The Quill

Quick Updates for Independent Lifelong Learners

February 2, 2025

#543

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NEWS

Course Registration Continues

Let's Talk: Post-2024 Election - Wednesdays, 2/19-3/19


SPECIAL EVENTS

Wintersession Concludes: Tuesday, 2/4 - Thursday, 2/6

Intersession (LLARC)

LLAIC Loves Art: Smithsonian Museum II - Wednesday, 2/12

Attention LLAIC Music Lovers - BSO Sun., 3/16; Coltrane Fri., 3/21


AFFINITY GROUP MEETINGS

Spanish Conversation Group (La Tertulia) - Monday, 2/3

LLAIC Lit-Lovers: Catcher in the Rye - Friday, 2/14

Movie Mavens - Friday, 2/21

French Conversation Group


Not a member yet? Click here to join LLAIC.

NEWS

COURSE REGISTRATION CONTINUES


Course registration last week was robust and exciting! The good news is that only two courses are completely full, which means there are still lots of wonderful spring courses for you to choose. Registration will remain open until the week of February 10-14 at which time our friends at LLARC (Lifelong Learning at Regis College) will be invited to register for LLAIC classes. So don’t wait too long to decide!


We are offering more in-person classes than we have in years. Most are on Tuesday mornings and a few are on Thursdays. So if you are looking for social opportunities (along with intellectual challenges) that have been missing these last few years, join us in person! As an added incentive, we'll be resuming our popular LUNCH@LLAIC program on Tuesdays during the spring semester.


Do you have family members or friends who are recently retired or contemplating retirement, and who might be interested in some of our programs or courses? Mention us to them! There is no age requirement for LLAIC, and many of our members are still employed.

 

Our course schedule and full course descriptions are available on our website. Each course is listed by day, period, and course leader. If you click on the course name, you will get a full description, including the dates, times, location (Zoom or in person), amount of preparation, etc. If you click on the course leader’s name, you will find their bio. Click here for the course listings, click here for the Schedule-at-a-Glance, and click here for the full Course Catalog.


As part of our ongoing collaboration with LLARC (Lifelong Learning at Regis College), in early February we will be publishing a list of LLARC courses that are open to LLAIC members, some on Zoom, some in person at Regis College in Weston. You will be able to register for those courses during the week of February 10. A word to the wise: our courses will also open up to members of LLARC so if you are thinking of taking more than one LLAIC spring course, don’t wait too long to register! Furthermore, registration for LLAIC classes will be temporarily closed during the LLARC registration period (Feb. 10-14).


If you would prefer to register for membership and/or courses by mail, contact Richard Mansfield 978-443-4404 or richardscottmansfield@gmail.com and he will send you the forms.


Looking forward to an exciting spring term!

LET'S TALK

THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS POST-2024 ELECTION

FACILITATED BY MARVIN SNIDER

WEDNESDAYS 2/19, 2/26, 3/5, 3/12, 3/19

3:30–5:00 P.M. ON ZOOM


Description of the group: LLAIC’s Let’s Talk program organizes small discussion groups of 8-10 members so that participants can share personal feelings on a given topic. Marv Snider is interested in discussing members’ feelings and thoughts in the aftermath of the 2024 election. He plans to divide the discussion into three parts:


1)   Before-the-election feelings (candidates, campaigns, expectations, and your participation)


2)   Feelings immediately after the election (initial reactions, feelings and fears about the outcome, and questions about how to cope and respond)


3)   Feelings about the foreseeable future. 


Please join Marv in what should prove to be an informative and lively group discussion.


Group facilitator Marvin Snider has a Ph.D. in psychology, has been teaching at LLAIC since its inception, and has 20+ years’ experience running groups on a wide variety of topics.


LLAIC members can register for this group starting today. Registration will be open until the group is filled. The size of the group is limited (five minimum and ten maximum), so please sign up early by writing to Marvin Snider

SPECIAL EVENTS

Available to members at no additional charge

CONCLUDES TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4

THROUGH

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6

ALL SESSIONS START AT 10:00 A.M. ON ZOOM


We hope you enjoyed the first three weeks of our free winter program, and are ready to wrap it up with a dynamite final week. Thanks again to Eric Sawitz for coordinating this varied and innovative program.


WEEK FOUR


Tuesday February 4: "An Illustrated History of Ceramic Artist Hugh C. Robertson’s Dedham Pottery.” Led by Jim Kaufman. Jim Kaufman is a past president of the Dedham Museum and Archive and the longtime volunteer curator of its pottery collection. He will also be happy to discuss antique collecting in general.

Click here before noon tomorrow, Monday, 2/3, for a Zoom invitation.


Wednesday, February 5: "Timely Topics - The State of Israel." Led by Margalit Lai and Carole Levy.

Click here before noon on Tuesday, 2/4, for a Zoom invitation.


Thursday, February 6: Please join us as members of the memoir-writing group read some of the pieces they love the most. It’s always a treat, and often a surprise, to hear about the lives others have lived, moments large and small - their struggles, their joys, their challenges and, sometimes, their embarrassing moments. Please, too, bring something of your own to share. It doesn’t have to be autobiographical or indeed anything in particular. English is really the only requirement – oh, yes, and a five-minute limit. Everyone is welcome.

Click here before noon on Wednesday, 2/5, for a Zoom invitation. 

. . .AND INTERSESSION (LLARC)


As part of LLAIC’s continuing collaboration with LLARC (Lifelong Learning at Regis College), we are offering cross registration in both our winter programs, all on Zoom and all free to our members. LLARC’s Intersession consists of a few interesting three-week study groups in February, all on Zoom. Click on this link to see the topics being offered and to register for one or more of them if you'd like.

