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Online Calendar

​Once you have become a member, please register for desired courses below:

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​Selections listed at the bottom of this page.

​Interested in learning more about our instructors? 

​Click on the image to the right to find our Instructor Bios!

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​ZOOM Options 

Tuesdays - ZOOM

9:30 AM - ZOOM

​​MORAL MATTERS: A survey of ethical questions and replies
Coordinator: John Lysaker, Ph.D., William R. Kenan University Professor, Director, Center for Ethics, Emory University
 
In this course, the Faculty of the Center for Ethics at Emory University will lead discussions of a range of ethical issues, beginning with an overview of ethics and how ethical questions are typically posed and addressed. Subsequent sessions will explore particular questions with an ethicist actively working on that question. Potential topics may include ethical and social complexities in health and medicine (end of life, rationing, access, obesity, transplants); science and biotechnology (artificial intelligence, neuroethics, cloning, genetic engineering); the natural world (animal morality, environmental ethics, sustainability); social relationships (friendship, charity, philanthropy); and social institutions (business, law, social welfare, education). Various ethical traditions will be represented, and all are welcome to participate in a dialogue about how best to address the question at hand. Speakers and their schedules will be available several weeks prior to course. 

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11:00 AM - ZOOM

LILLIAN SMITH: GEORGIA’S MOST NEGLECTED AUTHOR
Matthew Teutsch, Assoc. Professor of English, Piedmont University. Coordinator.
 
September 16:  "Why We Should Know About Lillian Smith?"
Matthew Teutsch, Assoc. Professor of English, Piedmont University
Why do so many people, even those who live in Georgia, and more specifically Northeast Georgia, not know about the woman whom Civil Rights activist Lonnie King called "Jane the Baptist"? Why don't individuals know about the woman who, as Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote to her in 1956 said, "For many years I have had the opportunity of knowing you through your books, and now I am happy to know you in a more directly personal sense"? Why don't we know about this woman from Georgia who was friends with Eleanor Roosevelt, Mary McLeod Bethune, and so many others?  Why is she so important almost sixty years after her death in 1966? Matthew Teutsch will answer these questions and more!
 Sept. 23: “Breaking the Silence”
Documentary film on Lillian Smith by Hal Jacobs, Atlanta filmmaker
 Sept. 30: “The Life and Work of Lillian Smith” – Historian Keri Leigh Merritt will give a summary of Smith’s incredible life, from her childhood in Jasper, Florida to the end of her life on Old Screamer Mountain in Clayton, Georgia. Whether running Laurel Falls Camp for girls, spending years in China and India, fighting for civil rights, or publishing seven books and an influential magazine, Lillian Smith had a long and fruitful career. Even more impressively, she completed much of her work while fighting metastatic cancer. She also survived three arsons and constant threats and intimidation from white supremacists. This presentation will be based on Merritt’s forthcoming biography on Smith (out in 2026 with St. Martin’s Press).
 Oct. 7:  “The Young Intellectual as Light Bearer in Lillian Smith’s Killers of the Dream”
Tanya L. Bennett, retired professor of English, University of North Georgia.
In Killers of the Dream, Smith offers the character of the young intellectual as both a site for self-reflection and a promise of hope. If one can rise above the stultifying waters of authoritarian culture to follow youths’ exploring gaze, one will begin to understand the potential in their curiosity. The freedom to investigate the world without the restrictions of social tyranny enables a more natural process of development as well as relationships that can evolve unhindered by taboos. The result, Smith asserts, is a society with the resilience to navigate the challenges of the modern world.
 Oct. 14 – FALL BREAK
 Oct. 21:  “Mind Where You Puts Yo Feet: A Study of Southern Boundaries in Lillian Smith’s Strange Fruit.” Tanya L. Bennett, retired professor of English, Univ. of North Georgia
Tracing the interactions of small-town Georgia residents, Strange Fruit acknowledges that people desire both a safe and secure home and the ability to engage freely in the world at large. However, Smith emphasizes, pursuit of these impulses is inevitably complicated by economic and psychological factors that can coalesce into rigid social structures positioning these two goals in opposition to each other. We examine the boundaries of Strange Fruit’s fictional town of Maxwell to better understand the impact of segregation on the lives of the town’s inhabitants.
 Oct. 28: “Jordan is So Chilly: An Encounter with Lillian Smith.”  Written and Performed by Brenda Bynum, actress, playwright and retired professor of Theater at Emory University.
                              IMPORTANT NOTE: Please borrow/buy and read “Killers of the Dream” before Nov. 4 class! 
November 4:   Killers of the Dream – Keri Leigh Merritt and Scott Paton will lead a discussion on the book considered to be Smith’s best. Published in 1949, the themes of Killers of the Dream were the evils and abuses Lillian had been writing about since the 1930s: poverty, ignorance, political bargains (between North and South or rich and poor whites), and the timidity of white liberals, especially the “haunted” white southerners. She devoted most of the book to her assertion that “the white man’s burden is his own childhood. Every southerner knows this, though he may deny it even to himself, yet he drags through life with him the heavyweight of a past that never eases and is rarely understood ...”                              
November 11: “Lillian Smith’s Legacy” – Keri Leigh Merritt, along with several special guests, will go over the importance of Smith’s life and what lessons we can take from her today. Talking about her activism, her community-building, and her use of the written word to affect social and political change, we will end the course on a hopeful note, using what we’ve learned about Lillian Smith to help create a better future.

