Introduction
With the release of the fall catalog on August 25, and its roster of engaging and rewarding classes, we will once again be reminded why we joined LLI. Are you interested in history, medicine, or science? What about literature and music? Protecting yourself against cyberhackers? Hiking or simply moving better to ease the aches of aging? Or meditation and spirituality? It’s all there, thanks to the hard work of the Curriculum Committee.
As usual, there will be Zoom courses on Thursdays starting September 14, and in-person courses on Fridays starting September 15. Final classes will be held on November 9 and 10, which allows for breaks on October 12 and 13 and November 2 and 3 to accommodate Bard’s schedule. Registration in ProClass will start on September 1, with enrollment on a first-come, first-served basis. Here’s a brief preview of what we can anticipate.
Reappraising History
Bard professor Christian Crouch has worked with the DEI team to create a multipresenter course examining the history, resilience, and cultural heritage of the people whose ancestral lands we occupy. Presenters for The Indigenous Peoples of the Hudson Valley and Beyond: We Are Still Here include herbalists, historians, ethnoecologists, musicians, and museum curators, most of whom are tribal members.
Sarah Olson has facilitated The Roosevelts: New Research, a review of ongoing research on Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt that has reinterpreted their place in the history of the last century. Each week, distinguished historians, curators, and interpretive experts will focus on the Roosevelts in Hyde Park, the Hudson Valley, and their activities related to human rights.
As Rev. Richard McKeon will point out in Legacy of Injustice: How Some Faith Communities Have Historically Supported White Supremacy, some Christian organizations have been directly responsible for justifying and profiting from systemic racism and slavery. The course will examine the history of those organizations and examine how scripture has sometimes been misinterpreted to support racism.
Tom Walker will provide a concise history of Russia from its early beginnings through its period as the world’s largest empire in Russia, from the Kievan Rus to the End of the Soviet Era. Participants will learn how the cultural, economic, and geographical influences shaped Russia’s method of governance.
For the Mind
Robin Bernstein will offer Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation, which will focus on four aspects of practice: seeing things as they are, learning to be here in the present moment, noticing how things change, and non-judging awareness. Each class will include a talk on the week’s topic, a guided meditation session, and a discussion period for participants to share their observations.
Steve Sloane will share his lifelong interest in expanded consciousness in Effects of the Psychedelic Revolution on the Individual in Society. He will share some of his writing, and discuss short stories from familiar authors such as Edgar Allen Poe, Tom Wolfe, and Ken Kesey. Participants will discuss the writings of psychedelic pioneers such as Aldous Huxley and Timothy Leary, and the humor of “Professor” Irwin Corey and Andy Kaufman.
In Sustainable Living as Spiritual Practice, Lyla Yastion will encourage participants to examine the teachings of major religions regarding the human relationship to the natural world. Through a review of the profound ties between humanities and all life forms, participants may approach their own practices of sustainability as a form of worship and gratitude.
Andree Sparks-DePass will share her successful relaxation and meditation program in Choosing to Relax. Her goal is to help class members create a life in which they can apply simple relaxation techniques to calm themselves in the present moment.
And Body
Margaret Pierpont will help us move with more ease and pleasure in Sit Down and Move Better: Feldenkrais Awareness Through MovementⓇ—In a Chair! As those who have worked with her before, moving better makes everything better.
Kelly Garone will explore gentle movement as a vital and regenerative process as a way to deal with the aging process. Some benefits of Aging Well Through Movement may include enhanced coordination, freedom of movement and breath, and clarity of thought.
Stressed out all week? Sitting in front of the computer too long? Try Yoga Soul Flow, in which Wendy Rothkopf will introduce class members to a mixed-level practice with simple modifications, if needed. Help restore the mind-body balance while conditioning your body and enjoying some good-humored fun.
Literature
As Lee Gould will show in The New York School of Poets, the poems of the 50s and 60s were witty, conversational, sophisticated, and fun to read. Among the many poets whose work will be discussed are John Ashbery, Barbara Guest, Frank O’Hara, and Kenneth Koch.
Join Peter Scheckner in exploring the cinematic and poetic expressions of resistance against tyranny. The films and poems discussed in “Rise Like Lions After Slumber:” Films and Poetry of Protest, Resistance, and Empowerment may provide much-needed hope that change is possible.
