This talk looks at two historical examples of America at its apex in its role of economic, military, and moral leader of the world, doing what was necessary to become a prominent force for positive involvement in the global community. Myra focuses on the late 1940s, the Berlin Airlift, and the Marshall Plan. If you…
A corset illustrates the lives of many women in the 19th century: constrained and forced into an unnatural shape. But not all women lived in such a constricted way. This course introduces you to ten remarkable women: spies, suffragists, agitators, reformers; women like Sojourner Truth, Elizabeth Van Lew, and Mother Jones, who moved out of…
Examine the life, poetry and insights of poet Mary Oliver, who spent a lifetime “making a world out of words.” Oliver, who passed away last year at age 83, was one of America’s most popular poets. She encouraged her readers to proclaim with her “When it’s over, I want to say, ‘all my life I was…
Harper College popular presenter Myra Loris takes an in-depth look at the role of humor, wit, and wisdom as part of the American Experience. Loris will focus on Benjamin Franklin, Mark Twain, Will Rogers, and other American humorists who, while they were amusing the masses, also promoted social change and the expansion of equality.
Dr. Suzanne Rausch takes you on a fascinating journey of Monarch Butterflies. Each year the Monarchs of the northeastern United States and Canada set off on a seemingly-impossible migration that will take four generations to complete. A single Monarch must travel 5,000 miles to arrive at the mountain-top resting ground in the Angangueo region of…
National Treasures looks at some of our monuments, icons of the American Experience, that illustrate American idealism, creativity, and historical relevance. Topics include the National Mall, the Lincoln Memorial, the WWII and Vietnam Memorials, and the rebuilding of the World Trade Center. If you haven’t yet experienced a Myra Loris lecture, come. Myra is a…
In 1885 the jewelry house of Peter Carl Fabergé began what would become the ultimate last great commission of “objets d’art” in the world, The Imperial Easter Eggs. Fabergé received the coveted title, ‘Goldsmith by Special Appointment to the Imperial Crown’ and began the remarkable collection of treasures forever associated with the tragic end of…
Antarctica: the highest, driest, coldest, windiest, and brightest of the seven continents. It is almost completely covered by a layer of ice that averages more than a mile in thickness, but can extend to nearly three. Instructor Suzanne Rausch will explore the variety of animals – who depend on this inhospitable land for their reproductive cycles before venturing into the open ocean for their adult lives. She will discuss ongoing factors impacting the continent and its inhabitants. Last, she will walk us through Antarctica’s human history and mankind’s struggles to explore this frozen world.
In this engaging and interactive program, William Pack explores the real science of how our brains trick us into seeing and believing things that don’t exist. You’ll experience how optical illusions work, why people fall for scams, and how we make thousands of choices every day, including how we are hard-wired to believe fake news. William will also give proven, scientific, actionable techniques to preserve brain health and overcome the logical fallacies we all make. In the end, you may be left wondering if your brain has a mind of its own.
For decades, Chicago was home to some of the nation’s grandest department stores. Clustered mostly along a mile-long stretch of State Street, generations of Chicagoans trekked to stores like Marshall Field’s, Carson, Pirie, Scott, Sears, Wieboldt’s and Goldblatt’s, which set new standards for retail innovation, customer service, and visual display.
This nostalgic lecture uses photographs and memorabilia to revisit Chicago’s fabulous retail emporiums and explore their rise and fall. Instructor Leslie Goddard earned her Ph.D. in US History and Women’s Studies from Northwestern University. She is a former museum director and the author of the book Remembering Marshall Field’s.
Americans can take pride in the initiation of the national park concept. Since it’s legal beginnings with the introduction of Yellowstone National Park in 1872, Americans have had to deal with issues that have become a national concern and triggered an ongoing political conversation with regards to wildlife management. Conservation and recreation have often come into conflict. We will discuss the history and current state of key issues the Parks are working through and learn about in our nation’s first national park.
This lecture takes us into the world of medical controversies. Even with early screening and testing, occasionally a rare medical issue will challenge parents and modern medicine. Hospital policies, doctors’ medical opinions, and parental love can be set in a conflict in such cases. Who decides the final course of action? We will discuss controversial cases of conjoined
twins and other rare conditions that challenge the best skilled medical professionals and our notion of a quality of life.
As political humorist P.J. O’Rourke famously put it, “The U.S. Constitution is less than a quarter the length of the owner’s manual for a 1998 Toyota Camry, and yet it has managed to keep 300 million of the world’s most unruly, passionate and energetic people safe, prosperous and free.” In the last of her five-part series, Why I’m Optimistic, Myra examines, both current issues challenging Constitutional norms and historical examples of the power of the rule of law to, eventually, attempt to provide “Liberty and Justice For All.”
In the fourth of her five-part series “Why I’m Optimistic”, Myra Loris explores, both personal and historical, reasons for optimism in an often complex and confusing world. “Do Not Forget the Ladies” will look at the historical and ongoing struggle of American women.
After the last German elections and their upsetting results, it took almost six months until Chancellor Angela Merkel was able to create a new coalition government. Last spring Europe’s most populous nation was taken by surprise when the Trump administration threatened high tariffs on luxury cars and other products made in Germany. Add to that the challenging integration of Muslim refugees and the disappointment of many East Germans over unequal living conditions thirty years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall; no wonder the country is currently experiencing turbulent times.
In the third of her five-part series “Why I’m Optimistic”, Myra Loris looks at the many ways in which science, technology, and protection of the environment have accelerated as priorities in contemporary America, often in the face of opposition and deregulation. She will discuss advances in space and medicine, the fight against climate change and much more!
In the second of her five-part series “Why I’m Optimistic,” Myra Loris takes a look at the prominence of young people as agents of social change and expanded equality both past and present. Topics include the Children’s March of 1903, the Children’s Crusade of 1963, the “Never Again” March of 2018, and much more. She breaks down trends and events in contemporary American life that encourage optimism;in short, why we have reasons to be optimistic.
In the first of her five-part series, Harper College Instructor Myra Loris presents Optimism Overall: a look at prominent contemporary and historical philosophies about the power of optimism. She’ll include a breakdown of trends and events in contemporary American life that encourage optimism; in short, why we have reason to be optimistic.
This series, lead by Harper College instructor Myra Loris, is designed to examine social, economic and political issues that are currently significant in our national experience and then look back, historically, at the many successful ways in which such issues have been dealt with in our collective past.
Being obsessive-compulsive about all of his ideas, Adolph Hitler was specific about which sculpture, paintings, dance and music would be tolerated and collected by the Reich and which “degenerative” art had to be destroyed. Harper College instructor Ann Leslie takes you down the Nazi path of destruction as she describes how they stole and destroyed some of the world’s most precious work.