Memoir Group

Thursday mornings, January 8th to March 25th, from 10:15 to 11:45  

Spring Memoir Group - Thursdays, 10:15 to 11:45, April 7 to June 11

Write your memoirs to share in class. These can be short, unrelated pieces or part of a larger work. New members are welcome.

Facilitator: Cathy Belanger

March

Beyond Pity: Abolitionist Images and the Struggle for Empathy 

March 4th, 1:15 to 2:45 

In the nineteenth century, abolitionists harnessed visual media: illustrated books, engravings, and early photography, to expose slavery’s brutality. Many images cast 

enslaved people as pitiable victims awaiting rescue. But some radical visual artists dared to shown something different: people shattering their own chains, resisting, and refusing to be broken.  This talk explores both approaches, the conventional portraits that sought pity, and the revolutionary visual works that demanded something more dangerous: true empathy between viewer and the enslaved. 

Martha Cutter, Professor of English, and Africana Studies UConn 

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Trial by History:  Countess Bathory, Countess or Killer? 

March 11th, 1:15 to 2:45 

Was she a sadistic villain, or was she made into one? Step into the dark corridors of early Europe from 1560 to 1614 as we explore the legend, and the record of Countess Elizabeth Bathory, a noble woman accused of horrific crimes, and after immortalized as the “Blood Countess.”   Was she truly the most prolific female murderer in history, or the target of rumors, power struggles, and historical distortion?  Join us for a live, performative trial where history meets myth, and the audience becomes the jury.  The first half hour presents the fragments:  location images, records, testimonies, social context, and contested facts, Then the floor opens up to you, the witnesses and interrogators.  In short, historically inspired responses, you’ll help us unravel the truth or deepen the mystery.  Is this a tale of female power punished, or cruelty unchecked?  Come ready to decide:  guilty, innocent, or something far stranger. 

John Baron, local historian 

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*cancelled* 

Imprisoned in a Second Skelton; When Soft Tissues Turn to Bone in Stoneman Syndrome 

March 17, 1:15 to 2:45 

This seminar will cover the day-to-day challenges faced by individuals with the ultra rare disease,, fibrodysplasia ossificanus progressive (FOP), and current research aimed at understanding the disease at the genetic and cellular levels.  Advances and setbacks in the development of treatments for (FOP)) and the current status of clinical trials will also be discussed. 

David Goldhamer, Molecular and Cell Biology Department, UConn 

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Looking Up! The How Neck Mobility Affects Balance and Fall Risk 

March 24th, 1:15 to 2:45 

mobility plays a role in navigating tasks in our environment.  This spans from the overhead neck injuries in athletes to the importance of neck mobility in older adults. 

Laurie Devaney, Head, Department of Kinesiology 

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 Twentieth Century Irish Poetry 

March 31, 1:15 to 2:45 

This presentation will discuss a handful of canonical poets writing in the Irish tradition from both sides of the border. Themes to be discussed include the loss and revival of the Irish language, the trauma of Irish history, the status of Irish women in Irish art and life, and the role of folklore and memory in Irish society. 

Mary M. Burke, English Department UConn 

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Spring Classes

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April

Uncovering a Connecticut Treasure:  the UConn Biodiversity Collections

Hear from four collection managers about a jewel of the University of Connecticut’s Biodiversity Collections. Gain insight into our facility and the special specimens cared for in the preserved collections (Herbarium, Invertebrates, and Vertebrates) and the living collections in the Botanical Conservatory.  Learn about the diversity of specimen types we care for and how we make them accessible for research, education, and outreach. Katrina Menard, Erin Kuprewicz, Sarah Taylor, and Meghan Moriarity, Biodiversity Collections, UConn April 7, 1:15 to 2:45   _________________________________________________________________ 

Three Revolutions in Concord, Massachusetts (1635, 1775, and 1830):  Why There?

The Atlantic’s special issue for November 2025 titled “The Unfinished Revolution” features a co-authored essay titled “Why Concord” by Robert Gross and Robert Thorson. It challenges the conventional historical and cultural explanations for why Concord played such a key role in colonial settlement, the American Revolution, and our nation’s intellectual independence.  Using slides and readings, Thorson will invoke the alternative, deeper explanations of geology. Robert Thorson, Professor of Earth Sciences, UConn April 8, 1:15 to 2:45   __________________________________________________________________________

What is a Disaster?

Floods and earthquakes, wars and famines, engineering failures—these frightening events seem to redefine modern life.  We call them "disasters,” But what makes a disaster different from other periods of time? In a freewheeling conversation, two leading scholars in the field of disaster studies will consider such events in Connecticut, Argentina and elsewhere, thinking out loud together about why some kinds of bad news are considered disasters while others are not, and what difference it makes. Andy Horowitz, Connecticut State Historian and History Dept., UConn Mark Healy, History Dept., UConn   April 9th, 1:15 to 2:45 __________________________________________________________________

Light Pulses and Their Effect on Music and the Brain

The speaker will describe a non-invasive digital therapeutic, Synchrony Gamma (SynG) that works by synchronizing specialized light pulses with familiar music to rhythmically stimulate the brain.  He will update us on his research showing that the therapy improves memory and preserves cognition in patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment and early stage Alzheimer’s Disease, Edward Large, Department of Psychology and Department of Physics, UConn   April 21, 1:15 to 2:45 __________________________________________________________________________

Wetland Restoration in the 21st Century:  Panacea or Band-aid?

