Miami University

Spies in America: Their Motives, Ciphers, and Codes
9:00 – 10:15 | 407 Peabody Hall

Real spies are more interesting than those in fiction. Our discussions will cover some spies during the Revolution, the Civil War, WWI, WWII, and the Cold War along with their methods of communication.

Instructor: John H. Eicher conducted research and taught chemistry at The Ohio State, Columbia, Purdue, and Miami Universities. He handled secret documents for the Manhattan Project.

Philosophy of Nature
10:30 – 11:45 | 119 Peabody Hall

We love nature but how well do we know her? Is she intelligent with comprehensive powers? Or is nature not intelligent, but intelligible like a complex mechanism of simple forces? If not intelligible, is nature at least predictable enough for our actions? Or if not predictable, is she a reflection of our potential energy? Find out how these questions have been answered to create various conditions for science and religion.

Instructor: Jack Sommer received a Ph.D. in humanities from the University of Chicago. He taught philosophy at Miami University, Western College, and other schools. He has led several ILR discussions.

Midday Lecture Series
12:15 – 1:30 | Miami University Art Museum

Each Monday the Midday Lecture Series will present a speaker to discuss a topic of interest and importance. Plan to bring a brown bag lunch and enjoy an ILR tradition.

March 15 – “To Everything There Is a Season: Pete Seeger and the Power of Song,” Allan Winkler, Distinguished Professor of History.

March 22 – “Where did you get THAT? (A Look at Epidemiology),” Susan C. Lipnickey, Associate Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Health.

March 29 – “An Aerial Adventure from Oxford to Alaska,” Ralph Gutowski, Retired Assistant Vice President for Budget, Planning, and Institutional Research.

April 5 – “Ardipithecus Ramidus Unveiled: A Geologist’s Perspectives on the Discovery
of Ardi,” William K. Hart, Chair and Professor of Geology.

April 12 – “Pet Overpopulation–the Epidemic Among Us,“ Eric Johnson, Executive Director, and Jo Bateman, Assistant Director, the Animal Adoption Foundation.

Coordinator: Betty Rogers, Professor Emerita of Spanish, is a past-chair of ILR.

The Great Patriotic War in Russian History and Memory
2:00 – 2:50 | Miami University Art Museum

This class will explore the Great Patriotic War, the name Russians most commonly use to refer to World War II. We will examine the war and the war myth that developed in the Soviet period. We will listen to Shostakovich’s Seventh (Leningrad) Symphony and use it to experience the Siege of Leningrad. We will read poems written in memory of the war. We will recreate the construction of two major war memorials in Volgograd and Moscow and see what they tell us about the Soviet memory of war. And finally we will watch a recent movie about the war and use it to uncover the ways the Great Patriotic War continues to matter in contemporary Russia.

Class requirement: Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7 CD by Valery Gergiev and the St. Petersburg Kirov Orchestra

Instructor: Stephen M. Norris is Associate Professor of History and Director of Film Studies at Miami. He received his Ph.D. in 2002 from the University of Virginia. His research focuses on Russian history and Russian visual history since 1800. He teaches classes on modern Russian history, Russian cultural history, and film history.

Book Appraisal and Collecting
3:00 – 3:50 | Miami University Art Museum

We will learn how to organize a collection, how to care for the
books, and how to determine their value. For an ongoing project,
please plan to bring to class one or more of your own books for discussion and appraisal.

Instructors: For 11 years Jim and Carol Wilson have owned and managed a bookstore and an internet operation. They are professional appraisers who buy and sell rare and used books.

Anyone for Tennyson?
9:00 – 10:00 | Miami University Police Services Center

The celebration of Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s bicentennial last year prompted this observation in the (London) Times Literary Supplement: “The question of whether Tennyson should be elevated above the teeming crowd of nineteenth-century voices (‘the pre-eminent Victorian’) or made into its spokesman (‘the voice of his time’) is not only one for the critics. It also sits at the troubled heart of his writing.” This course will approach answers to those questions as we read together some of Tennyson’s greatest poems (Mariana; The Lady of Shalott; The Lotos-Eaters; Ulysses; Tithonus; lyrics from The Princess) and selections from In Memoriam AHH and Idylls of the King, hear recordings of Tennyson reading, and discuss paintings directly inspired by his verse.

Class text: Tennyson’s Poetry: A Norton Critical Edition. Ed. Robert W. Hill, Jr. or any collection of Tennyson’s verse that includes the titles cited above.

