In This Issue: A Message From the Director | Happy New Year! | New! Dr. Adler Special Event | January 2021 Programs | New! Guest Policy and Calendar | Spring Virtual Social Hours | Zoom Practice Sessions | Campus Food Pantry | Osher Recipe Share | Moby-Dick Marathon | Lit for Lunch Lecture | First Friday Astronomy Event

Dear Osher Members,

As we ring in a new year, I am filled with hope. 2020 brought many changes to us, along with grief, illness, loss of loved ones, isolation from the people we love and who lift us up, job losses, and deep sadness. While my heart is broken for all these losses, I am holding onto hope for healing in the coming year. The Osher Institute prevailed during a critical time and you, the Osher members, stayed with us and continued a journey of lifelong learning. Your commitment to lifelong learning, even in the face of adversity, inspires me to hope for more as we embrace January, 2021.

Like you, I have hope that a vaccine is on the horizon, that we may see one another again in the next several months, and that we will be confident in our health and safety once again. I hope that Osher members who tried out new ways to engage with Osher, friends, and families continue to feel engaged and inspired by one another. I hope that each of you have found meaningful activities when group meetings weren't possible.

We begin the spring semester with virtual, livestream webinars, but we hope by the fall semester some seated programs may be available. Until we can meet in person, I hope to see you at Osher virtual social hours and participating in livestream Osher lectures and courses.

“They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for.” -- Tom Bodett

I’m grateful to have many people to love, work that is meaningful, and so much to hope for in the coming new year.

Warm wishes for a happy New Year,

Dana

Dana Thorp Patterson, Director

As we put this strange and difficult year behind us and approach our 15th year as a designated Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, we are looking forward to a new semester and the days when the global health climate allows us to gather in person again. We are continually grateful for your continued support of our Institute.

Our office hours are Monday-Thursday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. and Friday, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. The Yanke building remains closed to the public, but you can reach us by phone or email during office hours.

We wish you all a safe, healthy, peaceful, and very Happy New Year!

We are excited to announce that a special event has been added to January's programs! Dr. David Adler will be returning to present on the National Popular Vote Compact.

NEW! Preserving the Integrity of Elections and the Will of the People:

Is it time to enact the National Popular Vote Compact? Efforts in the 2020 election to influence the Electoral College, overturn results of the election, and interfere with the will of the people illuminate the growing call for consideration of enacting the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. The Compact would protect the integrity of elections and the right of the American voters to elect the president. This discussion will consider the strengths and weaknesses of the Compact in light of serious threats to the integrity of presidential elections and democratic institutions.

Presenter: Dr. David Adler, President, Alturas Institute

Date and time: Tue., Jan. 26, 1:30-3:30 p.m.

Cost: $25

To sign up for this special event, visit the Osher registration page or call Customer Services at (208) 426-1709.

Every month, Osher News highlights the programs that are available for enrollment.

The following presentations will be taking place in January:

Presenter: Robert McQuade, Ada County Assessor

Date and time: Tue., Jan. 19, 1:30-3:30 p.m.

Cost: Included with membership

Presenter: Dr. Richard Bell, Professor of History, University of Maryland

Dates and times: Thu., Jan. 21 and 28, 10 a.m.-noon

Cost: $25

Presenter: Dr. Muffet Jones, Professor of Art History, Boise State University

Dates and times: Fri., Jan. 22, 29, and Feb. 5, 1:30-3:30 p.m.

Cost: $35

Presenter: Dr. Jonathan Biggane, Associate Professor, Department of Management, California State University Fresno

Date and time: Mon., Jan. 25, 1:30-3:30 p.m.

Cost: Included with membership

Presenter: Ted Epperly, MD, President and CEO, Family Medicine Residency of Idaho (FMRI)

Date and time: Wed., Jan. 27, 10 a.m.-noon

Cost: Included with membership

Presenter: Dr. Jack Marr, Clinical Assistant Professor and COBE Global Programs Director, Boise State University

Date and time: Wed., Jan. 27, 1:30-3:30 p.m.

Cost: Included with membership

Presenter: Dr. Eric Yensen, Professor Emeritus of Biology, The College of Idaho

Dates and times: Thu., Jan. 28, Feb. 4, 11, and 18, 1:30-3:30 p.m.

Cost: $45

Visit the Osher registration site to sign up for courses and lectures. If you have any questions about registering, please contact Customer Services at (208) 426-1709.