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Speaker List

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​Thursdays - ZOOM

9:30 AM - ZOOM

POTPOURRI
Ann Levine, Coordinator. SUGA Member, Chairperson of SUGA Curriculum Team
 
SPEAKERS AND TOPICS:
Sept. 18:  Audrey Galex, Storyteller, author and free-lance journalist. Former Community Engagement Director of AIB (Atlanta Interfaith Broadcast Network) 
​“A Rare Interview with Dorothy Parker” performed by Audrey Galex
You may be familiar with Dorothy Parker, American writer, poet, critic, screenwriter, and founding member of the informal literary group known as the Algonquin Round Table, and you may also be familiar with many of her witty and often acerbic remarks, but this is a rare opportunity to hear from her as she looks back on her remarkable life, sitting in her New York apartment in this one-woman show, written by the late actor/writer Gina Barrett.
Sept. 25:  Dave Cohen, Sportscaster. Radio Broadcast Coordinator, Georgia State University Athletics.  Topic: “Matzoh Balls and Baseballs”
In his landmark book of the same title, Cohen uncovers this hidden history of Jewish former major league baseball players and goes right to the source for answers, interviewing 17 former Jewish MLB players to hear what it was like to play in the Majors - the triumphs, frustrations, and everything in between. Cohen has been part of the Georgia State athletics staff for over 40 years as the radio play-by-play announcer. He handles the details for the live football, men's basketball and baseball radio/streaming broadcasts for GSU, and for the 2024-25 season he served as the ESPN+ play-by-play personality for men's basketball and baseball games. He was inducted into the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame (GRHOF) in 2017.
Oct. 2:  Kate Kennedy, author.  Topic: “Once Upon a School”
Kennedy’s recent memoir by the same title is about opening a school in Atlanta in 2018 for children who are unhoused. Children in our communities are falling through the cracks in our system in numbers too big to ignore. Her book shares her vision for supporting our most vulnerable children.  With a BA in Communications from Wake Forest University and an MA in Religion and Public Life from Emory University, she is currently pursuing a Doctor of Ministry degree at Pittsburgh Theological Seminar with a particular focus in Creative Writing and Public Theology. You can learn more at katekennedywrites.com.
Oct. 9:  Stephanie Smith and John Stofer, Agents, FBI Atlanta Field Office. Health Care Fraud Program.
Topic: “Health Care Fraud”
Oct. 16:  Fall Break
Oct. 23:  James Sowell, Principal Academic Professional Emeritus, Georgia Tech, School of Physics, College of Sciences
Topic:  "Astronomy, Timekeeping, and the Calendar"
Before his retirement in 2024, for more than 30 years Dr. Sowell was the primary developer and implementor of the Outreach Astronomical Program at Georgia Tech.  He led educational programs for the general public and students at every level from Kindergarten through college, taught college courses in astronomy, and did research. Dr. Sowell built The Campus Observatory in 2007 and led monthly Public Night events for the greater Atlanta area.  He also developed a remotely-controlled telescope, located in Hawaii, for K-12 outreach to Georgia students. Jim is a graduate of Vanderbilt University (BS, MS) and the University of Michigan (PhD).
Oct. 30:  Bret Witter, Atlanta author.
Topic:  Remember Us: American Sacrifice, Dutch Freedom, and a Forever Promise Forged in World War II. This book, co-authored with Robert M. Edsel, is set during the horrors of the war, and opens in Limburg, a small, rural southern province of the Netherlands. Early on May 10, 1940, Hitler’s forces rolled through the city. The country fell one week later. The Dutch lived under German occupation for over four years, until September 1944, when American forces reached Limburg, the last Western province liberated before the Allied advance was slammed to a halt by Nazi Germany. Why, after the war, were the citizens so dedicated to remembrance and persist in tending the sacred burial grounds?  Edsel and Witter are also the co-authors of the best-selling Monuments Men (2009), which was also made into an award-winning film with George Clooney and Matt Damon.
