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  • January 18, 2025 10:02 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Gratitude for Retired Coordinators

    Courses led by volunteer facilitators are a predominant part of the work of PLATO. As this new semester begins, we want to honor the following retired facilitators who have coordinated courses over recent years:

    Carol Spiegel, Novels Old and New

    Marsha Urbaniak, Novels Old and New

    Bonnie Dill, Novels Old and New

    Toni JakovicJazz

    Mary Becker, Biographies

    Jim O'Brien, Film History

    Booth Fowler (deceased), Five Great Thinkers

    Phil Paulson, Experiencing Great Literature

    Tom Zinnen, Frontiers in Science

    Daryl Sherman, Refighting the Civil War

    Dennis Dresang, Terry Shelton, Whither the State

    Richard Steeves, Pathways to a Sustainable Planet   

    Alan Zuckerman (deceased), The Great Society 1964 - 2024

    The contributions of these PLATO volunteers have enhanced the overall quality of the experience for members for many years. We are grateful for their efforts to provide outstanding education to all members of PLATO. Their courses will be greatly missed! Thank you… thank you… thank you!!! 

  • January 06, 2025 1:48 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Hey Life-Long Learners – here’s a Sneak Peek at just some of the new courses coming this Spring!  

    • It's TV series time! Join us every Thursday night for eight weeks to critique the critically acclaimed Netflix series Ripley.
    • Our Declining Social Fabric
    • On Being Mortal: Retaining Quality of Life as We Age
    • A Photographer’s Journey to Three Medieval Cathedrals in Southeast England

    Thank you to our new and continuing coordinators for offering such a variety of interesting courses. Can’t wait for the spring session to begin!

    ~ Paula McKenzie


  • December 05, 2024 4:55 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Richard Steeves has made the PLATO course sessions of Pathways to a Sustainable Planet a benchmark for the broad range of critical topics related to "saving spaceship earth". While Richard is an avid supporter and believer in the future of nuclear electric power, the course topics covered a wide range – from ocean inhabitants to manufacturing processes. Richard attracted highly knowledgeable presenters from around the country who spoke on many planet-sustaining topics. Outside interest for these presentations prompted them to be available on YouTube each week and these recordings continue to be available on PLATO's Past Recordings webpage for on-demand viewing.

    With his own broad range of knowledge, Richard guided the presentations with insightful questions and discussions. His professional demeanor and communication style attracted a diverse group of long-standing participants for 14 years!

    Richard was very helpful guiding me with the preparation and presentation of my two sessions, one on artificial intelligence and generative artificial intelligenceand one on methane gas.

    The Pathways to a Sustainable Planet sessions and Richard's unquestionable enthusiasm will be greatly missed.

    Written by By Mert Corwin, participant of Pathways to a Sustainable Planet

  • November 11, 2024 2:06 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    PLATO depends on volunteer Course Coordinators to offer courses for our members.

    If you are interested in coordinating a PLATO course, please submit a Course Proposal Form to Kathy Brown (kathytft@charter.net) or Curriculum Chair, Kathie Burman (kburman@burmancoffee.com) . Feel free to contact them if you would like help in developing your idea.

    You may also get started with learning more about the process by exploring 
    PLATO's Curriculum Coordinator Toolkit.

    Any member can propose a course. Some coordinators are retired educators who are willing to continue sharing their knowledge, but most coordinators are members with a strong interests and enthusiasms that they wish to share with others.

    Course format is flexible ranging from lectures with discussions, book discussions, presentations by course members, memoir and writing workshops, and hands-on activities like making artwork or crafting.

  • September 16, 2024 10:46 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    I have been an active member of PLATO for over 10 years and have lived in St Louis for nearly half that time. About 8 years ago, our daughter’s company transferred her to a better position in St Louis. Although my wife and I had at that time only lived in the Madison area for a few years, we were most reluctant to leave because of our large circle of friends and my deep involvement with PLATO. At the same time, we knew that we wanted to remain close to our grandchildren. Ironically, the pandemic laid the groundwork for my continued work with PLATO and living near our daughter and growing family.

