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ZOOM Options
Tuesdays - ZOOM
9:30 AM - ZOOM
SHORT PLAY PRESENTATIONS Daniel Guyton, Playwright, Screenwriter, actor and professor
For this third annual event, we will host Zoom readings of stage plays written by local playwrights and members of Atlanta Dramatists. After each performance, we will have a talkback with the cast and writer. Each week will include a separate play, or collection of plays as time permits. Even a few SUGA members are invited to perform! Join us again in 2025!
11:00-Noon - ZOOM
THE UNSEEN ISRAEL, EXPANDED – PART 4 Tim Gelinas, President, Senior Financial Services LLC
Continue on this incredible (zoom) journey as we explore more of central Israel. This course is Part 4 of a 6-part series designed to open your eyes to the spiritual relevance of these physical locations. See places rarely seen on traditional tourist trips. Some of the destinations will include Shiloh, Temple Mount, Jerusalem, Solomon’s Quarry (Zedekiah’s Cave), Solomon’s Pools, the pool of Siloam, the crucifixion site, and the Dead Sea. You do not need to have taken parts 1-3 to enjoy this adventure – come and join Tim!
Thursdays - ZOOM
9:30 AM - ZOOM
DISSECTING A NOVEL: HAMNET BY MAGGIE O’FARRELL June Converse, Educator and Author
What makes a bestseller a bestseller? Is it the plot or the characters or some mystical combination? Is there some subliminal expectation readers have that bestsellers exploit? Does it have to do with progressive escalation or our desire to escape from reality? Maybe it’s schadenfreude? In this class, we read one bestselling novel and try to find that mystical power. We look at plot and arcs and marketing. We put on the hat of author, character, reader, and publisher. It’s a book club on steroids! And, like magic, what you learn applies to all stories (TV, movies, books) and makes every experience that much deeper. Readers, writers, and anyone who loves stories will enjoy this class. We take eight weeks to study a master. We peel off the layers one by one to see the depth behind the completed work. We will be studying Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell, so please grab a copy of the book! I will be using the paperback version.
11:00 AM - ZOOM
ATLANTA’S MISSING AND MURDERED CHILDREN Sal DePasquale, MCJ (Criminal Justice), MBA
The Atlanta Regional Commission produced a study in the 1970s outlining the direction and growth of Atlanta. Fifty years later the projections are now reality. As northern urban centers experienced manufacturing declines, the sunbelt was blossoming. Southern bigotry was an obstacle, but Atlanta was known by its slogan as the city “Too Busy to Hate.” Around the same time as this ARC report, a crime story emerged tarnishing the racial bliss suggested in the city’s slogan. Poor black children turned up murdered across the southern tier of the metropolitan region. Fearing a public relations backlash, city leaders attempted denial of a serial murderer. Protecting the city’s image conflicted with protecting the city’s children. This class examines the case. Resources: Atlanta's Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children, documentary, produced by HBO, available on Amazon. Also see Mindhunter, drama, available on Netflix.
In-Person Options
Wednesdays - In-Person
9:30 am - In-Person
EIGHT THEMES IN POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY John Allensworth, PhD, Retired, Dept. of Geosciences, Georgia State Univ. Member, SUGA
This semester we will explore eight examples of political geography. Political geography is a subfield of human geography that examines how political structures, ideologies, and events are visible on the human and physical landscape of any given place such as a country, region or town
Week 1: “The Root Causes and Geographic Dimensions of the Current Global Human Migration Crisis” Week 2: "Ukraine and Taiwan: Independent Nations or Breakaway “Provinces” of Russia and China?” Week 3: “Complex Ethnicities and Colonial Legacies: Africa’s Continuing Challenges” Week 4: “The Disunited States of America: The Geopolitical Forces that Divide Us” Week 5: “The Social, Cultural and Political Statements in the Works of Selected Latin American Artists, Musicians and Intellectuals” Week 6: “Ultra-nationalism and the Specter of a Fascist Dominated World” Week 7: “European Futures: Union, Disunion and/or a New Cold War?” Week 8: “BRICS+, the Global West’s Economic, Cultural, and Political Challenger”
OPERA, AGAIN Larry Pinson, Member, SUGA
Yes, another Opera Class but a little different than its predecessors. A few artform basics will give a platform on which to view selected operas. At the start, titles of a few operas that are not regularly performed, say on 7 to 10-year cycles, will be offered. Class participants will approve of each by majority vote. Alternate operas may be substituted by request and majority class vote. For the class, each selected opera will be introduced and shown. Each will be edited to conform to class time constraints. I am looking forward to being with you for eight Opera Class sessions.