PLEASE JOIN LLAIC LOVES ART

SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN ART MUSEUM

"THIS IS ART. THIS IS AMERICA" (PART II)

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12 @ 1:30-2:30


The program, entitled “History, Culture, Identity,” invites participants to explore works by Latinx artists. Through their artworks, see history, culture, and identity as members of a group and as Americans reflected and explored. The series is discussion-based, so come ready to exchange observations and ideas with classmates and SAAM presenter Sally Evans. (If you missed the first presentation in this series, that does not inhibit you from attending future presentations as understanding of the presentation will not be affected.)


Sally Evans is an artist and art educator as well as a volunteer videoconference presenter for SAAM. As one of SAAM’s videoconference presenters, she lectures often, enjoying the engagement with people from all around the world while interacting with them about the interesting art in SAAM's collection. As an art educator, she works with adults who have memory impairment being able to adapt lessons for their understanding. She also enjoys developing, and orchestrating large collaborative art projects.


Click here before noon on Tuesday, February 11, for a Zoom invitation. You'll receive it that day.

ATTENTION LLAIC MUSIC LOVERS!


We have two wonderful concerts lined up at Symphony Hall in March.


We are holding a limited number of tickets for a wonderful Boston Symphony Orchestra concert on Sunday afternoon, March 16 at 2:00 p.m. at the special ticket price of $40.00.


Teddy Abrams will conduct, featuring Ray Chen playing Tchaikovsky’s beloved Violin Concerto, the first work the composer completed after his separation from his marriage and a piece he almost dedicated to his student, and likely lover, Iosif Kotek. It will be followed by Michael Tilson Thomas’s set of three Walt Whitman poems about longing and belonging for baritone and orchestra, and will end with Leonard Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story. 


If you would like to join us for this concert, complete the attached registration form and mail it to Terri Kasper, or email the form to Terri at the address provided and Venmo $40, by February 28th. We will arrange brunch or lunch beforehand.


* * * * * *

If you love Jazz and John Coltrane, this concert is for you. On Friday, March 21 at 8 p.m., we have a limited number of tickets for a very special event at Symphony Hall entitled Coltrane: Legacy for Orchestra. This concert played to much acclaim in November at the Lincoln Jazz Festival. This live concert highlights some of John Coltrane’s most popular and influential works while exhibiting many of his personal photographs. Tickets will be in the first balcony center at a special ticket cost of $42.30.

 

If you would like to join us for this jazz evening concert, send the attached registration form to Terri Kasper along with your payment of $42.30 per ticket, or email the form to Terri at the address provided and Venmo the payment, by March 7th. We will arrange a group dinner before the performance at The Westland.

* * * * * *

Specify which concert(s) you are interested in. Payment deadlines are Friday, February 28th for the BSO Sunday afternoon concert and March 7th for the jazz evening concert. No refunds will be issued after those dates.


AFFINITY GROUP MEETINGS

Available to members at no additional charge

SPANISH CONVERSATION GROUP

¡Bienvenidos a La Tertulia!

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3 @ 1:00

 

Our format consists of reading and discussing articles from various Spanish language media sources of general high interest. There is no homework although everyone is invited to submit articles they might find for our agendas.


The hosts for the group are Miriam Grodberg and Larry Krakauer. Contact Miriam to request an invitation or with any questions.

LLAIC LIT-LOVERS

CATCHER IN THE RYE

BY J.D. SALINGER

LED BY GAIL STONE

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14 @ 10:30

J.D. Salinger's (1919–2010) classic novel of teenage angst and rebellion was first published in 1951. The novel was included on Time's 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels written since 1923. It was named by Modern Library and its readers as one of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. It has been frequently challenged in the court for its liberal use of profanity and portrayal of sexuality and in the 1950's and 60's it was the novel that every teenage boy wanted to read.

  

Click here before noon on Thursday, February 13, to request a Zoom invitation. You'll receive it that day. If you can, log on a quarter of an hour earlier to socialize.


Coming up:

  • March 14 – Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano - led by Herb Chasan.

MOVIE MAVENS

BUY NOW: THE SHOPPING CONSPIRACY

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21 @ 2:00-3:00

This month we introduce a documentary on an important topic. We hope that as Movie Mavens we analyze the documentary structure itself as well as the issues it raises. We urge you NOT to read reviews, but rather to come with your own critique. Some possible questions are below (feel free to add your own):

•    Is it clear why the documentary was made and what it was trying to present to the viewer?

•    What aspects of the filming, narrative, people interviewed etc. support or distract from the message?

•    The movie uses a lot of AI. How or where does this AI help or detract from the overall experience? 

•    Did the movie make its case? Is this a case that should be made? What additional content might have helped with the message (e.g., perhaps making it more broadly appealing)? Is it just “preaching to the choir”?


Please feel free to come with suggestions about what we can do as individuals and communities to address the issues the movie raises. The movie is available on Netflix.


Click here before noon on Thursday, February 20, to request a Zoom invitation. It will be sent out that day

FRENCH CONVERSATION GROUP

The French reading group started a new book on Monday, January 13. It is Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. This is a classic of French literature which many of us have read before in French classes. It has fewer than 90 pages and as we tend to read about 30 pages each time we meet, we should read it in three sessions. Then we must choose a new book. We are asking everyone to suggest possibilities.


We meet for two hours by ZOOM every other Monday at 1 p.m. We are intermediate to advanced French readers. We read the texts out loud over the internet. Please email Betty Salzberg at bsalzberg127@gmail.com if you would like to join us.

Learn more about LLAIC at www.llaic.org

Call us: (508) 453-1205

Write us: info@llaic.org


Editor: Barbara Mende

Contributing Editor: Shelly Levine

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