Adult Learners Institute announces its May classes
submitted by Joan Gaughan, Adult Learners Institute (ALI)
“Every wreck tells a story” is the claim that David Trojan makes for his class on Michigan Aviation Archaeology on May 4. Described as an Air Crash Detective, Mr. Trojan, who retired from the Navy in 2000, has been exploring abandoned air fields, crash sites, and lost and forgotten aircraft for more than 30 years. He has been to over 500 military aircraft sites dating from 1918 to the present and argues that a military air crash site can give us tremendous understanding of an historical period.
Outdoor cooking usually requires a barbecue grill or long stick with a marshmallow on it. But on May 11 (May 12, if there’s rain), Ann Beyer will show us how to make soups, stews, braised meats, and even baked goods outside using a Dutch oven. A special treat includes a Civil War re-enactment. An historical re-enactor herself, Ms. Beyer has been Dutch oven baking and cooking for over twenty years.
Arguably, nobody is better qualified to connect the buildings that we see every day with their history than Grace Shackman, who, beginning with her own neighborhood on Ann Arbor’s Old West Side, has been studying local history since 1979. On the first four Mondays of May, she will explore How Architecture Can Tell Us About Chelsea and Dexter’s History.
Terms like “worried sick” express the reality that what happens in our minds affects our bodies. In her Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation, on the five Wednesdays of May, Dr. Bilha Birman-Rivlin takes the mystery out of meditation and shows us how the practice of mindfulness can have physical as well as psychological benefits.
There is still time to register for John Hauger’s Music of the 1960s on April 28. This is music that not only reflected our history but, in many respects, helped shape it. It is difficult to separate the Civil Rights movement, the protests against the war in Vietnam, mini-skirts and flower children, and, to some extent, our own personal histories from the songs of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and so many others.
Registration for ALI classes is by mail only. The catalog with registration form is available for download on the website www.adultlearnersinstitute.org, as well as at local libraries and various other locations in the area. Mail completed registration forms to: Adult Learners Institute, P.O. Box 134, Chelsea, MI 48118. Registration fee is $10 per semester and the class fees range from $15 to $35.
If you have questions, please call the office at (734) 292-5540 or visit the ALI website.
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