    Using Google Meet and Zoom I have been able to participate in all my PLATO meetings. In addition, I remain an active member of the Agora Board and as a judge I submitted literary and artistic materials along with other Board members. Likewise, as a long-standing member of the Curriculum Committee, I continue to evaluate new course proposals and mentor new course coordinators. On most Wednesdays, I enjoy lively discussions in the Continuing Philosophy class.

    Good internet connections and other modern technologies make these internet meetings and classes run smoothly. For example, technologically oriented PLATO members like Paul Thompson and Bill Colwell can set up hybrid courses like Continuing Philosophy so that students can meet in Madison or participate via the internet. This hybrid course works remarkably well, and students can fully participate in lively discussions independent of their location. After the first few hybrid meetings, we adopted a few simple rules. First, students must use the electronic raised hand sign if they want to speak. Second, another student volunteers to watch for ‘raised hands’ and to ensure that all students are recognized.

    So, no matter where you live, you can enjoy PLATO.

    ~ Written by Bill Eisinger

  • September 07, 2024 3:59 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)
    PLATO FALL 2024 COURSE CATALOG QUIZ #4
    1. If you are a HODOPHILE, in which class will you find likeminded PLATO members?
    2. In which course should you enroll if you want to read and discuss one of the greatest works of literature to date?
    3. What class will offer a lecture and discussion on Habitable Exoplanets—Worlds beyond our own?
    •  

      ANSWERS

      1.     PLATO Travel

    • 2.     Reading the Classics:  Reading Anna Karenina
    • 3.    A History of Matter in the Universe
    •  


  • September 01, 2024 11:48 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)
    • PLATO FALL 2024 COURSE CATALOG QUIZ #3

      1. In what class will you read about the link between Midwestern Dairy Farmers and Mexican Workers?
      2. In what course might you explore time, sleep, critical thinking, and negativity?
      3. Want to know more about Viola and Sebastian, Shylock, Rosalind and Orlando, the Shrew, and Prospero?  Which course will answer your questions?
    •  

      ANSWERS

    • 1.     Social Justice Book Discussion Group
    • 2.     Who’s Driving the Bus?
    • 3.     Shakespear's Comedies: Method and Meaning 



  • August 25, 2024 11:46 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)
    • PLATO FALL 2024 COURSE CATALOG QUIZ #2

      1. What class should you enroll in if you want to read a book by the author of The Three Musketeers & The Count of Monte Christo?
      2. In what course are you encouraged to ‘Do your own thing and make a commitment to yourself’?
      3. In what course might you hear the terms migration, carbon-free, food choices, and biodiversity?

    • ANSWERS

      1.     Novels Old and New

    • 2.     Exploring Creativity
    • 3.     Pathways to a Sustainable Planet

     


  • August 17, 2024 10:15 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)
    • PLATO FALL 2024 COURSE CATALOG QUIZ #1

    • 1.         In what class will you discuss Required Minimum Distributions?
    • 2.     By what other name(s) is the Lunyu known?
    • 3.         Are you a music afficionado?  Do you see the influences of your favorite music genre in modern American popular music?  In what class can you have a lively discussion on the topic?


    • ANSWERS

    • 1.          Money Skills for Retirees
    • 2.     Confucius’ Analects or sometimes Confucian Analects
    • 3.     The Roots of Modern American Popular Music

     


  • June 29, 2024 2:13 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    We Love a Mystery, which meets online (every other week in regular semesters and continues with a less formal schedule during winter and summer), concentrates on the presentation and analysis of mystery novels. Barb Evans, the highly-organized and welcoming coordinator, assures course members that every opinion is welcome. Each person feels free to love, hate, or be neutral about a book. Recently, a very special afternoon featured an in-person get together with first-time novelist, Amy Pease, who wrote a riveting mystery set in Wisconsin called "Northwoods". Amy, who, lucky for us, is the daughter-in-law of one of our long time members, discussed the novel as well as the steps it took to find a publisher. If interested in learning more about “Northwoods” you can find interviews featuring Amy on YouTube.com or Google the title and read 30 pages for free.

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