Monthly Archives: September 2011

OLLI-UO in Eugene/Springfield Short Course: Short Stories of Our Time, Part II

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Short Stories of Our Time, Part II

Wednesdays, October 12 and 26, November 9 and 23, and December 14, 10:00-11:30 a.m., at the UO Baker Downtown Center

If you love to read but have limited time, consider exploring some classic American literature in the form of short stories. In the short course The Stories of Our Times Part II, Dr. Shiela Pardee will again lead readers in discussion of tales from America’s greatest story-tellers, including Ring Lardner, Katherine Anne Porter, and Ann Beattie.

Along with the classics from our anthology, The Best American Short Stories of the Century edited by John Updike, we will also consider some recent stories by talented contemporary writers. Class will meet the second and fourth Wednesdays at 10-11:30 a.m. in October and November, and on the second Wednesday of December.

Register by contacting the OLLI-UO office, 541-346-0697, space is limited.

Textbook: Best American Short Stories of the Century. John Updike, ed. , Katrina Kenison, coeditor. Houghton Mifflin, 1999. ISBN 13:978-0-395-84367-3

Available:

Smith Family Campus (1 copy, used, fair condition, $12.35)

Tsunami Books can order (abt. 3 days, $16.95)

Amazon.com ($13.57 or less)

Barnes and Noble can order from store (5-8 business days, $19.95) or online ($13.63)

Eugene Public Library: several copies

University of Oregon Knight Library: 1 copy

Not available for Nook or Kindle

Assigned Readings:

Wed. Oct. 12: Mary Lerner: “Little Selves” (7-17); William Saroyan, “Resurrection of a Life” (159-168)

Wed. Oct. 26: Harold Brodkey, “Verona: A Young Woman Speaks” (533-538); Katherine Anne Porter: “Theft”(105-110)

Wed. Nov. 9: Ring Lardner, “Golden Honeymoon” (45-59); Pam Houston: “The Best Girlfriend You Never Had” (769-788)

Wed. Nov. 23: Ann Beattie: “Janus” (595-599); John Updike: “Gesturing” (565-575)

Wed. Dec. 14: Pam Durbin: “Soon” (735-753); Alice Adams: “Roses, Rhododendron (520-532)

 

OLLI-UO in Central Oregon: Book Discussion Group

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OLLI-CO Book Discussion Group resumes their regular schedule in October, with a non fiction selection:

How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer

Our politicians and voters have split into two, irreconcilable camps.Each group is certain that their shared view of reality is right and logical (based on facts) and that the other group’s is irrational and dangerous. These opposing dogmatic views stop politicans from working together for the common good at a time of national crisis. How have we come to this? What can we do about it?

In his New York Times Bestseller “How We Decide”, Jonah Lehrer describes the how our brains decide what to believe and what to do. That superficially bad new is that few of these beliefs or decisions are rational. The really bad news is that the beliefs we’ve convinced ourselves to be the most rational are the most likely to be at odds with reality, and our most rational decisions usually leave us less satisfied in the long run. When the brain makes its best decisions, as measured by numerous controlled experiments and long term results, those decisions involve our emotions, pleasure and pain centers, centers of empathy and a thousand other subtle things which the brain has evolved to incorporate in its decision making process. Our logical explanations of our beliefs are, as Jonah Lehrer puts it, more that of lawyers picking and chosing things that, post facto, justify beliefs and decisions produced for other reasons.  Once we make decisions, our rational mind proceeds to whip other brain centers into shape to ignore data which contradicts its decisions and to enhance and change memories to support those decisions. In other words, it acts like a General, Politician, Pope or corporate CEO who sets out to eliminate dissension in the ranks after he’s chosen a course of action. What’s the payoff for doing this…. when we reaffirm our decisions, the brain releases dopamine which produces a sense of pleasure and well being.

A heathy brain’s processes, of which reason is merely one of the last to evolve and one of the weakest, enable people to be creative, playful, empathize with others and anticipate their reactions. Brain’s of psychopaths lack empathy for the feeling of others. Psychopaths and sociopaths are actually very rational like Dr. Spock from Star Trek. They are without natural feelings of fear or of empathy for others because certain, tiny, regions of the brain are damaged. The damage can result from physical causes or from emotional traumas, particularly abuse or isolation in early childhood.  For those who are convinced that without Christianity we would lack ethics and morals, this might not be a comfortable book. The book describes research which conclusively demonstrates that healthy brains have built in ethics and morals; which the 10 Commandments and the New Testament merely codify. Even healthy chimpanzees exhibit some ethical behaviors!