Nov. 6:  Tony Holmes, MA, Professional trainer. teacher and consultant
Topic: “Introduction to the Enneagram: Find Your Path to Personal Growth, Success and Happiness"
Tony has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Michigan, is Enneagram certified, and is a Board Member with the Southeast USA International Enneagram Association. He has consulted in Atlanta for over 25 years, with broad experience presenting, facilitating, and training groups of all types. His current passion includes a focus on coaching, mentoring, teaching, volunteering, and supporting individuals in pivotal stages of their lives. The course introduces how the unique and powerful Enneagram personality system helps us identify the common patterns and reasons we all think, feel and behave, in different, but predictable ways. This insight is key for improving relationships, managing emotions, and making key life decisions and changes … that lay the foundation and natural path for your personal growth, success and happiness.
Nov. 13:  Arnold Berry, M.D., MPH.  Professor Emeritus of Anesthesiology, Emory School of Medicine:   Topic: “Where Truth Lies”
This is a second session based on the Hidden Brain podcast, “Where Truth Lies” (July 29, 2024) which can be accessed via the link:  https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/where-truth-lies/  There is also a link on the podcast website of a transcript of the podcast if you prefer.  The podcast website explains: “When we think about misinformation, we often focus on blatant errors or deliberate attempts to deceive us. But in recent years, social scientists have found that misinformation comes in many flavors — many of which are far more subtle than obvious falsehoods.” This class will use some of the tools suggested in the podcast in order to seek the “truth” in a topic frequently mentioned in the news -- treatment of minors with gender dysphoria.  What is it and is there good scientific evidence for current medical practice in the U.S.?

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11:00 AM - ZOOM

AN EPIDEMIC OF AUTOCRATS
Sal DePasquale, MCJ (Criminal Justice), MBA
 
Our previous class on the Trump Landscape focused on preparing the ground for transforming American democracy into autocratic rule. This set the stage this class on “An Epidemic of Autocrats.”  NYU History Professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat, author of Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present highlights Mussolini, Pinochet, Hitler, Mobuto, Orban and Putin. This book examines the strongmen and the context for their rise to power. This class also discusses the underlying psychological makeup of the Strongmen.
Recommended reading:
Ben-Ghiat Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present and Levitsky, S. How Democracies Die.

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​​In-Person Options

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Wednesdays - In-Person

9:30 am - In-Person

THE IRRATIONAL AND MORE: Part 2
Shai Robkin, Behavioral Economics Educator, Social Entrepreneur, and Business Consultant
This course explores many of the ideas featured in the second part of the first season and the beginning of the second season of the NBC show “The Irrational.”  Participation in The Irrational Part 1 class is not needed for participation in this class.  Students need not watch the show to enjoy the class but doing so will enhance the experience.  (Episodes can be watched on Peacock, for which a $7.99/month subscription, cancelable at any time, is needed.)  We will also examine some of the new and emerging research into the underlying forces, many unknown to our conscious minds, that drive individual and collective societal behaviors, focusing on the work of behavioral economists, social psychologists and neuroscientists.  Where applicable, we’ll see what behavioral scientists have to say about some of the most important and often divisive issues of the day and their possible implications for public policy.

