the Customs House. Nervous and outnumbered, the Regulars opened fire killing or wounding eleven citizens. Join us as we discuss the events of the Boston Massacre and why John Adams despite, the protests of his wife, Abigail, agreed to defend the soldiers against murder charges.
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Rupert Murdoch, the British Media and Democracy
Day: Tuesday Time: 11:35 a.m.-1 p.m. Dates: March 26, 2013 Location: UMass Boston; McCormack Hall, 3rd Fl., Room 204A Facilitator: Robert Weiner Description: The talk will analyze the effects of the Murdoch scandals on the British political system, with special emphasis placed on the role of the media in British politics.
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The Aging Eye
Day: Friday Time: 11:35 a.m.-1 p.m. Dates: March 29, 2013 Location: UMass Boston; McCormack Hall, 3rd Fl., Room 201(formerly cafeteria near OLLI Office) Facilitator: Ellen Gilman Description: Everyone over age 50 has at least one of these conditions: dry eye, cataract, presbyopia, glaucoma, macular degeneration. These are common conditions associated with “seniority.” In this Brownbag presentation, an overview of each of these conditions will be discussed, including their symptoms, causes, treatment, and prevention.
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Living in the Digital Age: Are You Ready?
Day: Monday Time: 11:35 a.m.-1 p.m. Dates: April 1, 2013 Location: UMass Boston; McCormack Hall, 3rd Fl., Room 201(formerly cafeteria near OLLI Office) Facilitator: Paul Saia Description: How is the digital age coming about? What are the driving forces? These are just two of the questions that people of all ages are asking. More specifically, what does it mean to you on a personal level? This presentation aims to show how this is all happening, why it is happening, and the best course of action. It starts with a famous law pertaining to the development of transistors and the future technological direction. This law is known as Moore’s Law, the observation that over the history of computing hardware, the number of transistors on integrated circuits doubles approximately every two years. The implications can be seen in the newest telephone devices, their size, and the number of applications. We’ll take a look at the changes in the way people conduct their personal business, including with the post office, paper checks, paper newspapers, paper books, land-line telephones, music purchases, television, personal privacy, and securing data.
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The Sixty-Fourth Day: A Memoir Reading and Discussion
Day: Tuesday Time: 11:35 a.m.-1 p.m. Dates: April 2, 2013 Location: UMass Boston; McCormack Hall, 3rd Fl., Room 204A Facilitator: Rowena Winik Description: The Sixty-Fourth Day is about Robyn, a 16-year-old girl who realizes she’s a lesbian when she falls in love with a woman twice her age. Robyn comes out to her parents, triggering a series of heartbreaking events that result in her living on the streets of 1950’s Boston. She turns to her few close lesbian friends but quickly learns there is no one she can trust. For 22 months Robyn depends on all of her resources to survive. She finds the life she hopes for, but grows up wanting more. In this presentation, the author will read from her book and welcome discussion.
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The Origins of Baseball (Video Conference)
Day: Wednesday Time: 11:30-1 p.m. Dates: April 3, 2013 Location: UMass Boston, Healey Library, Lower Level, Presentation Room 3; Cordage Park, Plymouth & Hingham Public Library via video conference Facilitator: Vincent Cannato Description: Abner Doubleday invented the game of baseball at Cooperstown, NY, in 1839. Right? Well, not exactly. Learn about the real, but murky, origins of the game of baseball, from early bat and ball games to the role of both Massachusetts and New York in the evolution of the game. We will discuss the evolution of the rules of baseball in the late 19th century as well as the formation of the National and American Leagues.
