Topics of Current Interest

Topics for discussion will be selected from current events. The class facilitators will present factual point/counterpoint data to kick off lively, interactive discussions. They will select a topic for the first session; then the class will identify topics it wants to discuss in subsequent sessions. The goal is to increase understanding of current topics of controversy and debate.

Instructor: Rich Daniels is a retired CEO of McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital in Oxford. Bill McKnight retired from General Electric Aircraft Engines as a Senior Technologist.

5 Tuesdays: October 6–November 3; 9:00–10:15am
Location: online

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Women Mystery Writers and Their WOMEN Detectives

Four women writers read in chronological order provide ample opportunity to discuss how these authors create and develop their women detectives. We will read Gladys Mitchell (1901-1983, British), Barbara Neely (1941-2020, American), Sarah Dunant (1950- , British), Jaqueline Winspear (1955- , British). Please read Mitchell for the first class.

October 6 – The Twenty-Third Man, 1957, Gladys Mitchell – Judith de Luce, Professor Emerita of Classics, has read 30 of Mitchell’s 60+ mysteries.

October 13 – Blanche on the Lam, 2014, Barbara Neely – Judith de Luce, who has only just discovered the incomparable Barbara Neely.

October 20 – Mapping the Edge, 1999, Sarah Dunant – Sonya Montana, retired, will introduce us to a different kind of “mystery.”

October 27 – Mapping the Edge, 1999, Sarah Dunant – John M. Krafft, Professor Emeritus of English, is still reading astutely and vigorously teaching.

November 3 – Maisie Dobbs, 2003, Jaqueline Winspear – Terry Hunt, retired from dealing with the mysteries of the human body.

Class text: Find the above books at any venue and bring the text to class as assigned. In addition, a packet of class handouts will be emailed in advance of the class.

Coordinator: Judith de Luce, Professor Emerita of Classics, Miami University

5 Tuesdays: October 6–November 3; 9:00–10:15am
Location: online

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Passport to Retirement

Learn how to manage your finances in retirement. This course provides a comprehensive approach that helps you set realistic goals and make more informed financial decisions for your overall financial retirement and your overall financial management. Address real-life concerns with tools that will last a lifetime. Moderator will use full-color graphics to explain financial concepts clearly and concisely. Participants will receive a 135-page workbook packed with exercises, checklists, and self-analysis quizzes. This valuable resource helps students apply what they learn to their personal financial situations.

Instructor: Gary Hollander, CFP, is a practicing financial professional with over 44 years of experience who conducts educational workshops to help people avoid common roadblocks to financial success in retirement. He has been recently awarded "FIVE STAR Best in Client Satisfaction Wealth Manager" by Cincinnati Magazine and was recently awarded by the Cincinnati Better Business Bureau for being an accredited member and A+ rated since 1991. He has been president of Hollander & Associates LLC since 1976.

5 Tuesdays: October 6–November 3; 9:00am–10:15 am
Location: online

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Living with Ghosts: Toni Morrison’s Vision at This Historical Moment

Nobel laureate, novelist, and public intellectual Toni Morrison died in April 2019. In August (and following), a controversial New York Times Magazine series, “The 1619 Project,” examined 400 years of slavery and its legacies for American (U.S.) individuals and cultures. With these events in mind, we will read Morrison’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Beloved and discuss it in historical and feminist/womanist contexts. We will also discuss our own and others’ experiences reading this work where Morrison explores the individual and community/cultural reckonings required in order to live with the past. Please read the Forward and pages 1-51 for our first class. For those not using this edition of the text, stop reading just before the section beginning “Pleasantly troubled, Sethe avoided the keeping room and Denver’s sidelong looks.”

Class text: Toni Morrison, Beloved, Vintage, ISBN: 1400033411

Instructor: Barb Caruso spent 39 years teaching in the Literature, African American, and Women’s Studies Programs at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana. She lives in Oxford.

5 Tuesdays: October 6–November 3; 10:45am–12:00pm
Location: online

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The Tangled Web: Making Sense of Europe’s Multiple Crises in 2020

The past half century has witnessed an economic and political integration that has created a new “European Union (EU)” on the foundations of the “Europe of nation states.” This short course will survey the tensions that now stretch the fabric of both the EU and the Atlantic Alliance of which it is a vital part. Among those tensions are a) the upsurge of neo-nationalism; b) pressure of immigration from outside the EU; c) the challenge of “Brexit” (Britain’s exit from the European Union); d) economic stresses within the EU; and e) tensions between the EU and the Atlantic security community linking the US and Europe. In five sessions, we will discuss the ways in which these pressures reinforce one another and the policy options that may let Europeans untangle the web of challenges that now confronts them.

