New Web Postings For April
MANAGING YOUR LLI
Writing a New Chapter
Commerce Unseen: Spring Learning Trips
The American Presidents: A Thematic Study
Catalog Sponsorship
Jewelry: Mirror of Its Time
The Ties That Bind
Physics & Astronomy at the IML
The Boomers are Coming! The Boomers are Coming!

LLI News
LLI News for April

Under LLI CELEBRATIONS
LLI Celebrations for April

WELCOME NEW AFFILIATES
EIN welcomes the following new programs, bringing our total of affiliates up to 358.
• Lifelong Learning Institute at Armstrong Atlantic State University, Savannah, GA
• Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, Granite State College, Concord, NH
• Cedar Crest Institute for Learning in Retirement, Pompton Plains, NJ

ABOUT THE EIN WEB POSTINGS
Every month EIN reads through all the newsletters, course catalogs and other materials that are sent to us from the programs. We then select items of interest, the latest news, and stimulating course ideas with the idea that your program planners, curriculum committee members, etc., can benefit from reading what other programs are doing. So check out all the articles, LLI News and other columns and articles that we post each month. We hope we’re making your jobs easier.

HELP NEEDED
The University of South Florida Senior Academy is looking for information on database software for tracing students and class registrations. If you use a particular program and find it helpful please email Linda Abbot at labbot@cas.usf.edu with details. Thank you.

MEDIA REPORT
EIN was interviewed last month for an article that appeared in the Advocate , a local Norwalk, CT newspaper, about the Lifetime Learners Program at Norwalk Community College. We were able to give the reporter some perspective on the history of the learning in retirement movement as well as on its’ current state of affairs.

Two different reporters from the New York Times spoke with EIN last month. The first was interested in the scope of lifelong learning for older adults, and we spoke extensively about this topic. The second was interested in new trends in LLI courses. We don’t have any idea yet as to when the articles will run.

THE SECRET TO ELDERHOSTEL’S AMAZING DIVERSITY
Elderhostel works with renowned cultural and educational organizations, and with exceptional instructors, academics and cultural resources who provide access to unusual places – such as research facilities, archives and private collections – not typically available to tourists. Because of our strong allegiance with organizations that share our educational philosophy – which include the Experiment in International Living, Chinese American Educational Exchange, Trinity College of Hartford, CT, Scandinavian Seminar, Alianza Cultural Uruguay, Amizade, Ltd., Caribbean Volunteer Expeditions, Global Volunteers, OTS Foundation, Oceanic Society Expeditions, El Porvenir, InterElder Association and Bermuda Biological Station for Research, among many, many others – Elderhostel can reach beyond the limits that would normally be imposed on a single organization. That’s the secret to the unparalleled variety and breath of our offerings, and the reason why Elderhostel is the world’s largest provider of educational travel opportunities for adults who love to learn.

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT AND THE BABY BOOMER GENERATION
Laura B. Wilson and Sharon P. Simson, both affiliated with the Legacy College for Lifelong Learning in Maryland, have written a new book, “Civic Engagement and the Baby Boomer Generation: Research, Policy and Practice Perspectives.” There is a chapter devoted to civic engagement and Lifelong Learning Institutes, and the authors hope that the book will contribute to the future development of more LLIs. From first-hand experience they know that LLIs make a huge difference in the educational, social and civic lives of its members. The book is available from the Haworth Press at orders@haworthpress.com.

MORE ON THE BABY BOOMERS
PARADE’s December 11, 2005 issue invited readers to suggest new language to substitute for such terms as “senior citizen”, “elderly”, and “old”—labels likely to be rejected by Boomers. Readers could also address related questions, such as, “How would you define the meaning and purpose of this stage of life?” and “What are your thoughts on society’s expectations of, and attitudes towards, its older citizens?” Some of the best ideas and comments may appear in a future issue of PARADE, and be posted at Harvard’s web site www.ReinventingAging.org, part the Harvard School of Public Health—MetLife Foundation Initiative on Retirement and Civic Engagement. Information on how to submit ideas and comments is available at www.parade.com.