Instructor: William J. Gracie Jr., Professor Emeritus of English, is chair of the ILR Curriculum Committee. Among his publications are articles on the role of “anti-closure” in Tennyson’s verse and the treatment of queens (real and imagined) in his poetry and plays.

A History of Personal Computing and the Internet
10:15 – 11:05 | Miami University Police Services Center

A brief history of the personal computing and internet revolution from 1968 to the present. Topics include how personal computing arose, the desire to make computing portable with laptops and handheld devices, and how the internet fueled the expansion of the revolution up to the latest in social computing. Each session will include some hands-on experience with old devices and resources on how the technology can be used in our daily lives.

Instructor: Mark McBride is Professor of Economics at Miami. He is known for integrating technology into the curriculum and into everyday life.

Great Plays and the Films That Followed Them
11:30 – 12:30 | Knolls of Oxford Clubhouse

This course will look at three plays: The Time of Your Life; A Man For All Seasons; and Elling. We will be looking at both the play texts and the quite excellent films made from them.

Instructor: Howard Blanning teaches theatre at Miami.

Energy, the Environment, and Global Climate Change
Note: class meets March 16 – April 6
1:00 – 1:50| Knolls of Oxford Clubhouse

This course will provide an overview of our current energy system, based primarily on fossil fuels, and associated environmental concerns. The primary focus of the course will be two major issues associated with our energy usage, namely Global Climate Change and Peak Oil. The course will also examine the ethical implications of Global Climate Change and Peak Oil, and the emerging efforts of community and religious organizations to address these issues.

Instructor: Bill Rauckhorst, former Associate Provost for Scholarship and Teaching at Miami University, has taught energy and environment courses since the OPEC oil embargo of 1973.

Writing
9:30 – 10:30 | Fairfield Community Arts Center

The revised course, formerly “Pass It On,” will retain the “family writing” component, allowing students to continue the excellent genealogical pieces many have written in previous sessions.

Under the simple title: “Writing,” the class will take advantage of the wealth of knowledge and decades of life experiences class members can offer. Therefore, discussion will occupy additional time. Topics for essays, poems, humor, fiction, and other things will give students a wide range of roads to take in order to travel this writing journey.

Instructor: Ercel Eaton of Fairfield has worked in the newspaper/writing field for 43 years, during which time she was a reporter, feature writer, editor, and columnist for the Journal News in Hamilton. She is the author of Appalachian Yesterdays, a book about her childhood and family.

Inventions that Changed the World—and Their Forgotten Inventors
11:00 – 11:50 | Fairfield Community Arts Center

Radio, television, alternating current electrical power, photography, and computers are inventions that have immeasurably enriched and simplified our lives, yet their inventors have been all but forgotten. In this class we will learn what constitutes an invention and patent. We will explore the lives of some inventors and the difficult path most followed before their inventions became part of our lives. There will be some surprises regarding who actually was the inventor of a few of these inventions.

Instructor: Al Wiebe, a retired research scientist, has worked in the fields of optics, lens design, color, photographic theory, spectroscopy, and electronics.

Taiji/Qigong
9:00 – 10:00 | Knolls of Oxford Commons, Auditorium

We will explore a variety of short Qigong routines. These consist of slow, flowing, simple movements, with an emphasis on deep, easy breathing, and focused mind. The whole person is involved; benefits affect mind and body and spirit, allowing one to function at higher levels of efficiency, health, and awareness.

Instructor: Carol Baker studied Taiji with Cris Trammell for four years. She leads a Taiji/Qigong class at the Oxford Community Arts Center on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.

American Higher Education: What It Is Now, and What It Might Become
10:00 – 11:00 | 121 Peabody Hall-Leonard Theatre

The current state and future of higher education in the United States are subjects of perennial interest—perhaps especially so in a university community such as ours. Four colleagues from the faculty and staff of Miami University will discuss the subjects of student culture, international education, student recruitment, and the core curriculum—not only at Miami, but at colleges and universities in general.

Instructors: Peter Magolda, Professor of Educational Leadership; David J. Keitges, Director of International Education; Ann Larson, Senior Associate Director, Office of Admission; and John Tassoni, Professor of English and University Director of Liberal Education. William J. Gracie, Jr., Professor Emeritus of English, will serve as the course convener.

A Matter of Balance
11:00 – noon | Oxford Seniors Center
Suppy fee: $20

A Matter of Balance is an evidence-based wellness program that focuses on the attitudes associated with the fear of falling and fall prevention itself. This award-winning program engages participants physically, emotionally, and intellectually. Participants will receive a course binder and will participate in group discussion and exercise. Students can expect to gain a better understanding of fall prevention and also recognize the seriousness of fall-related attitudes.

