Elderwise - Classes Offered for Senior Citizens

ART & ARCHITECTURE

S1319 Ann Arbor and Its Architecture in 1893
Presenters: Kingsbury Marzolf and Wystan Stevens
Date: Monday, April 8
Time: 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Fee: Members $5; Nonmembers $10

Description: Marzolf and Stevens present with pride a riotous photographic review of 1893 Ann Arbor, and other towns in Washtenaw County. For this class, architectural historian Kingsbury Marzolf and Ann Arbor historian Wystan Stevens will share a compendium of Ann Arbor architectural photographs selected from the 1893 publication Art Work of Washtenaw County. First assembled in 1993 for the centennial of that publication, this dog-and-pony show promises to deliver erudition along with lots of laughs. Professor Emeritus Marzolf provides comments on the architectural lineage and merits (?!) of various buildings, andMr. Stevens counterpoints with remarks about the history of Ann Arbor and the men of the town who built and/or modified those civic landmarks, some of which have survived into our own time.

Kingsbury Marzolf was born in Chicago. He spent his high school years during World War II in Arlington, Virginia, and began his college career in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He continued his studies at the University of Michigan where he received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Kingsbury worked as an architect for ten years in Washington, D.C. and Copenhagen, Denmark, and then joined Michigan’s architecture faculty in 1963. He first taught architectural technology, and later architecture and urban history. Kingsbury retired in 1999 and is currently Professor Emeritus of Architecture at the University of Michigan.

Wystan Stevens is a native of Ann Arbor who has been fixated on local history for more than 50 of his 70 years. He is a graduate of the Ann Arbor Public Schools and the University of Michigan, and has worked as a freelance writer, photographer, and author of a history of Northfield Township. For 13 years he was the resident curator of the Kempf House Museum, and is best remembered for his 33-year run of annual tours of Ann Arbor’s Forest Hill Cemetery. Wystan serves on the historians’ committee of the Ann Arbor Historical Street Exhibit Program, a project that has installed historical wall panels on downtown buildings, and glass photographic markers on downtown sidewalks.

S1323 Art of the Feast
Presenter: Judith Garvey
Date: Monday, April 29
Time: 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. [Please note the 2:00 p.m. start time.]
Fee: Members $5; Nonmembers $10

Description: The world-class collections of the Detroit Institute of Arts include many objects of fine art that illustrate the preparation, presentation, and enjoyment of the solitary or communal meal. This presentation, Art of the Feast, takes you on a visual journey through time and cultures, and explores the customs, rites, and beliefs associated with food. We will explore the ways in which diverse societies and cultural groups have celebrated dining through the visual arts.

Judith Garvey is an award-winning Interpretive Programs Volunteer and has been a volunteer and docent at the Detroit Institute of Arts for many years. Her talents and services range widely among special exhibitions, permanent collections, Speakers Bureau lectures,
and on-site tours.

S1326 Is It Real? Challenging Our Preconceptions about Photography
Presenter: Richard Rubenfeld
Date: Wednesday, May 15
Time: 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Fee: Members $5; Nonmembers $10

Description: Of all the developments in recent art, the shift from chemically based photography to digital photography has been particularly significant. This shift has provided artists with new ways of working, while at the same time challenging viewers’ expectations about the truthfulness of what they are seeing. Although manipulated photographic images date as far back as the mid 19th century, new technology has enabled artists to alter their images more easily and convincingly than ever before. Not all contemporary photographers, however, rely on new technology to heighten the effectiveness of their pictures. Some deliberately revive
earlier processes and equipment to make their works look traditional. Others meticulously plan their compositions and pose their subjects to make them look spontaneous and real. As a result, today’s viewers are encouraged to question the validity of the information provided by photographs. This PowerPoint slide presentation is focused on why and how contemporary photographers make their images believable, while questioning their reliability as documentation. Among the work we will study are the photographs of Irving Penn, Sandy Skoglund, Keith Cottingham, Gregory Crewdson, and Jeff Wall.

Richard Rubenfeld received his master’s degree and his Ph.D. in art history from The Ohio State University, and teaches a wide range of classes on modern and post-modern art to both graduate and post-graduate students at Eastern Michigan University. Professor Rubenfeld also has curated or co-curated several exhibitions, including exhibits of World War II propaganda, contemporary comic and cartoon art, and pinball machines.

S1333 The American University Campus: A Sense of Place, A Sense of Beauty
Presenter: Frederick W. Mayer
Date: Wednesday, June 12
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon
Fee: Members $5; Nonmembers $10

Description: This presentation will explore the emergence of the American university campus as a unique urban design prototype recognized for its qualities of beauty and order. During the first hour, we will explore the evolution of the American campus from colonial times to the modern era. In the process we will identify the various design forms used in campus planning, and their development over the years to form the major prototypes which exist today. We will discuss the advantages and problems of each and highlight the qualities that make the campus unique when compared to other design prototypes. During the second hour, we will examine the idea of campus beauty. We will study the various elements that contribute to the esthetic appeal of a campus (architecture, landscape, patterns of order, public art) in an effort to determine the relative importance of each. Through an interactive dialogue among class participants, we will consider the views of various designers and critics, as well as the perceptions of the general public. The goal of this class is to provide participants with a greater understanding of the planning and design of the American university campus, and with an appreciation of its unique place in the world of urban planning and design.

Frederick W. Mayer studied architecture at Pratt Institute in New York City. He received his A.B. degree from Rutgers University and his Master of Regional Planning degree from Cornell University. He joined the campus planning staff of the University of Michigan in 1968, and served as University Planner until his retirement in 2003. Over the course of his 37 years with the University, Mr. Mayer oversaw the preparation of master plans for each of the University’s Ann Arbor campuses, as well as those of Dearborn and Flint. He is renowned for his dedication to fostering an appreciation of architectural heritage and his efforts to preserve and restore outstanding examples of American architecture.

S1334 Children of the World
Presenter: Jane Strand
Date: Wednesday, June 12
Time: 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. [Please note the 2:00 p.m. start time.]
Fee: Members $5; Nonmembers $10

Description: The outstanding permanent collections of the Detroit Institute of Arts include many objects of fine art that illustrate the pursuits and activities of children. This presentation, Children of the World, takes you on a visual journey through different centuries, cultures, and countries. We will look at the lives of children and their families through a range of media, including paintings, sculpture, and clothing from around the world. We will explore the many ways in which diverse societies and cultural groups have celebrated children through the visual arts.

Jane Strand is an award-winning Speakers Bureau Volunteer and docent with the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA). She holds a master’s degree from Michigan State University and previously taught French at both Benton Harbor High School and Lake Michigan College. Jane moved to Detroit in 1995 and joined the volunteer staff of the DIA in 1997. She has been a volunteer and docent with the Institute for more than 15 years. Jane is an avid supporter of all the good and positive things that are happening in the City of Detroit.

S1337 Images and Ideas: State Emblems across America
Presenter: Don Chalfant
Date: Monday, June 24
Time: 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Fee: Members $5; Nonmembers $10

Description: You may know the state bird or flower for your own state, but do you know the state flower, tree, or bird for other states? And, do you know that some states have a state rock, reptile, musical instrument, nickname, and even a state toy? Join us here for Don Chalfant’s remarkable photographic display of state emblem images and a discussion of the ideas that inspired them. This presentation promises to be both informative and fun!

Don Chalfant received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Michigan. He retired from the Ann Arbor Public Schools in 1995, where he taught elementary students for many years. In retirement, Don indulges his passion for the outdoors, recently adding
photography to his list of enthusiastic pursuits.

S1339 A Sculpture Tour of the University of Michigan North Campus
Tour Guide: Ina Sandalow
Date and Time: Friday, May 10, 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon at the University of Michigan North Campus
Fee: Members $5; Nonmembers $10

Description: This walking tour of the University of Michigan North Campus will introduce participants to world-class examples of contemporary monumental outdoor sculpture as produced by some of the leading artists of our time. Many famous modern sculptors have contributed to the North Campus collection. Among them are Maya Lin, who says of her Wave Field, “[It is] . . . pure poetry . . . sanctuary yet playful.” Others, such as nationally known Kenneth Snelson and Alexander Liberman, have installations at the Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids. And another, Gerome Kamrowski, was a member of the University’s art faculty for many years. Today, several of his mosaics grace the University’s hospital complex. These are but a sampling of the extraordinary array of artists and works of art included in this tour. Participants will gather at the Lurie Bell Tower on North Campus and should be prepared to walk approximately a half mile. Driving directions and parking information will be sent with your registration confirmation.

