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The Vietnam War ended over fifty years ago. This course provides a history of the “Vietnam Wars” (as one historian puts it) and offers a critical assessment of these wars and the antiwar movement that arose in opposition to the American involvement in Vietnam. The course covers "the war within a war" (1945-1963), LBJ’s escalation and Americanization of the war (1964-1968), the rise of the antiwar movement and its strategies, tactics, and impacts (1963-1973), the "days of discord" under Nixon (1969-1974), the end of the war in 1975, and the attempts at an “American Reckoning” (appraisal, judgment) of the political, social, and cultural impacts of the war.
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Instructor: Ron Kramer
Capacity Remaining: 30
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Dates: 4/1/2026 - 4/15/2026
Times: 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
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Sessions: 3
Days: W
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Building: Sangren Hall
Room: 2510
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Member Rate: $30, Non-Member Rate: $60
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Taking care of family papers, collections and photographs can be overwhelming. This course will help participants with getting control of their materials which contain family memories. The class is sponsored by the University Libraries and librarians will bring different areas of expertise to help participants manage their own personal collections. There will be three class meetings which will cover personal papers, books, digital materials and other types of collections.
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Instructor: Lynn Houghton, Susan Steuer
Capacity Remaining: 24
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Dates: 4/2/2026 - 4/16/2026
Times: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
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Sessions: 3
Days: Th
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Building: Zhang Legacy Collection Center
Room:
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Member Rate: $30, Non-Member Rate: $60
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From charms and blessings to herbal practices and seasonal rites, this course will uncover the deep connections between body, faith, and community in the medieval imagination. This course invites learners to step backwards in time into the world of medieval healers, mothers, nuns, and midwives to explore the richness of early English birthing and medicine to life in ways that connect the past with our present understanding of care and community. Through translated Old English and other early European texts, we’ll explore how midwives, healers, and religious figures approached childbirth and women’s medicine—often blending faith, folklore, and practical care. Topics include fertility charms, herbal remedies, birthing rituals, and the role of women as medical practitioners and caretakers. No prior experience with medieval studies or languages is required—just curiosity and an interest in how people once made sense of the body, birth, and healing in a very different world.
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Instructor: Shauna Waltmire
Capacity Remaining: 30
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Dates: 4/3/2026 - 4/10/2026
Times: 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
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Sessions: 2
Days: F
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Building: College of Health and Human Services
Room: 1057
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Member Rate: $20, Non-Member Rate: $40
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This three session course will explore the internment of over 100,000 Japanese-Americans in World War II. It will cover the experience the Japanese had in America in the decades before, the political pressures that caused the internment, the nature of their experience in the camps, and the nation's attempt to later compensate the Japanese for the wrong they suffered. This course was presented as a two session course in Fall 2019.
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Instructor: Randall Schau
Capacity Remaining: 50
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Dates: 4/6/2026 - 4/20/2026
Times: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
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Sessions: 3
Days: M
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Building: Sangren Hall
Room: 2510
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Member Rate: $30, Non-Member Rate: $60
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Do you want to become a stronger writer? To more effectively communicate and possibly publish stories only you can tell? This class’s objective is to guide learners through the four major phases of the writing process—brainstorming, drafting, revision, and “publication”—in a series of dynamic lectures, guided group work, craft exercises, and timed writing blocks. The end goal is to help you become a stronger writer, whether the writing process is new to you or mere review. You can expect to leave this experience with a piece of your own writing, feedback from your peers, and strategies for further revision and eventual publication. Led by author and Navy veteran Kyle Battle, this workshop aims to curate the voices of all writers, because everyone has some genius to share. Anyone can learn to write, and we all have stories to tell. And if how we write is akin to how we think, then we might just improve ourselves in the process…
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Instructor: Kyle Battle
Capacity Remaining: 30
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Dates: 4/6/2026 - 4/13/2026
Times: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
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Sessions: 2
Days: M
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Building: College of Health and Human Services
Room: 1057
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Member Rate: $20, Non-Member Rate: $40
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When planning a funeral, it's essential to understand your options and make choices that reflect your values and the wishes of your loved ones. Pre-planning can ease both emotional and financial stress by allowing decisions to be made thoughtfully in advance. Families today have more choices than ever - from traditional services to natural burial options that support environmental concerns. Choosing a trusted provider ensures compassionate care and ethical guidance. In this talk, we're going to discuss the importance of several aspects of funeral service and answer questions you may have about the funeral industry.
