Worcester Institute for Senior Education (WISE)

A1. Jazz History 1

Start
09/11/2023
End
10/16/2023
Schedule
5 sessions
Location
Zoom only

Register

Louis Armstrong Jazz history is American history – the study of culture, politics, and economics of the 20th century. Its characters are the geniuses, virtuosos, outcasts, pioneers, eccentrics, and revolutionaries of American history. Post-Civil War America presented tremendous division within the country, but this landscape gave rise to a form of music often referred to as America’s only true art form. Using lecture, PowerPoint, video and audio examples, and live at-the-piano demonstrations, this course will examine the jazz composition styles of some of the most well-known jazz composers, as well as the music&of two of the most influential musicians of all-time.

Instructor: Paul Buono

Recommended Reading: Jazz: Essential Listening (2nd Edition), Scott Deveaux, Gary Giddins

Show details

A2. The Rustic Novels of George Sand

Start
09/11/2023
End
10/16/2023
Schedule
5 sessions
Location
Kennedy 119, Assumption campus

Register

Celebrated as the writer who paved the way for French feminists such as Colette and Simone de Beauvoir, Amantine Aurore Lucille Dupin (1804-1876) adopted the nom de plume George Sand, so as to facilitate her career at a time when publishing was a male enterprise. Despite considerable popular success, she was sometimes dismissed as an all-too prolific writer whose affairs with famous men were more remarkable than her written work. Eventually, however, she earned critical praise for inventing a special genre in French fiction, the “rustic novel.” Focusing on the life and culture of peasants in the province of Berry where she grew up, Sand wrote the first of these works in the politically volatile years immediately preceding the Revolution of 1848. Though they may seem to be simple romantic stories, their social significance is noteworthy.

Instructor: Lillian Corti

Required Text:

George Sand, The Devil’s Pool and François the Waif, Everyman’s Library, ed. Ernest Rhys, Great Britain: Hassell Street Press, 1923.

Recommended:

George Sand, The Story of My Life: The Autobiography of George Sand, A Group Translation Edited by Thelma Jurgrau, Albany: State University of New York Press, 1991.

Show details

A3. The Play’s the Thing

Start
09/11/2023
End
10/16/2023
Schedule
5 sessions
Location
Kennedy 119, Assumption Campus

Register

This course will approach many and varied types of plays from the perspective of the audience. How to appreciate not only the acting but the script as well as the directing and the technicals in order to get the most out of your experience. Each class will conclude with mini performance of a selected play. Kevin and Virginia Byrne - have taught for many years at WISE before Covid stopped the world.Now we are back to share our lifetimes of acting, directing, teaching theater and appreciating theater( as well and practicing Law).

Show details

A4. New England Art Museums

Start
09/12/2023
End
10/10/2023
Schedule
5 sessions
Location
Zoom

Register

New England is home to a variety of spectacular art museums. We’ll explore the history and collections of large and small art museums in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Rhode Island, including the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Wadsworth Atheneum in Connecticut, the Portland Museum of Art in Maine, the Currier Museum of Art in New Hampshire, the Shelburne Museum in Vermont, and the RISD Museum in Rhode Island. We’ll also share in the delights of smaller art museums such as the Hill-Stead Museum, the home of a wealthy collector of Manets, Monets, and Whistlers. This course will enhance your opportunity for enriching art adventures in New England.
Instructor: Martha Chiarchiaro -

Optional Reading: The Art Museums of New England, S. Lane Faison, Jr., 3 Volumes, 1982, David R. Godine Publisher

Show details

A5. Behind the Scenes at the Hanover Theatre

Start
09/12/2023
End
10/10/2023
Schedule
5 sessions
Location
Hanover Theater - Meet in lobby
Spaces left
9

Register

Historic Tour Theme: Architecture - Theatre Rebirth. We will tour various parts of the theatre each week and will facilitate a class on the art of improv. Improvisation is a unique way to flex your creative muscles and activate your imagination. Using improv games and activities, participants will be invigorated and inspired by learning the art of improv while having a great time! This course is limited to 20 participants.

