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Message from the President

Dear <<First Name>>,

Our Fall Semester

Classes end this Friday, and the book will close on another great semester at LLI.  Once again, we had a semester loaded with a wide variety of classes to suit the varied tastes of our members. There were 30 offerings in all: five on Zoom and 21 in-person classes, two off-campus weekly adventures, a weekly tour around Bard, and a class featuring six in-person studio visits with local abstract artists. 

Special thanks to our presenters for all the work they put in to make their classes interesting and informative. Many members signed up for our Zoom classes, and nearly all our in-person classes were filled thanks to the popularity of those presenters and the subjects they were presenting.  

A few members complained that they were not able to register for in-person classes they wanted because those classes were filled merely minutes after registration opened. For the five years that I have been with LLI, that is a regular complaint, but most members understand the situation. The fact is that we are dealing with a serious problem: popularity and limited classroom space.    

All the classrooms we use through the generosity of Bard have limits on capacity that are set by NYS. Note that we do ask for larger rooms, and if one or more were available, we would use them. The space needs of Bard’s faculty are a priority. Sometimes, we need to find another classroom minutes before one of our classes is about to start due to being bumped by faculty or encountering tech issues that cannot be solved quickly. These are unfortunate events, and when faced with one, we move quickly to get a new room and keep on schedule. Shout out to Mary McClellan (Chair, Curriculum Committee), who wears sneakers on Fridays, finds and carries extra chairs up and down stairs, finds and secures official approval to use an empty room on the fly, gets members moving in the right direction, and leaps Olin in a single bound, all faster than a speeding bullet.

The limits on classroom space also apply to other venues and events on campus. We invite all members to our events, subject to required limits. We do not leave anyone out or invite only certain members. There is something special about getting members together on campus to socialize and celebrate together. Plus, we pay a reasonable fee to have these events catered on campus, and we don’t pay for the space itself. If we were to move those occasions off campus to accommodate even a few more members, we would lose the special quality of being on campus and the extra costs would force us to examine our membership fee and donations to Bard. As stated above, our problem is the high quality of what we offer, and the limits set by the venue based on NYS law.

A real and solvable problem we have is members registering for a class or event and then not showing up or extending the courtesy of informing us that their plans have changed. Note that one’s membership fee gives a member the opportunity to enjoy everything that LLI has to offer on Bard’s beautiful campus, and one needs to be mindful and considerate of others as well. That empty seat could have been occupied by a member who wanted to be in the class or attend an event.  

With both classes and events, we typically experience at least a 10 percent no-show rate without notice. We know who those members are. Their decision to register, not show up, or let us know is unfair to members who could not register for a closed class or event. Moreover, in the case of an event that is catered, LLI’s cost is based on the number of members who register. We try to maintain a waiting list for classes but with the large number of closed classes it is a difficult task on top of the other difficult tasks handled by Carmela Gersbeck (Chair, Program Support). Robert Inglish (Chair, Membership Development Committee) maintains a waiting list for events. Please remember the people doing all this work are volunteers. Your cooperation is much appreciated.

In closing, we are truly fortunate and should be proud to be members of the Bard community. As a member of LLI, please be considerate of others and don’t register for a class or event if you cannot attend. If you register and your plans change, notify us.

Best, 

Robert Beaury

president@lli.bard.edu

An Appreciation from Jonathan Becker

The Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) is thrilled that we are now entering the 25th year of LLI at Bard. LLI has become part of Bard. The presence of LLI members on campus enriches our learning environment and serves as a part of our engagement with the local community, to which we are committed and about which we are very proud. LLI members' support of CCE initiatives is also very much appreciated. CCE wants to express its deepest gratitude to the current and many past leaders of LLI for their commitment to the cause of education, regardless of age. We also want to acknowledge our late former Dean of the College, Stuart Stritzler-Levine, who played such a central role in launching LLI and paving the way for its success. We look forward to the next twenty-five years.