Ina Sandalow previously taught history and law at Ann Arbor’s Pioneer High School. She has been a docent with the University of Michigan Museum of Art for more than 14 years. The North Campus sculpture tour is one of her favorite projects.

S1341 Exhibition Tour of Works by Isamu Noguchi and Qi Baishi
Tour Guide: Diane Rado
Date and Time: Friday, June 7, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the University of Michigan Museum of Art
[Note the 11:30 a.m. start time.]
Fee: Members $5; Nonmembers $10

Description: In 1930 at the age of 26, the artist Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988) traveled eastward on the Trans-Siberian Railroad toward Japan, where he hoped for a reconciliation with his father and a reconnection with the childhood sources of his artistic inspiration. Noguchi stopped en route for six months in Beijing, where he met and studied with the renowned Chinese brush-and-ink painter Qi Baishi (1864-1957), an experience that greatly affected Noguchi’s creative vision. This exhibition at the University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) will showcase the cross-cultural creative impulses of both artists, and underscore their respective and lasting influences on contemporary practice. Organized by UMMA in partnership with the Noguchi Museum in New York City, this nationally touring exhibition project will feature approximately
60 drawings, including ink painting and calligraphic works, as well as sculpture and interpretive materials. Drawn from the UMMA, Noguchi Museum, and other public and private collections, these items shed new light on the transformative relationship between American sculptor Isamu Noguchi and Chinese ink painter Qi Baishi. There is no charge for the tour but donations are always welcome. Driving directions and parking information will be sent with your registration confirmation.

Diane Rado received her bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees from the University of Michigan. She has been a docent and tour guide at UMMA for 14 years, and says of her vocation, “We docents are always learning more and more from our curators and classes, from distinguished scholars in art history, and from the people who visit us! Like so many who visit UMMA, I have always loved art.”

FILM and VIDEO Back to top

S1311 Turning Books into Movies: A Tricky Transformation, Part IV
To Kill a Mockingbird ~ Harper Lee’s1960 Novel, Robert Mulligan’s 1962 Film
Presenter: Cecilia Donohue
Dates: Mondays, May 6 and 13
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon
Fee: Members $10; Nonmembers $20

Description: In the fourth class in this series, we will continue to discuss the challenges of translating a novel from page to screen. Novelist Harper Lee may have been a “one-hit wonder,” but her “one hit”,To Kill a Mockingbird, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1961 and ranks among the top five literary works taught in American classrooms. The highly acclaimed film version is one of America’s “most watched” movies. Cecilia Donohue will lead a two-session discussion of the novel and the film. In the first week, we will consider the novel’s lasting appeal. In week two, we will view Universal Studio’s film version starring Gregory Peck. Class participants are strongly encouraged (but not required) to have read the book and watched the film in advance. Dr. Donohue recommends the 50th Anniversary Edition of To Kill a Mockingbird (New York, Grand Central Publishing, 2010); ISBN 0-446-31078-6; $8 US. Both the book and the movie (on DVD) are available through local libraries, bookstores, and online booksellers.

Cecilia Donohue is a professor and Chair of the Department of Language and Literature at Madonna University in Livonia, Michigan. She is the author of the book Robert Penn Warren’s Novels: Feminine and Feminist Discourse, and the editor of a recently published book of essays on Sandra Cisneros’s Woman Hollering Creek. Cecilia currently teaches courses on literature and cinema.

S1313 An American Uprising: Matewan in Literature and Film
Presenter: Kevin Eyster
Dates: Wednesdays, May 22 and 29
Time: 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. [Please note the 4:00 p.m. end time.]
Fee: Members $10; Nonmembers $20

Description: In 1987, the novel Storming Heaven and the film Matewan debuted independently. Taken together, both novel and film explore the 1920-21 culmination of years of exploitation in the Appalachian coal fields of West Virginia. Novelist Denise Giardina and filmmaker John Sayles respectively capture a way of life and develop characters that have been significantly shaped by a mountainous land and by those who seek profit from the coal that lies beneath it. The novel is narrated by four characters in alternating chapters, so readers come to understand the events of the story from multiple perspectives. The plot of the film unfolds in flashback from the point of view of an elderly miner who is a young man/adolescent/teenager in the action of the story proper. Both Giardina and Sayles are artists who successfully interweave fact and fiction, and history and imagination, to create stories that speak to readers and viewers everywhere of what it means to be (in)human. The first class session will be devoted to a discussion of Storming Heaven, and the second session to a viewing and discussion of Matewan. Both the novel (in paperback) and the film (on DVD) are available from your local libraries and bookstores. New and used copies also are available at a reasonable price through several online book dealers.

Kevin Eyster is a professor in the Department of Language and Literature at Madonna University. He teaches courses in critical writing and literary analysis, American folklore and literature, African American literature, and a Special Topics offering on the fiction of William Faulkner and Toni Morrison.

HISTORY, CULTURE & RELIGION Back to top

S1304 Finding Your Personal Myth, Part II
Presenter: Mike Murray
Dates: Mondays, April 8, 15, and 22
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon
Fee: Members $15; Nonmembers $30

Description: In 1988, Bill Moyers introduced The Power of Myth on PBS television, a six-part series of interview conversations with renowned scholar and mythologist Joseph Campbell. The series explored the enduring and universal themes expressed in mankind’s oldest stories, and examined their relevance for the modern world. Dr. Campbell demonstrated that, far from being lifeless timeworn tales, man’s ancient myths remain “clues to the spiritual potentialities of human life.” In Part I (Winter 2013), we viewed and discussed the first three interviews in the Moyers-Campbell series. In this class, Part II, we will view the remaining three interviews and then share with one another what we have learned about the illuminative and transformative power of myths. Prepare to inspire and be inspired as we explore how all mythologies are reflections of our personal inner life. Enrollment in Part I is not required for participation in Part II. New class members are warmly welcome. The recommended reading for this course is The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell (New York, Anchor Books, paper, 1991) and recommended viewing can be found online at www.youtube.

Mike Murray is a licensed clinical psychologist and a specialist in the field of positive psychology. He is also an expert on mindful meditation and has studied and practiced Western and Eastern methods of meditation for over 50 years.

S1305 Women in the Bible, Part III: The Writings
Presenter: Kenneth W. Phifer
Dates: Fridays, April 12, 19, 26, and May 3
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon
Fee: Members $20; Nonmembers $40

Description: This course concludes a three-part series on Women in the Hebrew Bible. We will study women in the text to see how we understand their roles, how tradition understands their roles, and how modern scholars understand their roles. This is a new approach to reading the Bible. Until just a few decades ago, women were mostly overlooked in commentaries, rituals, and sermons/lessons. The new approach reveals many things previously unnoticed, yet very important. It demonstrates the vitality of women in shaping the culture that ultimately became Judaism, and then Christianity. We will study the books in the following order: Psalms, Proverbs, Job, The Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, I Chronicles, and II Chronicles. Presenter Ken Phifer will use the Jewish Publication Society translation of the millennium-old Masoretic Hebrew text. However, since different Biblical translations can add elements of meaning to our study, class members may use any available English translation. If class registrants wish to read a book to prepare, Mr. Phifer recommends The Women’s Bible Commentary by Carol A. Newsome and Sharon H. Ringe, which can be purchased in paperback through local book stores or from online booksellers. Attendance at Parts I and II of Women in the Bible is not required for enrollment
in Part III.

Ken Phifer is a graduate of Harvard College and holds a doctoral degree from the University of Chicago Divinity School. Over a long and multi-faceted career, he has been a Russian language specialist for the United States Army, a high school teacher (history and government), a peace activist, a foreign student advisor, and for the past 41 years a Unitarian Universalist minister. For the last 25 of those years, he served as senior minister for the First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor. Ken has published seven books and numerous articles on a wide range of topics, and has taught courses on the Bible since the early years of his ministry in the 1970s.