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Instructor: K. Lynn McFarlen, Kyle Kutlik
Capacity Remaining: 20
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Dates: 4/7/2026 - 4/7/2026
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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Free to Members
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While we may not realize it, our country’s Civil War stirred a great deal of international interest. For example, most Americans may not know that Karl Marx was a close observer of the conflict. He wrote over a hundred articles and letters that addressed the war, commenting on the Union’s military tactics, Lincoln’s political strategy, emancipation and the impact it would have upon the postwar republic, and many other topics. Join us as we dive into Marx’s unique opinions and analyze his observations about the American Civil War from a new perspective.
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Instructor: Thomas Dietz
Capacity Remaining: 40
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Dates: 4/8/2026 - 4/15/2026
Times: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
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Sessions: 2
Days: W
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Building: Richmond Visual Arts Center
Room: Room 2008
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Member Rate: $20, Non-Member Rate: $40
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My class entitled Finding Your Higher Gear begins with the story of my solo bike ride around Lake Michigan at age 66, how the ride became a charity ride for a cause related to epilepsy, and ultimately became a book titled Old Bones, Young Spirit, An Experienced Cyclist's 15-Day Adventure Around Lake Michigan. The book highlights all of the interesting people, amazing scenery and unique experiences encountered along the way. The book has been well received. I have done over 25 book talks in Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin, and have appeared on TV three times including Fox Chicago, Good Day Northern Michigan and NBC Green Bay, and been featured on WGN Radio and Northwestern University's Kellogg School magazine. Given the Michigan nature of the trip, as well as the age of the author, there are several different directions I can take the class including talking about the hardships and challenges, embracing adventure at any age, the road less traveled, resilience and adaptability, and living with purpose. The class continues then to exploring what living fully means to those attending. I may have a reading or two from parts of the book. This class serves as a motivational touchstone, whether you are a cyclist or not, to seek adventure, passion and find your higher gear. Given we will be discussing the book, that will be primarily the only material. The book is available on Amazon or I can offer books in class.
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Instructor: John McShea
Capacity Remaining: 40
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Dates: 4/9/2026 - 4/9/2026
Times: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
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Sessions: 1
Days: Th
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Building: Heritage Community of Kalamazoo
Room: Memory Care Auditorium
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Member Rate: $10, Non-Member Rate: $20
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Would you like to eat healthier, but don’t know where to start? Do you want to learn how to turn whole foods into meals without spending endless hours in the kitchen every day? Are you convinced that packaged ultra-processed foods are best left uneaten? Come discover simple tips and tricks to up-level your diet and meal prep with ease and confidence! This 4-week class will teach you basic principles of healthy eating, and simple healthy meal-building skills. It will give you clarity to identify ultra-processed foods to avoid, and show you which foods to stock your kitchen with in their place. The focus will be on how to prepare healthy meals. You’ll get recipes, meal prep guidelines, online resource lists, and more. I’ll share my healthier foods “show and tell,” to develop your eagle-eye for products giving you the most bang for your buck. Lots of time for Q&A is included and encouraged in the class. I look forward to sharing this adventure in healthy eating with you!
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Instructor: Patrice Kaufman
Capacity Remaining: 20
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Dates: 4/9/2026 - 4/30/2026
Times: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
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Sessions: 4
Days: Th
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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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Is it surprising that the esteemed demographers at Pew Research project an equal number of Muslims as Christians on Earth by 2050? Why might this be the direction humanity is headed? Looking to the past, Friedrich Nietzsche and Sigmund Freud once confidently stated that religion would decline and become a relic of modernization. Our history since their time and projections data like the above, however, clearly show this is not the case. No matter where an individual falls on the religion and spirituality spectrum, the personal and institutional effects of religion are inescapable. In politics from local to global, in contemplating one’s place in the cosmos, and in understanding one’s neighbor in a globalized 21st century, religion matters. As spiritual movements spread or shrink, adapt to new technologies, and attempt to maintain ties to the past, small changes ripple across culture and time. In an effort to build a dynamic experience that accommodates different learning styles including lecture, text, video, and voluntary audience participation will be utilized in this course. By seeing examples of digital religion and spirituality, while also delving into critical media analysis in the age of AI, we will also build your confidence engaging in digital spaces. There will be content breaks to explore how you imagine some recent demographic changes and projections have impacted your life or will shape future generations.
