Maine Senior College Network news & updates | |
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Welcome to the April 2024 issue of the MSCN newsletter.
This month, I am sharing the results of a lighthearted survey that Belfast Senior College conducted through its newsletter. The survey asked the question, "How old are you? No, how old are you really?" The findings of the survey indicate that almost all of the respondents feel younger than their actual age. Belfast Senior College attributes this to their insatiable curiosity and engagement!
The newsletter also showcases just a few of the enjoyable talks and courses coming up soon across the state (all listed offerings are available online.)
I also want to draw your attention to a thought-provoking three-week class that South Coast Senior College is presenting titled "Seeing The World, Sensing The Sacred: Responding To The Challenges Of Climate Change From Within" with instructor Paul Doherty. Paul is one of a small group of senior college instructors who participate in the "MSCN Climate Change Conversations" group. We hold meetings once a month, where the focus is on recognizing the science while also fostering hope for a sustainable future for our grandchildren.
Anne Cardale
Program Director
Maine Senior College Network
Wikimedia Image:
Drawing, Great Basin, Mount Katahdin, Maine, before 1878.
Frederic Edwin Church
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Belfast Senior College March Newsletter Article
Senior College By The Numbers
How Old Are You? No, How Old Are You Really?
Last month Belfast Senior College asked its members to tell them how many calendar years old they are and how old they feel inside.
Here are their delightful findings
We got a lot of responses (58) and many interesting comments. The upshot: almost all of us feel considerably younger than our biological age. (Of course, we at Senior College know this due to our insatiable curiosity and engagement :-)
The results are graphed below. They are somewhat coarse because we used age ranges, but it is easy to see that most of us feel much younger than our calendar age, and in the aggregate, the difference is about 15 years. Yay!
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Acadia Senior College present
Artificial Intelligence - Good or Evil?
April 26, 2024
11:30 am - 1:00 pm
Reserve now - A Hybrid Presentation
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Proponents claim that Artificial Intelligence will produce results with a greater degree of precision, create a new standard for productivity and efficiency, can be used in situations where human intervention can be hazardous, and lead to massive improvements in medicine, education, and product production.
Naysayers argue that maybe so, but at what cost? AI is extremely expensive to build, could lead to massive unemployment as humans are replaced in repetitive jobs, and eventually lead to robots enslaving human beings as it becomes the dominant form of intelligence on earth.
Fred’s talk will define Artificial Intelligence, provide more detail on its general benefits and risks, and focus primarily on the threat it poses to national security.
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Presenter Fred Benson retired as an Army full Colonel, having served combat command tours in Vietnam and Korea and Pentagon assignments in the offices of the Army Chief of Staff, the Secretary of the Army, and the Secretary of Defense.
Subsequently, he served as Vice President for National and International Affairs for the Weyerhaeuser Company and later was President of the US-New Zealand Business Council, a consortium of 31 US companies with an active business presence in New Zealand.
Benson was selected as a White House fellow in 1973 and subsequently served as a member of the President's Commission on White House Fellowships under Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. He served for ten years as a Board Trustee for the Center for Naval Analysis (CNA), a government-funded private company serving the Departments of Defense, Justice, and Homeland Security.
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Sunrise Senior College Present
What is Philosophy?
with Dr. John Patrick Cleary
Hybrid Class
Friday, May 3rd, 1:00 - 2:30 pm
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Philosophy is the study and analysis of ideas, arguments and propositions that form the basis of knowledge claims in the arts and sciences. It often serves as a tool in guiding us through the complexities of life, in addition to understanding how ideas influence the ways in which we understand our experiences in the world. As citizens turn increasingly to electronic sources of learning and communication, it becomes even more essential that they learn to critically evaluate the flow of information to which they are continually exposed. In this regard, Philosophy enables one to objectively discern the effect that concepts have on our development of values and perspectives.
In this one-session presentation, Dr. John Patrick Cleary will take us on a journey to discover how the different branches (subjects of study) of Philosophy can assist us in interpreting reality and truth and, in turn, how questions that originate from reflective/contemplative thinking can help us in furthering our self-knowledge.
Presenter: Dr. John Patrick Cleary has taught students of all backgrounds, ages, and abilities. He began his career teaching Philosophy to High School students (17 years) and then moved to teaching University and Community College students in New Jersey for another 12 years. He received his doctoral degree in Pedagogy and Philosophy from The Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children at Montclair State University. He is currently an adjunct Professor of Philosophy at Beal University.
Class Information: Cost $10.
This is a hybrid class, held in person on the University of Maine at Machias campus in Room Science 102 and via Zoom.
