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There are many aspects of well-being—but did you know that financial health is one of them? This course examines financial habits from a holistic perspective that offers meaningful insights and guidance for moving forward. We’ll discuss important questions related to money management, examine the impact of healthcare costs, learn how to leverage retirement funds effectively, discover strategies to outsmart scammers, and more.
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Instructor: Andrew Brasosky, Nick Luciano
Capacity Remaining: 18
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Dates: 10/16/2024 - 11/13/2024
Times: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
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Sessions: 4
Days: W
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Building: College of Health and Human Services
Room: 1057
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Member Rate: $40, Non-Member Rate: $80
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Photovoice is a participatory photography program referred to as “Pictures with a Purpose,” in which participants choose a theme and utilize cell phones or digital cameras to document issues, share concerns, raise awareness, and promote community dialogue. “Lives Well-Lived” is an award-winning documentary film that celebrates the wit, wisdom, and life experiences of older Americans living full and meaningful lives. In response to this film, ten members of our lifelong learning community will use photography to develop a visual narrative of their ideas, beliefs, values, aspirations, and life experiences. You’ll explore new and creative avenues for sharing feelings and concerns about the aging process, as well as joyfully celebrate your accomplishments. To further document the experience, participants will write personal statements, create titles and captions for each image, and keep a photo journal, culminating in an exhibition of their photographs, portraits, and written work. In addition to class meetings, students will be asked to attend a special free viewing session of the film “Lives Well Lived” on Saturday, October 5 at the Kalamazoo Public Library’s Van Deusen Room (3rd floor) from 1 to 4:30 p.m. A discussion will follow the viewing.
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Instructor: Jeri Love
Capacity Remaining: 8
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Dates: 10/1/2024 - 11/5/2024
Times: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
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Sessions: 6
Days: Tu
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Building: Friendship Village
Room: Village Clubhouse Keystone
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Member Rate: $60, Non-Member Rate: $120
$20 Supplies Fee Included
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In this course, we’ll learn the basics of the anatomy and physiology of the ear, including how hearing works and the role our ears play in keeping our gaze stable during head movements. You’ll also discover how hearing and inner ear balance play a major role in falling. We’ll discuss relevant research conducted at WMU, along with current research opportunities and findings.
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Instructor: Robin Criter
Capacity Remaining: 11
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Dates: 10/3/2024 - 10/3/2024
Times: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
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Sessions: 1
Days: Th
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Building: College of Health and Human Services
Room: 1035
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Member Rate: $10, Non-Member Rate: $20
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Come learn a new way to plan for the life you want to live as you age through Visual Facilitation. This course will teach you new ways to consider planning for your later years of life. Many people have made financial plans, chosen a power of attorney, and other technical things that need to be in place for smooth transitions as they age, however, many families have not had intentional conversations about the wishes of their elders or how family members can support them. You’ll learn about a simple visual tool called a Solution Circle that you can use to facilitate your own future planning with family and friends. This course was so popular in previous semesters that we just had to bring it back!
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Instructor: Allison Hammond
Capacity Remaining: 15
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Dates: 10/3/2024 - 10/3/2024
Times: 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
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Sessions: 1
Days: Th
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Building: College of Health and Human Services
Room: 1035
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Member Rate: $10, Non-Member Rate: $20
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It might seem that contentious Presidential elections are a recent phenomenon, but this is not the case at all—bitterly divisive elections and their outcomes have occurred several times in American History. This course will explore the campaigns, issues, results, and consequences of three such elections: the 1800 election between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson; the 1824 election between John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, and Andrew Jackson; and the 1876 election between Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel Tilden.
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Instructor: Thomas Dietz
Capacity Remaining: 12
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Dates: 10/4/2024 - 10/25/2024
Times: 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
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Sessions: 3
Days: F
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Building: College of Health and Human Services
Room: 1035
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Member Rate: $30, Non-Member Rate: $60
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Ableism is the oppression of people with disabilities. We’ll define and explore different types of ableism, examine how the words we use to talk about disability can contribute to either supporting equality or perpetuating stigma, identify strategies to address ableism, and discover how to unlearn one’s own unconscious biases related to disabilities.
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Instructor: Max Hornick
Capacity Remaining: 39
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Dates: 10/7/2024 - 10/7/2024
Times: 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
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Sessions: 1
Days: M
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Building: Portage Zhang Senior Center
Room: Lower Level Activity Room
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Member Rate: $10, Non-Member Rate: $20
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Even before the nomination season ended, the 2024 election was clearly one for the ages. How can a well-informed citizen, let alone an average voter, make sense of it all? In this class, political scientist John Clark will attempt to put this year’s presidential election into context. We’ll dive deep into the nomination process, the system of campaign finance, the impact of media coverage, the major issues in this election cycle, and the candidates themselves. The main focus of this course will center around understanding how elections work and why we end up with the elected officials that we do.