Yours cordially,

Jonathan Becker

Vice Chancellor, Open Society University Network
Executive Vice President and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Director, Center for Civic Engagement

The Right Man: Dean Stuart Stritzler-Levine

by Margaret Shuhala

In the Beginning…..
Twenty-five years ago, Dean Stuart Stritzler-Levine, sitting in his office in Ludlow, was having the usual busy day, with a steady stream of visitors lined up outside his office door. As he glanced at his appointments for that afternoon, he noticed a notation next to one set of names that indicated the visitors wanted to speak with him about “bringing to our campus an educational venture for senior citizens residing in our surrounding area.” He was the right man for our Bard LLI founders to meet. Stuart Stritzler-Levine was about innovation and change.

Special Fall Events

by Robert Inglish

Here's a preview of the special events that LLI members may anticipate this fall.

Art in Context
On Wednesday, October 16, LLI producer L. Walker has arranged for us to enjoy Hessel Museum Discovery Day, starting at 1:00 p.m. Context is everything, and in this interactive visit to the Hessel show Start Making Sense, we will take a playful approach to understanding it. See art as you never have before—stand back, get close, talk to the person next to you. What do you see? Is there a common thread here?

We will use the Hessel Museum Collection Show as a backdrop for our exploration. Start Making Sense creates an open dialogue between artwork and the context, which literally “makes sense” of the works on display. There are over 60 artists in the show, which focuses on New York City in the 1990s and early 2000s. But this is just a starting point, a road-map looking for links across different mediums. What are the devices that connect all of the players in the room?

Come with an open mind and let's find out!

Free Documentary
On Friday, October 18, starting at 1:00 p.m., members can attend a free showing of the documentary Borderland/The Line Within at Weis Cinema in Bertelsmann Campus Center. This event builds upon the two fall immigration courses.

The United States border is not just a geographic location. The border is everywhere. It lies within every undocumented immigrant family under threat of incarceration and deportation. This electrifying documentary weaves together heroines and heroes showing a way forward intent on building a movement in the shadow of the border industrial complex.

The showing will be followed by a Q&A with the film director Pamela Yates and producer Palo de Onis. They are award-winning documentary filmmakers and co-founders of Skylight, a human rights media organization dedicated to advancing social justice through storytelling. LLI member Martha Honey will moderate a discussion with the filmmakers.

An email with registration information for both the museum tour and the movie showing was sent on October 1.

Notes from the Curriculum Committee

by Mary McClellan

• Open November Meeting: Although any LLI member may request the link to join a monthly Curriculum Committee meeting, we invite new members who may wish to explore the possibility of producing courses to attend our in-person meeting on the Bard Campus on November 12th, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Please contact Mary McClellan if you wish to attend.
• WinterFest: WinterFest ‘25 is our opportunity to share with LLI members and non-members alike Zoom presentations on a variety of subjects. These will be held on Wednesdays in January, beginning on January 8th.
• Spring Semester Dates: Our Spring ‘25 semester in-person classes will commence on March 7th and will run for seven consecutive Fridays through April 18th.
• Fall Semester Course Evaluations: Please watch your emails for requests to evaluate your courses. Multiple presenter evaluations have been sent to course participants after each class. All LLI members will receive a reminder to complete course evaluations for single presenter courses at the end of the semester. Please complete the evaluations with constructive feedback for our presenters who give so generously of their time and attention.

Lesser-Known Perks of Bard LLI Membership

by Felice Gelman

You probably joined Bard LLI for the wide variety of courses and the unique opportunity to meet accomplished and interesting people in your age group. Because Bard LLI is part of the Bard College community, there’s a lot more on offer. Did you know…?

Welcome Back Luncheon

by Deborah Lanser

LLI members were in high spirits on September 25 as we celebrated the fall semester with conversation, good food, and wine. Membership Chair Robert Inglish and Hospitality Chair Betti Steele outdid themselves in arranging the party at Montgomery Place, while DJ Susan Simon ensured we had just the right amount of lively background music. Debra R. Pemstein, vice president of Development and Alumni/ae Affairs, reminisced about her involvement with LLI from its founding and provided some tantalizing information about Bard’s development plans.

To check out the festivities, here’s a video from the Carmela Gersbeck Studios. 