Show details

A6. Great Trials That Changed The Course Of History: Social Justice & Turmoil

Start
09/12/2023
End
10/10/2023
Schedule
5 sessions
Location
Zoom only

Register

By Adam Jones from Kelowna, BC, Canada - Quote on Segregation from Supreme Court Decision - Brown v. Board of Education Historic Site - Topeka - Kansas - USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=72021653 Human Rights remains on our minds these days as more and more of the world seems to be in the process of diminishing these rights.. The notion of Social Justice percolates through so much of our thinking. Five trials – in Europe, the U.S. and Canada – spanning nearly 1400 years – will be presented. All of them in some way pushed us forward as human societies. President Barack Obama said that: “if you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you make progress.” Let’s look at these trials and see if we think he is right.

Instructor: Dr. Sylvia Solomon is a retired educator who worked in schools, universities and the Ontario Ministry of Education. Since her retirement, she has presentedthe Great Trial series at the University of Toronto, Toronto Metropolitan University theToronto Reference Library, the 92nd St. Y, the OLLI program (California) and the Instituto d'Allende in Mexico.

Show details

A7. Robert Moses - An Urban Planner: Hero or Villain?

Start
09/13/2023
End
10/11/2023
Schedule
5 sessions
Location
Briarwood, 65 Briarwood Cir, Worcester, MA
Spaces left
43

Register

Participants will study and evaluate the work of Robert Moses (1888 – 1981) who dominated urban planning in New York City and State from the 1920s until the late 1960s. He built Jones Beach State Park and the facilities at Lincoln Center and multiple roadways and bridges. In a span of forty-five years as an unelected official he transformed the infrastructure of the New York and revolutionized the philosophies of how cities are designed and structured. Tom Brennan was born and raised in New York City during the time of Robert Moses. He will approach these persons and events from the viewpoint of a person who lived, worked and experienced firsthand the transformation of the city.

Instructor: Tom Brennan

Recommended:

Straight Line Crazy, David Hare, Faber and Faber, 2022. ISBN: 978-0-571-36304-9

Show details

A8. We Read Banned Books

Start
09/13/2023
End
10/11/2023
Schedule
5 sessions
Location
Kennedy 119, Assumption campus

Register

Who has the right to ban a book? In schools – in libraries – in the public domain? We will start the course with a TED talk delivered by Jonathan Friedman, Ph.D, the Director of free expression and education programs at PEN America [and the husband of Marcia’s goddaughter.] We will also learn from materials provided by the American Library Association and their Office of Intellectual Freedom.

Instructor: Marcia Tannenbaum

A10. Operation Paperclip: How German Scientists Were Brought to the US after World War II

Start
09/14/2023
End
10/12/2023
Schedule
5 sessions
Location
Zoom only

Register

Operation Paperclip was a secret United States intelligence program in which more than 1,600 German scientists, engineers, and technicians were taken from the former Nazi Germany to the U.S. for government employment after the end of World War II in Europe, between 1945 and 1959. US agents would attach a paperclip to the folders of those German rocket experts whom they wished to employ in the United States. Many of these personnel were former members and some were former leaders of the Nazi Party. The course will feature PowerPoint slides and video clips and will especially focus on the career of rocket scientist Wernher von Braun. We will discuss the legal, ethical and moral principles involved in the hiring of former Nazis.

Instructor: David Nevard

Optional reading:

Secret Agenda: The United States Government, Nazi Scientists, and Project Paperclip, 1945 to 1990, by Linda Hunt. No longer in print. A pdf file of the book is available at archive.com
Operation Paperclip: The Secret Intelligence Program that Brought Nazi Scientists to America, by Annie Jacobsen,ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0316221031 - ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0316221030

Show details

A11. How to Read Shakespeare

Start
09/14/2023
End
10/12/2023
Schedule
5 sessions
Location
The Willows (101 Barry Rd, Worcester)