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Instructor: John Clark
Capacity Remaining: 23
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Dates: 10/10/2024 - 10/24/2024
Times: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
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Sessions: 3
Days: Th
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Building: College of Health and Human Services
Room: 2010
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Member Rate: $30, Non-Member Rate: $60
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Learn about the history and use of the labyrinth as a symbol of transformation and a tool for introspection! We'll explore the labyrinth's connection to spiritual pilgrimage and use in walking meditation, as well as the benefits of these practices. You’ll also have the opportunity to put learning into practice as we walk the labyrinth outside of the College of Health and Human Services and reflect upon our experiences. An indoor labyrinth will be available in case of inclement weather; please wear sturdy shoes and weather-appropriate clothing.
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Instructor: Reverend Debbie Eisenbise
Capacity Remaining: 13
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Dates: 10/11/2024 - 10/11/2024
Times: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
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Sessions: 1
Days: F
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Building: College of Health and Human Services
Room: 1087
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Member Rate: $10, Non-Member Rate: $20
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This three-session course will explore the anthropological practice of ethnography, which, in part, studies the customs of individuals in their own cultures and environments through observation, interviews, and other research methods. Drawing on 30 years of anthropological research in southern Ecuador, you’ll learn how, over the course of decades, the city of Cuenca evolved from a sleepy colonial town to an expat retirement haven to a place threatened by drug violence—and how all of those changes are best understood when we take a step back to look at the larger picture, taking into account the complete and complex life experiences of the people who live there. We’ll also discuss how anthropologists make sense of complicated globalized worlds, explore how ethnography can help us understand cultural transformations, analyze the ethics of this type of research practice, and assess the value of long-term engagement in a single location.
Although not required, students who wish to dive deeper should consider reading the works “From Cuenca to Queens: An Anthropological Story of Transnational Migration” and “Unravelling Time: Thirty Years of Ethnography in Cuenca, Ecuador,” both by Ann Miles, which are available in physical and eBook formats from the WMU Libraries as well as major sellers.
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Instructor: Ann Miles
Capacity Remaining: 13
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Dates: 10/14/2024 - 10/28/2024
Times: 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
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Sessions: 3
Days: M
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Building: College of Health and Human Services
Room: 1087
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Member Rate: $30, Non-Member Rate: $60
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Milestone Senior Services is hosting an on-going series of classes that provide important information about resources for older adults or those living with a disability, led by an expert speaker on a different topic each month.
In October, the topic is Estate Planning 101. In the first part of this comprehensive class, we’ll cover all the basics of estate planning, then spend the second half taking a deeper dive into comparing wills versus trusts. If you have already made plans and want a thorough review, or you’re thinking about estate planning for the first time, this class will equip you with invaluable knowledge so you can know exactly what steps you should take moving forward.
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Instructor: K. Lynn McFarlen
Capacity Remaining: 23
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Dates: 10/15/2024 - 10/15/2024
Times: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
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Sessions: 1
Days: Tu
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Building: Milestone Senior Services
Room: 918 Jasper St, Kalamazoo MI 49001
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Registration is Free, you must sign-in to Register
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Gerrymandering is a corrupt practice employed by partisan politicians to retain unfairly balanced legislative power. It's been a part of American politics since the late 1700s and it's still in practice today. Michigan is one of the few states where the electorate voted against gerrymandering in the 2018 general election, yet gerrymandering remains in Michigan news today. In this class, you will learn the definition of and examples of gerrymandering, its practice in bygone decades, and why it's still a relevant issue in Michigan. This topical discussion is non-partisan; people of all political persuasions are welcome. Because of its informative nature, this course has been intentionally scheduled prior to the November 2024 election.
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Instructor: Robert Weir
Capacity Remaining: 14
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Dates: 10/16/2024 - 10/16/2024
Times: 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
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Sessions: 1
Days: W
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Building: Portage Zhang Senior Center
Room: Meeting Rooms1A/1B
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Member Rate: $10, Non-Member Rate: $20
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The distracted driving epidemic is having a devastating impact as our society continues to face tragic deaths, grievous injuries, and economic losses due to distracted driving. In this course, we’ll analyze the current crisis on our roads and discuss meaningful ways that we can take action to keep ourselves—and one another—safe.
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Instructor: Marv Berkowitz
Capacity Remaining: 22
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Dates: 10/17/2024 - 10/17/2024
Times: 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM
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Sessions: 1
Days: Th
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Building: College of Health and Human Services
Room: 1087
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Member Rate: $10, Non-Member Rate: $20
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This class is full. Please use the button below to be added to the waitlist.
