Monday Courses   

Most of us spend half our adult lives going through major life transitions—like retirement, marriage, loss of a loved one, divorce, inheritance, career change, empty nest, and big health challenges—yet we have never been trained in the vital skills needed to master (or even manage) these life passages. Change happens quickly, but major life transitions can take years. The transformation that results from working through them skillfully lasts a lifetime. This course explores how you have handled these significant “life-quakes” in the past, and how you can use them now and in the future as times of reimagining and reinvention. We will explore the four phases of major life transitions, both in the research and in your own experience. These challenging passages launch your life’s next chapter and hold great potential gifts of “post-traumatic growth” while allowing you to design your own ideal next chapter. Our emphasis will be on developing the creative skills to flow through major change.

NOTE: There is no class session on Memorial Day, Monday, May 27.

Ken Burns and his collaborators have been creating historical documentary films on PBS for more than 40 years. Known for a signature style that brings primary source documents, images, and archival video footage to life on screen, these films present the opportunity to pose thought-provoking questions for students and introduce new ideas and perspectives. Using the documentary “US and the Holocaust” by Ken Burns, Lynn Novick, and Sarah Botstein as a starting point, the course will use video clips and a discussion guide to consider the US response to the Holocaust. Lesson topics cover the impacts of Nazi ideology, US immigration law in the period of 1924-1941, US media coverage of the Holocaust and its role in shaping what America knew, the varying symbolism of the Statue of Liberty, an examination of how people make choices during times of crisis, and an inquiry inviting students to consider if US public opinion influenced US response to the Holocaust.

NOTE: Be warned that this film and the course contain material that may be sensitive for some students. Watching the documentary before the course is recommended, but not required.

In this course, we will explore the structure and primary movements of the shoulders, arms and hands, and how they are connected to the entire skeleton and to you as a complete human being. Each class features an exercise, or “lesson,” involving gentle movements done slowly with minimal effort, while paying attention to your own personal experience. You determine how big, how fast, or how “good” you do the exercises. You will be guided through enjoyable sequences, exploring and discovering ways of moving with spontaneity and awareness. You can think of these exercises as safe, fun puzzles for your nervous system and brain. Each lesson is designed to help you remember, learn, and create new patterns of behavior. You will be involved in your own process of learning. This course is ideal for all ages and abilities. You will increase your balance and reach, turn more easily, and reduce tension as you adjust and move with more comfort and ease. Repeating this course yields even more benefit!

 

NOTE: A waiver must be signed prior to the first class.

Have you ever wanted to learn to play the guitar well enough to play for your own enjoyment? Did you get a guitar and take a few lessons, but put it away, intending to pick it up again someday? Do you have a guitar somewhere, or can you find one to use for eight weeks? If so, this introductory guitar course may be for you. Unlike other instruments, you can begin to create pleasing music with the guitar within a few weeks. The class will introduce a variety of guitar-playing styles and techniques. Sessions will consist of lectures and demonstrations, followed by group practice. Each student will have the opportunity to practice individually with guidance from the instructor. Students will need to provide their own guitars and be willing to spend some time at home between sessions reviewing the skills introduced. A 40-page course study guide will be emailed to each student for downloading or printing, or students may choose to purchase a bound copy for around $10.00. 

NOTE: No prior musical knowledge is required to enroll in the course. Students must be willing to keep their fingernails cut short on their left hand in order to be able to play the guitar effectively.

Learn a complete Tai Chi form for health and longevity that you can do anywhere, anytime, and that is adaptable for all ages, body types, and abilities. No previous experience is necessary. Reduce stress, improve balance, gain focus/concentration, relieve pain, and gain benefits galore from a 3,000-year-old Chinese movement form: Tai Chi. When you finish the six-week course, you will have three tools in your toolbox for dealing with change, transition, and life in general. You will have the Tai Chi 17 form, which includes movements from Yang Short Form, so you will be prepared to study further if you wish. You will have learned a sequence called Finished the Form, which you can use alone as a practice or as a warm up or cool down for other practices. You will gain a basic knowledge of Tai Chi/martial arts and how to promote health and mind/body awareness. People who have taken this course will reap even more benefit from repeating it!

NOTE: A waiver must be signed prior to the first class. 

All around us things vibrate and wave. Some, like cars with bad shocks, shake slowly, while others, like piano strings, shake quickly. How do we describe the shaking? How do we describe sound, light, gravity, or the seismic waves that follow the shaking? How will the waves from the Cascadia Fault travel here? How do we make those ultrasonic images? What is ultrasound anyway? The course lectures include illustrations from internet resources, video clips, and animations. Everyone is expected to ask questions at any time during the class. Other resources are available at Learnernotes.org.

This class, a repeat of the same class held four years ago, will show 10 classic musical films of Fred Astaire without Ginger Rogers. It will start with 1937's "A Damsel in Distress" with George Burns and Gracie Allen and finish with 1957's "Funny Face" with Audrey Hepburn. The other eight are "Broadway Melody of 1940," "Holiday Inn," "You Were Never Lovelier," "The Sky's the Limit," "Blue Skies," "Easter Parade," "Royal Wedding," and "The Band Wagon." A handout for each film will be made available the week before the showing of that film except for the first film. That first handout will be made available on the day of the showing of the first film. The instructor will mention anything special to be noticed about each film just before it is shown, and students may offer comments or questions at that time. A guided discussion will follow the end of the film. Students need bring nothing more than a desire to see these special musical films that are true classics & still enjoyable no matter how many times one views them.

NOTE: This is the second session in a four-year (12-term) series of classic musical films first introduced eight years ago and introduced again four years ago.

Electric Vehicles (EVs) promise to be the foundation for future transportation needs, helping to address the climate change imperative. However, the transition to EVs challenge many of our fundamental assumptions regarding how vehicles are fueled, maintained and driven, and present serious technological challenges to advance battery chemistry and technology toward the cost and energy density levels required for mass EV adoption. This course goes beyond the “EV overview” stage to focus more deeply into the scientific and technological aspects that will make the EV the “next big thing” in the transportation sector. Topics covered include a comparison with gas-powered vehicles in terms of maintenance, fuel cost, efficiency, and driving experience. In addition, we will explore EV battery attributes, chemistry and technology, providing a look forward toward new much cheaper and longer-range battery technologies. The course will be lecture-based and is intended for anyone interested in EVs.