Register

Curious about Shakespeare but uncomfortable reading his famous plays? Or are you a “Shakespeare Natural” who reads those plays with ease? This class is designed for those who want to learn how to read Shakespeare and those who already read him comfortably but want to know more: the what, rather than how of his writing. We will explore Shakespeare's language, his sentence structure, his mastery of poetic form and dramatic technique and place his words within the times for which he wrote. Along the way, we will read together Romeo and Juliet. Our goal? For all students to feel empowered to read more Shakespeare!
Instructors:

Virginia Mason Vaughan is Professor Emerita and Research Professor of English at Clark University, where she taught for thirty-seven years. She has published widely on Shakespeare’s works, including co-editing The Tempest for the Arden Shakespeare. Since her retirement she has taught several courses at WISE, and especially enjoys co-teaching with Helen Whall

Helen Whall - After finishing her Ph.D. at Yale University, Helen joined the faculty at The College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA. There she taught Shakespeare and the Renaissance as well as modern drama, frequently writing on both subjects. Since retiring in 2017, Helen has offered several courses for WISE.

Required Reading: Romeo and Juliet, Folger edition

Show details

A12 . Walking Worcester’s Green Spaces

Start
09/14/2023
End
10/12/2023
Schedule
5 sessions
Location
See course description
Spaces left
0

Join waitlist

Walking in nature is beneficial for many reasons. It can improve physical health by reducing stress, lowering blood pressure, and strengthening the immune system. It can enhance mental well-being by boosting mood, creativity, and memory. Third, it can foster your social connections by providing opportunities to interact with others who share your interests and values. Walking in nature can also help you appreciate the beauty and diversity of the natural world. Explore some of Worcester’s beautiful trails with longtime Mass Audubon environmental advocates and educators Martha Gach and Deb Cary. As we walk, learn the history and special features of each area. Expect flat to moderate inclines and typical unimproved trail surfaces with occasional roots and rocks.

Week 1: Mass Audubon’s Broad Meadow Brook Wildlife Sanctuary and Nature Center. Meet at 414 Massasoit Rd., Worcester

Week 2: Coal Mine Brook Park and the East Side Trail.
Meet at the parking area, 559 Plantation St., Worcester.

Week 3: Kinney Woods.
Plan to park at 80 Dawson Road, Worcester, which is the end of Dawson Rd off Olean St

Week 4: Crow Hill Conservation Area.
The parking area is directly across from the EcoTarium entrance at 145 Harrington Way, Worcester

Week 5: Tetasset Hills Trail and God’s Acre.
Students should be prepared to move over unimproved ground at a modest pace. This course is limited to 20 participants.

Instructor: Dr. Martha Gach

Show details

A13. Celtic Spirituality, Then and Now

Start
09/15/2023
End
10/13/2023
Schedule
5 sessions
Location
Zoom only

Register

Ireland’s ancient religious practices, often called “Celtic spirituality,” continue to attract people of all faiths and none. The Celtic culture’s mythical imagination, reverence for the natural world, communal identity, and politically powerful women are especially compelling for many today who seek new approaches to the urgent problems of environmental destruction and social division. Through art, mythology, poetry, and religious literature we’ll explore the qualities of Irish Celtic culture that became an enduring set of spiritual practices and beliefs.

Instructor: Kathleen Fisher

Required reading: Celtic Spirituality: An Introduction to the Sacred Wisdom of the Celts, by Philip Freeman, Essentials (2021)

978-1250780201 (Available in several formats from Amazon)

Show details

A14. Cold War – Containment, Confrontation, Competition, and ….. Collapse

Start
09/22/2023
End
10/20/2023
Schedule
5 sessions
Location
Kennedy 119, Assumption campus

Register

Following the defeat of Germany in 1945, it took a very short time, measured in months, for the United States and the Soviet Union to move from allies to adversaries in a bipolar world. This lecture series traces the 46-year duration of the “Cold War”, from the summit meetings in 1945 to the fall of the “Iron Curtain” and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989-1991. Among the “highlights” are the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962, as well as the “proxy wars” in Korea, Viet Nam, and Afghanistan. We will see several events that would bring the US and the USSR to the “brink of War”. In the end, it would be the personal relationship between two men, Reagan, and Gorbachev, that would bring this period to a close by the end of 1991.

