Chelsea Adult Learners Institute announces fall classes
Joan Gaughan, Adult Learning Institute
In what we can all hope are the waning days of the pandemic, some of us are realizing that this “normal” won’t be quite like the old “normal” … if there ever was such a thing. Like many other people and institutions, we have had to learn to rely more on technology than we were accustomed to … or, in some cases, even wanted to. Some of us hated it and couldn’t wait to get away from it. Some of us embraced it enthusiastically. None of us can afford to remain indifferent to it. Almost half of ALI’s classes will be Zoomed or be a combination of Zoom and in-person. So, instead of being the generation of Baby Boomers we are now the generation of Senior Zoomers … and that’s a bad pun.
ALI probably would not be ALI without music. Fittingly, early in the Fall season, ALI offers four classes that, together, are almost a montage of the music, dance, and theatre of the twentieth century. Joel Hauger will open the season with a follow-up to his music of the 1920s class this past Winter term. Believing that much of our history is expressed in music, Mr. Hauger’s in-person class on September 10 will focus on the Music of the 1930s. The decade of the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, and bread lines was also the era of jazz, the Blues, the Big Band sounds of Glenn Miller, of Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Kate Smith, and Duke Ellington, among many other colorful artists.
Much of that music, of course, came to us through a new medium: radio. Before television, there was Our Miss Brooks, the Jack Benny and Arthur Godfrey shows, One Man’s Family, the Lone Ranger which introduced us to William Tell, and yes — even Gunsmoke on the radio. Using audio samples from these beloved programs, Henry Aldridge will discuss their history, their impact on American culture and the reasons for their decline in his in-person class on Old Time Radio on Monday afternoon, September 20.
Musical rhythm is normally, but not always, the backdrop for a uniquely American dance form, tap. Susan Filipiak who teaches tap and has choreographed shows for the Purple Rose and Croswell theaters, will show how tap — a blend of European, Native American and African-American dance — parallels American history itself. Students who take this in-person class in the History of Tap Dance — A True American Art Form — might want to ask her how about chair, boot, and slap dancing. Her class on October 16 will feature video clips from Hollywood, Broadway, vaudeville, nightclubs, and television.
On each of the four Mondays immediately following that class, Hank Muir and Chris Lenehan’s in-person class, Exploring Musical Theater, will feature the filmed version of a musical from Broadway, Hollywood, opera, or Gilbert and Sullivan. Before and after each showing, they will delve into the place each musical occupies in theatrical history.
A discussion of modern art is incomplete without the work of Pablo Picasso. But while we may look simply at his work, Edwin Hoffman will focus on Picasso’s search for truth grounded in an understanding of the interplay between nature and realism. His Zoom class, Pablo Picasso: Playing Golf with Reality, on the first three Wednesdays in November, will give special emphasis to Picasso’s work between 1940 and 1965, a time, as Mr. Hoffman suggests, “of great challenge and innovation for the artist.”
The past always intrigues us. So does religion. On September 16, Ken Phifer begins a 10-part Zoom series on the history of Christianity. You will not only hear about people you know — Jesus, Paul, Augustine, Luther and Calvin — but also about Christianity’s roots, doctrines such as the Trinity and Eucharist, and the impact of science on religion. As usual, there will be time for discussion during the lectures.
While that class explores the world of the spirit, Susan Nenadic’s Zoom class, History Written on Stone, is a virtual tour of the famous Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, the final physical dwelling place of not only Christian, but also Jewish and Muslim folks whose names you might recognize. Jim Morrison of The Doors musical group is a resident along with the famed lovers, Abelard and Heloise, as well as any number of British, Italian, American, and, of course, French residents. Quite coincidentally, the course is offered on October 19 and 26 — just before Halloween.
The past catches us again with the second of Bill O’Reilly’s two-part series on Chelsea’s own history from 1890 to 1990 on October 6. Mr. O’Reilly is the president of the Chelsea Area Historical Society and a professional genealogist. Using the archives of the Chelsea Area Historical Society, his in-person class will cover the rise and fall of George Glazier and other business leaders, the development of schools, the growth of the downtown area and a look at the architecture of the homes in Chelsea from the late 19th to the early 20th century. This class is free, but you must register at the Chelsea Senior Center at (734) 473 9242.