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Human Genetics and Beyond: Epigenetics - The Story of Nature and Nurture in the New Age
Day: Thursday Time: 11:35 a.m-1 p.m. Dates: April 4, 2013 Location: UMass Boston; McCormack Hall, 3rd Fl., Ryan Lounge Facilitator: Dr. Tara Devi S. Ashok Description: This presentation will explain some basic concepts of genetics and how they can be applied to human traits and their expression. A deeper discussion will be on the nature and nurture concept. Epigenetics is the new field which deals with the understanding of how environmental factors influence the expression of a gene that is already inherited. This mechanism will be explained in simple terms with the help of a few examples. It will illustrate how even monozygotic twins may not show the same expression for the traits that may be identical at the DNA sequence level. Therefore, in modern times, a hope is generated for delaying the onset of some diseases by better management of the environmental factors. The talk will be in keeping with simple terminology and a wide array of examples which will make it very understandable for one and all.
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Burma/Myanmar in Transition
Day: Friday Time: 11:35 a.m.-1 p.m. Dates: April 5, 2013 Location: UMass Boston; McCormack Hall, 3rd Fl., Room 201(formerly cafeteria near OLLI Office) Facilitator: Aung Tun Description: After five decades of brutal military rule, Myanmar (Burma) is undergoing a miraculous transformation toward democracy. This presentation is an opportunity to learn more about democratization and the lessons learned to be from it. It is also about seeing a different world in this era of globalization. We will talk about why the regime of this isolated country remained in power for so long, the reasons for civil war, and how the democratic movement began. Finally we will discuss future challenges for Burma.
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Who Is that Girl in Pink? The Life and Times of Suzanne Valadon: Model and Artist
Day: Monday Time: 11:35 a.m.-1 p.m. Dates: April 8, 2013 Location: UMass Boston; McCormack Hall, 3rd Fl., Room 201(formerly cafeteria near OLLI Office) Facilitator: Eve Rifkah Description: Eve Rifkah, poet, artist, historian, reads from Dear Suzanne, a novel in verse, on the life of Suzanne Valadon, 1865-1938. A favorite model of the Impressionists, in particular Renoir --The Dance at Bougival in the MFA--she was also a celebrated artist. Side by side with persona poems in the voice of Valadon, Rifkah tells her own story in prose poems. Rifkah, accompanied by a power-point presentation of paintings with Valadon as model, her work, and photographs, lectures on the celebrated times of the Impressionists.
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I’m 55 Plus: What Do I Do Next?
Day: Tuesday Time: 11:35 a.m.-12:45 p.m. Dates: April 9, 2013 Location: UMass Boston; McCormack Hall, 3rd Fl., Ryan Lounge Facilitator: Cindy Weiner and Barbara Wells Description: Professionals age 55+ with skills, talent and generosity of spirit can make a social impact and reinvest a career’s worth of skills towards serving a nonprofit in their communities. ReServe is a nonprofit matching talented continuing professionals age 55+ with part-time service opportunities, which are critical in helping nonprofits and public agencies meet their missions. These opportunities allow you to serve your communities while also earning a stipend. ReServe Greater Boston has recently launched as a program of Jewish Vocational Service (JVS) in collaboration with Discovering What’s Next. JVS is an agency that provides job training and helps people find jobs. Discovering What's Next is a program that partners with Newton Public Library to help retirees to explore life and volunteer options after retirement.
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Underground Boston (Video Conference)
Day: Wednesday Time: 11:35 a.m.-1 p.m. Dates: April 10, 2013 Location: UMass Boston, Healey Library, Lower Level, Presentation Room 3; Cordage Park, Plymouth & Hingham Public Library via video conference Facilitator: Joe Bagley Description: Boston is world-renowned for its history, but much of the story of Boston is hidden beneath its streets, parks, and open space. With nearly 200 documented archaeological sites within city borders, Boston truly is the City of Archaeology. City Archaeologist, Joe Bagley, will share recent discoveries in the archaeology of Boston, with a focus on the area surrounding UMass Boston, and future plans for archaeology in the city.