Register here
Wikimedia Image
Philosophy Enthroned (Detail)
by Virgil Solis
Sunrise Senior College
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Lewiston Auburn Senior College
Free Zoom Talk
Six Cameras II with Lin Wright
Tuesday, Apr 30th, from 1:00 - 3:00 pm
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York County Senior College
Introduction to Meditation (ZOOM)
with Jeff Goldsmith, MD, DFASAM
April 18 - June 6th, 2024. Thursdays, 11:30 am - 12:30 pm
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South Coast Senior College presents:
Seeing The World, Sensing The Sacred: Responding To The Challenges Of Climate Change From Within
with Paul Doherty
Hybrid Class - 3 Fridays, starting on May 3. 10:00 am -12 noon
We are hearing more and more about the reality and seeing for ourselves the effects of climate change in our world and in our own lives. We may also have become aware of an ever-growing number of possible responses.
In this three-session hybrid course, we will explore how we might respond to the challenge as guided by a range of spiritual teachers and practices ranging from indigenous peoples to the insights of individual wisdom figures through the ages.
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Our goal, ultimately, is to tap into those same sources of wisdom, hope, and healing within ourselves. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.
Presenter Paul Doherty is an armchair theologian with experience in music, broadcasting, and ministry. He has also been teaching for several years at two Maine senior colleges, including South Coast. Currently, Paul is active in a statewide senior college committee looking at the ways senior educators and students can contribute to the battle against climate change
Hybrid Class: This class will be offered in person at the York Chamber of Commerce and on Zoom simultaneously. The link will be sent 24 hours in advance.
Register for "Seeing The World, Sensing The Sacred"
South Coast Senior College
Wikimedia Commons
Small Bird on a Branch of Kaidozakura
By Utagawa Hiroshige
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AARP Invitation to Maine Senior College Network Members | |
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Please JOIN us for "Fraud Watch with Phil and Pam" each month for an insightful discussion on fighting scams and fraud in Maine.
In our continuing effort to develop ways to protect the most vulnerable among us from becoming victims to the onslaught of scams, AARP Maine Fraud Watch volunteers Phil Chin and Pam Partridge invite you to participate in a virtual scam and fraud watch series.
These discussions are free and open to all. You do not need to be an AARP member to join the conversation. Registration is now open!
During Phil and Pam's 30-minute interactive Zoom meetings, we discuss these important issues with other Mainers, colleagues, and community leaders. Each Fraud Watch program meets the second Thursday of the month at 10AM.
Our focus this month will be Travel and Home Improvement Scams. Tune in and join the discussion at our next Fraud Watch with Phil and Pam! Our next meeting will be April 11th, 2024
Registration for April's event is now open! Click here to Register!
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ART EXHIBITION
“Father and Daughter: Wiliam Zorach and Dahlov Ipcar”
Maine Jewish Museum in Portland, Maine.
March 7 – May 3, 2024
Reviewed by Pat Davidson Reef
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Image: Detail from "Embarkation" by Dahlov Ipcar's
"Father and Daughter: Wiliam Zorach and Dahlov Ipcar" is an exhibit now showing at the Maine Jewish Museum in Portland, Maine. Rachel Walls, Executive Director of the Ipcar Art Collection, spoke as a guest speaker on Tuesday, March 19, 2024, invited by the OLLI Sage program at the University of Southern Maine. in Portland. She spoke to a large gathering in the Wishcamper Center, plus another 80 people across the state who joined the lecture via Zoom.
Walking into the exhibit is like entering another world of creativity and joy in life. A gigantic sculpture of the head of Moses in bronze (" 35 X 36") created by Dahlov's father, the famous sculptor William Zorach, greets you at the entrance. Its monumental quality makes the exhibit unique and timeless and marks an important landmark for art in Maine. Lining the walls of the entrance are Zorach's 11 beautiful watercolors; these are special and not usually associated with the artist. His sensitive watercolors titled "Back Bay Excursion," "View of Popham From Kennebec," and "Sheepscot River" are amazing.
In the large gallery off the entrance area is the work of Dahlov Ipcar, known for her art in 40 children's books and murals in public schools across the state. Ipcar once said," Illustrations in children's books bring museum-quality art into every child's home. Some children never get to see a museum or only see it once a year on a field trip from school."
The exhibit includes twenty-five outstanding Dahlov Ipcar works, including her needlepoint tapestry "Golden Savanna," "The Garden of Eden," a collage, and two portraits by Ipcar of her parents, Marguerite Thompson, an artist, and her father, William Zorach. For those who have loved Dahlov's work for many years, this exhibit is a feast for the eyes.
This exhibit offers beauty and happiness in a troubled world. While many of the images (including "Embarkation" featured above) are for sale, the exhibition is free of charge and open to the public.
The museum is closed on Tuesdays and Saturdays but open the rest of the week from 12 noon to 4:00 pm. All are welcome. You will come away emotionally lifted and not be disappointed. The exhibition ends May 3.
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