The goal of Victoria Sullivan’s Short Stories class is to untangle individual responses to works by Jack London, Willa Cather, James Baldwin, and Joyce Carol Oates. Class members will discuss such themes as survival, societal misfits, racial tension, and dangerous sexuality.
Patty Kane Horrigan will provide a deep look into the role the Fairy Tale Experience has played in our personal lives and in the world at large. Such characters as Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and the Snow Queen may hold many possible meanings for us, both as adults and children.
Daniel Lanzetta will consider Storytelling, Memory, and Rememory: A Psychological Look at Toni Morrison’s Beloved. In reading (or rereading) this Pulitzer Prize–winning novel, class members will unearth the treasures, poetry, and disturbingly realistic rendering of the slave narrative from the perspective of the characters who lived it.
Science and Medicine
How has the practice of medicine changed in the 56 years since Michael Weinstock graduated medical school? In Milestones in Medicine, he will describe the astounding discoveries he’s witnessed that affect the practice of medicine and may increase longevity.
The popular Bard Masters of Math and Science will return with presentations by different members of the Bard faculty. Topics include Seeing Red by Getting Madder: Dyes and Lakes, STEM goddesses, Climate Change and Agriculture, and Alien Life and How to Find It.
Self-Expression
In What’s Your Story? Ann Hutton will help participants develop the skills and habit of writing through sessions that focus on self-expression and positive feedback. Participants will uncover their own truths and share them.
Music and Dance
Bard President Leon Botstein has written that “the most significant event in the modern history of French music was the Paris premiere of Richard Wagner’s Tannhäuser…which caused a near riot.” In Wagner and Debussy’s Paris: A Hate-Love Relationship, Ray Erickson will explain that statement by considering the life, writings, and music of Wagner in the context of the French encounter with them. Debussy may have been a Wagner fan, but he thought those works were incompatible with French music.
Chuck Mishaan is revisiting his popular Opera as Politics class with an updated perspective on the governmental, sexual, economic, religious, and political issues portrayed in this 400-year-old art form. He will also consider the current state of opera as a political vehicle.
Here comes West Coast Swing, Again! with Christopher Bledsoe teaching dance steps and dance social practices. Enjoy the health benefits of dance and exercise while meeting other LLI members willing to try something new.
Cyber-Protection
Knowing that your personal data is available to malefactors and being able to protect yourself from them are two different things. That’s where Rivka Tadjer comes in. By letting class members know how to Defeat Cybercriminals Before and After You Get Hacked, she will help you put behavioral protocols in place so you are no longer a target.
Exploring Local Sites
Around Bard: An Insider’s View has long been one of LLI”s most popular courses. Course members get a behind-the-scenes tour of many of the innovative programs and settings of Bard College, from the Bard Farm, Blithewood Garden and Historic Estate, Hessel Museum, Reem-Kayden Center for Science and Computation, Laszlo Bito ‘60 Conservatory, and the Center for Experimental Humanities and New Annandale House.
Join local historian Shannon Butler in the Academy Street Walking Tour, one of the most beautiful streets in Poughkeepsie. Participants will enjoy viewing the mid-19th-century architecture and listening to stories of some interesting people who called these houses home.
Shannon Butler will also offer a Walking Tour of the Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery. Members will visit some of the area’s most interesting and influential characters in this historic cemetery.
The Great Outdoors
Do you think fall is too late to enhance your garden? Not so, according to the gardeners, horticulturist architects, and nursery proprietors who will share their tips and experience in Gardening Now!
Vicki Hoener and Robin Berger will encourage LLI hikers to put on their sturdy footwear and join them for five Local Walks in the Scenic Hudson Valley. Hikers will visit sites on both sides of the river.
Hikers can also look forward to joining environmental educator Laura Conner for Three Autumn Walks at Minnewaska. All will enjoy autumnal views of the Catskill Mountains and numerous scenic, cliff-edge views.
Finally, members may enjoy an Excursion to Lewis Hollow Site on Overlook Mountain in Woodstock. Outdoor guide Glenn Kreisberg will show participants Native American manitou spirit stone features, including dry stacked stone mounds, snake effigies, and springs. See the woods in a new way and understand these features in their proper cultural context.
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