 Message from the President
Dear <<First Name>>,
A Hybrid Class by Any Other Name . . .
There are 18 different definitions of the word “hybrid.”1,2 A Zoom call and in-person class together is not one of them.
LLI has come a long way since the pandemic forced us off campus and into thinking about the future of the organization and how we can continue to bring excellent course material and great events to our membership.
As our fall semester comes to a close, we will once again begin the process of evaluating what we do and how we do it. Room space, courses, presenters, events, hospitality, and tech needs are areas to be evaluated. Top of the list is how LLI’s courses are presented to our membership.
Zoom allowed us to continue to fulfill our mission. The next step for us was trying a hybrid course. We have learned that hybrid courses present unique challenges for our presenters and session managers. During the 2021-22 school year, we offered one hybrid class in the fall and one this past spring. This semester we have three.
Offering a hybrid course addresses a need to make it convenient for members that prefer to not attend class in-person. It also solves the problem of limited room space. If registration for an in-person course exceeds a certain number, we still have room via Zoom if it is also a hybrid class.
Back to the dictionary. Unlike a hybrid tomato, or a hybrid car, this is what makes a hybrid course unique: It is two different modes of presenting the same content simultaneously. People either enjoy a hybrid tomato or a hybrid vehicle, or they do not. With a hybrid course, we can have two different sets of evaluations because the course is experienced differently, depending on where one sits. And by the way, there are nine definitions of “mode.”3
During our internal review, we will talk about the quality of the experience for the Zoom participants and those in the classroom. Members will receive a request to evaluate the courses they took. Please take the time to fill it out and respond. We need and value the input of our members.
Yours,
Robert Beaury
president@lli.bard.edu
1 Known in English since 1601, but rare before c.1850. From Latin hybrida, a variant of ibrida (“a mongrel; specifically, offspring of a tame sow and a wild boar”). Latin hibrida, hybrida mongrel. From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th ed. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Trade, Boston, Mass.; 2011.
2 Hybrid Definitions | What does hybrid mean? | Best 18 Definitions of Hybrid (yourdictionary.com)
3 Mode Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
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Bard LLI Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
(DEI)/Social Justice Team – The Journey So Far
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by Kathryn Clark
The Bard LLI focus on DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) and Social Justice began in the fall of 2020 with a class addressing racism called “Who, Us? What White People Can Do to Face Racial Injustice and Build a More Just America.” The class arose, in part, from the personal experience of longtime LLI members and presenters Barbara Danish and Laura Brown. They were in a car caravan in support of Black Lives Matter following the murder of George Floyd, when a Black mother admonished them, “Your honking is scaring my children. We already know that Black Lives Matter. Go home and take a look at yourselves.” That encounter started a long journey to think through how to structure a class for white people to examine both the history of race in America and their own biases.
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Curriculum: The Core of LLI’s Appeal
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by Margaret Shuhala and Deborah Lanser
The Curriculum Committee provides us with the main reason we joined LLI: courses on a wide range of engaging subjects taught by presenters who are knowledgeable and passionate about their interests. The Committee is made up of producers, those LLI members who work with the presenters to bring their course ideas to fruition. The work is sometimes time-consuming, but the rewards for all involved are substantial. Here is a brief overview of how and why they do it. You can also learn more about proposed new courses and the process for developing them by visiting the open committee meeting on Tuesday. November 15 at 10:00 a.m. Just email Anne Brueckner at abrueckner@lli.bard.edu if you want to attend.
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by Deborah Lanser
Did you enjoy your classes this fall? If you did, that’s terrific. Please fill out the evaluation form and let the Curriculum Committee know so they can keep the hits coming. Or was the presenter disorganized and the course content not what you expected? Was the Zoom technology difficult to navigate? Let the committee know that also. Their goal is to present an assortment of informative classes that keep us engaged, so they will take member opinions into consideration when planning future courses. The evaluation form is simple—you can fill it out quickly. The committee appreciates your feedback and particularly values your comments explaining your numerical rating.
