Classes | Center for Learning in Retirement (CLIR) | Extension

CLIR classes are offered in two formats: single classes (one 90-minute class) and multi-week classes (two or more classes scheduled in successive weeks). To attend these classes, you can become a CLIR member by registering - note that there is a $40 registration fee per session.

Spring session is January-May
Fall session is September-December

All classes will be held at the Vernon Cottage on the Mansfield Depot Campus at the University of Connecticut. Please email CLIR@uconn.edu if you have any questions.

Cancellations

Notice of class cancelations will be posted to the website Home page; please be sure to check the website prior to attending class. In case of bad weather, CLIR follows either UConn or Mansfield Public Schools policy, announced on local radio and TV stations: If they cancel, we cancel; If they have a late opening, we cancel morning class; If they have early closing, we cancel afternoon class.

Please email clir@uconn.edu if you would like a PDF version of the Class Flyer for the current session.

Imprisoned in a Second Skeleton: Stoneman Syndrome: When Soft Tissues Turn to Bone

This seminar will cover the day-to-day challenges faced with the ultra-rare disease, fibrodysplasia ossificans progresssiva (FOP), and current research to understanding the disease at the genetic and cellular levels. We will also discuss advances and setbacks in the development of treatments for FOP and the current status of clinical trials will also be discussed •

Tuesday, September 8, 1:15 to 2:45

• David Golldhamer, Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology, UConn ____________________________________________________________________________________

Worker Tradition and the American Revolution

Popular memory of the American Revolution in the North is often a story of taxes and tyranny, in which lawyers and merchants speak loudest. But deep in the roots of the revolution, we find something different: radical urban workers defending personal liberty and local tradition. Their hard work made the revolution possible, and shaped what the new nation could be. •

Thursday, September 10, 1:15 to 2:45

• Henry Snow, Adjunct Professor, History Department, UConn ____________________________________________________________________________________

Muscle as Medicine: The Role of Strength Training in Healthy Aging

Research continues to show that maintaining muscle through resistance training is one of the most powerful tools for preventing chronic disease and promoting healthy aging. This presentation will highlight how strength training supports heart health, bone density, metabolism, mobility, cognitive function, and longevity. Participants will learn safe practical ways to incorporate strength exercises into their weekly routing safely and effectively. •

Wednesday, September 16, 1:15 to 2:45

• Allison MacKenzie, Director of Kinesiology, UConn ____________________________________________________________________________________

Following Fisher in Their Forested Range

The speaker and her graduate students study where wild animals live, their habits and travels, and why some wildlife populations are increasing in Connecticut (e.g., black bears) while others are declining (e.g. fisher). From following GPS-collared adult fishers over the last two years, the speakers will share their impressions of fisher observations leading to this conclusion. •

Thursday, September 17, 1:15 to 2:45

• Tracy Rittenhouse, Associate Professor, Dept. of Natural Resources and the Environment, UConn ____________________________________________________________________________________

Bringing Joy into Social-Emotional Learning with Feel Your Best Self

Feel Your Best Self offers joyful, easy-to-use, evidence-informed materials and products for kids and caregivers to learn emotion-coping strategies. Our award-winning toolkit—freely accessible online—centers on 12 strategies, learned through engaging stories by puppet friends as they navigate everyday situations. In this presentation, the speaker shares the rationale behind FYBS, reviews the available material, offers examples of use in your setting, and explores opportunities for participants to integrate. •

Tuesday, September 29, 1:15 to 2:45

• Emily Wicks, Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry, UConn ____________________________________________________________________________________

A Journey and a Joining

In this 90-minute storytelling workshop Professor Mama will give a 30-minute presentation that includes telling an interactive story and offers tips on the bssics of storytelling. Following the lecture, the participants will form groups of 3 or 4, and each group will be given about half an hour to work on a story to be performed as part of the workshop. Each performance will last no more than 5 minutes and must incorporate some of the things the participants have learned about storytelling during the workshop. •