S1307 “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree”: Popular Music and the National Mood during World War II
Presenter: Michael Homel
Dates: Thursdays, April 18 and 25
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon
Fee: Members $10; Nonmembers $20

Description: Popular music is at once entertainment and a social mirror. In this two-session course, we will study how the music Americans listened to during World War II reflected their important wartime concerns. Those concerns were manifold, including patriotism, hatred of Germany and Japan, military life, migration, workplace struggles, rationing, separation from loved ones, romantic anxieties, and dreams of a peacetime future. We will hear, among others, the music of performers such as the Andrews Sisters, Doris Day, Peggy Lee, Kate Smith, Frank Sinatra, Glenn Miller, Louis Jordan, Jimmy Rushing, and Fats Waller – and we will consider how their music, lyrics, and style resonated with a nation engaged in a faraway war.

Michael Homel is a Professor Emeritus of History at Eastern Michigan University. Mike specializes in 20th century U.S. history and U.S. urban history. He is the author of Down from Equality: Black Chicagoans and the Public Schools, and Unlocking City Hall: Exploring the History of Local Government and Politics, and other publications on urban politics and education.

S1310 The Tigers: A History of Major League Baseball in Detroit
Presenter: Chris Hee
Dates: Wednesdays, May 1 and 8
Time: 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. [Please note the 4:00 p.m. end time.]
Fee: Members $10; Nonmembers $20

Description: From their brief eight-year stint in the National League in the 19th century to the success of their 21st century playoff teams in 2006, 2011, and 2012, the Detroit Tigers have proven to be one of the most storied franchises in American sports. That story includes the
22-year reign of Ty Cobb in the early part of the 20th century, and the championship years of 1935, 1945, 1968, and 1984. In the first session we will trace the history of the Tigers, covering the performance of the team and their predecessors (the Wolverines) through the end of World War II, and from mid 20th century to the present day in the second session.

Chris Hee is a retired professor at Eastern Michigan University. He has taught a number of classes for Elderwise, including some math-related and puzzle-related topics. Chris attended his first Tigers game in 1958, and has been an avid Tigers fan ever since.

S1316 A Tour of Italy
Presenter: Gerlinda Melchiori
Dates: Thursdays, June 20 and 27
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon
Fee: Members $10; Nonmembers $20
Description: On June 20, our presenter Gerlinda Melchiori will lead us on a 2,500-year journey through Italy’s history, taking in the country’s political and military successes and its artistic and philosophical contributions to the Western world. During the second class session on June 27, Gerlinda will focus on the different phases of the Italian Renaissance and, in particular, on Italy’s famous intellectuals, philosophers, and artists.

June 20: A Journey through Italy’s History
Conquests, culture, and intrigue – that is the story of the Etruscans, the Roman Republic, the disintegration of the Roman Empire and the rise of Christianity, the renowned cultural and artistic periods that followed, and then the evolution of the modern Italian nation. With the broad cultural context of this 2,500-year history, we will be ready to focus on one of Italy’s most important artistic periods, the Renaissance, and its famous patrons, the Medici dynasty.

June 27: The Italian Renaissance and the House of Medici
An extraordinary confluence of talent, money, interest, power, and competition produced an era unmatched in the history of Western thought and art – the Italian Renaissance. In this class session we will embark ona visual tour of the different phases of the Italian Renaissance, focusing on its intellectuals, philosophers, and artists. Major patrons were members of the House of Medici who, with their dynasty’s wealth, influence, and intrigue in both Florence and Rome, for centuries enabled the most important artists and thinkers to develop and pursue their talents. Nurturing artists like da Vinci, Botticelli, and Michelangelo, the Medici influenced the practice of patronage of the arts from their time to the present day.

Gerlinda Melchiori has been a member of and contributor to Elderwise for several years. She moved from Austria to the United States as a student of history and, after earning two degrees in European history and business, she received a doctorate in higher education management from the University of Michigan. Gerlinda remained at the University, pursuing a rewarding career in research and senior administrative positions. She has spent the last 15 years as a management consultant to universities in Central Asia, the Middle East, and East Asia. As a life-long student of art, theater, music, architecture, and archeology, Gerlinda’s travel experiences combine these interests with history, business, and education. She always encourages dialogue and comments in her sessions.

S1325 The Polar Bear Odyssey: United States Intervention in North Russia, 1918 and 1919
Presenter: Roger Crownover
Date: Thursday, May 9
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon
Fee: Members $5; Nonmembers $10

Description: The American military intervention at Archangel, Russia, during the final years of World War I, was nicknamed the "Polar Bear Expedition" and remains a strange episode in the annals of American history. Presumably sent to Russia to prevent a German advance and to help reopen the Eastern Front, American soldiers found themselves fighting Bolshevik revolutionaries for months after the truce ending the war was signed in November 1918. Many of those Polar Bear troops came from the State of Michigan.

Roger Crownover holds a Ph.D. degree in military history and is currently Chair of the Department of History at Madonna University in Livonia, Michigan. He is the author of The United States Intervention in North Russia – 1918, 1919: The Polar Bear Odyssey (2001). Roger also served as the consulting historian for the 2009 PBS documentary Voices of a Never Ending Dawn, the heroic story of the American Polar Bear forces in arctic Russia during World War I.

S1329 Back to Our Roots: Remembering the One-Room School
Presenter: Rochelle Balkam
Date: Thursday, May 30
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12 Noon
Fee: Members $5, Nonmembers $10

In the rapidly changing world of education today, it is comforting to look back on the “good old days” of the one-room school. Nearly 20 functioning one-room schools still exist in the State of Michigan. What is it that makes these schools so attractive? During this class, we will address that question, and others. We will focus especially on the Geddes Townhall School. In 1987, the Townhall School was moved from its original site on Morgan Road in Pittsfield Township to the campus of Eastern Michigan University. Our presenter, Rochelle Balkam, will guide us on the school’s journey as it made its way, foot by foot, to its present site. Rochelle will enhance her presentation with historic artifacts, and with images of many of the hundreds of one-room schools still standing in Michigan. We also will discuss their architecture, curriculum, rules for teachers, rules for students, and the strong support provided by their communities. Class members will be encouraged to share personal stories and memories of one-room schools.

Rochelle Balkam has taught Michigan history at Eastern Michigan University (EMU) for 22 years. She holds an M.A. degree in history and an M.S. in historic preservation from EMU, and is Chair of the Friends of the Townhall School on the EMU campus. Rochelle serves on the board of the Michigan One-Room Schoolhouse Association, and is a former board member of the Historical Society of Michigan.

S1330 Michigan’s Hidden Treasure: The A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum
Presenter: Robert Rann
Date: Monday, June 3
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon
Fee: Members $5; Nonmembers $10

Description: With this class, Bob Rann returns to tell us more about his favorite personal subject – Michigan’s Copper Country. Celebrating one of the most mineral-rich regions in the United States, the A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum at Michigan Technological University in Houghton actually owes its existence to a series of complex geological processes that took place billions of years ago – processes that created enormous deposits of iron and copper in the Upper Peninsula. Bob will be presenting on his co-authored book (with Curator George W. Robinson), The A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum: Its History and Collections, and will provide an abundance of slides of the museum’s best specimens. The Seaman Museum today ranks as one of the world’s great mineral collections, alongside such institutions as the Smithsonian. The Seaman is, indeed, a hidden treasure. Despite its remote location, however, mineral enthusiasts from across the country and beyond make pilgrimages to the quiet little burg of Houghton in search of the rare, the exotic, and the wondrous among the museum’s collections.

Robert Rann is a professor of Language and Literature at Madonna University in Livonia. He holds degrees in Japanese language, literature, and musicology from the University of Michigan, and teaches courses on Japanese language and literature, and on the history of the Western humanities. Outside the classroom, Bob pursues his love of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and the Keweenaw Copper Country through a study of their history, people, and culture.

S1340 Arab American Community and Culture
Presenter and Tour Guide: Sonya Kassis
Dates and Times:
Friday, May 10, 1:00 to 3:00 p.m., Class at Cleary University
Friday, May 17, 1:00 to 2:30 p.m., Tour of the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, Michigan
*Fee: Members $15; Nonmembers $25
*The fee for this course includes an additional $5 charge for the Museum tour.