Curriculum is always looking to repeat and refine its successes while finding new course offerings to both stimulate and engage you. Your input will help improve LLI for all of us.
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by Cathy Reinis
About 100 LLI members came to Blithewood Manor on November 4 to celebrate the presenters and LLI member volunteers who created a successful fall semester. They enjoyed wine and delicious hors d’oeuvres and explored the art works displayed in the beautiful rooms of the mansion while visiting with each other. Members were treated to live jazz music played by Steven Bonacci and fellow Bard students.
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Welcome New Bard LLI Members!
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by Susan Phillips
We hope that all of our new Bard LLI members are off to a great start! According to Robert Inglish of the LLI Membership Development Committee, there are 70 of you. We hope you enjoyed your on-campus, hybrid, Zoom, or off-campus classes this fall semester. You should have been contacted by a current LLI member mentor who is your personal resource for the whole year to answer any questions that you have or refer you to a place to find the LLI info you need.
Informal feedback from new members has been positive. They have expressed enthusiasm for their classes and the expertise of many class presenters, as well as for the opportunity to meet and socialize with new friends. Yes, some of the technology can be challenging, from learning Zoom, submitting a photo of a vaccination card, compiling a class wish list, and registering on ProClass for classes. New members should not feel bad. Many seasoned LLI members still find ProClass challenging, even though it has proven to be an amazing time and labor-saving program for class registration. Navigating the program takes practice. Remember, there are mini-tutorials on the Bard LLI website to walk you through the steps. Check it out at Quickstart Training Videos on Using ProClass. And you can ask your mentor.
Be on the lookout for a New Member Survey coming your way in December, via email, asking for your comments about your LLI experiences to date. We really do want to hear back from each one of you. Thanks. That’s how we get even better.
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Sawkill Trail at Montgomery Place
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by Gretchen Lytle
Many of us are discovering new trails and parks we can visit across the seasons in the Hudson Valley. Bard College alone has many paths, both around cultivated gardens and landscapes as well as through woodlands and along waterways. Montgomery Place offers several of each. One of the gifts of this strange COVID era is how much more time many of us spend outdoors. Heading outdoors has become a safer way to live. For some of us, this also means additional healthy exercise hiking around. In addition, shared walks allow us a way to socialize, refreshing and deepening old friendships and making new ones.
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Upcoming Walks in November
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by Carmela Gersbeck
For November, the Bard LLI Walking Group will be meeting at 1:30 p.m. in the parking lots at the following locations:
November 3: Ashokan Rail Trail - 1285 NY-28, West Hurley, NY 12491
November 10: Burger Hill - 3158 NY-9G, Rhinebeck, NY 12572
November 17: Val-Kill Farm Lane Trail - 106 Valkill Park Rd, Hyde Park, NY 12538
November 24: No Hike -- Happy Thanksgiving!
December 1: Saugerties Lighthouse, 168 Lighthouse Dr, Saugerties, NY 12477
Join us for some walking, socializing and fun!
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Share Thanksgiving with an
International Bard Student
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Thanksgiving is one of the important American holidays. To provide Bard's international students with an opportunity to immerse themselves in this wonderful American tradition, Bard invites you to participate as a volunteer to host a student at your home. Manishkamala Kalupahana, Senior International Student Advisor at Bard, says "A majority of our international students are not able to visit their families during this short mid semester break. Some may accept invitations from their friends to visit their homes while others may not receive such invitations. We would be delighted if you could share your family's Thanksgiving traditions with some of our international students. Our students are eager to meet you and your families. Families who participated in the past years have greatly enjoyed the company of our students from around the world.
Please take a moment to submit your information below between now through Thursday, November 10, 2022. Families who volunteer to host a student will be responsible to organize transportation for your host student/s between campus and your home/residence. You and the student/s placed at your home/residence will receive an email with contact information and on campus pick-up time/location through email by Thursday, November 17, 2022. Once you receive your student placement and their contact information, please get in touch with the student to discuss pick-up plans and other information as needed."