Wednesday, September 30, 1:15 to 2:45

• Raouf Mama, Professor, Department of English, ECSU ____________________________________________________________________________________

Nostalgia for the Crusades in Late Medieval England

The crusade era is traditionally said to begin with the fall of Jerusalem to Western European armies in 1099 and to end with the fall of Acre, the last Christian fortress, in 1291, to Muslim Mamluk forces. The idea of a new crusade to recapture Jerusalem and the surrounding “Holy Land,” however, lived on in the European imagination. This class will focus on crusade fantasies in late 14th century English literature. There is the ultraviolent (Richard Coeur de Lion) as well as the ironic (Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales). We will focus on an intriguing aspect of this literature, a desire to emulate the Mongol Empire, imagined as an ascendant Eastern power in contrast to a decadent West. We will also touch on some current crusade fantasies and their role in Islamophobia and “holy war.” •

Wednesday, October 7, 1:15 to 2:45

• Ruth Nisse, Professor, Department of English, Center for Jewish Studies, Wesleyan University ____________________________________________________________________________________

Propagating Native Plants to Benefit Endangered Animal Species

Native plants are often key players in endangered animal life cycles. For this talk the speaker will explore different plant propagation techniques and projects he has studied for several years. Specifically the speaker will discuss growing wild indigo and sundial lupine as larval host plants for the state threatened frosted elfin butterfly. A second project covered in this talk involved the division of seaside goldenrod to benefit common tern nesting habitat on Great Gull Island in Long Island Sound. Additionally the speaker will cover propagation of several watch list or endangered milkweeds, which are important for monarch butterflies. •

Tuesday, October 13, 1:15 to 2:45

• Bryan Connolly, Associate Professor of Biology, ECSU ____________________________________________________________________________________

The Ft. Laramie Treaty of 1868 and the Theft of Native American Land

As western expansion encroached on their traditional homelands, and conflict turned to war, the Sioux Nation signed a treaty with the United States in1868 to establish their Reservation in what eventually became South Dakota. By 1875, President Grant and Congress were intent on getting parts of the Reservation back, one way or another. They did so with “duplicity” and a “dishonorable” manner, leading to Curter’s Last Stand and a Supreme Court case 100 years later. •

Thursday, October 15, 1:15 to 2:45

• Fred Greenburg, Docent and volunteer, Peabody Museum, Yale University ____________________________________________________________________________________

Brombough Organ, Opus 21: Design and Repertoire

John Brombough completed Opus 21, the organ at St. Mark’s Chapel at the University of Connecticut in 1977, commissioned by Virginia Hermann, then organ professor at UConn and organist at St. Mark’s. Considered one of the finest organ builders of our times, John Brombaugh apprenticed a generation of organ builders currently working throughout the United States. Brombaugh traveled throughout Northern Europe to study the material and building techniques utilized within instruments preserved from the time of J. S. Bach and his contemporaries. This lecture will discuss his design of the organ at St. Mark’s Chapel and introduce the repertoire for which it is best suited. Attend a noonday recital at St. Mark’s Chapel the following day, October 21, to hear the instrument John Brombaugh regarded as “(Opus 21) being the best organ I ever made.” •

Tuesday, October 20, 1:15 to 2:45

• Charles Houmard, Organist, St. Mark’s Chapel, UConn ____________________________________________________________________________________

Meeting Your Neighbors in Hebron, Connecticut — People History Forgot

Local history is often the story of men who were white, and relatively successful. While of interest, this perspective leaves out the narratives of women, immigrants, African Americans, and those who had disabilities, but their stories matter too. Recently the Hebron Historical Society created five QR tours of Hebron Center that focus upon the stories of lesser-known individuals in Hebron’s past. This talk will focus on some of those people, whose stories can enrich our understanding of life in a small Connecticut hill town in the past, and provide inspiration for us in the present. •

Thursday, October 22, 1:15 to 2:45

• John Baron, local historian and retired school teacher ____________________________________________________________________________________