Instructors: Both Julie McCarthy and Leta Kranbuhl are Master Trainers for A Matter of Balance programs for the State of Ohio. Julie is the Wellness Coordinator for Partners in Prime and a certified Tai Chi for Arthritis and Back Pain Instructor. Leta is the In-Home Program Manager for Partners in Prime and has a degree in Physical Education.

Franco-American Relations: A Love/Hate Story
11:15 – 12:15 | Miami University Police Services Center

From the French monarchy’s support of the American Revolution to the current pro-American government of Nicolas Sarkozy, relations between France and the United States have been on a long roller coaster ride. The class will study two countries which have similar beliefs about freedom and the Rights of Man but very different ideas about the role of government, foreign policy, and personal morality.

Instructor: Mark Plageman, Professor Emeritus of French, taught language and literature at Miami and Luxembourg for 40 years and has taught six previous ILR classes about France and its literature.

Global Aging
1:00 – 1:50 | 121 Peabody Hall-Leonard Theatre

In this lecture format workshop, you will gain an overview of aging in five countries (Germany, Kenya, Mexico, China, Japan), including country-specific age-related matters. The objective of this workshop is to provide opportunities to learn about aging from culturally diverse international perspectives. Topics include general demographic characteristics, life expectancy, life style, health behaviors, health care systems, and more.

Instructors: The course will be coordinated by Oliver Hautz, a Ph.D. candidate in gerontology from Germany. He will conduct one session of the course on perspectives on aging in Germany. The remaining four presenters–all of them Ph.D. candidates in gerontology–will be Takashi Yamashita (Japan), Samuel Mwangi (Kenya), Maricruz Rivera (Mexico), and Jiavin Liang (China.)

Exciting Tales of Sailing Ships ’Rounding Cape Horn
2:05 – 3:00 | 121 Peabody Hall-Leonard Theatre

Why Cape Horn? Most sailing ships had few options. They HAD to ’round the Horn. It was, however, one of the world’s most extreme, most feared, and most respected ocean passages. We will begin with a survey of clipper ships and study the passage of the Flying Cloud from New York to San Francisco on its maiden voyage in 1851. Next we will survey the giant windjammers, then how the Wander Bird with its family of four survived a dangerous passage at the Horn. Finally, we will review a modern day voyage to the Horn in the Pelagic.

Recommended texts: Flying Cloud by David Shaw, Rounding the Horn by Dallas Murphy, and Fifty South to Fifty South by Warwick M. Tompkins

Instructor: David J. Jareo is a former sailboat (Snipe Class) owner and recently retired teacher.

Spring Wildflower Walks
3:15 – 4:30 | Peffer Park Shelterhouse

A survey of the spring ephemerals that live in Oxford and environs. We will watch the succession of these flowers especially adapted to the Eastern deciduous forest.

Instructors: Jack Keegan is the Greenhouse Manager and botany instructor. W. Hardy Eshbaugh is Professor Emeritus of Botany.

A Wine Tour of the United States
4:00 – 5:15 | Knolls of Oxford Commons, Auditorium
Supply fee: $45

Over the course of five weeks we will survey wines from the United States. Wines from various states will be sampled while their unique aspects are presented and discussed in an informal atmosphere. One class will be devoted to structured, step-by-step analysis of wine. Come prepared with three wine glasses and a sense of oeno-adventure.

Instructor: Chris Hensey’s passion for wine was born while taking John Dome’s wine course as an undergraduate at Miami. Chris has helped create wine lists for local restaurants – the Alexander House most recently – and for 20 years has been consulted on lists for restaurants in five states. Main Street Gourmet, his Oxford shop, recently celebrated its 10th anniversary.

Sundown Cinema
6:30 – 9:00 | 1 Alumni Hall

In previous semesters we have considered films based on novels, short stories, plays, and even other movies. Each adaptation required modifying the original source material in some way. This semester we will look at stories that were written directly for the screen. Their authors envisioned their final product as a movie, so they did not have to change the story to fit the motion picture format. All of the films this semester won their respective year’s Academy Award for Original Screenplay (sometimes called Story & Screenplay).

March 17 – Sunset Boulevard (1950, 110 min.)
Attempting to elude creditors, down-on-his-luck Hollywood scriptwriter Joe Gillis pulls into the driveway of the ramshackle mansion of faded silent-screen star Norma Desmond on a stretch of Sunset Boulevard.

March 24 – The Red Balloon (1956, 33 min.)
A red balloon with a life of its own follows a little boy around the streets of Paris. (Because of the short length of this film we will also be including several Academy Award-winning short subjects.)