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The Turkish Alphabet Revolution
Day: Tuesday Time: 11:35 a.m.-1 p.m. Dates: April 16, 2013 Location: UMass Boston; McCormack Hall, 3rd Fl., Ryan Lounge Facilitator: Ruth Miller Description: On November 1, 1928, the newly formed Turkish Republican parliament unanimously passed Turkey’s “Alphabet Law.” According to this law, Latin, rather than Arabic, characters would constitute Turkey’s official script, and any public or private correspondence printed in the old characters would be illegal after June 1930. The Alphabet Revolution, as it came to be called, holds pride of place in mainstream Turkish Republic political memory. Although the actual implementation of the change was gradual, the Alphabet Revolution is remembered as an overnight success: All traces of Arabic characters disappeared one night in 1928—to be replaced, the next morning, by their Latin counterparts. This presentation will address some of the implications of radical script reforms such as Turkey's.
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American Art in Boston
Day: Wednesday Time: 11:35 a.m.-1 p.m. Dates: April 17, 2013 Location: UMass Boston; McCormack Hall, 3rd Fl., Room 201(formerly cafeteria near OLLI Office) Facilitator: Carol G. J. Scollans Description: This presentation offers a historical overview of painting, sculpture and architecture produced in and around Boston from the 17th century through the early 20th century. Topics include the colonial vision, the search for an American style, eclecticism and diversity in the 19th century, and realism to abstraction in the 20th century.
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The Dome of the Rock: The Politics of Islamic Art & Israeli Archaeology in an Un-unified Jerusalem
Day: Thursday Time: 11:35 a.m.-1 p.m. Dates: April 18, 2013 Location: UMass Boston; McCormack Hall, 3rd Fl., Room 204A Facilitator: Dr. Beatrice St. Laurent Description: This presentation focuses on the Dome of the Rock (completed in 691 CE) on the Haram al-Sharif, until now, thought to be the oldest surviving Muslim monument and its role as a symbol of the city of Jerusalem. The site is otherwise known as the Temple Mount to Jews and was the site of the First and Second Temples. The Dome resides in internationally considered occupied territory and is maintained by the Jordanian government with local Palestinian representatives on site. Israeli archaeologists are also interested in this site and would like to excavate and explore the site for Temple remains.
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Views of Cedar Grove Cemetery in Dorchester and the North End of Boston
Day: Monday Time: 11:35 a.m.-1 p.m. Dates: April 22, 2013 Location: UMass Boston; McCormack Hall, 3rd Fl., Room 201(formerly cafeteria near OLLI Office) Facilitator: Rob Severy Description: Gain new appreciation for Boston neighborhoods through a narrated slide show about Dorchester and the North End, and learn about the history, people, and architecture of these nearby communities. We will focus on stones in the Cedar Grove cemetery in Dorchester, near the Neponset River. There are 48,000 stones at Cedar Grove, all with a story! A few of the inhabitants we will explore are North End resident Sara Smith, mother of Reverend Samuel Smith who wrote "My Country Tis of Thee"; and Reverend Fodius Fisk, who was in large measure responsible for abolishing flogging on navy ships. The presenter will bring cemetery guides for participants.
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Changes in Memory: Is it Normal Aging?
Day: Tuesday Time: 11:35 a.m.-1 p.m. Dates: April 23, 2013 Location: UMass Boston; McCormack Hall, 3rd Fl., Room 204A Facilitator: Will Reiter Description: Many people worry about their memory. This presentation contrasts typical memory changes we experience as we age with the distinct memory problems of someone with Alzheimer’s disease. It offers tips to maximize memory, discusses the warning signs that memory loss may be something more serious, and highlights current trends in care and research. We can all do something to make a difference. Join us to learn more.
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Memories that Still Burn: Remembering the Cocoanut Grove
Day: Wednesday Time: 11:35 a.m.-1 p.m. Dates: April 24, 2013 Location: UMass Boston; McCormack Hall, 3rd Fl., Room 201(formerly cafeteria near OLLI Office) Facilitator: Susan Marsh Description: A coalition of libraries, archives and fire protection organizations has embarked on a unique mission to provide a single credible collective source of information to address Boston’s Cocoanut Grove Nightclub Fire of 1942, one of the deadliest in U.S. history. This group has provided a website that summarizes existing known information and artifacts, and provide a focal point for others with additional information, including personal testimony about the event. Sue Marsh will provide an update on this initiative, assisted by Casey Grant who will refresh our memories on the event itself.