Description: The first session of this class (May10 at Cleary) will discuss what makes a country Arab, the differences between the Arab World and the Middle East, ethnic and religious diversity within the Arab World, the history of Arab immigration to the United States, Arab American demographics, and Arab American culture. This broader discussion will include a brief overview of Islam. The second session on May 17 will offer a guided tour of the Arab American National Museum (AANM) in Dearborn, Michigan. The AANM is the first museum in the United States to be devoted to telling the Arab American story. By bringing the voices and faces of Arab Americans to its audiences, the AANM affirms its commitment to dispelling the many misconceptions about Arab Americans. The AANM also brings to light the shared experiences of many immigrants and ethnic groups, while paying tribute to the diversity of our nation. During the tour, visitors will have the opportunity to learn of the three main waves of Arab immigration to the U.S., Arab American cultural characteristics, the diversity of the Arab American communities, the contributions Arabs have made and continue to make in this country, and much more.

Sonya Kassis is a first-generation Arab American. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Michigan, Dearborn, and has worked in the fields of newspaper writing and publishing, as well as public relations. Sonya has been an educator at the AANM for more than four years, offering presentations, guiding tours, and overseeing youth programs. She has worked extensively with the American Federation of Ramallah, Palestine, and has traveled to Palestine and Jordan to perform community service and to experience the life and the land of her family and ancestors – an experience that enriches her role at the museum.

S1342 Designing Tomorrow: America’s World’s Fairs of the 1930s
Presenter and Tour Guide: Steve Stanford
Dates and Times: Class at Cleary University, Friday, June 7, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. [Note end time.]
Exhibit Tour at the Henry Ford Museum, Friday, June 14, 10:00 a.m.
*Fee: Members $18; Nonmembers $28
*Fee includes $8 admission to the Henry Ford Museum

Description: Steve Stanford returns this Spring for a repeat performance of his exemplary role as class-and-tour leader (Fall 2012 The Titanic), this time for a historical review and museum exhibit of America’s World’s Fairs in the 1930s. In the class on June 7, at Cleary University, Steve will present a series of actual 1930s Ford Motor Company films from the video Ford at the 1934-35 Fairs, showing how Henry Ford and his company participated in the World’s Fairs. Learning about the history of these fairs will prepare participants for viewing the exhibition the following week. On June 14, at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, we will tour Designing Tomorrow: America’s World’s Fairs in the 1930s, a limited-engagement exhibition demonstrating why millions of Americans traveled to these expositions during a critical decade in the nation’s history. There they glimpsed the future in the modernist spectacle of architecture and design that became a community platform. The museum exhibit brings together 150 artifacts (including building models and architectural remnants) from the six Depression-era fairs – Chicago, San Diego, Dallas, Cleveland, San Francisco, and New York City – introducing society to new ideas about the future of American life. After viewing the exhibit, participants will be free to wander the museum at their leisure, and Steve will remain available to answer questions. Driving directions to the Henry Ford Museum will be sent with your registration confirmation.

Steve Stanford is a retired Oakland County project manager. He has been presenting for Elderwise on Henry Ford, the Ford Motor Company, and related subjects since 2008. Steve is part of the Henry Ford 150 Project (www.henryford150.com) which is celebrating Henry Ford’s 150th birthday in 2013. Steve also is a member of the Henry Ford Heritage Association and the Society of Automotive Historians. He and his wife Becky live in Hartland, Michigan, where they perform important community service through Fish and Loaves, a meal program for the disadvantaged.

S1343 The Palace and the Pipe Organ: A Tour of the Michigan Theater
Tour Guide: Henry Aldridge
Date and Time: Monday, June 24, 10:00 a.m to 12:00 noon at the Michigan Theater
Fee: Members $5; Nonmembers $10

Description: Eastern Michigan University (EMU) Film Studies professor and theater organist Henry Aldridge will lead a tour of Ann Arbor’s only remaining movie palace – the Michigan Theater. The tour includes a short concert on the famous Barton pipe organ, a rare glimpse of the stage and projection booth, plus a short PowerPoint presentation on the history of Ann Arbor’s movie theaters. Driving and parking directions will be sent with your confirmation.

Henry Aldridge was a leader in the restoration of the Michigan Theater’s pipe organ in 1970, and served as an Incorporating Officer of the Michigan Theater Foundation that saved the historic structure from demolition in 1979. He has been playing the Barton pipe organ for 39 years, and has served as the Foundation’s president. He has recently finished writing a book about the Michigan Theater. Professor Aldridge is a member of the EMU Department of Communication, Media, and Theater Arts. He holds B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of North Carolina and a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.

HOBBIES & SPORTS Back to top

S1308 Creative Writing
Presenter: Jane Bridges
Dates: Wednesday, April 24; Thursday, May 9; and Wednesday, June 5
Time: 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. [Please note the 4:00 p.m. end time.]
Fee: Members $15; Nonmembers $30
Class Size: Enrollment for this class is limited to 12 attendees.

Description: This class is for everyone who likes to write, or who wants to be inspired to write. Everyone has a story to tell. If you have thought about telling a story, we can help you to express yourself through both prose and poetry. If you do not know where to begin, we will provide writing exercises during each class session to inspire your latent talents. Please bring copies of samples of your work with you to class. We will always discuss your work in an honest, supportive, and helpful manner.

Jane Bridges has previously taught writing in both private and public schools. She is now retired, and draws on this experience and expertise to present her many ideas on how to begin writing and improve writing skills, and to offer suggestions for writing projects.

S1312 The Joy of Gardening and Plant Exchange
Presenter: Keith Germain
Dates: Mondays, May 6, 13, and 20
Time: 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. [Please note the 4:00 p.m. end time.]
Fee: Members $15; Nonmembers $30

Description: Bring all of your gardening problems and questions to this course! Master Gardener Keith Germain will discuss new information and approaches, with a special focus on insects and plant diseases. He will also discuss invasive species in the garden, as well as the art and science of composting. If weather conditions permit, class members will enjoy an additional opportunity for plant exchange. Keith Germain has 50 years of gardening experience. He plants his own quarter-acre garden with vegetables, herbs, and flowers. Over the years, Keith has worked with several horticulture groups, as well as with plant and flower clubs. He has taught gardening courses regularly with the Elderwise lifelong learning program since 1993.

S1320 Paper Craft Make and Take
Presenter: Barbara Theurer
Date: Thursday, April 11
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12 Noon
Fee: Members $10, Nonmembers $15 [Fee includes $5 for materials.]
Class Size: Enrollment for this class is limited to 16 attendees.

Description: We all experience a special feeling when we receive a handmade card or gift. This class is a "make and take" session using materials and techniques with proven success in making handmade cards and paper crafts. We all have a creative side, so come to this class wearing your "creative hat,” and go home with four completed items to keep, or to share with friends. All materials will be provided, along with instructions for each of the four projects that will be covered in the class.

Barbara Theurer has shared her passion for music with Elderwise in the past, and now will share another of her special talents: paper craft. Barbara currently designs and organizes projects for the monthly Papercraft Workshops at the Plymouth Public Library. Barbara says, "I have always enjoyed cutting paper and creating handmade gifts. Paper crafts give me a way both to express and to design with one of my favorite mediums. It will be an honor to share with my Elderwise friends something I enjoy.

LIFESTYLE, HEALTH & WELLNESS Back to top

S1327 Personal Safety Inside and Outside Your Home
Presenter: William Stanford
Date: Monday, May 20
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon
Fee: Members $5; Nonmembers $10

Description: In this class Detective William Stanford will offer helpful suggestions on self-protection, whether you are at home, in your yard or garden, taking a walk, running errands, or going shopping. He will discuss several different ways to secure your home and personal property, and your person. He will tell us what to watch out for, and how the criminals themselves watch out for and identify their victims. Detective Stanford will also discuss banking security and how to protect your personal information and bank accounts. He will cover a variety of frauds and tricks that are commonly played on the elderly, including lottery scams. And, he will teach us some easy ways to identify those frauds and scams.