March 31 – The Defiant Ones (1958, 96 min.)
In the racially-charged South, two escaped convicts chained together—one white and one black—must learn to get along in order to elude capture.

April 7 – Network (1976, 121 min.)
A veteran network anchorman who’s been fired because of low ratings announces that he’ll kill himself on live television in two weeks. What follows is a scathing satire about the uses and abuses of network television.

April 14 – Moonstruck (1987, 102 min.)
Widowed Brooklyn book-keeper Loretta Castorini is torn between her comfortable and stable fiancé and his passionate, estranged brother.

Coordinator: Richard Brunner is a life-long film fan with a special interest in the history of the Academy Awards.

Basics of Plant Propagation in the Home
9:00 – 9:50 | Room 108, Miami University Conservatory, Hamilton

Do you want more plants in your home garden? Do you envy those friends and relatives with a “green thumb?” Do you want to save money on plant purchases? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, this class may be for you. You’ll learn how to do root cuttings and germinate seeds of perennials, trees, shrubs, and vines. You’ll also learn to make basic propagation equipment from things you already have around the house.

Instructor: Richard Munson is manager of The Conservatory on the Miami University Hamilton campus. He has 40 years of experience in horticulture and plant propagation.

Exploring the Role of Fences in America
10:00 – 10:45 | Westover Retirement Community

We see all sorts of fences everywhere, everyday, but do we ever really stop to think about them and what they mean? Participants in this course will explore the role of fences in American history, literature, and song. The themes are “This Land is My Land,” “Farm and Fence,” “Don’t Fence Me In,” “Good Fences Make Good Neighbors,” and “Building Borders”. Materials used will be provided by The Smithsonian’s “Between Fences” traveling exhibit. The exhibit will be in Butler County May 11-June 10, 2010. Class participants will be invited to serve as volunteer docents at the “Between Fences” exhibit at Chrisholm Historic Farmstead, a Metropark located at 2070 Woodsdale Road, Trenton.

Instructor: Ann Brown taught geography, Ohio history, and social studies for 35 years in the Edgewood School District.

Theatrical Trailblazers
11:00 – Noon | Westover Retirement Community

This course will examine four playwrights who opened the doors for 20th century playwrights like Noel Coward, Eugene O’Neill, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, and many more. During the course we will read and discuss Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, George Bernard Shaw’s Major Barbara, Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, and Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard. Please read A Doll’s House prior to the first class.

Class texts: listed above

Instructor: Henry Cepluch is the producing director of the Mad Anthony Theatre Company housed at the Fitton Center for Creative Arts.

The Persephone/Demeter Myth in Contemporary American Poetry
9:30 – 10:45 | Holy Trinity Episcopal Church

We’ll read one to three poems by Alicia Ostriker, Louise Glück, Shara McCallum, Debora Greger, Sidney Wade, Craig Arnold (the prize-winning poet who disappeared last summer while exploring a volcano in Japan), and selections from Rita Dove’s Mother Love, which uses the myth throughout. Why do present-day American poets find this ancient story useful? Which versions of—and which aspects of those versions—do they favor/neglect?

Class text: Mother Love by Rita Dove

Instructor: Frank Jordan, Professor of English at Miami from 1965-2001, has previously taught ILR courses in the poetry of Rita Dove, William Butler Yeats, Natasha Trethewey, and Eavan Boland.

From the Window of “We”
11:00 – 11:50 | Holy Trinity Episcopal Church

“You always say ‘We.’ You never say ‘I.’” In a culture in which individualism is highly valued, perhaps idolized, what is life like from the window of a “we”? Join us to explore how culture, mythology, literature, and film reflect life from the orientation of someone who, even from birth, has never been alone: a twin or triplet or ...

Instructors: Karen Burnard, a twin, is Rector of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, Oxford. She also has degrees in music and music education, and her teaching experience includes every grade from preschool through graduate school. Judith de Luce, retired Professor of Classics at Miami, is the recipient of several teaching awards, including the Miami University Effective Educator Award. Her interests include mythology reflecting culture.

The Auto Industry After Bankruptcy and Bailout
Note: class only meets March 18 – April 8
12:30 – 1:30 | Holy Trinity Episcopal Church

Industry conditions and trends leading up to the government’s decision to rescue GM and Chrysler.

Class topics include: arguments for and against the auto industry rescue; where the auto industry goes from here; and future prospects and challenges in the auto industry.

Instructor: James Rubenstein is Professor of Geography at Miami. He is the author of three books on the auto industry.