In a slightly different but related vein, Adam Oster turns his gaze to the entire mitten state as he considers the rich history of Michigan’s literary works, specifically Michigan in the Novel. His Zoom class on September 25 explores the long and colorful literary history of our own home.
David Mastie never promises you a rose garden but you won’t mind. Instead he offers Room of Blooms Behind Seas of Trees as well as bird baths, trellises, and water features. You get the idea. The class obviously is outside in late September — before you need to think about Florida.
In 1668, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek was amazed to find that grinding lenses into what we now call a microscope allowed him to see an entire universe of tiny critters that lived entire life cycles, entirely oblivious to what he could see with just his naked eye. Charlie Taylor will invite you into that universe with microscopes a bit larger than Leeuwenhoek’s in order to see things in pond water, from inside a human cheek and the wondrous things in a drop of blood. His Microscopes and Cells class is both Zoom and in-person on the four Tuesdays in November.
If Joe Grimm’s Detroit Coney class last Winter semester left you thirsty for another taste of Detroit, his Zoom class on October 26, Inside the World of Faygo, might be just the right thing. There really is a Faygo book which tells how a family forged a bond of over a century with the city of Detroit and its residents. Be prepared for a “pop” quiz. This class is free but you must register by calling the Chelsea District Library at (734) 475-8732.
You may not be familiar with the term “tessellation” but they are all around us. Tessellations are arrangements of shapes, usually polygons that are fitted together in a repeated pattern without gaps or overlapping. We often walk on them — the patterns in stone or wood floors, for instance, are examples of tessellations. For Ann Beyer’s in-person class “Mathematics and the Art of Tessellations” on November 12, you will need to bring a scissors as she will show you how to subtle alterations in tessellations can change the shape of a frog into a bird in flight or a cowboy.
Karen Vigmostad’s fascination with the islands of the Great Lakes has delighted ALI students for several seasons. Using videos and photographs, she will explore the lighthouses, birds and other wild life, shipwrecks, mineral resources, and history of Isle Royale in Lake Superior, Beaver Lake in Lake Michigan, Manitoulin in Lake Huron, Pelee in Lake Erie and Wolfe Island in Lake Ontario. Each island has a unique character, and they are all so close to us via Zoom on the five Fridays in October
Reform of the criminal justice system has belatedly become an important part of our national conversation. Understanding what goes on inside a prison, actually humanizing the real people incarcerated in our prisons, is what has happened to Judy Wenzel in her years of teaching English and social studies inside the federal prison at Milan. Her students, coming from many ethnic groups often don’t fit the common perception of being “bad” people. Her Lessons from a Prison Classroom are probably not going to be what you would expect … but then, incarcerated people are not what you would expect either.
“You’ll never believe what my stupid brother-in-law did when we went fishing.” “The dog really did eat my homework, starting with the algebra.” “You should have seen that souffle when I took it out of the microwave.” We have all told stories like this. We call them fibs, tall tales, stretching the truth, maybe even white lies. Steve Daut calls it Improv Games and it is simple fun. No getting caught, no guilt, no penalty. Just plain fun in-person on the first two Mondays of October.
Before his travels were interrupted by the arrival of “unexpected adulthood,” John Deikis had worked on an ocean-going ship, wandered from the tip of South America to the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, the North Cape of Europe and Prudhoe Bay in Alaska. Ten years ago, he retired from a career as a clinical psychologist and got back on his motorcycle to explore Cuba, a land of “forbidden fruit” (because of the embargo imposed in 1962).
That dream of writing the “great American novel” usually becomes doodles on the grocery list, and your speech at the United Nations on behalf of world peace becomes a conversation with the cat. Your idea of combatting climate change with the vacuum cleaner hasn’t turned out too well either. But it might!! On four Wednesday evenings in October, Frances Wang will show you how to Capture your Dreams on Paper and you might be surprised. Even the cat might pay attention!
The ALI Fall catalog is available at several locations throughout the area and further information can also be accessed at the ALI website, www.adultlearnersinstitute.org. Registration is BY MAIL ONLY. Forms are provided with the catalogs or they can be printed from the website and sent to Adult Learners Institute, P.O Box 134, Chelsea, MI 48118. They are processed on the day they are received in the ALI office. If you have questions, please call the ALI office at (734) 292- 5540. Fees vary depending on the number of classes and there is an additional $10 registration fee.
The joy of learning something new never gets old.
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