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Into the Crazywoods – A Memoir of Madness
Day: Tuesday Time: 11:35 a.m.-1 p.m. Dates: April 30, 2013 Location: UMass Boston; McCormack Hall, 3rd Fl., Room 201(formerly cafeteria near OLLI Office) Facilitator: Cheryl Savageau Description: In this presentation, OLLI writing facilitator Cheryl Savageau will read from her memoir-in-progress. Cheryl was diagnosed in her 50s with bipolar disorder (manic-depression), which has thrown her life into an entirely different perspective. In her memoir, she looks especially at connections between madness, spirituality, and art, as well as cultural definitions of madness. She hopes to open discussion about this mostly hidden disability, because there is much misinformation on what it means to have a mental illness.
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The Rising at Roxbury Crossing
Day: Wednesday Time: 11:35 a.m.-1 p.m. Dates: May 1, 2013 Location: UMass Boston; McCormack Hall, 3rd Floor, Room 201 (former McCormack Cafeteria) Facilitator: James Redfearn Description: This presentation by the novel’s author examines a tumultuous period in Boston and Irish history, following World War I. In The Rising at Roxbury Crossing, America is seeking its lost identity as radical revolutionaries, high unemployment, and labor unrest challenge the nation’s institutions. In Boston, a conflict is played out by the city’s Irish and underpaid police force, while its neighborhoods echo with news of Ireland’s guerrilla war. Boston “copper,” Willie Dwyer, is haunted by a decade-old nightmare—his legacy to the Irish Rebellion. When the police strike and the city erupt, his past comes calling at Roxbury Crossing.
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Adapting to the Physical Changes of the Aging Process
Day: Friday Time: 11:35 a.m.-1 p.m. Dates: May 3, 2013 Location: UMass Boston; McCormack Hall, 3rd Floor, Room 201 (former McCormack Cafeteria) Facilitator: Raymond Choiniere Description: This presentation provides insight into the challenges that the human body faces in the aging process. For older adults, pain and the loss of mobility, strength, balance and functional ability can become obstacles to maintaining daily activities. Learning how to adapt to these changes and redirecting our focus can make our lives healthier and more productive as we age.
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Changes in Memory: Is it Normal Aging? (Offered at Hingham Public Library)
Day: Monday Time: 11:35 a.m.-1 p.m. Dates: May 6, 2013 Location: Hingham Public Library; 66 Leavitt Street, Hingham, MA Facilitator: Will Reiter Description: Many people worry about their memory. This presentation contrasts typical memory changes we experience as we age with the distinct memory problems of someone with Alzheimer’s disease. It offers tips to maximize memory, discusses the warning signs that memory loss may be something more serious, and highlights current trends in care and research. We can all do something to make a difference. Join us to learn more.
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Inside Hana’s Suitcase
Day: Tuesday Time: 11:35 a.m.-1 p.m. Dates: May 7, 2013 Location: UMass Boston; McCormack Hall, 3rd Floor, Room 204 Facilitator: Milton J. Wolk Description: This film documents the fate of one Jewish family, the Bradys, who were deported from Czechoslovakia during the holocaust, and traces the journey of Fumiko Ishioka, Director of the Tokyo Holocaust Education Resource Center. For one year, Fumiko crossed three continents to gather information about Hana Brady’s suitcase. Fumiko received it after visiting the Auschwitz museum in 1999 to request material to help educate Japanese children about the holocaust and its relationship to hatred, discrimination and bigotry. The film explores the themes of acceptance of differences and individual responsibility. A group discussion will follow.