You may use this form to sign up to be a Thanksgiving volunteer family: Fall 2022 Thanksgiving Volunteer Families
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by Deborah Lanser
The October newsletter article about the rare book collection on display at the Stevenson Library misstated the extent of Alvin Patrick’s book collection. His private collection contains approximately 3,000 books while his rare books number between 150 and 200. The newsletter team apologizes for the inaccuracy.
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Council Notes for October
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by Deborah Lanser
The following topics were discussed at the October meeting:
- We will continue to monitor and respond to positive COVID cases.
- The DEI Team is looking to build community involvement with the Vassar and Marist LLIs. We will share a link to one of the Zoom classes for WinterFest.
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Highlights of the Bard Calendar
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by Felice Gelman
Monday, November 7, from 9:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. at the Center for Moving Image Arts, Andrei Tarkovsky’s weird and wonderful The Mirror will be screened.
Wednesday, November 9, at 8:00 p.m. at Olin Hall, jazz pianist and Bard College Distinguished Professor of Music Marcus Roberts and the Modern Jazz Generation Band will present Roberts’ composition Tomorrow’s Promises. You can reserve tickets here.
Tuesday, November 15, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Reem-Kayden Center auditorium Russian Israeli poet Leonid Schwab will read from his new book Everburning Pilot and discuss the art of translation with his editors Alexander Spektor and Anton Tenser.
Tuesday, November 28, from 7:00 pm to 11:55 p.m. at the Center for Moving Image Arts, three dance-focused films: Maya Deren’s short A Study in Choreography for the Camera, Satyajit Ray’s The Music Room, and Mani Kaul’s Dhrupad will be screened.
Friday, December 2, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. the Bard Center for Human Rights and the Arts will hold a virtual event Unshadowed Land with native Alaskan artist and musician Nicholas Galanin. A link for the webinar will be posted here.
Monday, December 5, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Olin Hall, film director Veronique Aubouy will perform Proust in One Hour, summarizing Proust’s In Search of Lost Time in her own words.
Wednesday, December 7, from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., at the Chapel of the Holy Innocents, the Bard College Georgian Choir will perform a concert.
Thursday, December 8, at 8 p.m. at Olin Hall, the Bard College Symphonic Chorus and the Bard College Chamber Singers will perform Mozart’s Solemn Vespers of the Confessor.
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Important Dates for LLI Members
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Wednesday, November 9: Membership Development Committee meeting at 10:00 a.m. on Zoom. Any member interested in observing a Membership Development meeting should email Robert Inglish at ringlish@lli.bard.edu.
Thursday and Friday, November 10/11: Fall semester ends.
Tuesday, November 15: Curriculum Committee Open House meeting at 10:00 a.m. on Zoom. All members are encouraged to observe a Curriculum meeting to find out how classes are produced. If interested, email Anne Brueckner at abrueckner@lli.bard.edu.
Monday, November 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.
Tuesday, December 13: Curriculum Committee meeting at 10:00 a.m. on Zoom. Anyone interested in joining a meeting can email Anne Brueckner at abrueckner@lli.bard.edu.
Wednesday, December 14: Membership Development Committee meeting at 10:00 a.m. on Zoom. Any member interested in observing a Membership Development meeting should email Robert Inglish at ringlish@lli.bard.edu.
Wednesday, December 14: WinterFest catalog is released.
Monday, December 19: 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.
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This newsletter is a publication of Bard LLI Council. Communications Team Chair: Cathy Reinis. Writers and editors: Susan Christoffersen, Kathryn Clark, Felice Gelman, Carmela Gersbeck, Deborah Lanser, Jill Lundquist, Gretchen Lytle, Kathy OConnor, Susan Phillips, Margaret Shuhala. Photographers: Gary Miller, Chair, Carol DeBartolis, Carmela Gersbeck, Kathy OConnor
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.
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