We love when members share their passion for lifelong learning! And we are happy to announce that for the spring 2021 semester, we are reinstating our guest policy. The Institute is offering current Osher members one (1) guest pass that is good for one (1) lecture or one (1) course session.

Simply contact the Osher office at osher@boisestate.edu or (208) 426-6554 and provide your guest's name, address, email address, and the lecture or course session in which the guest will be included.

Did you know you can view the spring semester calendar online? Just scroll down the main page of the Osher website to the Google calendar and click through the months for the most up-to-date list of programs.

If you would like a hard copy of the Osher spring semester calendar to post on your refrigerator, please email us at osher@boisestate.edu and we will mail January through May to you.

Grab a beverage and join us at our bi-weekly Virtual Social Hour on the Zoom Meeting platform! It is a great way to engage with other Osher members, meet the staff, and stay connected during the semester.

Social hours will be held from 12-1 p.m. on Wednesdays, January 13 and 27, February 10 and 24, March 10 and 24, April 7 and 21, and May 5 and 19.

An email with the link to join will be sent the day before the meeting date.

If you need assistance joining the Zoom meeting, please contact the Osher office at

(208) 426-6554.

Need some extra help with Zoom or a refresher on how to use the system? We have you covered! The Osher staff will be holding several Zoom practice sessions this month to get you up to speed with using the Zoom Webinar platform.

Click here to sign up for a practice session date and time.

Here are the main takeaways:

If you have any questions, please contact the Osher Institute at (208) 426-6554 or osher@boisestate.edu.

After closing at the start of the pandemic, the Campus Food Pantry at Boise State University reopened in September, 2020 in the former art gallery in the Campus School building. The larger space allows the Pantry to stock a wide variety of items - both food and hygiene products - and serve food-insecure students while maintaining appropriate social distancing. In past semesters, the Pantry has partnered with organizations such as the Idaho Food Bank, the Associated Students of Boise State University (ASBSU), and Albertsons.

If you would like to support the Campus Food Pantry and make a donation, click here.

Do you have a tried-and-true recipe in your collection? Is there a recipe that has been passed down in your family for generations and you'd love to share it with Osher members? Email your favorite recipe to us at osher@boisestate.edu and we will compile and post them in the "Osher Recipe Share" section of our Osher on Demand blog in the coming months.

If you have other recommendations for content and/or topics to add to Osher on Demand, you can email them to us as well.

Steven Olsen-Smith, Professor of English at Boise State University and favorite Osher presenter, will give the keynote address "A Wonder, a Grandeur, and a Woe: Melville and Human Progress" for the New Bedford Whaling Museum's 25th Annual Moby-Dick Marathon Reading on Friday, January 8 at 5 p.m. MST. Click here to get tickets online.

Olsen-Smith is the editor of Melville's Marginalia Online. The talk will look closely at Melville's body of work to trace his conception of our prospects for edification and advancement. Olsen-Smith will explore how admirers of Melville might ponder anew the writer's conception of humanity's capacity for individual, social, and evolutionary growth.

Since 1977, the New Bedford Whaling Museum has hosted a live reading of the classic work Moby-Dick every January. The event draws readers and enthusiasts from around the world to the museum and the livestream reading online. The marathon continues through Sunday, January 10.

Join Boise State University English Professor Cheryl Hindrichs on Zoom to discuss pandemic literature as part of the Pandemania! Reading in Isolation series. On Friday, January 22 at noon, the topic will be William Maxwell's novel, They Came Like Swallows. Through the eyes of other characters, readers come to know a wife and mother who is the center of her child's and husband's worlds as they face the 1918 influenza pandemic. The guest speaker for this discussion will be Professor Peter Fifield of Birkbeck University, author of Modernism and Physical Illness.

If you would like to participate in this Zoom session, please email Professor Hindrichs at cherylhindrichs@boisestate.edu and provide your name and email address.

The Department of Physics at Boise State University invites you to join them for an online First Friday Astronomy Event. Brian Jackson of the Department of Physics at Boise State University will present "The Discovery of Neptune."

This event will take place on Friday, January 1 at 7:30 p.m. Click this link to join the livestream: http://www.astrojack.com/ffa-neptune/. Participants can ask questions in the chat feature once the livestream begins.

Chair: Merilee Marsh | Cindy Anson | Ralph Bild | Russ Centanni

Director: Dana Thorp Patterson | Program Coordinator: Laura Mehlhaff

Communications Specialist: Jill Chmelko | Administrative Assistant: Jeremy Trent