LIFESPAN Resources Spotlight Winter, 2015 Page 4 Lifespan Academy Winter Classes January 15, 2015 – March 5, 2015 Location: Peachtree Road United Methodist Church 3180 Peachtree Road NW, Atlanta, GA 30305 10:00 to 11:00 am Everyday Spirituality Peachtree Road UMC’s Interfaith Minister, Rev. Julie Gohring, will use the book, An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor as a basis for exploring how to live a life full of meaning and discovering small practices to living every day more fully. It is not necessary to purchase or read the book. Current Economics Dr. Ferd Levy returns with his class on Current Economics. Class discussions revolve around daily economic issues mentioned in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the New Yorker and other applicable publications. Writing Your Life Story Award winning local author Grace Hawthorne will demonstrate how to take your memories and experiences and put them on paper. By the end of class, you will have an outline of your life story that you can continue filling in. What a beautiful legacy to leave for your family! Exploring Literary Avenues This class will examine short stories and poems by authors like Garrison Keillor and Langston Hughes, and a one-act play by Anton Chekhov. They will be read aloud and followed by a class discussion. As a special treat, there will be a guest lecturer who will give a beautiful presentation on the opera La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi based on the novel, The Lady of the Camellias by Alexandre Dumas. With no homework required, just come, relax, and enjoy these wonderful stories and discussion led by Camilla Cruikshank. Tai Chi Tai Chi helps improve balance because it targets all the physical components needed to stay upright. Dawud Rasheed, long time Tai Chi and Yoga instructor, will combine his expertise to offer this class. 11:15 to 12:15 pm THE ART OF FIFTEENTH-CENTURY WESTERN EUROPE In the Late Gothic world of western Europe, calamitous events such as the Hundred-Years War, a decimating plague, religious upheaval in the form of two popes, and social change leading to the growth of a middle class and the emergence of capitalism, set the stage for an art in Flanders, France, and Germany that is both sumptuous and descriptive, and both sacred and secular. A new market for middle class portraiture resulted in public religious art (altarpieces) that are filled with figures whose faces are patron's portraits. Join Marilyn Morton as we consider the symbolism that was the basic vocabulary of painters, and the development of printing and its ramifications. Queen Elizabeth I, the Tudor Queen Elizabeth I was the long-ruling queen of England, governing with relative stability and prosperity for 44 years. The Elizabethan Era is named for her. Frances McKibben discusses the life and times of this most influential of monarchs. LIFESPAN Resources Spotlight Winter, 2015 Page 5 Hot Topics Come hear a different speaker each week lecturing on a wide range of interesting and compelling subjects. Topics include How to Talk to Your Doctor, Veterans and Suicide, Tales of a Beekeeper, Plants of the Bible, Preventing Home Improvement Fraud, Sexual Exploitation of Children, Tracing Your Ancestry through your DNA, and Building Contractors in Israel. Great Decisions Dusty Miller and Ray Nixon examine eight of the most thought-provoking foreign policy challenges currently facing Americans. Several of the topics to be discussed are “Privacy in the Digital Age,” “U.S. Policy Toward Africa”, and “Brazil’s Metamorphous.” Come join this class and lively discussion. An optional text book will be available to purchase for $20. Line Dancing Join the fun as Rose Haven leads low risk, low impact line dancing to get both your mind and body active. There is a fee of $25 with registration, or $50 for Line Dancing only. 1:30 – 3:00 pm Collage Class Artist Mary Derbes from the Atlanta Collage Society will teach collage, a fun art form anyone can do. A $10 fee will cover materials and is payable at the first class. A minimum of five students is required. Mah Jong Mah Jong is a game for four players that originated in China. Bring your friends and your Mahjong set. Current players are willing to teach the game to newcomers. Just ask! Bridge for Fun Bring three friends, or meet three new friends. Also bring a deck of cards and enjoy an afternoon of bridge. We provide the tables and you provide the challenge and the fun. Technology Learning Center—PICK YOUR TOPICS! We are starting a new technology event at Lifespan Academy! If you come to the first session of our Learning Center, you can pick the topics for the next seven weeks. Want to practice your digital photography? Want to learn more about using your iPad or non-iPad tablets? Want to get up to speed on Windows 8? Come to the first session and tell us what you need. If you just want to learn about new things, join us! JOIN OUR TOWN HALL MEETINGS We will have three Town Hall Meetings in January to get your ideas and feedback on Lifespan’s future direction. Please join us and tell us what you think! Tuesday, January 20th, 2015—6:00 to 7:00 pm Trinity Presbyterian Church in the conference room next to Lifespan Offices. Thursday, January 29th 12:00 to 12:30 pm Peachtree Road United Methodist Church. Monday, February 2nd, 2015 , 11:00 am to 12:00 pm Second PonceDeLeon Baptist Church. WANT TO DROP BY? If you would like to attend just one session of our classes, feel free to drop by. A single session is $8. If you drop by, you can also pay $9.50 for lunch if we have lunches available. Come on out and give us a try! We look forward to seeing you. LIFESPAN Resources Spotlight Winter, 2015 Page 6 Lifespan Book Club – Mondays at 12:00 Noon January 26, 2015— “I Am Malala” by Malala Yousafgai February 23, 2015— “Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand” by Helen Simonson March 30, 2015 — “Orphan Train” by Christine Baker Kline AARP Smart Driver™ February 27, 2015 and April 24, 2015 Attend the AARP Smart Driver™ Course to learn about normal age-related physical changes and how to adjust your driving to compensate, as well as how to reduce your chances of receiving a traffic violation, getting into an accident, or becoming injured. This class will be offered at Trinity Presbyterian Church and taught by Lifespan’s own dynamic instructor, Stuart Arey. The class is from 9 am to 4 pm and the cost is $15 for AARP members and $20 for non-members To register, call the Lifespan office at 404-237-7307. Build a Heart Tree for Valentines Day - Thursday, February 12th Peachtree Road United Methodist Church—Winter Session Place a Heart on the Heart Tree and Tell a Story! We will have our Heart Tree in the dining room from 9:30 to 1:00 on February 12th. You can add a heart with someone’s name on it whenever you wish. If you are between classes or have extra time, stop and add your heart. We will be adding more hearts and telling stories about them during lunch as well. Make a heart for someone you love and share why they are important to you. We will have a special group of young guests to help us make our hearts and tell our stories. Bring a loved person from your family if you would like. Just let us know so we can make their lunch reservation for you.