Fulton-Jin Ahmed and the Indo-Persian Connection to Europe, 16th-18th Century: Globalizing Space and the Emergence of World-Time

The 17th and 18th centuries witnessed an unprecedented rise in travel between Europe and India. Gujarati noble of allegedly royal Mughal descent, Sultan-gjin Ahmed and his journeys across Europe, particularly through the German principalities in the 1730s, illustrate the often-overlooked pre-colonial entanglements between Indians and Europeans. Significantly, Ahmed appears to have been the first known Muslim to study at an European university. •

Tuesday, October 27, 1:15 to 2:45

• Kaveh Yazdani, Assistant Professor, Department of History, UConn ____________________________________________________________________________________

Detection of Toxic PFAS Chemicals in Water Using Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS)

This study developed a user-friendly surface enhanced raman spectroscopy (SERS) method to detect harmful PFAS “forever chemicals” in drinking water. Ten toxic PFAS were successfully identified at femtomolar concentrations similar to levels found in public water systems. Results showed PFAS combined to silver nanoparticles through carboxylic and sulfuric groups, demonstrating SERS as a promising real-world technique for monitoring toxic PFAS contamination. •

Thursday, November 5, 1:15 to 2:45

• Syed Islam, Associate Professor, Department of Physical Sciences, ECSU ____________________________________________________________________________________

American Impressionism

American Impressionism is introduced as a late 19th century movement shaped by new approaches to light, perception, and landscape painting in the United States. The talk outlines its key visual concerns, including atmospheric effects, shifting relationships to European Impressionism, and a related sub-tendency sometimes described as a “glare aesthetic.” The talk then turns to how American Impressionism developed in Connecticut through artists working directly from nature. J. Alden Weir serves as a key example of this regional expression. The presentation concludes with Weir Farm which serves as a site where these developments become visible in place and practice. •

Tuesday, November 10, 1:15 to 2:45

• Elizabeth Dougherty, CLIR Board member ____________________________________________________________________________________

Ornamental Cornices: Manhattan Sheet Metal Masterpieces

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the facades of many buildings in American cities were crowned with elaborate sheet metal cornices. Some of the best examples are preserved in Manhattan neighborhoods. Henry C. Millman’s landmark book is the first-ever guide to these endangered ornaments and features original photography and detailed elevation drawings to scale of 103 exceptional cornice examples. •

Wednesday, November 18, 1:15 to 2:45

• Henry C. Millman, historic building draftsperson, and shop drawing professional for the architectural millwork trade ____________________________________________________________________________________

Black Women on Trial in Francophone Works

This talk introduces several Black women of today’s literature and film who may be unfamiliar to the West. The talk also speaks to the larger question of Black women being left without agency in difficult times, such as accusations of witchcraft, as in Maryse Conde’s novel I Tituba, Black Witch of Salem. Marie-Celie Agnant is an author and poet. Alice Diop’s is a filmaker. The three women are all recipients of literary awards in their adopted countries. •

Thursday, November 19, 1:15 to 2:45

• Michele Bacholle, Professor of World Languages, ECSU ____________________________________________________________________________________

Long-term Insights from Short-term Ponds

The speaker will discuss the ecology of temporary ponds in New England and the natural history of their organisms, including why they should not be called vernal pools. He will also discuss some of his research results gained from observing these ponds about predator-prey interactions, climate change and evolution. •

Thursday, December 3, 1:15 to 2:45

• Mark Urban, Director of Center of Biological Risks, UConn ____________________________________________________________________________________

Understanding Crime: Concept, Context and the Role of Criminology

What exactly makes an act of “crime,” and who decides? This presentation explores the definition of crime, examining how society draws the line between acceptable behavior and legal infractions. We will consider the essential role of criminology, and how it goes beyond law enforcement, to analyze the root causes, societal impact, and psychological triggers behind criminal behavior. Attendees will understand that criminology shapes public policy, informs the justice system, and helps build safer communities. •

Tuesday, December 8, 1:15 to 2:45

• Karim Ismaili, President, ECSU ____________________________________________________________________________________