William Stanford has been a police officer and detective for more than 26 years. He holds an associate’s degree from the United States Air Force Community College and a bachelor’s degree from Madonna University. Detective Stanford joined the Ann Arbor Police Department in 1995, and is currently a Senior Detective in Major Crimes. He is the lead arson investigator for the Ann Arbor Police and Fire Departments and a member of the hostage negotiations team for Washtenaw County. In addition to his other duties, Bill serves as a firearms instructor and a new detective training officer.

S1335 Safe Driving for Seniors: Tips from the AAA
Presenter: American Automobile Association Driver Training Instructor
Date: Wednesday, June 19
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon
Fee: Members $5; Nonmembers $10

Description: Even the most experienced driver can benefit from learning about the changes that affect us as we age. The AAA (American Automobile Association) Mature Driver Training program delivers tips and techniques to help older drivers compensate for changing vision, reflexes, and response time. The program also provides a quick refresher on driving defensively in a variety of situations, and demonstrates how many of yesterday’s driving methods have been replaced by more advanced, risk-reducing driving techniques. This two-hour presentation will be conducted by a fully licensed AAA Driver Training Instructor whose primary focus is on ensuring that all of us drive safely.

S1336 Fitness for Life
Presenter: Chris Eubank
Date: Wednesday, June 19
Time: 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Fee: Members $5; Nonmembers $10

Description: Are you finding it harder to perform some of your everyday activities? Perhaps it has become more difficult to tend your garden or to visit your favorite museum. Is it more of a challenge to enjoy activity with your grandchildren, or to carry your groceries in from the car? In this interactive session with Chris Eubank, he will demonstrate and you will practice some simple and safe “at-home” exercises designed to make your physical movement easier, and to improve your overall quality of life. Learning these exercise principles and techniques will keep you “Fit for Life.”

Chris Eubank is an exercise physiologist and Certified Senior Personal Trainer. He has served as the Wellness Coordinator for the Glacier Hills Senior Living community, and has provided wellness and fitness services for residents and employees across the campus. Chris currently is the Manager of The Meadows independent living facilities at Glacier Hills.

LITERATURE, POETRY & DRAMA Back to top

S1302 Emily Brontë: Wuthering Heights
Presenter: George Stewart
Dates: Wednesdays, April 3, 10, 17, and 24
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon
Fee: Members $20; Nonmembers $40

Description: Wuthering Heights is the story of the doomed love between the savage, harismatic Heathcliff and the passionate, willful Catherine Earnshaw. Their volcanic obsession with each other reverberates beyond the desolate moors and crumbling ruins which are the settings of this famous and haunting novel. For the first class meeting, please read the first nine chapters, concluding with the chapter that ends the first part of Nelly Dean’s narrative.

George Stewart practiced law for many years in Kansas City, Chicago, Detroit, New York City, and Ann Arbor. He is honing his retirement skills by reading (and re-reading) great writers like the Brontë sisters. George looks forward to sharing ideas about the Brontës with like minded readers.

Description: Ill Fares the Land by Tony Judt was published in 2010, shortly before the author’s untimely death. The book is the masterpiece of a scholarly life characterized by broad vision and a keen sense of social justice. British-born, Judt spent most of his life in the United States, serving as director of the Remarque Institute at New York University. He was widely published. In this troubled American time, national and international issues confront and confuse us. Judt does not pretend to have answers, but urges his readers to search and evaluate with him, and to explore the urgent concerns of citizenship today. In this small-group setting, John Schwarz will assist dialogue, promote thought, and sometimes challenge both. In advance of the class, you are encouraged to read Ill Fares the Land (New York and London, The Penguin Press, 2010; ISBN 9781594202766), available both hardbound and in paperback (approximately $10) through local libraries, bookstores, and online booksellers.

John Schwarz, holds degrees in theology, philosophy, and social work. He is a former Jesuit priest and has conducted a variety of Elderwise courses over the past several years. He says of this particular project, “I have read the book twice, and would consider it a pleasure to read it again for discussion with the kind of interested adults I have met many times at Elderwise.”

Description: In 1987, the novel Storming Heaven and the film Matewan debuted independently. Taken together, both novel and film explore the 1920-21 culmination of years of exploitation in the Appalachian coal fields of West Virginia. Novelist Denise Giardina and filmmaker John Sayles respectively capture a way of life and develop characters that have been significantly shaped by a mountainous land and by those who seek profit from the coal that lies beneath it. The novel is narrated by four characters in alternating chapters, so readers come to understand the events of the story from multiple perspectives. The plot of the film unfolds in flashback from the point of view of an elderly miner who is a young man/adolescent/teenager in the action of the story proper. Both Giardina and Sayles are artists who successfully interweave fact and fiction, and history and imagination, to create stories that speak to readers and viewers everywhere of what it means to be (in)human. The first class session will be devoted to a discussion of Storming Heaven, and the second session to a viewing and discussion of Matewan. Both the novel (in paperback) and the film (on DVD) are available from your local libraries and bookstores. New and used copies also are available at a reasonable price through several online book dealers.

S1315 Wedded Poets
Presenter: Leonore Gerstein
Dates: Tuesdays, June 4, 11, 18, and 25
Time: 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Fee: Members $20; Nonmembers $40

Description: In the first three classes of this four-session course, we will read from the works of the poet-couples Jane Kenyon and Donald Hall, Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes, and Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning. For the fourth class, participants will choose two (not necessarily wedded) from among the six poets, and we will delve further into their works, including some of their prose. Class participants will be informed of the text (if a suitable one is found) in advance of the first session. In the absence of a text, Leonore will provide a poetry packet for each class.

Leonore Gerstein moved from Massachusetts to a kibbutz in Israel at the age of ten. She completed her B.A. degree (philosophy and English literature) at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University, and returned to the United States in 1964. In 1976 she earned an M.A.
degree in speech and language pathology, and in 2003 her M.A. degree in English literature from Eastern Michigan University. Leonore believes that reading poems collectively is a “natural.” We listen and learn from one another.

S1317 Unlocking the Meaning of Poetry: An Introduction
Presenter: Russell Robert Larson
Date: Wednesday, April 3
Time: 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Fee: Members $5; Nonmembers $10

Description: People often see poetry as a complex, mysterious genre, and contemporary poetry as particularly difficult to understand. In this introductory class, we will read and review some representative 20th century poems and focus on how they reflect the issues of form and meaning that influence contemporary poetry. While revealing the ways in which culture, society, and history influence a specific poem’s meaning is beyond the scope of this introduction, such revelation will undoubtedly become an intrinsic part of our discussions. The goal of this class is to raise some considerations that may be helpful in unlocking the meaning of the poems we read.

Russell Larson received his Ph.D. in 19th century English literature from the University of Michigan. He joined the faculty of the Department of English Language and Literature at Eastern Michigan University (EMU) in 1970, where he taught both undergraduate and graduate students, and served as department chair from 1999 to 2006. Professor Larson’s career combined academic administration and instruction, with a focus on written communication. He retired from EMU in 2012 and is currently a Professor Emeritus of English Language and Literature.

S1318 Understanding Satire
Presenter: Tom Dodd
Date: Thursday, April 4
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon
Fee: Members $5; Nonmembers $10

Description: This class will first warm up with the distinctions drawn among sexual, scatological, and sick humor. We will then review the Medieval humors (phlegmatic, sanguine, choleric, and melancholy). Finally, we will learn to differentiate among a dozen or so forms of satire. Our presenter, Tom Dodd, will prepare no humorous examples for this class. It will be the responsibility of the attendees to supply the laughs!

Tom Dodd is retired after 50 years of teaching, more than half of which were at Ann Arbor Community High School where he taught “American Humor” to students who were previously non-readers/writers. After retiring from the public schools, Tom went on to teach journalism at Washtenaw Community College. Now, in his retirement, he edits and designs several local newsletters.

S1344 Eastern Michigan University (EMU) Theater: HONK!
A Musical Comedy directed by Ken Stevens
Book and Lyrics by Anthony Drew; Music by George Stiles
Presenter: Ken Stevens

Dates/Times: Pre-Performance Class: Wednesday, June 5, 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon
Play: Sunday, June 9, at the EMU Quirk Theater, 2:00 p.m.
Post-Performance Class: Thursday, June 13, 10:00 a.m. to 12:noon

Fees: Members $19; Nonmembers $29 (Fee includes one ticket to the play.)
Emeritus Faculty: Members $10, Nonmembers $20
(Emeritus Faculty Fee includes two tickets to the play.)

