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
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 2018 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
Immigrant Voices
This course will present a panoply of genres... poetry, drama, personal journey, historical surveys highlighting the immigrant experience from around the globe ... from Israel, Vietnam, China, & the Muslim world.
We will explore the stories behind the decisions... to leave their homeland, to begin anew, & what’s happened since.
These selections are designed to elicit robust discussion, providing a forum for thoughtful analysis & conversation.
The readings for the first class will be cited in the “Welcome Email” sent to the students who signed up on the Rainbow LLI Website. For the successive weeks, packets of course material will be distributed.
There will be a small fee for the printing & collating of the readings.
Afternoon Class - Session One
Communicating Across the Political Divide
There is a great divide in the political arena today between conservatives and liberals.
We’ve all tried to talk across this growing abyss only to wind up yelling or avoiding topics all together.
Is there a way to have an intelligent conversation between the opposing viewpoints?
In his book,The All New Don’t Think Of An Elephant, George Lakoff points out that people make decisions about politics and candidates based on their value system, and that learning how to frame our values is a first step towards civility.
It's language that matters in winning political battles.
In this course, we will read George Lakoff’s book and study topics including facts vs framing, reframing as social change, how to take back public discourse, what the Right wants, what the Left wants, and how to respond to conservatives.
Morning Class - Session Two
Kickstart Your Writing
Get your memories and ideas out of mental storage.
You have things you want to say. You have a facility with words. But life does not allow you the space to get it down on paper.
Come to this hands-on interactive course and get your writing juices moving, lubricate your literary synapses, and start the flow of prose. We’ll write in class to prompts, read to each other, and use peer/instructor feedback to turn the beginnings into pieces.
This course is prose-only (no poetry), both non-fiction and fiction, and is suitable to all levels of skill (beginner to author).
Enrollment limited to 15.
Afternoon Class - Session Two
Qi Gong
"Qi-Gong - pronounced chee gong - Is a practice that involves individual movements
including slow circular movements, controlled breathing, focused meditation and self
massage.One unique feature of Qi-Gong is its ability to train the mind to direct the body's
energy, or chi, to any part of the body. Some believe that when moved correctly chi can
bring your body to a natural state of balance."Qi-Gong is believed to relax the mind,muscles, tendons, joints, and inner organs - helping to improve circulation, relieve stress and pain, and restore health. " www.wuhealing.com
Over the next five weeks I hope share 15 to 20 movements with the goal to make them
yours.
Qi-Gong, movement meditation, is part of my daily life. Over time I have seen my
balance, stamina and strength improve. I find it a valuable resource to reduce stress.It helps me to focus on what I want in situations and not on what I don't want, giving me
the energy and vision to act.Enrollment limited to 15.
Sue Katz