Rainbow Lifelong Learning Institute Boston
Upcoming Courses
Adult Education and Lifelong Learning for Boston's LGBT Seniors and Friends!
All Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender seniors and friends are welcome to register for Rainbow Lifelong Learning Institute Boston courses!
Our daytime courses take place on Tuesdays on the first floor of the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, located at 630 Massachusetts Avenue in Arlington, MA. Our classroom is wheelchair accessible. Please use the Mass Ave entrance to the church to attend both courses and Brown Bag talks.
The church is located on the 77, 79 and 350 MBTA bus lines. Directions and information on parking are available at the First Parish newcomers' page at http://firstparish.info/Newcomers/location.html
Parking is available in the following areas:
1. The municipal parking lot behind the commercial block across the street from the church’s main entrance. Pay at the kiosk. $1 for 2 hours.
2. The municipal parking lot kitty corner to the church, behind the Woods and Strings music store. Pay at the kiosk. $1 for 2 hours.
3. A small town parking area next to the Whittemore Robbins House behind the library.
4. Street parking on Mass. Ave. (metered) and Pleasant Street. Four-hour parking in some spots along Pleasant Street.Please see our registration page for more information on signing up for a Rainbow LLI Boston course today!
Brown Bag Speakers Series
Most Tuesdays, during the lunch period between our morning and afternoon courses for LGBT seniors and friends, Rainbow LLI Boston hosts a Brown Bag Speaker for a one hour talk. Speaker's presentations take place from 12:15pm to 1:15pm at the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, 630 Massachusetts Avenue in Arlington, MA.
Brown Bag presentations are free and open to the public. Please see our speakers series page for a list of the Fall 2019 Brown Bag Speakers Series line-up.
Please use the Mass Ave entrance to the church to attend Brown Bag talks.
Course Descriptions
Morning Class - Session One
The Struggle for Women’s Suffrage with a MA Focus
This class will provide an overview of the struggle for the women’s right to vote, commencing with the influence of the anti-slavery movement up to the passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution on August 26, 1920, BY ONE VOTE.
We will be using the book, “Massachusetts in the Women's’ Suffrage Movement” by Barbara Berenson as the primary source material.We will cover the following topics: the schisms that occurred within the movement, the failure of the Massachusetts referendum in 1915, limited outreach to working & Afro-American women, picketing at the White House followed by arrests, imprisonment, & hunger strikes.
Course registrants are expected to read the book. Pertinent readings will be sent out via email prior to the commencement of the class.
I look forward to a robust, thoughtful discussion and exchange of ideas.
Afternoon Class - Session One
“The Last Dance:” Celebrating Life by Contemplating Death
Contemplating death is a powerful pointer to what’s really important.
We will consider death not to make us afraid, but to appreciate life.
Acknowledging death can help us set priorities and make the most of the life we are given.
We will become more familiar with how death has been handled historically, and in different cultures.
We will also examine our own society’s death system, as well as the choices we wish to make.
Enrollment Limit: 25
Afternoon Class - Session One and Two - CANCELLED
Who’s Afraid of Edward Albee: Reading Selected Plays
We're sorry that we have had to cancel Who's Afraid of Edward Albee.
What does it mean to be a major American playwright? That’s Edward Albee whose plays ask all the hard, intimate questions about love, loss and marriage. Albee explodes the mundane moment on the page, and rips open the myths of domesticity. Simultaneously soul searching and deeply disturbing with a biting humor, Albee is a wizard with language.
A major focus will be “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf?”, seeing what makes it a masterpiece of technique and structure. Additionally, we’ll read several short plays. We’ll argue about the moral successes and failures of the characters.
A focused reading of the texts is important. Students will be asked to read scenes out loud. This will be a terrific journey into the imagination of a great, haunting mind.
Required Text: The Collected Plays of Edward Albee, Volume One, 1958-65, published by Overlook Duckworth Press, 2007.
New copies are available at IndieBound.org at: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781585678846
Online purchases at Indie Bound help to sustain a community of independent local bookstores.New and Used copies are also available on Amazon.com
ISBN: 978-1-58567-884-6 US
Please note that it is important that everyone use the same edition of the plays so we will all be on the same page in class!
Enrollment Limit: 15
Morning Class - Session Two
Storytelling: Its Art & Craft
Have you ever tried to share an event of your life and it just falls flat?
In this course, you’ll learn the basics of telling a great story.
You’ll learn how to set up the story and bring it to life so that people are sitting on the edge of their seats wondering how it will end.
A story is a journey. Don’t bore your family and friends ever again.
Afternoon Class - Session Two
Using the 4 Tendencies to Harness your "Power of Habit"
Once established, a habit gently moves you towards your heart's desire - or away. Choose habits wisely!
This hands-on course builds on habit and mindfulness experts including Gretchen Rubin, whose 4 Tendencies framework reveals intriguing differences in how people decide to act. You will uncover your "tendency" and apply it to goals and dreams with habit strategies and support that work for you.
You will also learn a friend or partner's tendency so as to better support their efforts.
Finally, we will change our environments in small ways so that they support desired habits and makes undesired habits less likely.
Enrollment Limit: 18
