Course Schedules

All programs will be available via Zoom. For classes listed as hybrid, the presenter will be in person in room 106 University Suites (map of University Suites) (pdf) and the class will also be on Zoom. For classes labeled Zoom only, the presenter will also be remote. Please check your email for the weekly LIRA announcements for any changes or additions.

Presenters and coordinators with an * denote a LIRA member.

LIRA Winter 2025 Intersession Course Descriptions

Wednesday

Maritime Music and Songs of the Sea

Wednesday January 8: 10 a.m. to Noon. (Zoom Only)
Presenter: Chris Koldewey.

Folk singer and multi-instrumentalist Chris Koldewey will present an informative concert of traditional Shanties (sailor's work songs) and Forebitters (Ballads) from our maritime past. We will journey, virtually, out to sea as our forbearers did in the 19th and early 20th centuries. We'll hear the shanties and see the shipboard jobs for which they were used, as well as the stories and lore of our connection to the sea. Short journeys for fishing, or 2 to 5 years on a whaler or merchant ship, all had their songs, and Chris will give us a taste of what that might have sounded like on deck, and below. He primarily performs US and British traditional music, and the approach to many of those songs includes their historical and social perspectives and background. The songs may range from the ?sublime to the ridiculous, and everything in between, and may be accompanied by a variety of acoustic instruments.

Coordinator: Lisa Hertel*.

Chelmsford Library / LIRA Lecture Series

Life on an Unpredictable Planet: Coping with the Threats Posed by Natural Disasters.

Friday, January 10, 2025: 1-3 p.m., Hybrid.

Presenter: Matt Davis

Pre-registration Required: Life on an Unpredictable Planet: Coping with the Threats Posed by Natural Disasters Registration.

A significant percentage of the world’s population lives with the threats posed by various natural hazards. Although deaths resulting from natural disaster events have decreased over time, the economic impacts, social disruption, and effects on our infrastructure have steadily increased. Join speaker Matt Davis to learn more about these threats. Drawing examples from his research at Italy’s Mount Vesuvius and Washington’s Mount Rainier, his experiences in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and his work on earthquake preparedness efforts in California, a number of issues in disaster preparedness and recovery will be addressed. Specifically, we’ll explore the reasons people choose to live in risky places, some of the psychological factors that affect their perceptions of risk and likelihood of preparing for potential disasters, and factors that help in disaster recovery.

Waste Management Recycling Center Tour

Wednesday January 15: 10 a.m. to Noon (Trip)
Location: Billerica, Massachusetts.

Have you ever wondered if the stuff you put into recycling really gets recycled? Well, it does, and now you can see how, right nearby in a former Boston Globe distribution plant, in Billerica. Waste Management's plant processes roughly 180 million pounds of recyclable material every month. It comes into the plant mixed together and leaves the plant sorted and sellable. Don't wear your best clothes, watch your step, and prepare to be awed by humans and machinery working together to turn your recycled trash into a sorted treasure.

Tour size is limited to 9 people for safety reasons, and reservations are required. Contact Chris Geggis (email: lira@geggis.com) to be signed up for the tour.

Coordinator Chris Geggis*.

All About Taxes

Wednesday January 22: 10 a.m. to Noon (Hybrid)
Presenter: David Penfield*.

Death and taxes. Both are certain, but most people probably dread each of them. This presentation will cover the basics of taxes, including their historical roots, types, and purposes. Then we'll talk about today's tax landscape with an emphasis on topics relevant to LIRA members. What are all the taxes you currently pay? How are they collected? How can you pay less? Where to go to get help filing your income taxes. And at some point, you'll see what happened to some famous people who didn't pay their taxes. And you'll find out who first said that death and taxes are the only certainties. Spoiler alert - it wasn't Benjamin Franklin.

Coordinator: Jim Rutter*.

A Short History of Opera...Abridged

Wednesday January 29: 10 a.m. to Noon (Hybrid)
Presenter: Martha Warren.

400 years ago in Italy, some composers and lyricists decided that sung music could tell stories other than the Latin mass. There could be drama, comedy, or history presented with singers, orchestra, sets, lights, costumes and not just for royalty! This course will explore the evolution of opera through the centuries, from Monteverdi to Mozart to Puccini, and all the way up to the beginnings of modern musical theater, a true descendant of the genre. There will be video and audio examples, tributes to great singers of the 20th and 21st centuries, and as a treat, the presenter will sing an aria live, to explore the vocal training of opera singers.

Coordinator: Bev Rudeen*.

UMass Lowell (UML) Library Tour

Wednesday February 5: 10 a.m. to noon (trip)
Presenters: UML Library Staff

Join us for a tour of O'Leary library and an introduction to UMass Lowell library resources. Learn about our rich historical holdings at the Center for Lowell History, how to use our academic databases on campus, and which resources are also available from home.

Coordinator: Bev Rudeen*.