North Campus Walk

by Gretchen Lytle

During the beautiful fall season, as leaf hues vary and colors shift tones almost day by day, the Bard campus becomes a pictorial landscape. The northern part of campus is especially compelling. Across from the main entrance to the Fisher Center, you will find a contemplative locale for an art installation, a variety of deciduous trees as well as pines, and a splendid central field sporting a crazy quilt of wildflowers and shrubs.

I Wanna Be a Real Boy!

by Barbara Renfro

As you drive up to Bard’s Hessel Art Museum, you’ll notice Cosima von Bonin’s The Italian, a steel, fiberglass, and styrofoam sculpture on the exterior of the building. This 2018 sculpture is a version of the one originally created for Von Bonin’s 2014 exhibit, Hippies Use the Side Door.

At first glance, you might think, “Is this Pinocchio?” There’s the long nose, but on closer examination it’s more like a narwhal’s tusk-like tooth! And what’s with the facial expression? As noted on the Hessel site, his mouth is agape. What about his hands with the palms facing outwards? And that glob next to him? Supposedly, he has just puked—an antisocial behavior in a cultural space. That glob on the side of the balcony where Pinocchio is standing spells out “CUTE.” And is he wearing a cloak? If we imagine that he has just stepped onto the balcony, are his gestures a cry for help? Or is he thinking, “What have I done?!? (Look at what I’ve become due to my actions.)” He wants to be a real boy, but just can’t conform or comply. 

The real story of Pinocchio is pretty dark, a little different from the Disney version many of us grew up with. But I can’t help thinking that von Bonin might also have been influenced by seeing Alberto Giacometti’s The Nose, 1949. Go to the Guggenheim’s website to view it. (What do you think?)

Here’s a little about von Bonin: She’s originally from Mombasa but has lived in Cologne, Germany, since 1986. She has two French bulldogs and gives each one a stuffed animal to tear apart daily. The artist has said: “I am many…I steal from everybody like a crow.” Often, her works incorporate pop culture, such as Looney Toons characters, like Daffy Duck in a kilt, and sometimes overstuffed toys or animals. Her installation piece WHAT IF THEY BARK? is in NYC on the High Line at 17th Street. (Check out the installation in person or on the High Line website.)

You’ll find a more extensive write-up of von Bonin’s The Italian written by Ruba Katrib, a MoMA PS1 curator, on the CCS Bard website.

Montgomery Place Farm Stand: Worth a Visit

by Susan Phillips

We all have just eight more weeks to enjoy the magnificent variety of vegetables, fruit, fresh breads, and other baked goods from the wonderful Montgomery Place Farm Stand before it closes for the season.

The always popular farm stand, located at the intersection of 9G and Rt. 199, is being managed this year by Caroline Gilroy, daughter of Talea and Doug Taylor, who have farmed Montgomery Place Orchards for over 35 years.

The farm market offers fresh vegetables, fruits (including several varieties of apples and pears), ready-to-bake-pies and buttermilk biscuits, croissants, single varietal sweet apple ciders (from the 60 varieties of apples grown on the farm), local breads, and fresh donuts on weekends. Also on offer are local cheeses and yogurts, meats, eggs, jams made from their fruit, flowers, pesto, grilled artichoke hearts, and other delicacies.

Farm stand hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and Sunday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The farm stand will be open only until Thanksgiving. Come with shopping bags and an open mind.

To get an idea of the array of produce on offer, here’s a video of photos taken by Susan Phillips.

Funny Bones: Metamorphosis

by Alan Katz

“As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.”
Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis

Yes, Gregor you had one bad morning and I feel your pain, but stop whining, at least you awoke an animate being. I fear that my fate may be much worse.

Having Fun Outdoors

Come Play Pickleball!

Tuesdays from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. on October 8, 15, 22, 29. All levels welcome, just show up at the Red Hook Rec Park. Contact L. Walker for more information at lwalker@lli.bard.edu.

