Winter 2009 Lecture

Barbershop Singing

With Terry Wence and local Barbershop singers

The lecture will cover the history of barbershop singing, the techniques used, and the evolution of style as younger members become involved. The group will also entertain us!

Date/Time: Wednesday, January 7, 2009 from 1:30 - 3 PM

Place: Westminster Village, 1120 E. Davis Dr. Terre Haute

Healthy Eating

With Lana Taylor, Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetic Educator

Lana will start her  discussion with general information about nutrition and healthy eating.  Then, she will focus on specific nutritional needs that individuals should address as they become older. She will conclude with information on some of the newest findings. 

Date/Time: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 from 1:30 - 3 PM

Place: Landsbaum Center, 1433 N 6 1/2 Terre Haute

Therapy Dogs

With Alice Adams and Barb Stipp, Volunteers at Union Hospital, St. Mary of the Woods, Regional Hospital, Hamilton Center and Therapy Dog Owners

This lecture will provide an overview of therapy dogs and the work they do, including a brief discussion of the various certifying organizations, training required, and benefits to the people and facilities. Alice and Barb will also look at some of the scientific evidence of the value of therapy dogs in long-term care facilities. Plus, their therapy dogs (Toby, Windy, and Lily) will demonstrate and star in a slide show of them at work.

Date/Time: Wednesday, January 21, 2009 from 1:30 - 3 PM

Place: Bethesda Garden, 1450 E Crossing Blvd, Terre Haute

Networks Financial Institute

With Joe Zachery, Director of Operations

Networks Financial Institute (NFI) is an innovative combination of programs and services. NFI provides an unprecedented link among educators, students, professionals, policy-makers and citizens.  Launched in 2003 as an outreach of Indiana State University, NFI is made possible through a grant from Lilly Endowment Inc.

Date/Time: Wednesday, January 28, 2009 from 1:30 - 3 PM

Place: Bethesda Garden, 1450 E Crossing Blvd, Terre Haute

A Brief Introduction to US Aviation

With Bill Foraker, Assistant Director of Development at Rose Hulman Institute of Technology

This introduction will cover the basics of US aviation for the non-pilot.  Topics covered will include types of aviation, aviation as entertainment, airspace and air traffic control, weather (as it applies to flying), navigation, and flight training.  The presentation will be fast paced and open for questions at any time. 

Date/Time: Wednesday, February 4, 2009 from 1:30 - 3 PM

Place: Wyndmoor Retirement Community, 1465 E Crossing Blvd., Terre Haute

Producing and Learning Actions Across the Life Span

With Jacqueline C. Shin, ISU Assistant Professor Department of Psychology

How are we able to speak, participate in sports, and play music? Various psychological and neural processes support our ability to produce and learn new actions. Furthermore, these processes change with age from childhood to the elderly years. These will be explored along with changes found in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease.

Date/Time: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 from 1:30 - 3 PM

Place: Landsbaum Center, 1433 N 6 1/2 Terre Haute

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie: Scene and Discussion

Dr. Sharon Ammen, Theatre Director at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, and Delia Taylor, professional actor and stage manager from Washington D.C.

Sharon and Delia will present a short scene from Saint Mary-of-the-Woods' winter production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.  After the presentation, Delia and Sharon will  discuss how actors and directors prepare and work on roles.  Audience members will also be invited to attend a performance of the show for a reduced price and to take part in after-performance panels. Please see Special Events for the date and time Osher will be attending the play. 

Date/Time: Wednesday, February 18, 2009 from 1:30 - 3 PM

Place: Wyndmoor Retirement Community, 1465 E Crossing Blvd., Terre Haute

Please see Special Events for date and time OLLI will be attending the play.

History of the Labor Movement in the U.S.

With Lisa Phillips, ISU Assistant Professor of History

This session will provide a brief overview of the history of labor unions in the U.S.  We will start with the Lowell Mill Girls who organized the first labor unions in the U.S. in Massachusetts in the 1820s.  We will talk about the rise of wage labor in the years before and after the civil war and the growth of the Knights of Labor.  After the Haymarket riot in Chicago in 1886, the Knights were eclipsed by Samuel Gompers and the American Federation of Labor, which organized primarily in the skilled trades in the early 1900s. Eugene Debs headed the American Railway Union in this period and eventually spearheaded a radical Socialist-oriented movement that stood in direct opposition to Gompers and the AFL.  We will also talk about the rift between the AFL and the new Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) in the 1930s and the growth of the steel, auto, and mine workers unions in that same time period.  Finally, we'll talk about the reasons why the labor movement has declined since the 1970s.  In 1955, over 30% of American workers belonged to unions.  Today less than 8% do.

Date/Time: Wednesday, February 25, 2009 from 1:30 - 3 PM

Place: Westminster Village, 1120 E. Davis Dr. Terre Haute

Jack London’s Darwin

With Charles Nicol, ISU Professor Emeritus

The Theory of Evolution has been one of the most revolutionary ideas in history.  Many writers a century ago faced some new questions: what does it mean that man is closely related to other animals, and that life is a struggle for survival?  We will look at some of these writers including Dreiser, but especially at Jack London, using The Call of the Wild and other examples.

Date/Time: Wednesday, March 4, 2009 from 1:30 - 3 PM

Place: Westminster Village, 1120 E. Davis Dr. Terre Haute

The Hard  and Easy Way to Improve Memory

Doug Herrmann,  ISU Professor Emeritus & Former Chairman of the Psychology Dept

 For centuries (honestly), so called memory experts have taught the ways of improving memory.   The ways they taught actually work for many situations.  However, 95 to 99% of people taught to use these methods find them to difficult and stop using them in a week to a month. Some recent memory experts (for a couple of decades) have proposed that people can improve their memory permanently (or almost) by learning how to perform the

memory tasks that most annoy them.   This lecture might be called “The Most Annoying Memory Lecture”!  In any case, this lecture  will convey how to use this approach for the memory tasks that most concern you.

Date/Time: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 from 1:30 - 3 PM

Place: Landsbaum Center, 1433 N 6 1/2 Terre Haute

The Real West

With David Nichols, ISU Assistant Professor of History

David will look at both the heroism and the venality of the explorers, pioneers, settlers, miners, and businessmen in the 19th century West.  Topics will include the Lewis and Clark expedition, the fur trade, the Oregon Trail, the gold and silver "rushes," the Plains Indian wars, the transcontinental railroad system, and the question "who actually won the West?"

Date/Time: Wednesday, March 18, 2009 from 1:30 - 3 PM

Place: Westminster Village, 1120 E. Davis Dr. Terre Haute

Last Guard Out: A Riveting Account by the Last Guard to Leave Alcatraz

With Jim Albright

Jim will discuss his life as a guard behind the merciless concrete walls of Alcatraz. He began there in 1959 as a young man of 24 years with no prior law enforcement experience. He remained there until the prison closed in March of 1963 and, because of family circumstances, stayed until June 1963, making him the last guard out.

Date/Time: Wednesday, March 25, 2009 from 1:30 - 3 PM

Place: Westminster Village, 1120 E. Davis Dr. Terre Haute

For more information, call the Osher Lifelong Learning registration office, 812-237-8707.