Instructor: John Northgraves

A15. Top 24 Democracies in the World, and Why

Start
09/22/2023
End
10/20/2023
Schedule
5 sessions
Location
Zoom only

Register

This course attempts to answer why democracy is better than any other form of government by exploring the following top 24 democracies in the world according to the Democracy Index: Norway, New Zealand, Iceland, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, Ireland, Netherlands, Taiwan, Uruguay, Canada, Luxembourg, Germany, Australia, Japan, Costa Rica, United Kingdom, Chile, Austria, Mauritius, France, Spain, and South Korea. From geography to climate (with tips on travel), to demographics, to history to politics and government, to economy and culture (cuisine too), each country will be analyzed according to a variety of indexes on what makes a top democracy in the world.

Instructor - Paul Macek has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in both history and English. He has taught U.S. History and American Literature for over twenty-five years. He has also worked as a proofreader, copyeditor, indexer, translator, writer, and publisher for over thirty years. He is the author of seven books: one on education, two on literature (one of which was a translation), and four on American history.

Show details

B1. Jazz History 2

Start
10/23/2023
End
11/20/2023
Schedule
5 sessions
Location
Zoom

Register

Jazz history is American history told through the cultural perspective of music and musicians. The course begins where the Jazz History 1 course concludes, approximately in the late 1920s. We will examine the people, their stories and idiosyncrasies, the socio-political and cultural events, and of course, many listening and video examples as well as live demonstrations.

Instructor - Paul Buono

Show details

B2. George Sand’s Third Rustic Novel

Start
10/23/2023
End
11/20/2023
Schedule
5 sessions
Location
Kennedy 119 on the Assumption campus

Register

After the great success of The Devil’s Pool (1846), George Sand wrote The Country Waif, and by the time that one had been published (1848), she had already begun writing the third in her series of rustic novels, Little Fadette, which would be published the following year. These three works, with their idealized peasants, sensitive dialogues and poetic vision, were praised by Gustave Lanson as masterpieces of the idyllic genre in France. Though Sand’s emphasis on themes of class and gender was controversial in the middle of the nineteenth century, the importance of such concerns to twenty-first-century readers suggests that she was clearly ahead of her time. Discussion of the novel may include references to the author's brilliant autobiography.

Instructor - Lillian Corti>

Required Text: Little Fadette, trans. J. M. Lancaster, (Hawthorne Classics, 2020).

Show details

B3. Understanding the Human Immune System

Start
10/23/2023
End
11/20/2023
Schedule
5 sessions
Location
Kennedy 119 on the Assumption campus

Register

This course will provide a very basic introduction to the human immune system. Our immune system provide protection against a wide range of foreign substances. We’ll discuss the cells and tissues involved in the immune responses, antibodies, and vaccinations. Proper functioning of the immune system is a delicate balance, however, and malfunction can contribute to allergies and autoimmune conditions.

Clare O’Connor is a cell biologist who received her Ph.D. from Purdue and did postdoctoral research at UCLA and Caltech. She moved to Shrewsbury in 1984 and led a lab at the former Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology before joining the Biology Department at Boston College in 1995. She taught both introductory and advanced courses in genetics and molecular cell biology before retiring from BC in 2017.

Show details

B4. Great Female Artists and their Music

Start
10/24/2023
End
11/21/2023
Schedule
5 sessions
Location
Zoom

Register

Women have made great strides in recent years. While there is still a-ways to go, we now have a female Vice President, and women are gaining more and more acceptance as “equals” in many other endeavors. In noting their progress, it seems appropriate to recognize them for their great contributions to popular music.

This course will highlight many of the great women songwriters and performers working today or in the recent past. I have chosen a very eclectic mix of musical styles, as these talented women can be successful in many different genres. Performers will include Barbra Streisand, Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin, Natalie Merchant, Sarah McLachlan, Dusty Springfield, Bonnie Tyler, Carole King, Melanie, Dolly Parton, Celine Dion, Taylor Swift, and many others. Videos of their best performances will be shown.