Open Play Bocce

The bocce group will meet at Robert Post Park, 515 Park Road, Kingston, NY, on Wednesdays from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. through October 31st. No experience or equipment is necessary. Bring a picnic lunch, enjoy socializing after the game, and relish the views of the Hudson! For more information, contact Carmela Gersbeck at cgersbeck@lli.bard.edu.

Council Notes for August 2024

by Susan Simon

At the meeting of September 16, 2024, Council discussed the following:

• The 2024 LLI holiday party will be held at Blithewood on December 5.
• WinterFest 2025 will start on January 8 and run for four weeks. 
• Spring semester 2025 will run for seven weeks, from March 7 to April 18, with no break. 
• The LLI 25th anniversary celebration will be held on July 23 or July 30, 2025. The P&E Committee is actively working on this celebration, and the date will be determined in a few months.

Highlights of the Bard Calendar

by Felice Gelman

Now that the fall semester is underway, there’s a lot going on at Bard. Sadly, it won’t all be announced by our deadline so, in addition to reading this column, keep your eyes on the Olin bulletin boards for further announcements.

Monday, October 7, from 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. in Bard Hall, Bruce Chilton, Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Religion and director of the Institute of Advanced Theology, will begin his lecture series “It’s the Religion, Stupid”: Religious Dimensions in Current Crises with a talk on “The Confrontation of Orthodoxies in Ukraine.”

Tuesday, October 8, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., in Reem Kayden Center 103, Ariella Aïsha Azoulay, author, filmmaker, and curator, will speak on “Unlearning at the Threshold of the Museum.”  She will invite the audience to view decolonizing museums as impossible without decolonizing the world. Azoulay decenters the category of ‘restitution,’ and proposes to understand plunder as communal remains.

Thursday, October 17, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Friday, October 18, from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in Olin Hall, the Hannah Arendt Center will hold its annual conference. This year, it is titled Tribalism and Cosmopolitanism: How Can We Imagine a Pluralist Politics? Registration for the conference is free to members of the Hannah Arendt Center. You can join for any amount here and choose “Other” for your membership category. 

Friday, October 18, at 12:30 p.m. in Weis Cinema, Bard Lifelong Learning Institute is sponsoring a screening of Borderland/The Line Within and a talk with the filmmakers Pamela Yates and Paco de Onis.   

Friday, October 18, from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in Olin Hall, the Bard East/West Ensemble and China Now Chamber Orchestra will present the seventh annual China Now Music Festival, Composing the Future. They will perform a program of newly commissioned works and a concert opera AI’s Variation, Opera of the Future, by visionary composer Hao Weiya. The opera tells the story of a troubled artist who allows his identity to be ‘enhanced’ by AI but then struggles with the consequences. 

Monday, October 21, at noon in the Bitó Conservatory Building Performance Space, the Bard Conservatory will offer an hour-long program of short performances by Bard Conservatory students. 

Monday, October 21, from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m. in Bard Hall, Bruce Chilton, Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Religion and director of the Institute of Advanced Theology will continue his lecture series “It’s the Religion, Stupid”: Religious Dimensions in Current Crises with a talk on “From the River to the Sea in Likud’s Presentation.” 

Monday, October 21, at 4:00 p.m., at the Chapel of the Holy Innocents, author Joyce Carol Oates will be reading from her work. 

Thursday, October 31, from 10:30 a.m. to noon, the Bard Center for Human Rights and the Arts (CHRA) will host an online discussion One Year On: War, Genocide, and the Transformation of Palestinian, Israeli, and Regional Politics. Speakers Tareq Baconi, Aslı Ü. Bâli, and Shay Hazkani will explore how the Hamas-led attack on October 7 and the Israeli war on Gaza have changed and intensified specific dynamics shaping Palestinian, Israeli, and regional/international politics. Taking seriously that history did not begin on October 7, and that the level of death, displacement, and destruction in Gaza caused by the Israeli military has raised the specter of genocide, this panel moves beyond adjudicating the nature of the war to interrogate its reverberations, reflections, and consequences for Palestinian, Israeli, and regional politics. Registration details will be on the CHRA website. 

Monday, November 4, from noon  to 1:00 p.m., in the Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space, Bard Conservatory students will present an hour-long program of short performances. 