Rewilding Your Yard With Beneficial Native Plants

Wednesday February 12: 10 a.m. - noon (hybrid)
Presenter: Meaghan Sinclair.

You can create a thriving ecosystem! Learn how to rewild your yard with native flora and fauna. This lecture will delve into the world of native plant gardening and its many benefits to our communities.

Did you know that native plants attract an array of creatures that provide natural pest control? And that native plants survive much better than non-native species in harsh conditions like deluge or drought? Discover which native plants host beneficial insects including butterflies and moths.

We will review which native plant species perform best in sun, shade, and in-between, as well as discover when to plant and where to purchase plants or forage seeds. Different methods of gardening, including winter sowing and no-till practices, will be discussed and demonstrated. Meaghan will also provide tips on how to maintain and sustain our mini- and macro-ecosystems as the planet warms due to climate change.

Coordinator: Suzanne Gamache*.

Understanding the Legal Rights and Responsibilities of Immigrants

Wednesday February 19: 10 a.m. - noon (Zoom only).

Presenter: Immigration Attorney Valerie Napier, New England Justice for Our Neighbors (JFON)

What do you know about the legal rights and responsibilities of immigrants? How does U.S. immigration law distinguish between "legal" vs. "Illegal", "documented" vs. "undocumented" immigrants, and asylum seekers vs. refugees? Do all immigrants qualify for work permits, a license to drive, public education, housing, and the right to a court hearing and citizenship? Attorney Napier will provide us with an understanding of the complex legal issues that involve asylum, Temporary Protective Status (TPS), unaccompanied minors, "green" cards, and the overall immigration process.

As an affiliate of the national Immigration & Justice Network, New England JFON provides expert legal aid to low- and no-income immigrants, specializing in humanitarian-based cases. Attorney Napier joins New England JFON as the Legal Director of the new "Pathways to Hope" program for unaccompanied minors.

Coordinator: David Troughton*.

German Elections 2025

Wednesday, February 19, 2025: 1-3 p.m., Hybrid

Presenter: Jim Pope*

The German national elections are scheduled for 23 February 2025. This will be the first time a government in Germany has lost a vote of confidence and has been forced to call an early election. The course will consist of two sessions (four hours). This class: before the elections and one after the elections during the LIRA Spring semester. Topics include:

• The German system of government.
• German political parties and who belongs.
• Post WWII German elections.
• How candidates are selected.
• How one votes in Germany.
• How the votes are counted; how the seats are allocated to each party; who gets those seats.
• How the government is formed.
• How the Chancellor is chosen.
• Why the current government lost a vote of confidence.
• The issues in this election.
• Similarities and differences among the German, American, British, and other governmental systems.
• How this election turned out and its meaning for Europe and the U.S.

Coordinator Jim Rutter*

Scuba Diving In Honduras

Wednesday February 26: 10 a.m. - noon (hybrid)

Presenter: Jesse Heines*.

Jesse Heines has been scuba diving for 38 years and has done over 600 dives. In this talk, he will focus on his recent trip to Roatan, an island off the coast of Honduras, where the reefs are in good condition and the sea life is abundant. As he always does in his LIRA talks, Jesse will treat us to a cornucopia of photographs, but this time taken mostly with his iPhone rather than his Nikon. He will show us the watertight housing in which he takes his iPhone underwater and demonstrate how he enhances iPhone pictures using Adobe Lightroom. This talk will appeal equally well to people curious about life in the medium that covers over 70% of our planet's surface, those interested in photographic techniques, and those who simply enjoy treating their eyes to dazzling images.

Coordinator: Jim Rutter*.

Chelmsford Library / LIRA Lecture Series

"Inundation District" Film Screening and Question and Answer (Q&A)

Friday, February 28, 2025: 1-3 p.m., Hybrid.

Presenter: David Abel

Pre-registration Required: "Inundation District" Film Screening and Q&A Registration.

"Inundation District" is an award-winning feature-length film about the implications of the City of Boston's decision to ignore the threats posed by climate change and spend billions of dollars on building a new waterfront district. In a time of rising seas and intensifying storms, one of the world’s wealthiest, most-educated cities made a fateful decision to spend billions of dollars erecting a new district along its coast — on landfill, at sea level. Unlike other places imperiled by climate change, this neighborhood of glass towers housing some of the world’s largest companies was built well after scientists began warning of the threats, including many at its renowned universities. The city, which already has more high-tide flooding than nearly any other in the United States, called its new quarter the Innovation District. But with seas rising inexorably, and at an accelerating rate, others are calling the neighborhood by a different name: Inundation District.

The 79-minute film won Best Conservation Film at the Mystic Film Festival as well as the Monadnock International Film Festival's Jonathan Daniels Award, which is given to films that "fuse social and/or political awareness with artistic excellence and encompasses Jonathan Daniels courage by telling stories of hope, redemption, and the triumph of the human spirit."

The screening will be followed by a Q&A session led by the film's director, David Abel.