Description: HONK! is a musical adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen story The Ugly Duckling. Since it first hatched in 1993 at The Watermill Theatre in England, HONK! has winged its way around the world in over 8,000 productions and in many languages. England’s West End Theatre production opened in 1999, and in 2000 won the Olivier Award for Best Musical. The play is set in the countryside and features Ugly, a large, odd looking duckling who is rejected by everyone but his mother, Ida. The cast includes a sly tomcat who wants to eat Ugly, Lowbutt the chicken, Jay Bird, an 'in your face' reporter from America's Most Feathered, and assorted other barnyard creatures. On his journey to find himself, Honk discovers it is not what is on the outside that counts. Every ugly duckling can grow up to become a beautiful swan.

Ken Stevens came to Eastern Michigan University (EMU) from Cincinnati, Ohio, where he co-founded the Showboat Majestic Theater and served as a Rockefeller Fellow at the Playhouse in the Park and the University of Cincinnati. Professor Stevens created EMU's graduate and undergraduate programs in theater arts management, where he now serves as advisor. He has directed over 100 musicals and plays for EMU and for stock and regional theaters. Ken’s presentation for Elderwise will deal with both HONK! and with the challenges of adapting other Hans Christian Andersen stories to the theatre. This past holiday season Ken directed Striking 12, a contemporary adaption of The Little Match Girl, for EMU and Performance Network.

S1345 PTD (Petie the Dog) Productions: Twelve Angry Men
A Courthouse Drama by Reginald Rose, Directed by Carl Ellis
Presenter: Lois Dowling

Dates/Times: Pre-Performance Class: Monday, June 10, 1:00-3:00 p.m.
Play: Sunday, June 16, 2:00 p.m., at the Riverside Theatre in Ypsilanti

Fees: Members $16; Nonmembers $21 (Fee includes one ticket to the play.)

Description: On a hot and steamy summer day in 1954, somewhere in America, twelve jurors
deliberate the fate of a young man who is on trial for murdering his father. At the beginning, the jurors are nearly unanimous in their verdict of guilty, with only one among them dissenting in favor of not guilty. This intense and suspenseful drama unfolds entirely in a jury deliberation room where, over the course of many hours, the jurors (who remain nameless) learn about each other and about the fears, hopes, personal experiences, and emotional biases that drive life-versus-death decisions. As the one dissenter methodically and persistently exposes the weaknesses of the case arguments and evidence, the jurors also learn about the persuasive power of the concept of Reasonable Doubt. Twelve Angry Men debuted as a teleplay on CBS Studio One in 1954, followed by the critically acclaimed film adaptation in 1957. The stage play debuted in America on Broadway in 2004. Lois Dowling is an emeritus faculty member of San Diego State University, and for several years has been pursuing a “second career” in theater arts with Michigan’s PTD (Petie the Dog) Productions. She is deeply involved in all aspects of this important community theater endeavor.

MUSIC Back to top

S1301 An Unlikely Trio: Clara Wieck, Robert Schumann, and Johannes Brahms
Presenter: Jeanette Coviak
Dates: Tuesdays, April 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30
Time: 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Fee: Members $25; Nonmembers $50

Description: The intertwined lives of three musical legends – Clara Wieck, Robert Schumann, and Johannes Brahms – provide the background for these five class sessions. Assisted by video tapes from The Teaching Company, and narrations by Dr. Robert Greenberg, we will learn about the struggles, extraordinary genius, aching setbacks, and glorious triumphs experienced by these three musical giants. The class sessions will include time to listen to examples of the music composed by Robert and Clara Wieck Schumann. During the final class session we will view the 1947 American film version of Song of Love, starring Kathryn Hepburn as Clara, Paul Henreid as Robert Schumann, and Robert Walker as Johannes Brahms, with a musical soundtrack recorded by Arthur Rubinstein.

Jeanette Coviak is a long-time Elderwise member and has served on the Elderwise Curriculum Committee for over ten years. She is a former piano teacher and says that, although she is not an “expert,” she has a deep love for all kinds of music.

NATURE & ENVIRONMENT Back to top

S1324 The Ecology of the Texas Big Thicket National Preserve
Presenter: Sylvia Taylor
Date: Tuesday, May 7
Time: 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Fee: Members $5, Nonmembers $10

Description: The Big Thicket National Preserve was established by an Act of Congress in 1974. It covers 84,550 acres in southeastern Texas, and includes eight land units and four stream corridors, spread over 50 square miles. This area is famous as “the biological crossroads of North America.” The Nature Conservancy has joined Big Thicket preservation efforts through acquisition of the “Sandy Lands Preserve.” Because of its location bordering pinelands to the north, the Gulf coastal plain to the south, Bayou country to the east, and prairie to the west, the Big Thicket National Preserve hosts a truly incredible diversity of plants and animals in a variety of ecosystems. At first, this preserve complex was little visited, but today there is a vast trail system over enlarged acreage, and a visitor center with a developed educational program. During this class we will consider several ecosystem types including floodplain forest, baygall (spongy peat-filled bog), cypress slough (stagnant swamp), flatland palmetto hardwoods, pine savannah, and pine forest. No program describing this preserve can fail to include stories about its raucous history of lumberjacks, market hunters, and hideouts for Civil War deserters. This presentation is no exception to that mandate.

Sylvia Taylor is an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment. She is retired from the State of Michigan's Department of Natural Resources where she served for many years as an endangered species coordinator and wildlife biologist. Sylvia holds advanced degrees in both botany and biology, and currently is engaged in multiple projects involving field botany, wildlife biology, forest ecology, and the monitoring of vegetation. She is an active member and former chair of the Michigan Natural Areas Council.

S1328 A Walk in the Woods
Presenter: Charles Olson
Date: Tuesday, May 21 at Saginaw Forest in Ann Arbor, MI
Time: 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. [Please note the 4:00 p.m. end time.]
Fee: Members $5; Nonmembers $10

Description: Saginaw Forest is the woods in which you will walk. The forest was a working farm when it was gifted in 1903 to the University of Michigan by timberman and University Regent Arthur Hill and his wife, Louise, both of whom came from Saginaw, Michigan. The Hills wanted to “determine what species of trees can be used to reforest the worn-out farm lands of Michigan.” Today, Saginaw Forest (located on the western edge of Ann Arbor) is a field research area for University faculty and students engaged in studies of forest and sustainable ecosystem management. This Elderwise class will involve a one-mile walk over dirt roads. Please wear appropriate field-trip attire and sturdy walking shoes. Driving directions to Saginaw Forest will be provided with your registration confirmation.

Charles Olson retired from the University of Michigan faculty in 1999 after 35 years with the School of Natural Resources and Environment. He is an emeritus professor and a forester, and taught forest management and forest fire ecology at both the University of Illinois and the University of Michigan. He is currently a Registered Forester in the State of Michigan.

S1330 Michigan’s Hidden Treasure: The A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum
Presenter: Robert Rann
Date: Monday, June 3
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon
Fee: Members $5; Nonmembers $10

Description: With this class, Bob Rann returns to tell us more about his favorite personal subject – Michigan’s Copper Country. Celebrating one of the most mineral-rich regions in the United States, the A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum at Michigan Technological University in Houghton actually owes its existence to a series of complex geological processes that took place billions of years ago – processes that created enormous deposits of iron and copper in the Upper Peninsula. Bob will be presenting on his co-authored book (with Curator George W. Robinson), The A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum: Its History and Collections, and will provide an abundance of slides of the museum’s best specimens. The Seaman Museum today ranks as one of the world’s great mineral collections, alongside such institutions as the Smithsonian. The Seaman is, indeed, a hidden treasure. Despite its remote location, however, mineral enthusiasts from across the country and beyond make pilgrimages to the quiet little burg of Houghton in search of the rare, the exotic, and the wondrous among the museum’s collections.