Monday, November 4, from 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., Bruce Chilton, Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Religion and director of the Institute of Advanced Theology, will continue his lecture series “It’s the Religion, Stupid”: Religious Dimensions in Current Crises with a talk on “From the River to the Sea in the Hamas Charter.”
 
Wednesdays through Sundays in October, from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Hessel Museum will be hosting exhibits, including Ho Tzu Nyen: Time & the Tiger, marking the first in-depth examination of artist Ho Tzu Nyen’s multifaceted practice in the United States. Widely considered one of the most innovative artists to emerge internationally in the past 20 years, Ho creates complex and compelling video installations that probe reality, history, and fiction rooted in the culture of Southeast Asia. Also on display is Remember to Dream, an exhibit showcasing Carrie Mae Weems’ prolific career through seldom-displayed and lesser-known works that demonstrate the evolution of her pioneering, politically engaged practice. Ranging from large-scale installations to serial bodies of photography, the works in the exhibition provide a through-line from the Civil Rights Movement to Black Lives Matter, tracing significant moments of racial reckoning through Weems’ own lens. (You can read more about Weems’ work in the September issue of the LLI newsletter.)

And don’t forget the Bard Farm Stand on Thursdays from noon to 5:00 p.m., through October 31, on Library Road in front of Gilson Place and Kappa House. The farm stand offers well-priced weekly selections of student-produced herbs, vegetables, mushrooms, honey, seedlings, and flowers as well as local meat and eggs. If you want advance notice of what will be available, join the mailing list here. 

Upcoming Meetings and Important Dates
for Members

by Carmela Gersbeck

Tuesday, October 8: Curriculum Committee meeting at 10:00 a.m. on Zoom. Anyone interested in joining a meeting should email Anne Brueckner at abrueckner@lli.bard.edu.

Wednesday, October 9: Membership Development Committee meeting at 9:00 a.m. on Zoom. Any member interested in joining a Membership Development meeting should email Robert Inglish at ringlish@lli.bard.edu.

Tuesday, October 15: Curriculum Committee and Catalog Team luncheon at Montgomery Place from noon to 2 p.m.

Wednesday, October 16: Hessel exhibition tour and art discussion.

Friday, October 18: Showing of Borderland/The Line Within at Weis Cinema at 1:00 p.m., with Q&A with the director.

Monday, October 21: Council meeting at 9:30 a.m. on Zoom. Any member interested in observing a Council meeting should email Mary McClellan at mmcclellan@lli.bard.edu.

Monday, October 28:  The Communications Team meets at 9:30 a.m. on Zoom. Any member interested in observing a Communications meeting should email Deborah Lanser at dlanser@lli.bard.edu.

Thursday, November 7: DEI/Social Justice Team meeting at 4:00 p.m. on Zoom. Any member interested in joining a DEI/Social Justice meeting should email Laura Brown at lbrown@lli.bard.edu.

Tuesday, November 12: Curriculum Committee meeting at 10:00 a.m. in person at Bertelsmann Campus Center, 2nd floor. The November meeting is open to all members. Anyone interested in joining a meeting should email Anne Brueckner at abrueckner@lli.bard.edu. 

Wednesday, November 13: Membership Development Committee meeting at 9:00 a.m. on Zoom. Any member interested in joining a Membership Development meeting should email Robert Inglish at ringlish@lli.bard.edu.

Monday, November 18: Council meeting at 9:30 a.m. on Zoom. Any member interested in observing a Council meeting should email Mary McClellan at mmcclellan@lli.bard.edu.

Monday, November 25:  The Communications Team meets at 9:30 a.m. on Zoom. Any member interested in observing a Communications meeting should email Deborah Lanser at dlanser@lli.bard.edu.

The opinions and views expressed in the LLI Newsletter are those of the author(s). They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of LLI or its members. In addition, any link to a website or content belonging to or originating from third parties are not investigated, monitored or checked for accuracy, adequacy, validity, reliability or completeness by LLI, nor does LLI accept any responsibility for such content.