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Instructor: Sarah Trump
Capacity Remaining: 20
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Dates: 4/13/2026 - 4/13/2026
Times: 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
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Sessions: 1
Days: M
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Building: Online
Room:
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Member Rate: $10, Non-Member Rate: $20
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An overview of Craft Brewing will be presented in two, 2-hour early afternoon sessions. The history of Craft brewing focusing on Kalamazoo will be reviewed. Background and attributes of beer types, including sensory attributes will be explored. Sensory evaluation including tasting of several beer types will be offered. Participants will come away with a better understanding of Craft beers and an appreciation of descriptors which differentiate the different styles. The class will be hosted by One Well Brewing in Portage, thanks to owner Chris O'Neill.
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Instructor: Mike Babb
Capacity Remaining: 20
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Dates: 4/14/2026 - 4/21/2026
Times: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
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Sessions: 2
Days: Tu
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Building: One Well Brewing
Room: 4213 Portage St, Kalamazoo MI
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Member Rate: $20, Non-Member Rate: $40
Flights at the Brewery Sold Separately
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On Aging: A Photographic Exploration uses photography and writing to share what the aging process means to you. You will be invited to take cell phone images that define your vision of aging. You also will be encouraged to share the lessons you gleaned across your "Seasons of Self," choosing one milestone lesson you learned through every decade and sharing it photographically. It is hoped that we can create a digital body of work that can be shared at OLLI events to celebrate life-long learning and the joys and challenges of aging.
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Instructor: Jeri Love
Capacity Remaining: 10
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Dates: 4/14/2026 - 4/28/2026
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
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Sessions: 3
Days: Tu
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Building: Friendship Village
Room: Village Clubhouse Classroom
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Member Rate: $30, Non-Member Rate: $60
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Our rapidly changing social structure and regulatory environment impact every aspect of our lives, and although we all recognize the importance of estate planning, most people have not taken steps to create a plan or to update existing ones. An estate plan addresses your goals and objectives during life as well as disability and death. In this course, you’ll learn about the probate process, estate settlement, funding trusts, and other aspects that need to be considered while creating your estate plan. We’ll also go over Estate and Gift taxes, important documents such as wills, and the different types of power of attorney so you can move forward feeling confidently prepared for the future.
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Instructor: Michael Dombos
Capacity Remaining: 10
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Dates: 4/14/2026 - 4/21/2026
Times: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
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Sessions: 2
Days: Tu
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Building: Vineyard Assisted Living Community
Room: Conference Room
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Member Rate: $20, Non-Member Rate: $40
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The Enlightenment took place over a century with an ever changing cast of characters altering the way Western Culture viewed and interacted every facet of life. Among the founders were Rene Descartes, John Locke and inadvertently, Issac Newton. Educated at religious colleges, often by the Jesuits, the Enlightenment turned against Christianity. Patronized by kings and aristocrats, the Enlightenment turned to democracy. Believing deeply in the wisdom of the ancients, the Enlightenment became intellectually independent. The Enlightenment made advances in every aspect of western life: science, medicine, economics, education, literature, psychology and political science. Enlightened figures' facility with language makes reading about them a delight. They often fought one another. Rousseau's denunciation of the arts and sciences provoked Voltaire to respond he had never read anything that convinced him he should be running around on four legs, but he'd given up the habit. Men of the Enlightenment fought for secularism, humanity, tolerance and freedom through criticism and power.
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Instructor: James Wright
Capacity Remaining: 50
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Dates: 4/16/2026 - 4/30/2026
Times: 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
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Sessions: 3
Days: Th
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Building: Sangren Hall
Room: 2510
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Member Rate: $30, Non-Member Rate: $60
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Historical novels tell interesting stories about a time, a place, and the people living there. Authors must do extensive research so their writing accurately reflects the history. Using "The Owl Was a Baker’s Daughter" by Grace Tiffany (a WMU faculty member) as the launching point, this class will offer a onehour look at the history of the English civil wars between Royalists and Roundheads in the 17th century to provide historical context for the novel. We will then spend an hour discussing the novel as contemporary literature. Readers and history buffs welcome! Participants should read "The Owl Was a Baker’s Daughter" before class.
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Instructor: Diane Henderson, Stanley Henderson
Capacity Remaining: 60
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Dates: 4/20/2026 - 4/20/2026
Times: 3:00 PM - 5:00 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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