Instructor - Joe Corn spent most of his professional career as an engineer. He has taught in the NYC school system, Springfield Technical Community College and Penn State University, and worked as a technical instructor for Moore Products Co. Since joining WISE in 2010, Joe has presented both music and technical courses and is also a past President of WISE.

Show details

B7. How to Read Art

Start
10/25/2023
End
11/29/2023
Schedule
5 sessions
Location
Worcester Art Museum

Register

Much fine art is the art of storytelling. In this in-person class, we will view objects in the Worcester Art Museum’s galleries and learn how to read visual stories narrated by artists across the last 5,000 years. Enter these storied worlds and deepen your appreciation of them. We will examine examples from various ancient cultures as well as European and American art from the Middle Ages through the 20th Century. This course may revisit some objects discussed in previous sessions.

Instructors - Bill Shelley and Virginia (Ginny) Powell-Brasier

Show details

B8. Impressionism - A Chronological Exploration

Start
10/25/2023
End
11/29/2023
Schedule
5 sessions
Location
Zoom only

Register

Camille Pissarro, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons The avant-garde French artists of the late 19th century, known as Impressionists, created changes in style, subject matter, and even the marketing of works of art. We’ll explore the eight Impressionist exhibitions, as well as the stylistic development and differences amongst the Impressionists, such as Monet, Renoir, Degas, Pissarro, Morisot, and Cassatt, during the last four decades of the 19th century. The impact of the Impressionists on American artists will be illustrated in the paintings of artists such as Robinson, Hassam, and Benson.

Instructor - Martha Chiarchiaro is

Show details

B9. New England Bird Behaviors in Fall

Start
10/25/2023
End
11/29/2023
Schedule
5 sessions
Location
Zoom only

Register

Shrinking daylight and cooler temperatures signal an active time of preparation for birds of all species, as nature moves from summer into winter. This course will examine bird behaviors typical of the season, celebrating but not dwelling on bird identification. We will explore a variety of behaviors that can be observed in the fall, as some birds prepare to survive our cold New England winter and others prepare to travel to warmer climates. We will focus on birds found in New England including raptors (hawks, eagles, falcons, owls), waterfowl and wading birds (ducks, geese, herons) and shorebirds (plovers, sandpipers etc). We’ll look at how birds find food, maintain their plumage, socialize, vocalize, and migrate. Hint - not everyone goes to the tropics!

Instructor - Sheryl Pereira is

Show details

B10. Legend of Ned Ludd

Start
10/26/2023
End
11/30/2023
Schedule
5 sessions
Location
Zoom only

Register

Seven centuries after the legend of Robin Hood took hold, a new band of Nottinghamshire warriors struck against the oppressors of the poor. Luddites, they were called, their name coming from their mythical leader, General Ned Ludd.

Little is certain about Ludd’s life, even his very existence. No matter. From the factories in the English Midlands in the early 19^th Century and continuing for the next two centuries, Luddites battled machines and the capitalists who owned them. They now fight against computers and robots and that amorphous foe, Artificial Intelligence. Luddites do so, in his name, whatever his name was.

Instructor - Karl Hakkarainen is

Show details

B11. Asia, China, and Global Trade - What went wrong?

Start
10/26/2023
End
11/30/2023
Schedule
5 sessions
Location
Kennedy 119, Assumption campus

Register

By Fletcher6 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11253486

International trade began with the Silk Road and Marco Polo, and developed into imperial competition and control in Asia. The end of WWII brought both a new trade and political structure, promoting free and open markets leading to the WTO and a new world trading system. Asian economies emerged as dominant participants in the new global supply chain, the “Asian Miracle”. China then emerged from years of isolation to become the dominant Asian economy. Investment soared and global trade was transformed. But China retained old ideas and institutions, and has turned away. Trade and political conflict have emerged. What happened? How could so much hope go so wrong?