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Probing the Planets (offered at Hingham Public Library)
Day: Wednesday Time: 11:35 a.m.-1 p.m. Dates: May 8, 2013 Location: Hingham Public Library; 66 Leavitt Street, Hingham, MA Facilitator: James Livingston Description: The successful landing of the rover Curiosity on Mars last year drew much interest, but NASA has been sending scientific probes to the planets for many years, starting with Mariner 2 and its flyby of Venus in December 1962. Our nearest-neighbor planets Venus and Mars have been the most explored, but since 2011, NASA’s Messenger probe has been orbiting Mercury and studying its crater-pocked surface in great detail. The Galileo orbiter studied Jupiter and its fascinating moons for several years; the Cassini-Huygens probe continues to reveal new information about Saturn, its rings, and its many moons (actually landing on one); and Voyager provided close-up shots of Uranus and Neptune on its long journey to the outer reaches of our solar system. We will review the past, present, and future interplanetary probes of NASA aimed at understanding the formation of our Earth and its neighborhood.
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Why We Are Fat!
Day: Monday Time: 11:35 a.m.-1 p.m. Dates: May 13, 2013 Location: UMass Boston; McCormack Hall, 3rd Floor, Room 201 (former McCormack Cafeteria) Facilitator: Renee McInnes Description: It’s not just the calories – it’s the chemicals. This presentation explores the world of food and its benefits to help you find a balance in everyday life, achieve weight loss without dieting, reduce stress, sleep well, and more.
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Aging and Disabilities II: A Conundrum as We Age (Part II)
Day: Thursday Time: 11:35 a.m.-1 p.m. Dates: May 16, 2013 Location: UMass Boston; McCormack Hall, 3rd Floor, Room 204A Facilitator: Sarah F. Pearlman Description: We enter many different worlds as we age, often encountering new experiences with surprise and trepidation. One world is that of disability where many people, long before aging, have spent a lifetime dealing with the challenges that limitations can present in terms of mobility, vision, and hearing. There is much to learn from this world of strength and courage, as aging meets up with new limitations and individuals struggle in the quest to manage those disabilities that arrive with age. This panel of LGBT elders will bring experience and wisdom to this difficult subject with honesty as well as humor and will focus on conflicting feelings that occur between aging and disabled people. This is Part II of an ongoing series as we develop an understanding about these new aspects of our lives. Both previous (Part I) and new participants are welcome.
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Poems for Real Men - and Women! (Video Conference)
Day: Friday Time: 11:35 a.m.-1 p.m. Dates: May 17, 2013 Location: UMass Boston; Healey Library, Lower Level (LL), Presentation Room 3; and via video conference to Cordage Park, Plymouth (please note that Hingham Public Library is closed on Fridays) Facilitator: Richard Pierce Description: A college administrator recently said that poems are only for women! What a surprise to Jesuits who taught their own from G.M. Hopkins and T.S. Eliot to generations of men at Holy Cross, Georgetown and BC! Or to those who read Psalms or Vedas or Lotus Sutra. And to General Eisenhower, whose favorite poems we will read; or to poet Michael Casey, an MP in Vietnam. We will read biologist A.R. Ammons and businessman Wallace Stevens, and 103-year old Stanley Kunitz of Worcester—and a few great women, to remind the boys it’s a new world out there. Strong women are urged to attend, as perhaps men are not tough enough to take this much reality! (Eliot)
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"That Dream of Growth": A Poetry Reading with the Dot Four Poets (offered at Hingham Public Library)
Day: Monday Time: 11:35 a.m.-1 p.m. Dates: May 20, 2013 Location: Hingham Public Library; 66 Leavitt Street, Hingham, MA Facilitator: The Dot Four Description: Join the Dot Four, a group of Dorchester poets for a reading and discussion about what poet Tony Hoagland calls "That dream of growth." Facing our lives and aging, Hoagland writes "To preserve that dream through thick and thin is a kind of talent too, one that might enable us to move past the artist we thought we were, into some new identity—perhaps less familiar but more wonderful." Meg Campbell, Jean Knox, Sandra Kohler and Connie Veenendaal are neighbors who gather regularly to cultivate "that dream of growth" in their poetry. They will read poems and share their experience as writers.