11:00 AM - In-Person
CHALLENGES Jeff Milsteen, Attorney, Photographer
Join Jeff Milsteen for three classes in one, two that examine real challenges ahead and one that recounts one of the greatest challenges ever overcome. 1. “A.I. and Photography: Can You Believe Your Lying Eyes?” takes a look at the huge impact artificial intelligence will have on photography and how we see our world. (2 weeks) 2. “The Supreme Court: Time for Reform?” examines the prospects for restoring Americans’ faith in the Supreme Court. (2 weeks) 3. “Shackleton and the Endurance: A Story of Courage and Survival,” we’ll follow in the footsteps of the great Antarctic explorer who defied the odds and survived unimaginable obstacles following his failed attempt to cross the white continent. Class will also include photographs from Jeff’s own trip to the Antarctic. (4 weeks)
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES & A NEW DEAL FOR AMERICA & ARTISTS Jim McSweeney, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), retired
The course will begin with an overview of NARA (National Archives and Records Administration) and its online catalog, featuring digitized images and “treasures” documenting the American experience. During the opening sessions, attendees will be introduced to presidents, scientists, bootleggers, farmers, and the anonymous heroes of our past. A Works Project Administration artist and the mural he created for Ellis Island in the mid-1930s will serve as the focal point for examining life in America between the end of WWI and the advent of WWII. Via archival resources from the National Archives, the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution, and other cultural institutions, weekly sessions will examine the Jazz Age, the Stock Market crash and the Great Depression, The New Deal, the federally-subsidized arts programs of the New Deal, and a world on the brink of war. Collectively, we'll discuss, recall, and honor family and friends who defined the Greatest Generation.
Fridays - In-Person
9:30-11:00 AM - In-Person
RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN Art Slavin, retired. General factotum
It has been eighty years since these two geniuses got together to change the Broadway scene with their groundbreaking productions. This course will present the music from six of the films that still live on in our hearts, along with a 2024 tribute from stars of the New York and London stages. Surely, we will want to revisit Oklahoma, Carousel, The King and I, South Pacific, Flower Drum Song, and The Sound of Music
ESTATE PLANNING LESSONS FROM CELEBRITIES’ ESTATES Mary Radford, Professor Emerita, Georgia State University College of Law. Member, SUGA
What better way to learn a bit of estate planning law than through observing the entertaining and often bizarre ways in which the rich and famous have handled their estates? One would think that these individuals would have access to the most sophisticated estate planning lawyers in the business and thus have beautifully-ordered estate plans, but that is far from true in many cases. We will look at the estates of renowned individuals who have already passed on, including Aretha Franklin, Pablo Picasso, Michael Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Marilyn Monroe, Prince, and Kobe Bryant, as well as the ongoing estate issues that are being encountered by living celebrities such as Brittney Spears and Rupert Murdoch. We will explore numerous topics, including: dying without a will; dying with an incomplete or confusing will; defining the “family” for estate planning purposes; using trusts in estate planning; using vehicles other than wills or trusts to transmit assets; planning for one’s potential loss of capacity; insuring uninterrupted care for our companion animals; and directing the disposition of bodily remains. This course requires no past experience with or knowledge of financial planning or estate planning law and is designed to be accessible to all who are interested.
11:00-Noon - In-Person
GREAT DECISIONS – 2025 George Brown, Ph.D. (International Relations), retired president/CEO of Friendship Force. Member, SUGA
This year George will return to the traditional Great Decisions topics provided by the Foreign Policy Association (FPA). It is not required to obtain the Great Decisions briefing book from the FPA, but for those wishing to have their own copy, they can be purchased as follows: Directly from fpa.org for $35 plus shipping. Also check the website books.apple.com for copies at $24.99 and free shipping. The Kindle (e-book) edition is available from Amazon also at $24.99. In addition to the Great Decisions briefing book, George will have weekly suggested readings for each topic. Note: The order of presentation may vary from the briefing book and it is likely that one or two of the topics will be dropped allowing greater emphasis on other themes. Here are the 2025 Great Decisions topics: 1. American Foreign Policy at a Crossroads 2. U.S. Changing Leadership of the World Economy 3. U.S.-China Relations 4. India: Between China, the West, and the Global South 5. International Cooperation in Climate Change 6. The Future of NATO and European Security 7. AI and American National Security 8. American Foreign Policy in the Middle East: Taking Stock & Looking Ahead
SHARING A YEAR OF ART, DESIGN & ARCHITECTURE AND A BIT OF TRAVEL Allan Hing, Professor of Design
The last year has been rich in art, design, and architecture experiences that I would like to share. There were visits to the Eames Institute to see the designs of Ray and Charles Eames and well as a visit to the poster museum in New York to see unique travel posters on this city. Classes in Islamic art and architecture and biophilia (humans’ innate desire to interact or be closely associated with the natural world) expanded my knowledge as well as team teaching on chairs at a local design school. Of course, “travel is the best form of education” with a trip to Patagonia which will be covered.
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.
Spring Term
March 26
May 14
Summer Term
July 16
August 20
Fall Term
September 17
November 5
For more information, or if you would like to lead a discussion, please contact Kay Collins: [email protected]
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.