To mark the Boomer Generation’s 60th birthday, the Harvard School of Public Health—MetLife Foundation Initiative on Retirement and Civic Engagement will launch a national media campaign to promote healthy aging, reshape cultural attitudes toward the older years, and encourage Boomers to volunteer their time, skills, and experience to help strengthen local communities. The campaign will challenge the Hollywood creative community to re-think current portrayals of older people in film and television. This campaign would be a great time to promote your LLI as a way to stay alert, healthy and connected.

THE RAPTURE OF MATURITY
An interesting and thoughtful new book has crossed our desk here at EIN. “The Rapture of Maturity: A Legacy of Lifelong Learning,” by Charles D. Hayes, is a wonderful reminder to adults in the September of their days that they still have a chance to matter as human beings. By continuing to examine our values, our motivations, and our common beliefs, by exploring issues beyond the superficial level of popular culture, and by teaching our grandchildren to do the same, older adults can demonstrate to younger generations that we truly have something going for us after all. The book is available at www.amazon.com.

RESOURCES FOR GRANDPARENTING
Here are three new resources for grandparents. All are available from www.albris.com
A Grandparent’s Book: Answers to a Grandchild’s Questions – this book offers a unique opportunity for grandparents to create a lasting story about themselves and their family.
Totally Cool Grandparenting: A Practical Handbook of Tips, Hints, & Activities for the Modern Grandparent – A guide for contemporary grandparents. It offers clear, upfront advice, humor and time-tested tactics, gathered from dozens of interviews with grandparents and grandkids.
Becoming a Grandmother: A Life Transition – is a guide through a major life passage. Based on research in the U.S., Britain, and Australia.

THE IMPORTANCE OF ILR
Just how important is the ILR program at Bluffton University in Ohio to its’ members?
• When Roger and Judy’s first grandchild was scheduled to be born by C-Section on a Wednesday during the 2006 winter term, Judy told her daughter to call the doctor and change the date because Wednesday was an ILR day. The birth was rescheduled, their granddaughter was born on a Monday, and Roger and Judy were in class that Wednesday!
• Esther had never missed an ILR term in 15 years. Last fall, shortly before her death in December, Esther attended an ILR art appreciation course in her wheelchair, breathing with the aid of her portable oxygen tank. An ILR member to the end! We will miss her.
• When Betty and H.W celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, their five sons presented a generous gift to the ILR because of the importance of the program to their parents.
• Not one of the 89 moderators has ever received pay for teaching a course for the ILR. They do it because they love to teach and because they believe in the concept of lifelong learning. One moderator said, “Teaching for the ILR is the most fun you can have in a classroom!”

INTERGENERATIONAL OPPORTUNITY
Members of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of S. Maine in Portland took part in a “Business Ethics” seminar last month. The seminar, sponsored by USM’s Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE), invited OLLI students to join them. The day’s primary event was looking at a case study of the ethical implications that the Bull Corporation faced when entering China. Is it ethical for a business to re-locate outside the US? Does a corporation have responsibility to the local standard of living? Does a corporation pay minimum wage locally? The SIFE team looked for OLLI students to add a mature and experienced point of view to discussions.

RECENT FINDING INSPIRE NEW LLI COURSE
Inspired by the recent discovery of Hebrew materials which anticipated the coming of the Messiah in a manner similar to how Christianity anticipated it, Senior College at the University of Maine Hutchinson Center will offer a course entitled Common Elements of Judaism and Christianity.

THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST
Last month members of the Lifelong Learning program at Coastal Carolina University in South Carolina took part in a program entitled The Best and the Brightest CCU Honors Thesis Research. They heard 24 Honor’s students present original research projects in the fields of Environmental Sciences to Marine Science to History, Music and English. The accomplishments of these students certainly enlightened and impressed the attendees.

DANCE PROGRAMS
Members of several LLIs have embraced the art of dance. For instance the OLLI program at Yavapai College in Arizona is offering English Country Dance. The Center for Lifelong Learning, Inc. in Fort Walton Beach, Florida is offering both Irish Dancing and Tap Dancing for Fun.