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GREAT AMERICAN CITIES & THE ALEUTIANS, BY PEOPLE WHO LOVE THEM
Madeline Griffin, Coordinator.  Member of SUGA
 
Each week, a SUGA member will highlight a city (or the Aleutian Islands) that is important to them. It may be where they grew up, where they have lived or a city they like to visit. These are the places:  Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Kansas City, Nashville, New York, Washington, GA and the Aleutians! Come and learn more about cities you may or may not have visited.

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11:00 AM - In-Person

TOPICS IN HEALTHY AGING
Coordinator:  David W. M. Taylor, PT, DPT, FNAP. Clinical Professor and Director of Clinical Education, Dept. of Physical Therapy, College of Health Professions, Mercer University
 
This course series follows up on the one presented in Winter 2024, and will continue to explore a holistic approach to senior well-being. Faculty members of Mercer University's Center of Gerontology will guide you through vital topics on physical, mental and spiritual health. Empower yourself to live a healthier, more vibrant life as you age gracefully with expert guidance. See speakers and topics below. Screenings will be available for select sessions with Mercer faculty and students immediately following the session.
September 17: Series Introduction. Balance and Falls Prevention
Speaker: David W. M. Taylor, PT, DPT, FNAP. Clinical Professor and Director of Clinical Education, Dept. of Physical Therapy, College of Health Professions, Mercer University.
Learn about fall prevention strategies and how you can take an active role in prevention falls. A fall risk screening will be offered immediately following the session. The screening involves testing your balance, strength and mobility to identify your individual risk for falling.
September 24: Brain Health & Cognitive Impairment
Speaker: Jennifer de la Cruz, PA-C, MMSc. Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Physician Assistant Studies, College of Health Professions, Mercer University. 
Learn about brain health strategies and how you can take an active role in promoting brain health. Topics will include normal anatomy, normal age-related changes, and pathologies including delirium and dementia.
October 1: Mental Health
Speaker: Don Redmond, PhD. Professor of Counselling and Director of the Center for Narrative, Department of Counselling, College of Professional Advancement, Mercer University.   Learn about how you can take an active role in promoting mental health. Topics will include discussions on common conditions and strategies for management.
October 8: Spiritual Health
Speaker: Denise Massey, M.Div, Th.M, PhD. Professor of Pastoral Care and Counselling, McAfee School of Theology, Mercer University.   Dr. Massey will lead a discussion on optimizing your spiritual health as you age. Multiple faith traditions will be discussed.
October 22: Ethics in Aging
Speaker: Donald Carter, III, DBe M.Div., Assistant Professor, Dept. of Bioethics and Medical Humanities, Mercer University School of Medicine-Columbus.   Dr. Carter will lead a discussion of bioethical principles and considerations related to healthy aging including autonomy, competency, and capacity.
October 29:  Medication Management & Considerations with Aging
Speakers: Susan W. Miller, BS Pharm, PharmD. Professor of Pharmacy Practice; Lydia Newsome PharmD. Clinical Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice; Leisa Marshall, PharmD. Clinical Professor of Pharmacy Practice; Kenrick Ware, PharmD. Clinical Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice, Mercer University College of Pharmacy.
Faculty members from the College of Pharmacy will discuss medication management and age-related considerations for prescription and non-prescription medications. A medication screening/review will be offered immediately following the session. The screening involves review of medications you take, recommendations, and answering of questions. Participants should bring a list of medications for review or questions to ask the Pharmacist.
November 5: Diabetes & Vascular Health
Speakers: Deborah M. Wendland, PT, DPT, PhD, Professor; Ann M. Lucado, PT, PhD, CHT, Professor, Department of Physical Therapy, College of Health Professions, Mercer University. Seongkum Heo, RN, PhD, Professor & Piedmont Healthcare Endowed Chair, Georgia Baptist College of Nursing, Mercer University.
Mercer faculty will lead a discussion on contemporary prevention and management of diabetes with an emphasis on lifestyle management strategies including TEAM Diabetes. A foot screening will be offered immediately following the session. The screening involves a visual assessment of both feet, footwear, and sensation testing.
November 12: Exercise: Walking with a Purpose
Speaker: Kenneth Wessel, PT, DPT. Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Therapy, College of Health Professions, Mercer University.
Dr. Wessel will discuss optimal exercise prescription for gaining and maintain strength, power, mobility, and flexibility as you age with an emphasis on the benefits of walking. A mobility screening will be offered immediately following the session. The screening involves tests of strength, power, flexibility, balance, and walking speed.