Instructor: Pete Murphy

Show details

B12. Freedom of Speech and the First Amendment: The Current Battlegrounds

Start
10/26/2023
End
11/30/2023
Schedule
5 sessions
Location
Kennedy 119, Assumption campus

Register

We often hear people invoke their “First Amendment” rights to free speech. But not all speech is protected by the First Amendment, and court decisions in a myriad of contexts have established murky lines. This course will examine recent developments in the perennial battleground over freedom of expression. We will look at (among other issues) the treatment of hate speech as protected speech; restrictions on speech on campuses; the regulation of social media platforms; the increasing reliance on the free speech clause in protecting religious interests; freedom of the press and the legacy of New York Times v. Sullivan, which established a high bar for suing media entities for defamation; restrictions of speech of government officials; and restrictions of speech related to the cultural/political divide in the country.

Instructor: John Ross III

Show details

B14. Jesus Through the Centuries

Start
10/27/2023
End
12/01/2023
Schedule
5 sessions
Location
Kennedy 119, Assumption campus

Register

Noted Yale University professor Jaroslav Pelikan (1923-2006) wrote a book titled Jesus Through the Centuries: His Place in the History of Culture in 1985 in which he set forth the many images of Jesus of Nazareth throughout history, such as “The Rabbi,” “The Light of the Gentiles,” “The Universal Man,” “The Teacher of Common Sense,” and “The Liberator.” Pelikan masterfully shows how each image of Jesus reflects the particular temper and values of that period. Eighteen images from the first through the twentieth century reveal a different side of the person that Time magazine has called the most significant figure in history. This course will analyze and discuss each image of Jesus and evaluate its relevance for us today.

Instructor: Dr Gary Shahinian is the Intentional Interim Pastor of the Federated Church of Charlton (United Church of Christ and Unitarian Universalist Association). He recently completed 20 years as the Senior Pastor of Park Congregational Church in Worcester. He earned a Ph.D. degree in Philosophy from the Free University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. He wrote his doctoral dissertation on the problem of evil in the thought of Alfred North Whitehead, the father of Process Philosophy. He taught philosophy and theology courses at Redeemer College in Ontario, Dordt College in Iowa, and Worcester State University.

B5. Curious About Crypto?

Start
11/07/2023
End
12/05/2023
Schedule
5 sessions
Location
Kennedy 119 on the Assumption campus

Register

There’s lots of hype and news about crypto. Some say that crypto (digital currency) is to its underlying technology (blockchain) what email was to the internet, just the first of many new applications. Crypto was endorsed by celebrities, attracted big named investors, and then collapsed. In this class, we’ll explore the upsides and downsides of this ground breaking technology, in a non-technical way. We’ll discuss the issues, the people, and the legal, political and future implications. .

Instructor - Jean Sifleet is

Show details

WISE Fall 2023

Courses

A1. Jazz History 1

A2. The Rustic Novels of George Sand

A3. The Play’s the Thing

A4. New England Art Museums

A5. Behind the Scenes at the Hanover Theatre

A6. Great Trials That Changed The Course Of History: Social Justice & Turmoil

A7. Robert Moses - An Urban Planner: Hero or Villain?

A8. We Read Banned Books

A10. Operation Paperclip: How German Scientists Were Brought to the US after World War II

A11. How to Read Shakespeare

A12 . Walking Worcester’s Green Spaces

A13. Celtic Spirituality, Then and Now

A14. Cold War – Containment, Confrontation, Competition, and ….. Collapse

A15. Top 24 Democracies in the World, and Why

B1. Jazz History 2

B2. George Sand’s Third Rustic Novel

B3. Understanding the Human Immune System

B4. Great Female Artists and their Music

B7. How to Read Art

B8. Impressionism - A Chronological Exploration

B9. New England Bird Behaviors in Fall

B10. Legend of Ned Ludd

B11. Asia, China, and Global Trade - What went wrong?

B12. Freedom of Speech and the First Amendment: The Current Battlegrounds

B14. Jesus Through the Centuries

B5. Curious About Crypto?

Join us on social media