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Tai Chi is one of the Chinese traditional martial arts, which was originally designed as a unique self-defense technique, but later evolved into a self-efficacy health exercise. Characterized as flowing, graceful, and being well balanced, Tai Chi's movements strengthen the body as well as the mind from within, promoting a complete body-mind harmony. Through practicing Tai Chi, the balance of Yin and Yang—the essentials of nature and relaxation—will be embedded into the practitioner. Unrestrained by age, gender, and health status, Tai Chi can serve as an ideal physical exercise for many. This course will introduce some essential Tai Chi principles such as controlled relaxation, mental quietness, breathing in-depth, and intent first. As a starting class, we will learn and practice 5 to 8 basic, yet classic, Tai Chi movements. By the end of the session, the participants are expected to grasp these essentials and be able to practice basic Tai Chi movements independently.
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Instructor: Cheng Tao
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Dates: 10/21/2024 - 11/25/2024
Times: 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM
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Sessions: 6
Days: M
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Building: College of Health and Human Services
Room: 4010
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Member Rate: $60, Non-Member Rate: $120
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The piano—it’s the perfect instrument to embody the gorgeous melodies and sumptuous harmonies of music that we call “romantic,” giving voice to the intimate, grand, and deeply personal expression that was so characteristic of the nineteenth century. Although Mozart and Beethoven paved the way, it was Schubert and Schumann who gave this music its own distinctive style. Chopin and Liszt amplified its drama, power, and lyricism. Brahms added grandeur mixed with tenderness, while Rachmaninoff fanned its dying embers. In this course, co-sponsored by the Gilmore Piano Festival, we’ll delight in their mighty concertos, ingenious fantasias, and exquisite miniatures, works that perfectly capture the spirit of musical romanticism.
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Instructor: Zaide Pixley
Capacity Remaining: 11
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Dates: 10/23/2024 - 10/30/2024
Times: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
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Sessions: 2
Days: W
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Building: Friendship Village
Room: Village Clubhouse Keystone
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Member Rate: $20, Non-Member Rate: $40
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This class is full. Please use the button below to be added to the waitlist.
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Historical novels tell interesting stories about a time and place and the people living there. The authors of these novels must do extensive research so that their writing accurately reflects the history of the period. Using “The Women” by Kristin Hannah as our launching point, this session of “The History and the Literature” course series will offer a one-hour into at the history of the Vietnam War—both in-country and on the home front—to provide deeper context for the novel. We’ll then spend an hour discussing the novel as a piece of contemporary literature. Readers and history buffs alike will enjoy this course! Participants should read “The Women” before class.
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Instructor: Diane Henderson, Stanley Henderson
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Dates: 10/25/2024 - 10/25/2024
Times: 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
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Sessions: 1
Days: F
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Building: Portage Zhang Senior Center
Room: Meeting Rooms1A/1B
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Member Rate: $10, Non-Member Rate: $20
Book Required: "The Women" by Kristin Hannah
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This class is full. Please use the button below to be added to the waitlist.
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For most of America, the Beatles burst into our consciousness on February 8, 1964, when they appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” By that time, however, the group had been together for seven years, doing mostly local, poorly paid gigs. This four-session class will focus on those early years—we'll talk about their growing up in Liverpool; how John met Paul, George, and Ringo; how Stuart Sutcliff and Pete Best came and went; and about their exhausting stints in Hamburg. We’ll also learn how Brian Epstein came to manage them, and George Martin produced them; about how their record company constantly underestimated them; and about how Beatlemania swept Britain before it crossed the Atlantic. With a thousand slides, dozens of videos and countless recordings of their songs, this class will dig deep into the group's slow ascent into stardom. Attendees will be kept on their toes with a series of Beatles quizzes.(Note: a 3 session version of this class was presented in 2019)
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Instructor: Randall Schau
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Dates: 10/29/2024 - 11/19/2024
Times: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
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Sessions: 4
Days: Tu
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Building: College of Health and Human Services
Room: 2089
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Member Rate: $40, Non-Member Rate: $80
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Using case studies as our foundation, this course will focus on the issue of punishment within the criminal justice corridor. We’ll learn about the devastating impact sentencing experiences can have on one’s life, and the ways current punishment methods can permanently alter the chances of one's ability to correct their mistakes and reach their full potential. We’ll also analyze how American society has labeled the design of the correctional center as “correctional,” but in practice, the end result doesn’t represent corrected behavior or justify the types of punishment practiced in these facilities.
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Instructor: Abolaji Adewale Obileye
Capacity Remaining: 12
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Dates: 10/31/2024 - 10/31/2024
Times: 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM
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Sessions: 1
Days: Th
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Building: College of Health and Human Services
Room: 1057
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Member Rate: $10, Non-Member Rate: $20
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