VIRTUAL RETIREMENT COMMUNITY
Learning in Retirement, Inc. at the University of Georgia in Athens is looking at an exciting new project patterned after Beacon Hill Village, a “virtual” retirement community (www.beaconhillvillage.org ). The project, as presented, would be the development of a program in Athens-Clarke County in which the basic idea is to design a program to allow older adults to remain in their homes and avoid living in a nursing home by providing services – in their homes – that they need. LIR members could be both providers and consumers of these services. LIR will be studying the feasibility of this project in the coming months.

PULITZER PRIZE WINNER SPEAKS AT LLI
Linda Greenhouse, Pulitzer Prize winning correspondent for the New York Times, recently spoke at the Lifetime Learning Institute at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale. With recent nominations, confirmation hearings, and major decisions in the offing over the next few years, few topics could be more timely. Greenhouse is the author of the recently published biography of the late Justice Harry Blackmum, a book said to be unprecedented for its insights into little known aspects of court life.

NEW BOOKS FOR LLI COURSES
Thanks to the Institute for Retired Professionals in New York City for supplying this list.

An American Vein: Critical Readings in Appalachian Literature; edited by Danny L. Miller, Sharon Hatfield, and Gurney Norman. Discusses such authors as Jesse Stuart, James Still, Jim Wayne Miller, Mary Lee Settle, Cormac McCarthy, Jo Carson, and John Crowley.
Postcolonial Studies and Beyond, edited by Ania Loomba . . . [et al.]. Contributors examine the key features of the ideologies and history of colonialism, the relationship of colonial discourse to literature, challenges to colonialism, and recent developments in post-colonial theories and histories in the writings of contemporary theorists, including Edward Said, Abdul JanMohamed, Homi Bhabha, and Gayatri Spivak.
Strangers in the Land: Blacks, Jews, and Post-Holocaust America, Rosenblatt, Louise Explores how reactions to several interlocking issues became critical to black-Jewish relations such as the biblical Exodus, the Holocaust, Zionism, and the state of Israel, as well as analyzing the fiction of Bernard Malamud, Paule Marshall, Harper Lee, William Melvin Kelley, Saul Bellow, John A. Williams, Lori Segal, Anna Deavere Smith, Julius Lester, & Philip Roth.

NEW WEB SITES FOR LLI COURSES
ALEXANDER HAMILTON: THE MAN WHO MADE MODERN AMERICA
http://www.alexanderhamiltonexhibition.org/
A companion to an exhibit from the New-York Historical Society, which acquaints visitors with a statesman and visionary whose life inspired discussion and controversy and shaped the America we live in two hundred years after his death. Features a timeline, brief information on Hamilton's contemporaries, and the "Hamilton Log" where each week, ... [the site posts] a new excerpt of historical prose or recount[s] a pivotal event from Hamilton's life.

DNA FROM THE BEGINNING - http://dnaftb.org/
An animated primer on the basics of DNA, genes, and heredity. Includes images, animations of Mendelian and other principles, video interviews, problems to solve, biographies, and related links.

CHILDE HASSAM: AMERICAN IMPRESSIONIST -
http://www.metmuseum.org/special/Hassam/
This site is a companion to the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibit of works by painter Childe Hassam. Featured are Hassam's striking portrayals of Boston, Paris, and New York and his nostalgic interpretations of country sites in America and Europe. The site features a virtual gallery, a chronology of Hassam's life, and an interactive feature for families. Also includes an excerpt from a 1932 silent film on Hassam.

EVERYDAY MYSTERIES: FUN SCIENCE FACTS FROM THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS - http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries
This site provides answers to questions that deal with everyday phenomena that we often take for granted, but ... can be explained scientifically. ... All of the questions presented on this Web site were asked by researchers and answered by librarians from the Library's Science Reference Services.

That’s all for this month.
Nancy Merz Nordstrom, M.Ed.
Elderhostel Institute Network
Nancy.merz-nordstrom@elderhostel.org
www.elderhostel.org/ein/intro.asp
617-457-5564

“If you would thoroughly know anything, teach it to others”.…Tryon Edwards