Winter Registration Update Notes

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ONE CLASS IS FILLED: How to Look at & Understand Great Art.  It was capped at 35 and those who request the course after that point will be placed on a waiting list.

Practicing Basic Spanish Conversation still has 2 spots left, but only 2!

HERE IS ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR SOME COURSES:

The Controversies course has chosen its book for the coming term.  It is “The Meritocracy Trap: How America’s Foundational Myth Feeds Inequality, Dismantles the Middle Class, and Devours the Elite.” See the course description for a description of how this course operates.

For those considering the Science Cafe course, here are some of the topics covered during the previous term:

  • How can it be that your genes are a predictor of your political choices?
  • What would be the social or cultural effect of the announcement of the finding of indications of extraterrestrial life? What if they are of intelligent alien life?
  • Is it realistic for society to rapidly replace fossil fuels with so-called green energy so as to significantly slow down global warming and ensuing climate change and what are the alternatives?
  • What areas of life will be affected by the development of quantum computers?
  • What areas of work are feeling the effect of advances of artificial intelligence and robiticsis being affected and how soon will this become almost all pervasive?
  • Where are we in the “war” against cancer and antibiotic resistant bacteria?
  • Has the new CRISPR gene editing tools made genetic engineering of humans not only feasible but more acceptable?

 

The Romantic Period: the Schumanns & Brahms: Though this course will focus on the music of the Romantic Era, we will also explore what is happening in literature and art as well as the political climate of the early 19th century. Music in any era is almost always connected to the “climate” of the times. Schumann was very much a product of his environment as were most of the composers of the 19th century. We will also explore music of his contemporaries and there will be suggestions for outside listening that will enhance your learning experience.

Register for Winter Courses Now!

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The Winter 2020 Shared Learning catalog is now available for viewing and/or downloading by all current and former members and visitors to our site.  (“Winter is our new, more accurate, word for what we used to call the “Spring” term.)  We are offering 27 courses, in the arts, humanities, history, current events, and science, most meeting weekly during weekday mornings for 90 minutes.  The special Introductory Winter-Spring registration fee is $30/person which covers all Winter (January – April) courses that a member enrolls in (except occasional charges for a book or materials).  Current members who joined in the Fall 2019 are paid-up for the rest of the academic year.  Our “Who We Are” statement describes our philosophy that emphasizes SHARED learning and course MODERATION by volunteer members.

Here are the relevant links:

WINTER 2020 Course Catalog (for downloading) including Course Schedule and Descriptions

WINTER 2020 Course Schedule (to view on your screen)

WINTER 2020 Descriptions of Courses (to view on your screen).

For NEW MEMBERS or former members who did not enroll this past fall, here is the WINTER 2020 Membership/Registration Form for downloading and mailing (also included in the Catalog)  Note: If you don’t have a printer, just put your answers to all the questions on a piece of paper and mail it with your check.

WINTER 2020 General Information

Current members who have already paid for the 2019-2020 year can use our WINTER 2020 On-Line Course Registration.

Please note that our course enrollment period for Winter courses is short: it ends on December 31st so that allocation of courses to classrooms can be based on reasonably accurate course enrollments.

If you have any questions, use our Questions form and we’ll get right back to you.

Looking forward to seeing you at Shared Learning!

Public Lectures for 2019-2020

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Four to five times a year, the Shared Learning Association hosts lectures, free and open to the general public.  Our next “Lindgren Lecture” is January 23rd, 2020 at 11:15 in Bldg 103 (103 Market St., Chapel Hill), Youth Room.  It is by Nancy MacLean, Professor of History and Public Policy at Duke, speaking on Democracy in Chains.  For a list of this year’s Lindgren Lectures, click HERE.

Room Assignments for Fall Courses

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Here are Room Assignments for our Fall Courses.  Please note that if you are in Science Cafe, that course will not start until September 26th.  If you are a participant in another course and will be missing weeks at the start of the term, you may wish to contact your moderator.  Their contact information is in our catalog at the beginning of their course description .

SL Room Assignments Fall 2019

Latest Updates on Fall Courses

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FOUR COURSES ARE NOW FILLED:

  • Strategies for Healthy Aging 
  • Controversies-Immigration
  • Learning Life Through Documentary Films
  • Beginning Spanish Conversation (the Wednesday class)

Additional requests for filled courses will be added to a waiting list and will be contacted if space becomes available.

Moderators have been offered the opportunity to provide additional information about their courses.  So far, information is available for the following course(s).  [Click on the course title to see it.]

 

The Fall Catalog, Schedule, and Registration Page are all described, with links to the actual files, in the next posting, right below this one.