Supplies/references: One or two articles or “think pieces” drawn from journals and the world’s quality press will be made available online for each of the main topics. Also, an optional online subscription to the Financial Times or the New York Times is encouraged.

Instructor: Warren Mason is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science and was also the Director of the Transatlantic Seminar on the European Union and founding Director of the Miami University Dolibois European Center in Luxembourg.

5 Tuesdays: October 6–November 3; 10:45 am–noon
Location: online

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Discovering Nature in Your Own Backyard

You don’t have to travel far to find inspiration and fulfillment in nature. From microscopic soil life to migrating monarch butterflies to incredible apex predators, you can find them all without ever having to leave your community. Learn how to discover and appreciate wondrous things you may have been overlooking, perhaps even in your own backyard. All new topics for this session.

Instructor: Shannon Pennington is a naturalist with the Warren County Park District and Mother Nature’s Classroom, LLC

5 Tuesdays: October 6–November 3; 10:45 am–12:00pm
Location: online

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News from the Human Family Tree

Human paleontology has been transformed in our lifetime. Bones found in Asia, Europe, and, especially, Africa are leading to insights on the origin of humanity. In the late 20th and 21st centuries new fossils and DNA evidence add to our understanding of Homo sapiens in all its diversity. We will learn about scientists, the process of defining new species, and links still missing.

Instructor: Muriel Blaisdell, Professor Emerita of History and Interdisciplinary Studies, has been teaching courses on the history of science for ILR since 2010.

5 Tuesdays: October 6–November 3; 12:30–1:45pm
Location: online

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Tuesday Brown Bag Lecture Series

Each week the Brown Bag Lecture Series presents a speaker who will discuss a topic of interest and importance. Plan to enjoy this ILR tradition.

October 6 – The Holocaust – Nancy and David Wolf Holocaust and Humanity Center’s Coppel Speakers Bureau present a rare opportunity for you to hear from a Holocaust survivor or child of survivors who will share a stories of strength, courage, and determination while reflecting on the Holocaust, one of the darkest chapters in human history.

October 13 – The Berlin Airlift and the Candy Bomber – The Berlin Airlift was the U.S. Air Force’s real challenge, and they rose to the occasion. A hero was born in the form of a pilot from Utah who charmed the children of Berlin with candy. Deb Price is an active volunteer with the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and is always willing to share her knowledge.

October 20 – Ageless Learners and Digital Technology – Have you ever wanted to become more tech savvy and know how to navigate the digital world safely? Mark Romito is a Director of External Affairs for AT&T Ohio. He will focus on telecommunications and technology topics that have an impact on seniors. Feel free to bring your computers, tablets, smartphones and questions to class.

October 27 – Do Trees Leave a Legacy? – Steven Sullivan, Director, Miami’s Hefner Museum of Natural History, a place for people of all interests to connect to nature in their neighborhood. Join us to learn about the legacy of our campus tree collection and our newly forming big-cat exhibit—soon to be one of the best in the nation. We will conclude with a museum tradition—Stump Steve—where Steve will attempt to answer any of your questions about nature.

November 3 –United States Peace Corps – The United States Peace Corps was founded in 1961 by former president John F. Kennedy with goals of not only helping people in interested countries meet their need for trained workers, but also the goal of promoting a rich cultural exchange. Since then, more than 240,000 volunteers have served in 142 countries around the world. As one of those volunteers, Erin Gottsacker will share her volunteer experiences working as a Peace Corps educator in Ethiopia—from learning to speak a new language, to living without running water, to teaching in a school very different from the one she attended.

Coordinators: Sharon Chapman is a retired executive assistant. Frank Chapman is a retired building sales manager.

5 Tuesdays: October 6–November 3; 12:30–1:45pm
Location: online

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Less than 16 Ounces

Interactive discussion of those little things we use every day. Who invented them? When were they invented? Do we know who invented them? All the discussions will be a review, chapter by chapter, of the world's 100 greatest inventions that weigh less than 16 ounces. It's a whimsical, tongue-in-cheek look at some everyday items. Disagreement with the choice of the 100 and discussion of items which should have been included will be encouraged.