Description: This course includes a class presentation on April 25 and a field trip on May 2. Using extraordinary close-up photography, the slide-lecture program on April 25 will feature the beautiful Spring wildflowers found in our woods, bogs, and other wetland habitats. We will also feature the medicinal uses, early American folklore, and mythology of these native plants. And, time permitting, we will devote some attention to the application of native plantings in the home environment. During our May 2 follow-up field trip, we will gather at the Sutherlands' Sugar Bush homestead near Ann Arbor, and enjoy an easy walking tour of some flower-filled fields and rural by-ways. Driving directions to Sugar Bush will be provided with your class registration confirmation.

Mary and Roger Sutherland are founding members of the Wildflower Association of Michigan, and have previously taught wildflower courses at Schoolcraft College. Roger is a past president of the Michigan Botanical Club. Over the last 25 years, Mary and Roger have presented nature programs, led nature walks, and conducted nature and wildflower classes for countless individuals and groups, including garden clubs, Audubon societies, and Elderwise.

POLITICS, POLICY, LAW & CURRENT EVENTS Back to top

S1303 Tony Judt’s Ill Fares the Land: A Discussion
Discussant: John Schwarz
Dates: Thursdays, April 4, 11 and 18
Time: 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Fee: Members $15; Nonmembers $30
Class Size: Enrollment for this class is limited to 12 attendees.

Description: Ill Fares the Land by Tony Judt was published in 2010, shortly before the author’s untimely death. The book is the masterpiece of a scholarly life characterized by broad vision and a keen sense of social justice. British-born, Judt spent most of his life in the United States, serving as director of the Remarque Institute at New York University. He was widely published. In this troubled American time, national and international issues confront and confuse us. Judt does not pretend to have answers, but urges his readers to search and evaluate with him, and to explore the urgent concerns of citizenship today. In this small-group setting, John Schwarz will assist dialogue, promote thought, and sometimes challenge both. In advance of the class, you are encouraged to read Ill Fares the Land (New York and London, The Penguin Press, 2010; ISBN 9781594202766), available both hardbound and in paperback (approximately $10) through local libraries, bookstores, and online booksellers.

S1309 Great Decisions
Presenter: Joan Clauss
Dates: Wednesdays, May 1, 8, 15, and 22
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12 Noon
Fee: Members $20; Nonmembers $40
Book of Readings: $18. Please note that the text for this class is the Foreign Policy Association booklet Great Decisions 2013, Chapters 1 through 4, which is available for purchase from the Elderwise office.

Description: This discussion group focuses on international policy issues, and features video presentations and readings on topics selected by the nonpartisan Foreign Policy Association. The Great Decisions briefing book features impartial thought-provoking analyses of issues of concern to the United States policymakers today. Each article is written by carefully selected experts, offers questions and tools for discussion, and suggested policy options for U.S. officials. During Spring Term 2013, we will cover the following topics:

•	May 1 - Future of the euro by Erik Jones How did the 2008 global recession contribute to the development of the euro crisis? The health of the euro affects and is affected by the state of the global economy. How can European Union leaders prevent the collapse of their common currency?
•	May 8 - Egypt by Bruce Rutherford The popular revolution that ousted President Hosni Mubarak in 2011 ushered in the promise of radical change. Two years later, what is the state of Egyptian democracy? How will the military and the civilian government balance power?
•	May 15 - NATO by Mark Webber How has NATO’s agenda evolved since its inception during the cold war? With its military commitment in Afghanistan winding down, and a recent successful campaign in Libya, what are the Alliance’s present-day security challenges?
•	May 22 - Myanmar and Southeast Asia by Barbara Crossette The West has welcomed unprecedented democratic reforms made by the government of Myanmar (formerly Burma). What challenges must Myanmar overcome before it can fully join the international community? What role can Myanmar play in Southeast Asia?

Joan Clauss is a long-time member of Elderwise and has served on the Curriculum Committee.
She earned her Bachelor’s degree at Madonna University, where a class in “Third World Countries” contributed to an interest in America’s foreign policy and world affairs. She is retired from the College of Engineering at the University of Michigan where she was a director of the Cooperative Education Program. Currently, Joan is an instructor for the Ann Arbor Public Schools Recreation and Education Adapted Program.

S1314 Taking Apart the News (TATN)
Presenter: Al Chambers
Dates: Thursdays, May 23 and 30, and June 6 and 13.
Time: 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Fee: Members $20; Nonmembers $40

Description: The Spring sessions of veteran communicator Al Chambers’ long-running, interactive class about news, and what makes news, will start with whatever subjects are in the news at the time. We will continue to discuss examples of how news is collected and analyzed by an ever faster-moving and more complex system – one that involves more news outlets, and a mixture of professionals, youngsters-in-training, and increasingly active citizen journalists. To what extent are communications a key factor in maintaining the high level of polarization in the United States, and the seeming inability to confront and ultimately solve known challenges? How different is the United States, with its largely open system, from most other nations? What is our nation’s role in establishing trends and change in communication? Our class sessions may consider to what extent the continuing fiscal machinations by Congress and the media show that the system ultimately works, albeit imperfectly, or are a cardinal example of the growing strains on the American process of decision making. To what extent do the Traditional and New Media satisfactorily address these issues to help us understand, while at the same time influencing our decisions? Will conflict over entitlements and different priorities between senior and younger generations be one of the biggest stories of 2013?

Al Chambers applies his decades of journalistic and corporate communications experience and expertise to current media headlines, and to events and situations that are the headlines to come. Al characterizes himself as never having “outgrown” being a news junkie. He enjoys sharing his thoughts with Elderwise members and their guests, and in leading discussions and debates about what is being headlined in newspapers, radio, television, cable networks, and the still-evolving world of websites and blogs.

S1321 The System: Can We Fix It?
Presenter: Robert G. Faber
Date: Monday, April 22
Time: 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Fee: Members $5; Nonmembers $10

Description: Even now, many of us are still recovering from a year and more of full-bore, drag-out, devil-take-the-hindmost political battling, an experience that has left both winners and losers exhausted and politically depressed. Thinking back on the glory of a history that began in 1776, we expected more nobility. Well, we were wrong. Our early predecessors were not that noble and our political shortcomings, however serious and depressing, are not unique. The difference now is that success or failure within our system is at least somewhat up to us. One of the primary objectives of this class will be to cast some light on attitudes and actions that might help us, as individuals, contribute to and improve our roles in The System.

Robert Faber moved to Ann Arbor in 1954. His business experience includes the well known Faber’s Fabrics, which he owned and managed from 1954 to 1983, and his successful travel agency, Faber Travel, which operated from 1982 to 1995. Bob also served on the Ann Arbor City Council (1969 to1973), and continues to write about the community in his capacity as a news media columnist.

S1322 Obama’s Second Term
Presenter: Jeffrey Bernstein
Date: Monday, April 29
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon
Fee: Members $5; Nonmembers $10

Description: As we peer into the crystal ball we dusted off in Winter Term, we will now consider the shape that President Obama’s second term is taking, and the questions surrounding that shape. What are the issues the President is pursuing, and what issues are being set aside? Where has Obama been able to succeed so far, and where has he been
unable to translate his agenda into policy? Using contemporary data and social science theory, we will explore the emerging early contours of the second Obama administration.

Jeffrey Bernstein studies and teaches political science and American politics at Eastern Michigan University. His research interests include public opinion and political behavior, citizen
education, and the scholarship of teaching and learning. Jeff is contributing author and co-editor of Citizenship Across the Curriculum (Indiana University Press, 2010) and is currently working on a book-length study that explores political cognition processes and their implications for teaching political science.

S1332 Wrongful Convictions in Michigan: A Report from the Michigan Innocence Clinic
Presenter: David Moran
Date: Monday, June 10
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon
Fee: Members $5; Nonmembers $10

Description: In January 2009, Professors David Moran and Bridget McCormack launched the Michigan Innocence Clinic at the University of Michigan Law School, to investigate and litigate claims of innocence by convicted prisoners where DNA evidence is not available. In its first four years, the Clinic's work has resulted in the exoneration of five men and two women, whose combined wrongful incarceration totalled more than 80 years. In this class Professor Moran will address the phenomenon of wrongful conviction, and will focus on the problems within our criminal justice system that result in the imprisonment of actual innocents. He will discuss several of the cases that have been handled by the Michigan Innocence Clinic.

