Rainbow Lifelong Learning Institute Boston
Upcoming Courses
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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 Spring 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
Breaking Out of Cultural Constraints, Part 2
Thea Iberall
Each society has its own culture, and although it is abstract and intangible, its influence is far from superficial. All cultures come with hidden constraints and assumptions. This course continues exploring the way hidden cultural constraints affect our lives. When we understand the limitations placed on us by the legacy of our patriarchal society, then we are armed with knowledge of where and how to break down barriers.
Topics (with a focus on gender and race) include types of constraints (cognitive, behavior, emotional), prescriptive vs proscriptive constraints, internationalization and externalization, sanctions and taboos.
Students are required to participate in class discussions. Students can optionally journal on their own cultural constraints.
Part I is not a prerequisite for this course.
Afternoon Class - Session One
Love, Politics, and Betrayal:
Reading Angels in America by Tony Kushner
What does it mean to be a major American playwright of epic proportion? That’s Tony Kushner, whose play Pulitzer Prize winning “Angels In America” asks all the hard questions with humor and compassion.
Kushner looks at issues of citizenship and exile, abandonment and self-loathing. Simultaneously soul searching and hysterically funny, Kushner is a wizard with language. His characters are complex, never one-dimensional. His work is political.
On the 25th anniversary of the play’s Broadway debut, we will deconstruct Kushner’s most famous play, seeing what makes it a masterpiece of technique and structure. We’ll argue about the moral successes and failures of Kushner’s characters.
A focused reading of the text is important. Students will be asked to read scenes aloud and come up with their own questions. This will be a terrific journey into the imagination of a great, haunting mind!
Enrollment limited to 16.
Morning Class - Session Two
Games People Play
This is the course you always wanted to take in school. There is no required reading, so there are no books to buy. There are no papers to write and there are no reports to give. What is required is a willingness to learn new games and enjoy some old favorites. Games will vary over the five week period, giving everyone a chance to have fun.
Regularly challenging ourselves helps us to maintain good intellectual potential and lessen our risk for age related memory loss. Join us each week as we play a variety of games, some silly and some more challenging.
Enrollment limited to 16.
Afternoon Class - Session Two
Ted Talks
The third offering of Ted Talks will address themes such as:
What makes us happy
Living to 100
The power and courage of vulnerability
The evolution of human sexuality
Being comfortable with being uncomfortable
The 5 presenters will introduce the video and lead the class in spirited and enlightening discussion post viewing.
Nancy Marshall & Tizzy Dolan