Class Text: D. L. Thomas, The World's 100 Greatest Inventions That Weigh Less Than 16 Ounces, ISBN 97986 10858555. Available from Amazon $5.95

Instructor: Donald (Don) Thomas is retired from a career in architecture and construction. He was involved in numerous projects in Oxford and environs for almost fifty years.

5 Tuesdays: October 6–November 3; 2:15–3:30 pm
Location: online

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Cold Serial: The Jack the Strangler Murders

Investigate a series of recently uncovered murders that could lead to a serial killer. The venue is the Dayton/Cincinnati area; the time, 1900-1911. A woman escapes and a person of interest emerges. Her testimony, along with newspapers, court records, and death certificates will be reviewed. Forensics and police practices of the time, yellow journalism, the handling of sexual assault, crime literature of the era, racism, and anti-Semitism will be examined. Evidence will be presented to you, the jurors, in the final class. You will be asked to grant justice to these girls and convict a suspect on multiple counts of murder/rape.

Instructor: Brian Forschner worked in the criminal justice system in corrections, was an associate professor in the University of Dayton Criminal Justice Program, and has published and conducted study abroad programs for criminal justice students and professionals.

Class text: Provided by the instructor and mailed by ILR (one per household) prior to course start date. Extra copies available from instructor for $10.

5 Tuesdays: October 6–November 3; 2:15–3:30 pm
Location: online

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Company’s Coming: Let’s Wow Them!

Join with the Mount Pleasant Foodies to learn how to impress your guests with tasty treats prepared from fresh, familiar ingredients. Menus are suited for four persons. Listed below is but a sampling of what to expect.

October 6 – Brunch: stuffed French toast, sausage gravy

October 13 – Luncheon: panini, quinoa salad, pesto

October 20 – Appetizers: smoked salmon mousse, deviled eggs

October 27 – Dinner: Frenching a rack of lamb

November 3 – Desserts: lemon curd with chantilly cream

Coordinator: John Pierce is the Culinary Director at Ohio Living Mount Pleasant. He has worked at the Maisonette and as Executive Chef at Miami University.

5 Tuesdays: October 6–November 3; 2:15–3:30 pm
Location: online

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A Tourist’s Guide to London and the United Kingdom

Travelers and people interested in other parts of the world can learn what makes London and the U.K. one of the greatest tourist destinations in the world. We will explain how to survive a trip to this wonderful nation and present the not-to-be- missed sites to visit in central, eastern, and western London. Exciting day trips to historical locations such as Greenwich, Hampton Court, Oxford, Brighton, Bath, Stonehenge, the Cotswolds, Cambridge, Stratford-upon-Avon, and Winston Churchill’s birthplace at Blenheim Palace will also be described.

Instructors: Richard Piland left a 16-year career as a university professor to start a research firm in 1983 and retired in 2013. He served on the board of the Butler County Historical Society. Marcy Piland is a retired project coordinator for Ethicon Endo-Surgery and now writes romance novels.

5 Tuesdays: October 6–November 3; 4:00–5:15 pm
Location: online

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A Wine Tour of California

Over the course of five weeks, we will survey the wines of California. Examples from Napa, Sonoma, Santa Barbara, Mendocino, and other regions will be sampled while their unique aspects are presented and discussed in an informal atmosphere. One class will be devoted to a structured, step-by-step analysis of wine. Come prepared with three wine glasses and a sense of oeno-adventure.

To comply with health and safety requirements, you have two class options:

1) couples or individuals will gather together in small, socially-distanced groups in a yet-to-be-determined location in your area; or

2) individuals wishing to participate from their home will pick up wine samples in either Oxford (LaRosa’s) or West Chester (The Spicy Olive) the afternoon of class.

Instructor: Christopher Hensey has offered ILR wine-tasting courses for seventeen years, longer than he operated his Oxford wine shop. He has passed the Introductory Exam for the Court of Master Sommeliers and serves as a judge for the Cincinnati International Wine Festival.

5 Tuesdays: October 6–November 3; 4:00–5:15 pm
Location: online

Supply fee: $50, payable with registration