David Moran is Co-Director of the Michigan Innocence Clinic. He earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from
the University of Michigan Law School, and he taught law and served as Dean of Academic Affairs at Wayne State University before joining the Michigan law faculty in 2008. Professor Moran has argued six times before the United States Supreme Court. Among his most notable cases is Halbert v. Michigan, in which the Supreme Court struck down a Michigan law that denied appellate counsel to indigent criminal defendants who wished to challenge their sentences after pleading guilty. In 2010, Professors Moran and McCormack jointly received the Justice For All Award, the highest award bestowed by the Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan. That same year, Professor Moran was named “Lawyer of the Year” by Michigan Lawyer’s Weekly.

SCIENCE & MATHEMATICS Back to top

THEATER PRODUCTIONS & CLASSES Back to top

S1344 Eastern Michigan University (EMU) Theater: HONK!
A Musical Comedy directed by Ken Stevens
Book and Lyrics by Anthony Drew; Music by George Stiles
Presenter: Ken Stevens

Fees: Members $19; Nonmembers $29 (Fee includes one ticket to the play.)
Emeritus Faculty: Members $10, Nonmembers $20
(Emeritus Faculty Fee includes two tickets to the play.)

S1345 PTD (Petie the Dog) Productions: Twelve Angry Men
A Courthouse Drama by Reginald Rose, Directed by Carl Ellis
Presenter: Lois Dowling

Dates/Times: Pre-Performance Class: Monday, June 10, 1:00-3:00 p.m.
Play: Sunday, June 16, 2:00 p.m., at the Riverside Theatre in Ypsilanti

TOURS (Local) Back to top

S1338 The Wonderful World of Wildflowers
Presenters and Field Trip Guides: Mary and Roger Sutherland

Dates and Times:
Thursday, April 25, 1:00 to 3:00 p.m., Class at Cleary University
Thursday, May 2, 1:00 to 3:00 p.m., Field Trip to Sugar Bush Homestead, Ann Arbor

Fee: Members $10; Nonmembers $20

Description: This course includes a class presentation on April 25 and a field trip on May 2. Using extraordinary close-up photography, the slide-lecture program on April 25 will feature the beautiful Spring wildflowers found in our woods, bogs, and other wetland habitats. We will also feature the medicinal uses, early American folklore, and mythology of these native plants. And, time permitting, we will devote some attention to the application of native plantings in the home environment. During our May 2 follow-up field trip, we will gather at the Sutherlands' Sugar Bush homestead near Ann Arbor, and enjoy an easy walking tour of some flower-filled fields and rural by-ways. Driving directions to Sugar Bush will be provided with your class registration confirmation.

S1340 Arab American Community and Culture
Presenter and Tour Guide: Sonya Kassis

Dates and Times:
Friday, May 10, 1:00 to 3:00 p.m., Class at Cleary University
Friday, May 17, 1:00 to 2:30 p.m., Tour of the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, Michigan

*Fee: Members $15; Nonmembers $25
*The fee for this course includes an additional $5 charge for the Museum tour.

Description: The first session of this class (May10 at Cleary) will discuss what makes a country Arab, the differences between the Arab World and the Middle East, ethnic and religious diversity within the Arab World, the history of Arab immigration to the United States, Arab American demographics, and Arab American culture. This broader discussion will include a brief overview of Islam. The second session on May 17 will offer a guided tour of the Arab American National Museum (AANM) in Dearborn, Michigan. The AANM is the first museum in the United States to be devoted to telling the Arab American story. By bringing the voices and faces of Arab Americans to its audiences, the AANM affirms its commitment to dispelling the many misconceptions about Arab Americans. The AANM also brings to light the shared experiences of many immigrants and ethnic groups, while paying tribute to the diversity of our nation. During the tour, visitors will have the opportunity to learn of the three main waves of Arab immigration to the U.S., Arab American cultural characteristics, the diversity of the Arab American communities, the contributions Arabs have made and continue to make in this country, and much more.

S1341 Exhibition Tour of Works by Isamu Noguchi and Qi Baishi
Tour Guide: Diane Rado
Date and Time: Friday, June 7, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the University of Michigan Museum of Art [Note the 11:30 a.m. start time.]
Fee: Members $5; Nonmembers $10

Description: In 1930 at the age of 26, the artist Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988) traveled eastward on the Trans-Siberian Railroad toward Japan, where he hoped for a reconciliation with his father and a reconnection with the childhood sources of his artistic inspiration. Noguchi stopped en route for six months in Beijing, where he met and studied with the renowned Chinese brush-and-ink painter Qi Baishi (1864-1957), an experience that greatly affected Noguchi’s creative vision. This exhibition at the University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) will showcase the cross-cultural creative impulses of both artists, and underscore their respective and lasting influences on contemporary practice. Organized by UMMA in partnership with the Noguchi Museum in New York City, this nationally touring exhibition project will feature approximately 60 drawings, including ink painting and calligraphic works, as well as sculpture and interpretive materials.

Drawn from the UMMA, Noguchi Museum, and other public and private collections, these items shed new light on the transformative relationship between American sculptor Isamu Noguchi and Chinese ink painter Qi Baishi. There is no charge for the tour but donations are always welcome. Driving directions and parking information will be sent with your registration confirmation.

S1342 Designing Tomorrow: America’s World’s Fairs of the 1930s
Presenter and Tour Guide: Steve Stanford

Dates and Times: Class at Cleary University, Friday, June 7, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. [Note end time.]
Exhibit Tour at the Henry Ford Museum, Friday, June 14, 10:00 a.m.

*Fee: Members $18; Nonmembers $28
*Fee includes $8 admission to the Henry Ford Museum

Description: Steve Stanford returns this Spring for a repeat performance of his exemplary role as class-and-tour leader (Fall 2012 The Titanic), this time for a historical review and museum exhibit of America’s World’s Fairs in the 1930s. In the class on June 7, at Cleary University, Steve will present a series of actual 1930s Ford Motor Company films from the video Ford at the 1934-35 Fairs, showing how Henry Ford and his company participated in the World’s Fairs. Learning about the history of these fairs will prepare participants for viewing the exhibition the following week. On June 14, at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, we will tour Designing Tomorrow: America’s World’s Fairs in the 1930s, a limited-engagement exhibition demonstrating why millions of Americans traveled to these expositions during a critical decade in the nation’s history. There they glimpsed the future in the modernist spectacle of architecture and design that became a community platform. The museum exhibit brings together 150 artifacts (including building models and architectural remnants) from the six Depression-era fairs – Chicago, San Diego, Dallas, Cleveland, San Francisco, and New York City – introducing society to new ideas about the future of American life. After viewing the exhibit, participants will be free to wander the museum at their leisure, and Steve will remain available to answer questions. Driving directions to the Henry Ford Museum will be sent with your registration confirmation.

TRAVELOGUES Back to top

S1331 The Oregon Coast: A Pictorial Journey
Presenter: Ralph Powell
Date: Thursday, June 6
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon
Fee: Members $5, Nonmembers $10

Description: The State of Oregon has preserved most of its pristine coast by creating many state parks and preserves. Join us as we explore the Oregon coast via the photographic record of two separate trips taken by Ralph Powell and his family. On the first trip, Ralph drove and camped along the coast with his young family. More recently, he drove west to participate in a family reunion in Rockaway Beach, along the Oregon coast due west of Portland, where they spent several days exploring the beach and nearby parks and viewing points. Stops on the drive west included Fort Lincoln State Park and Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota, and the area around Glacier National Park in western Montana. The return trip included visits to Oregon’s Crater Lake National Park, Lava Beds National Park in California, and camping at Great Basin National Park in Nevada and the Medicine Bow National Forest in Wyoming. Before returning to Michigan, a final adventure involved a rainstorm in Nebraska.

Ralph Powell is a long-time member of Elderwise and has served as the organization’s Treasurer for many years. He retired from the Chemistry Department at Eastern Michigan University (EMU) in 1998, and is now an emeritus faculty member of the
EMU community. Ralph has lived in Michigan since 1966, and enjoys many hobbies including hiking, camping, photography and gardening. With his wife and family, Ralph has traveled to and through all 50 of the United States.