Senior Scholar Winter 2024 courses announced

Jan. 10—PLATTSBURGH — Senior Scholar marks its twelfth year with a five-week session beginning February 8 and continuing for five consecutive Thursdays.

This Zoom-based program is a collaboration between Senior Citizen Council of Clinton County, Clinton County Office for Aging, JCEO, Clinton County Historical Association, and the Chapel Hill Foundation.

Participants can choose from three informative and challenging seminars that continue the full five weeks. Then, everyone can join "virtual museum" programs at 1 p.m. each of those Thursdays.

"We're pretty excited that we are expanding the program, so that we are doing live programming in the fall and continuing to do the COVID inspired or COVID mandated Zoom-based sessions during the winter," Dr. Rich Frost of the Chapel Hill Foundation, said.

"So, people can still take a course in the winter, but they don't have to deal with the snow and the icy sidewalks and all that. We are pretty happy with the courses this year for this session. I think we've listed a bunch of kind of challenging courses and things that will both galvanize and hopefully help people learn about some new topics."

The Fall 2023 session was the first in-person seminar since COVID lockdown.

The courses offered were "The Underground Railroad On The Borderlands" presented by Robin Caudell, independent researcher and Press-Republican staff writer; "Classic Books worth Reading (or Rereading) Later in Life" with Erena Fulton, a retired English teacher who has also taught internationally; and "Medieval Lives" with Dr. Vincent Carey, a SUNY Plattsburgh professor of history.

"That one went really well," Frost said.

"We had three seminars, and they were well attended. Vincent's was about daily life in medieval times. Yours was the Underground Railroad, and the other one was on literature, highlighting books that are worth rereading later in life."

WINTER 2024

Three five-week seminars offered:

Canadian Government and Politics—11 a.m.

Chris Kirkey, Director, SUNY Plattsburgh Center for the Study of Canada and Institute of Quebec Studies

— Is the United States-Canada Relationship Still special?: Relations in the Donald Trump Era.

— The Curious Case of an American Confederate President in Canada: Jefferson Davis, 1867-8

— Quebec Society in 2024: Pathways and Challenges.

— New Directions in Canadian Politics: Justin Trudeau and the Future of Canada.

— Professional Life Spent in Pursuit of Canada: Constructing Canadian Identity from Abroad.

ROBBINS

The Anthropology of Money: or how crisis in Finance increasingly threatens our planet and lives— 9 a.m.

Richard Robbins, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Anthropology

A look at our increasingly challenging economic environment:

— The creation of money, how it fell into private hands, and why money is worth more than labor (and even lives).

— A brief history of Finance and how making money with money (financialization) came to dominate our economy.

— How Finance gained control over government economic policy, contributing to problems like climate change, economic inequality, and social breakdown.

— Extent to which Finance plays a role in the rise of authoritarian governments and religious movements around the world

— Ways that the financialization of our lives can be slowed down, stopped, or even reversed.

LOWRY

Archaeoastronomy—3:30 p.m.

Justin Lowry, Assistant Professor of Archaeology, SUNY Plattsburgh Department of Anthropology

— Dr. Lowry has become well known to Senior Scholar participants with his previous courses on archaeological sites around the world. Last year, he focused on underwater discoveries.

This winter, he will be discussing the Astronomical systems of ancient societies, looking at everything from calendars to alignment and ancient observation.

Join him in a world tour of ancient archaeological sites that show how much ancient peoples cared about their skies and what it meant to their (and our) humanity.

A BIT MORE CHALLENGING

"I would say that what we're going to do this time is a little bit more challenging because we're going to have some new perspectives on economics," Frost said.

"It's going to make people think about things like interest rates and national debt a little bit differently I think.

"We're paying homage to the eclipse by having Justin Lowry doing an archaeology course that is going to be centered around astronomy. I was just reading a book today about how the Hindus in the year 900 AD were able to predict eclipses in Southeast Asia. When you look at buildings whether it be in the southwestern United States or in Mexico or across the ocean, it's amazing how much astronomy meant to daily life.

"The third course, the most requested topic we had after our fall series, was to have some courses on Canada. So, that's what our third one is. We think these are going to be three good choices.

"The other thing thing that's a little bit different, we've had people say to us — in fact it came up quite often in the fall — people saying I wish I could take more than one of these courses but they are all the same time. When we're doing it in person, that's the way it works. We decided, okay, we'll take advantage of Zoom so it can be like you're re-enrolling in college. You can have a course in the morning, a course in the afternoon. We've set it up that if people want to take more than one course, they can do it. The fees are still pretty low. Some people I'm sure will take multiple courses."

All participants are encouraged to attend Senior Scholars "Virtual Museum Visits" at 1 p.m.

Fonthill Castle, Doylestown, Pennsylvania—Visit the home of archaeologist, inventor, and master tile maker Henry Mercer, whose museum was featured in last year's Senior Scholar.

National Museum of Racing and Racing Hall of Fame, Saratoga Springs, New York— See exhibits related to thoroughbred racing, the "Sport of Kings."

The Adirondack Sky Center, Tupper Lake, New York—Learn about offerings at the North Country's newest observatory, plus enjoy a preview of April's total eclipse of the sun.

Two more programs to be announced.

"Everybody is welcomed and encouraged to sit in on our 1 o'clock sessions," Frost said.

"For the second consecutive year, it's going to be Virtual Museum Visits. The final schedule isn't set, but we're going to have a fascinating house in Pennsylvania built by a man who was sort of an iconoclast. He was an archaeologist. He was also an architect, but he made his living by producing decorative tiles. So, the house is loaded with decorative tiles. It's a cement home that was built about 120 years ago. That's Henry Mercer's home called Fonthill.

"Because of the upcoming eclipse, we thought we would feature something to do with astronomy, and so we are going to have a program from the Adirondack Sky Center in Tupper Lake, which is a working observatory. They will be able to talk to us about what they have there and what kind of programs they provide, plus they will be giving us a preview on the eclipse. We are going to have one from Saratoga, from the National Museum of Racing and the Racing Hall of Fame. That will be third."

Email: rcaudell@pressrepublican.com

Twitter@RobinCaudell