Plan a Comfortable Financial Future
2:00 – 2:50 | Miami University Police Services Center

Take charge of your own financial affairs. Learn about: retirement strategies to minimize the worry of running out of money, how to protect against loss, reduce taxes, and fight inflation; and common financial mistakes that cost you money; how to evaluate your tolerance for risk; and whether your current investments are appropriate for this stage of your financial life. Finally learn whether you’re paying excessive fees on your investments.

Instructor: Gary E. Hollander, CFP, was recently awarded “FIVE STAR Best in Client Satisfaction Wealth Manager” by Cincinnati Magazine. Gary has been President of Hollander & Associates LLC since 1976 and has been helping individuals with their financial affairs for over 30 years.

H1N1 “Swine Flu” and Food-Borne Illness
3:00 – 3:50 | Miami University Police Services Center

News media and public health officials have sounded the panic alert regarding the H1N1 swine flu pandemic and frequent occurrences of E. coli food-borne illnesses. Differences between viral and bacterial diseases, respiratory (common cold, flu, and pneumonia) and intestinal (nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea) disease will be explained. Also, the common source, symptom, prevention, and treatment of these potentially deadly diseases will be discussed in a nontechnical manner. NO science background is necessary.

Instructor: J. K. Bhattacharjee, Professor Emeritus of Microbiology, has published many research papers on yeast molecular genetics, has received several U.S. patents, and has taught a large number of undergraduate students and biology teachers.

Oxford Authors
9:30 – 10:20 | Knolls of Oxford Clubhouse

Five local authors will each offer one session of this class. They will discuss a variety of topics, possibly including their particular books, their sources of ideas and inspiration, their writing processes, and their experiences dealing with publishers and editors.

March 19 – “Books as Magic Carpets – Where They Can Take You.” Marilyn Jeffers Walton has written six books for children, including Chameleons’ Rainbow, which won a Children’s Choice award in 1986. Most recently she completed Badge on my Collar—A Chronicle of Courageous Canines and its sequel, Badge on my Collar II—To Serve with Honor.

March 26 – “Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King and I and the Real Women Behind It.”
Susan Morgan is Distinguished Professor of English at Miami University. Her books include In the Meantime: Character and Perception in Jane Austen’s Fiction; Sisters in Time: Imagining Gender in Nineteenth-Century British Fiction; and Place Matters: Gendered Geography in Victorian Women’s Travel Books. Bombay Anna: The Real Story and Incredible Adventures of the King and I Governess was published in 2008.

April 2 – “Writing for Children.” Marjorie Bowers has written two books for children based on actual events. She is an artist, singer, and writer who has taught previously for ILR.

April 9 – “What Would You Like to Know?” Lynne Hugo has published nine books, including fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and a children’s book. A National Endowment for the Arts and Ohio Arts Council Fellowship recipient, Ms. Hugo was awarded the River Teeth Literary Nonfiction Book Prize for Where the Trail Grows Faint.

April 16 – “The Improbable Road to Publication in the Case of Water, Ice, and Stone.” William Green is a geochemist and Professor Emeritus of Interdisciplinary Studies at Miami University. His next book is Travels in Search of Science.

Coordinator: Ann Dunlevy is on the ILR curriculum committee and enjoys developing new courses.

Hatha Yoga
Note: class meets March 26 – April 30
10:45 – noon | Knolls of Oxford Clubhouse

The practice of yoga helps increase flexibility, mobility, circulation, and mind-body coordination. Some yoga positions are done standing up, others are done seated on the floor. Adaptations are given as needed so participants can focus on their breathing and be relaxed. The class will be adapted to meet the needs of those who attend. Classes end with a brief meditation.

Instructor: Kathy Hunter has been a yoga instructor since 1971 and is accredited by Yoga Alliance. She has taught in Colorado, the Soviet Union, Cincinnati, and Oxford.

Jewelry Making in Metal
2:00 – 3:30 | Rowan Hall
Supply fee: Approximately $40 to be collected on first day of class.

Learn how to make jewelry from sterling silver and copper. We will use jeweler’s handsaws to cut metal sheets, hammers to form or texture, and files to smooth edges. The class will make two pendants (one copper, one sterling silver). No experience is necessary, but creative spirit is a plus! A list of supplies from home (scissors, paper, etc.) will be included in your confirmation letter.

Instructor: Jan Southern is a silversmith and art jeweler. She taught jewelry/metals at Bowling Green State University and subsequently for CraftSummer and continuing education classes at Miami. Most recently, her work was featured in the book, Art Jewelry Today 2.