The Gerontology Center at Syracuse University is again presenting its popular
Lifelong Learning Institute this spring and summer. The multidisciplinary courses are
unique in that each will balance academic pursuits with a community engagement
component.
The institute-consisting of 10 courses designed for people over the age of 50-begins
in a few weeks, and participants are encouraged to enroll now. Courses are taught by
SU instructors and are offered to local residents and current and retired SU faculty,
alumni and staff.
"We again wanted to offer a wide array of courses that emphasize both education
and engagement in the community," says Madonna Harrington Meyer, director of
the Gerontology Center and professor of sociology in the Maxwell School of
Citizenship and Public Affairs. "This year, students will have more unique
opportunities to become integrated into the life and activity of the Syracuse
community.""
Courses are offered in the spirit of continued learning-there are no credits and no
grades. Students will participate in a wide variety of activities, reading and writing.
Classes will meet at different times and locations for a total of 16 contact hours and at
locations with convenient parking and accessible facilities.
Tuition for the institute is $115 for the first course and $110 for the second course. The
cost includes a $5 annual membership fee for the Lifelong Learning Institute; all fees
are nonrefundable. To register for courses or for more information, visit
http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/cpr/gerontology/LLI/ or contact Martha Bonney at
mwbonney@maxwell.syr.edu or (315) 443-2703.
Spring/Summer 2009 courses:
professor of African American studies, this course is an introduction to
appreciating jazz as an art form: sharpening listening skills, distinguishing
different forms of jazz and learning about the contributions of jazz giants.
Students will also attend several live jazz concerts in the Syracuse area and
help organize publicity for local jazz concerts. Dates: March 17, 24 and 31,
and April 7 and 14. Time: 6-9:15 p.m. Location: Regency Towers, 770 James
St. Note: Students are encouraged to get NPR's "Curious Listener's Guide to
Jazz" (Perigee Trade, 2002).
by Karen Doherty, professor in the Department of Communication Sciences
and Disorders, the course will teach students how the ear works, why we lose
our hearing as we age, and how the latest hearing aids work. Participants will
also get a hearing test and tour the Gebbie Speech and Hearing Clinics at SU.
Students will evaluate assistive listening devices (ALDs) in public
entertainment sites around Syracuse. Dates: June 11, 12, 15 and 16. Time: 9
a.m.-1 p.m. Location: SU's Hoople Building, plus site visits.
Gates, professor of English, will outline basic principles of photography:
subjects, styles, practices of digital photography, and the social role of
photography in our culture. Students will also create a mini photo essay about
some aspect of the greater Syracuse community. Dates: March 17, 24 and 31;
April 7, 14, 21 and 28; and May 5. Time: 7-9 p.m. Location: SU's Hall of
Languages, Room 101. Note: Students need a digital camera, basic operation
skills and access to a computer.
studies, will survey the major trends in Jewish art, post-Biblical Jewish
traditions of Europe and America, and religious and secular art in many
media. Students will also discuss how to make Temple Concord and its
collections-located on the Connective Corridor-more publicly accessible.
Dates: April 20, 22, 24, 27 and 29, and May 1. Time: 1-3:40 p.m. Location:
Temple Society of Concord, 910 Madison St.
Meighan, professor in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, will lead
leisurely walking tours of the art spaces of Syracuse to explore the role of
traditional and contemporary art locally. Students will discuss and record how
each art space can improve its programs to meet the needs and interests of
mature visitors. Dates: June 3, 5, 10 and 12. Time: 12:30-4:30 p.m. Location:
SU's Shaffer Art Building, Room 202, plus several site visits. Note: Some
parking fees. Students will meet the professor on site; occasional walking for
2-3 blocks; handicap accessible sites. Most visits indoors.
will help students examine four Shakespearean plays to see how they have
been performed and received over time, especially in recent film adaptations.
Selected scenes will be workshopped. Students will have the opportunity to
help a local theater company stage and promote a production. Dates: April 22
and 29, and May 6 and 13. Time: 6-10 p.m. Location: SU's Whitman School
of Management building, Room 001.
Program, students will explore the significance and potential outcomes of
lifewriting and the techniques for crafting a memoir. Students will also help
residents of Menorah Park with their lifewriting projects. Dates: April 28 and
30, and May 5, 7, 12, 14, 19 and 21. Time: 1-3 p.m. Location: Menorah Park
Senior Living Community, 4101 East Genesee St., Syracuse.
of Sociology, will lead the reading and discussion of memoirs of four very
different women to examine the individual and social components of their life
experiences and relate them to our own. Students will also collect books to
donate to a library. Dates: May 2, 9, 16 and 30. Time: 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Location: SU's E.S. Bird Library, Room 123. Note: Students need
"Autobiography of a Face" (Harper Perennial, 2003) by Lucy Grealy;
"Lucky: A Memoir" (Back Bay, 2002) by Alice Sebold; "Comes a Little Light"
(Dream House, 2008) by Darise Bailer and Rosemarie Mosler; and "Letter to
My Daughter" (Random House, 2008) by Maya Angelou.
professor of physics, will examine the structure, origins and fate of the
universe, going back nearly 14 billion years. Students will also help guide
visitors through the MOST's Cosmology exhibit. Dates: June 8, 10, 15, 17, 22
and 24. Time: 9-11:40 a.m. Location: MOST (Museum of Science and
Technology), 500 S. Franklin St.
history, will examine major British and American polar explorers through
lecture, discussion and film. The class will have the opportunity to help with
the penguin exhibit at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo. Dates: May 19 and 26, and
June 2 and 9. Time: 6-10 p.m. Location: SU's E.S. Bird Library, in the Antje
Lemke Seminar Room on the sixth floor.
The Gerontology Center includes 30 faculty members who are engaged in aging
research, education and policymaking. The center hosts scholarly conferences,
oversees an undergraduate and graduate certificate in gerontology, and works to
coordinate and foster interdisciplinary activities relating to gerontology across the SU
campus.