Wetland ecosystems have been misunderstood and maligned for millennia, but increasingly humanity realizes the many benefits wetlands provide us, leading to ambitious global initiatives to restore lost wetland habitat.  The speaker, who teaches several wetland courses and conducts research on wetland restoration, will discuss opportunities and challenges associated with the wetland’s restoration movement. Beth Lawrence, Dept. of Natural Resources and the Environment   April 22, 1:15 to 2:45   __________________________________________________________________________

What We Really Need for a Space Round Trip: A Gas Station

Imagine you are on an interplanetary road trip and suddenly you run out of gas—or worse oxygen for humans to travel and live in space, we need technologies that provide life-saving resources beyond earth. The following topics are covered in this talk:  Introduction to cryogenics and why it matters to space exploration; how extremely cold liquids behave and a liquid nitrogen demonstration; and solving the challenges of space cryogenics and research done at UConn. Bhushan Patil, Senior graduate student, School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, UConn   April 28, 1:15 to 2:45   ___________________________________________________________________________

How a Tiny Mountain Mammal Helps Us Understand a Warming Planet

As climates warm, cold-adapted mountain species such as pikas, marmots, and wood rats are being pushed into increasingly challenging conditions.  This presentation will show how observational data and ecological models can be combined to understand how these species respond to climate change. It will also explore what these patterns mean for population persistence and extinction risk across western North America Billman, Peter, PhD candidate, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UConn  

April 30th, 1:15 to 2:45

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May

A Site of Conscience:  The “Haunting” Legacy of the Mansfield Training School

The Mansfield Training School Memorial and Museum Project explores the 133 year history of Mansfield Training School while also focusing on its ties to the University of Connecticut.  Based on three years, and ongoing archival and collaborative work with UConn students and community members, this restorative inquiry and justice initiative aims to excavate the institutionalization of disabled lives and to educate community members about MTS’s history while promoting community and institutional accountability.  The project poses the central question:  what are the obligations of institutions and communities to address the legacies of disability institutionalization through mutual restorative inquiry.  This interactive program will offer highlights from the MTS timeline, share the traveling exhibit poster boards, and explore more specifically some of the MTS-UConn cross-institutional connections. Brenda Brueggemann, Department of English, UConn May 5th, 1:15 to 2:45 ___________________________________________________

It’s Different Everyday:  Daily; Photographs for Horsebarn Hill

The speaker will share why Horsebarn Hill is special to him through the lens of his camera at different times of the days and season.  These include images of Jacobson Barn, bobcats, coyotes, local and rare birds, sunrise/sunset, moonrise/moonset, Northern lights, meteor showers, and his constant companion, his chocolate Labrador retriever, Acadia. Milton Levin, Department of Pathobiology, UConn May 12th, 1:15 to 2:45 ___________________________________________________

More than a Game: How Sports Excite, Divide, and Unite

Sports are more than entertainment, despite their seemingly trivial nature, they serve as powerful vehicles of socialization, group cohesion, and meaning for millions of people worldwide. Like religion, sports are rich in rituals and traditions, imbued with symbolism and governed by strict orthodoxy.  And like politics, they feature charismatic leaders, flag-waving crowds and moral outrage directed at out-groups. But unlike those other domains, sports offer an ideal context to study those processes, preciously because they lack any inherent moral imperatives. Combining the speaker’s personal experience and empirical evidence from his own research, he argues that sports fan-ship triggers some of our deep-seated evolved tendencies: our need to belong, to cooperate, to compete, to be part of something bigger than ourselves, and ultimately to find meaning.  As such, sports offer a window into the human psyche, allowing us to peer into religion, politics, and other meaningful but divisive areas. As the scientific study of fan-ship reveals, sports are much more than a game. Dimitris Xgalatas, Department of Anthropology, UConn. May 13th, 1:15 to 2:45 __________________________________________________________

Lessons from Building a Regional Food System in Eastern Connecticut

A reflection on a small Connecticut-based nonprofit organization’s attempt to scale the community-based food systems work to a regional level through a U.S. Department of Agriculture Regional Food Systems Partnership grant.  Organized around five lessons learned, it addresses the challenges faced when building regional network across diverse communities and geographies. Clements, Sydney, Departments of Political Science, Geography, and Philosophy, ECSU May 19th , 1:15 to 2:45 __________________________________________________________________

The Art of Dressage

Dressage is the foundation of all the equestrian arts.  It focuses on harmony, balance, and beauty.  It is an elegant dance featuring horse and writer and is a passion for both the amateur equestrian and the professional riding in the highest level in the Olympics. The speaker has ridden dressage for over three decades for over three decades and has prepared a fun and informative presentation about this ancient art of horsemanship. Helen Scanlon, Author and Equestrian Artist May 21st, 1:15 to 2:45 ___________________________________________________________________

A Lifespan Approach to Studying Love, Romance, and Relationships

This talk will discuss the speaker’s research, examining age differences in love, romance, and beliefs about close relationships across the lifespan. The speaker uses a social constructionist approach which contends that we learn our ideas about love from society’s expectations of us. These expectations may differ across ages and generations.  Most of the literature on love and romance has been conducted using college student samples. Using a lifespan perspective highlights the importance of age and can lead to more meaningful discussions of love and relationships. Jennifer Leszcznyisnki, Department of Psychological Sciences, ECSU May 28, 1:15 to 2:45 _________________________________________________________________