Fall Catalog and Registration

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Shared Learning Members and Visitors:

The Fall 2019 Shared Learning catalog is now available to all current and former members and to visitors to our site.  Remember, your academic year membership of $60 entitles you to enrollment in 25 courses during this Fall as well as all courses offered during Winter-Spring 2019. To get started, jump to our Course Description page or get an overview of courses on the Course Schedule page. To register for courses, download and print the Registration Form or the Entire Catalog.  If you prefer a paper copy, you can request one from Mary Ann Freedman at maryafreedman@gmail.com.  The Fall Calendar and Inclement Weather policy is available HERE.

Public Lecture: Holy Land Archaeology

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On Thursday, March 28th, Shared Learning presents our final public lecture of the academic year.  Emeritus Professor in Judaic Studies at Duke University’s Trinity College of Arts and Sciences, Eric M Meyers will speak on “Holy Land Archaeology: Where the Past Meets the Present.”

UPDATE: THE SUNDAY AFTER PROFESSOR MEYERS’ TALK, A VERY RELEVANT ARTICLE ABOUT THE TOPIC WAS PUBLISHED IN THE NEW YORK TIMES.  HERE IS A LINK TO THAT ARTICLE: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/03/30/opinion/sunday/jerusalem-city-of-david-israel-dig.html

 

Professor Meyers has directed digs in Israel and Italy for forty years and is perhaps best known for his 1981 discovery of the oldest Ark from ancient Israel which coincided with the film The Raiders of the Lost Ark. He is the author of 15 books and 370+ scholarly papers and is the recipient of two major research grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.  He served on the Duke University faculty for more than 45 years and had two stints as the Director of the Graduate Program in Religion.

Professor Meyers’ talk will be held in Shared Learning’s meeting location at Christ United Methodist Church in Southern Village, Chapel Hill: 105 Market St., Rooms 3 & 5.  His talk begins at 11:15 a.m. sharp, with a question period following the lecture (and ending at 12:45 p.m.).  The talk is free and open to the public.

Germany’s Democracy -> Hitler’s Dictatorship

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Five times a year, the Shared Learning Association of Chapel Hill is pleased to present guest lectures, free and open to the public–now at our new location at 105 Market St., in Southern Village, in the meeting room facilities of the Christ United Methodist Church.

This month, on Thursday, January 24th, at 11:15 a.m. our presenter is Dr. Gerhard Weinberg, William Rand Kenan, Jr. Emeritus Professor of History at UNC who will speak on “Ending Germany’s Democracy; Establishing Hitler’s Dictatorship.”  We are fortunate to have as our lecturer on this topic a person who not only spent his first ten years living in Germany during the Nazi takeover but has spent a long lifetime as a distinguished scholar studying, teaching and lecturing on the subject of Nazi Germany and World War II.  At a time when many believe that American democracy is in danger, it will be instructive to hear Dr. Weinberg discuss an instance where democracy did disappear into totalitarian dictatorship.

Dr. Weinberg’s lecture will begin at 11:15 a.m. in Rooms 3 & 5 in the 105 Market St. building just across Sumac Rd. from the Christ United Methodist Church.  For those who are accustomed to our public Lindgren Lectures being held on Fridays, please note that at our new location, we will be holding these lectures on the 4th THURSDAYS of the month–this month, on Thursday, January 24th.  Parking is available in numerous places: the lot directly behind the 101-105 Market St. buildings, the Church’s lot on the other side of the Church proper, street parking nearby, and the $2/day Park-and-Ride lot just down Sumac Rd.  Directions and a map are HERE.

Public Lecture: N.C. Politics–Today & Tomorrow: Rob Christensen

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The Shared Learning Association of Chapel Hill is honored to present a talk by Rob Christensen about current and future North Carolina politics.  With the mid-term election almost upon us, his talk could not be more timely.  It is scheduled for Friday, October 26th at 11 a.m. at our current meeting location: Expand Church, 114 Weaver Dairy Rd. (corner of Erwin).

Mr. Christensen has covered North Carolina politics for 45 years at the News and Observer in Raleigh and is perhaps the most qualified non-partisan commentator on this topic in the entire State.  His book, The Paradox of Tar Heel Politics, was published by UNC Press in 2008, and won an award as the best of work of non fiction in the State that year. His new book, Branchhead Boys, is scheduled to be published by UNC Press in the spring.

This talk, like all others in the Gray Lindgren public lecture series, is free and open to the public.  Please join us!

For further information, download the flyer <-HERE.

Public Lecture: U.S.’s Russia Policy

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On Friday, Sept. 28th, at 11 a.m., Jack F. Matlock, former U.S. Ambassador to Russia gave a powerfully convincing talk to a packed audience at Shared Learning’s first Gray Lindgren Public Lecture of this academic year.  The title of Dr. Matlock’s address was Our Russia Policy: What is it? What Should it Be? but most of the talk focused on the end of the Cold War, the end of Communism in the Soviet Union, and the breakup of that country.  Matlock is the author of Reagan & Gorbachev: How the Cold War Ended.

For further information, download the flyer <-HERE.

Our Lindgren Lectures are free and open to the public.  We hope you joined us!