This interesting book is packed with relevant stories about airline pilots and football quarterbacks (and the rational, but useless tests the NFL employs to predict their performance) and a few pertinent metaphors. Jonah Lehrer worked as a technician in a neuroscience lab, but he is first and foremost a top-notch writer who knows how to popularize difficult scientific topics.  Chapter headings include: The Quarterback in the Pocket, The Predictions of Dopamine, Choking on Thought, The Moral Mind, and The Brain is an Argument.

Links for more information on the book and its author:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/22/books/review/Johnson-t.html

Ed Lee will serve as facilitator for the sessions on Tuesday, October 4 and 18, 10:00 a.m.-noon. Newcomers are welcome—we’ll see you at Dudley’s Used Book Shop, 135 NW Minnesota, in downtown Bend!

October 2011 Study and Discussion Groups

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OLLI-UO in Portland

Find a group that fits your interests.

The following study and discussion groups meet weekly unless otherwise specified. All members are welcome to attend these sessions. Past participation is not required. For questions, study materials or more information on these groups, please call the OLLI-UO in Portland office at 503-412-3653.

Tuesdays

The Story of Human Language [DVD discussion group]
10:30 a.m.–noon

“There are good reasons that language fascinates us so. It not only defines humans as a species, placing us head and shoulders above even the most proficient animal communicators, but it also beguiles us with its endless mysteries.

“How did different languages come to be? Why isn’t there just a single language? How does a language change, and when it does, is that change indicative of decay or growth? How does a language become extinct?

“Dr. John McWhorter, one of America’s leading linguists, addresses these and other questions as he takes you on an in-depth tour of the development of human language.”  (http://bit.ly/liSHAW)

Wednesdays

How to Listen to and Understand Great Music [DVD discussion group] 
10:30 a.m.–noon

“Music, the most abstract and sublime of all the arts, is capable of transmitting an unbelievable amount of expressive, historical, and even philosophical information to us, provided that our antennas are up and pointed in the right direction.

“In this Teaching Company DVD course “you will hear and understand an entire language of unmatched beauty, genius, and power [as] Professor Greenberg takes you inside magnificent compositions by Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Verdi, Wagner, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, and more.” (http://bit.ly/mEQ6kk)
Facilitator: Joanna Rood

Thursdays

Extra Innings
Thursdays, 10:30 a.m.–noon

As “third agers,” we are experiencing, for the first time in human history, thirty additional years of healthy life. This experimental discussion course will utilize emerging findings from the science of gerontology as well as gerogogy, defined as self-directed learning using life experience as a platform. This discussion course is not a life-review course. Class discussion will not only allow participants to look back on past experiences, but will encourage participants to look ahead as they travel through their third age.

Literati
October 13 and 20, 1:00–2:30 p.m.

In October, Literati will read Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë’s only novel. Published under the pseudonym, Ellis Bell, this Gothic novel was originally rejected by publishers until it was accepted in July 1847. Literati will supplement discussion with the DVD Teaching Company series, History of World Literature, taught by Purdue University Professor Grant L. Voth.

  • October 13 and 20: Discussion of the Gothic novel, Wuthering Heights, by Emily Brontë.

Leaving a Trace: Writing About Your Life
Thursdays, 2:30–4:30 p.m.

Led by OLLI member, Judi McGavin, this group provides a friendly, supportive, and intimate setting to explore and share memories and experiences.

“In this course, we will explore moving from journal writing to finding the ‘line of thought.’ We will write, share, engage in writing exercises, and have a couple of guests who have moved from journal, to memoir, to a published book.

“Through this experience, I hope to share with you how to leave a lasting piece of work about your lives. We will identify ten key patterns hidden in all journals and find the story underneath the surface of recorded fact. We will learn how to play detective to your days, find the ‘thought line’ or the arc of life’s meaning in your life, and frame these stories for journal, family chronicle or memoir.”

Past questions the writing group has considered are:

  • What is something that got left behind?
  • What is something you cannot deny?
  • What is something you wrote or did that you no longer understand?

Members may join this group at anytime.