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Leonardo Da Vinci and The Last Supper
Day: Tuesday Time: 11:35 a.m.-1 p.m. Dates: May 21, 2013 Location: UMass Boston; McCormack Hall, 3rd Floor, Room 204A Facilitator: Irene L. Roman Description: To begin to appreciate one of Da Vinci’s two greatest artistic accomplishments during the Italian High Renaissance Period of the 1500’s, one should be cognizant of the following: Who commissioned the fresco, why was it in the Refectory of Santa Maria della Grazie (Milan), what does one interpret from the body language and expressions of the figures depicted, and why the use and significance of certain colors in the vestments. Answering these basic questions allow us to truly “see” and interpret this masterpiece.
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Contemporary Buddhism: Not Your Parents’ Buddhism! (And How You Can Use Insights and Practices, Whatever You Are) (Video Conference)
Day: Wednesday Time: 11:35 a.m.- 1 p.m. Dates: May 29, 2013 Location: UMass Boston; Healey Library, Lower Level (LL), Presentation Room 3; and via video conference to Hingham Public Library and to Cordage Park, Plymouth Facilitator: Richard Pierce Description: Not so long ago, Buddhism was a faraway phenomenon. But there are new forms, and new influences, and new worlds that Buddhists inhabit! This talk will explore those new forms, influences, and worlds. One Massachusetts community, Lowell, has 45,000 Americans who are Cambodian Buddhists. Our spiritual heroes used to be Protestant, Catholic, and Jew: Dr. King, M. Therese, Elie Wiesel; the contemporary world’s most celebrated are Buddhists: the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar. And in Tibet, in Southeast Asia, and in China, Buddhists have been forced to deal with a new world, our world, and many have chosen not to run away from it, or fight it, as do the fundamentalists. The Result: a spiritual discipline, religious thought, and engaged morality for our Century. Mindfulness, social-activism, compassion, and peace. This is Buddhism for Christians, Jews, Muslims, agnostics – anyone can profit towards health, calm, peace of mind, comfort. From Goldie Hawn and Bob Dylan to humanistic rabbis and the saintly Christian monk Thomas Merton, there are those who have learned and loved aspects of Buddhist life, while having no intention of abandoning their inherited traditions!
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Why We Are Fat! (Offered at Hingham Public Library)
Day: Tuesday Time: 11:35 a.m.-1 p.m. Dates: June 4, 2013 Location: Hingham Public Library; 66 Leavitt Street, Hingham, MA Facilitator: Renee McInnes Description: It’s not just the calories – it’s the chemicals. This presentation explores the world of food and its benefits to help you find a balance in everyday life, achieve weight loss without dieting, reduce stress, sleep well, and more.
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Holy Misrepresentation! : Memorable, but Misleading, Religious Art, Contradicted by the Bible and History (Video Conference)
Day: Thursday Time: 11:35 a.m.-1 p.m. Dates: June 6, 2013 Location: UMass Boston, Healey Library, Lower Level, Presentation Room 3; Cordage Park, Plymouth & Hingham Public Library via video conference Facilitator: Christopher Harding Description: Throughout the centuries, great art has helped those unable to read and those who don’t read the Bible closely to visualize great moments in Biblical history. Due to changing cultural circumstances throughout the centuries, artists have often unintentionally misled subsequent generations about what the Bible actually describes. Christmas is a great example: The Holy Family is usually depicted in a stable or shed, whereas Christ’s birth most likely happened in a cave. Scenes depicting the shepherds and Wise Men together at the scene of His birth contradict scripture, which suggests their visits happened a year or two apart. Much of the world celebrates January 6 as the Feast of the Three Kings, but the Bible mentions neither kings nor the number 3. This presentation seeks to distinguish between what the Bible contains and what historians say happened in the Old and New Testaments, and the images the public conceives, based on artistic representations. Those devastated to discover that Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy aren’t real should stay away from this Brown Bag!