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WHAT'S IN YOUR HEAD?
​Art Slavin and Rosemary Woolfitt

Back for its 15th season, the game combines the love of trivia, cultural literacy, and the memories of what we learned in school into a team sport. You will work within a randomly selected group of five or six, putting your heads  together to come up with more correct answers than the other teams. What you didn’t know, you will learn. Having fun is more important than being smart, but winners do get applause.

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​Fridays - In-Person

9:30 am - In-Person

IMMUNITY
Protul Shrikant, PhD, Retired professor and cancer researcher.
 
Immunity against threats to health and life (homeostasis) is the responsibility of the immune system. To achieve this, the immune system recruits a plethora of molecules, cells, tissues and organs, to orchestrate a defense that neutralizes the threat and restores homeostasis. The mechanisms governing the defense are complex and require exquisite time and spatial regulation. A variety of factors including aging, circulatory disorders, diet and life style can disrupt regulatory processes, whereby favoring disease over immunity. In a series of lectures scientists will introduce the immune system, principles governing immune responses, our current understanding of the mechanisms regulating immunity and how this knowledge is exploited to produce immune therapies like vaccines, monoclonal antibodies and Adoptive Cell Transfer (ACT) for cancer and infections. Moreover, by sharing their personal stories, they hope to shed light on the path translating scientific knowledge to immune therapies.

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NEW YORK CITY AND THE ART WORLD
Lisa Guyton, artist and arts educator
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When did New York City rise to prominence as the epicenter of the global art scene, and does it continue to hold that position today?  In this course, we will explore the transformation of New York City into the heart of the art world, shifting the center of artistic innovation from Paris and other European capitals to the vibrant streets of NYC. We’ll begin with the early 20th century, focusing on the migration of European artists to New York, particularly during and after WWII. Through art slides and discussion, we will examine the major art movements that defined this shift, including Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, and Graffiti Art.  We will also investigate the evolution of New York's role in the contemporary art scene, exploring how the city continues to shape the global art market today. Join us as we uncover the dynamic relationship between New York City and the world of art, past and present.

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11:00 AM - In-Person

FOLK MUSIC REVIVAL
Tom Dell, Musician
 
This course covers the singer-songwriters that began reviving some old folk songs and then started coming out with their own updated versions and completely new songs. This began in the early 1950s and continued through the sixties. Bob Gibson, Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins, Leonard Cohen, Pete Seeger, Cisco Houston, Bob Dylan, Dave Van Ronk, The Limelighters, Phil Ochs, The Journeymen, The Kingston Trio and many more artists found their voices and sang songs of peace and songs of civil unrest. It was a time to consider what we believed in and where we wanted to take the country

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​LOOKING AT LIBRARIES: THEN AND NOW
Betsy Jones, Instructor at Senior Enriched Learning (SEL) and SUGA in Fall 2024
 
In our 8-week series, come learn about the history of libraries, plus sessions on Presidential Libraries, Bookmobiles, Horseback libraries, private and personal libraries (e.g., J. P. Morgan), the U.S. Library of Congress and others.  Book lovers, this one’s for you!

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​Book Club

Book club meetings are held at Rehoboth Baptist Church following class on each date listed below.  Meetings start around 12:10 pm (after bathroom break!); usually in room A/B, but “listen for announcement”.

Anyone is invited to join the club and should notify Kay so she will add you to the Book club email list.

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Fall Term

September 17

November 5

​For more information, or if you would like to lead a discussion, please contact Kay Collins:
[email protected]

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​SUGA does not promote, recommend or endorse any product, service of activity other than its educational offerings or activities approved by the Day Trip Committee or Board of Directors.