PLATO Weekly Update

September 14, 2021

CURRICULUM

Registration Still Open for Fall Courses - Our Fall Course Schedule includes 40 courses: 23 online, 16 in-person, and one via email. Many are familiar course titles with several new additions – including a course on Saturday!

Before registering for and attending in-person courses, please review our current COVID-19 protocols listed below. Also, all courses require that participants register with the coordinator so they can be reached via email should there be any updates due to the pandemic. 

COVID-19 Protocols for Courses:

· All coordinators and participants are required to wear masks when inside host locations at all times and to observe social distancing guidelines.

· All coordinators and participants must follow any and all of the host location’s additional COVID-19 Protocols which will be communicated by coordinators.

Capitol Lakes and Oakwood also have these protocols:

SPECIAL EVENTS

FINAL FALL WALK

NEW! October 19^th, 9am - Explore The Mysteries of Aztalan as we walk with Dr. Robert Birmingham, author, educator, archaeologist, and authority on the Mississipian people and culture of Aztalan during their golden age (1000 AD - 1300 AD). We will learn about (and climb on) the mounds and view the fortress walls in Wisconsin’s most important archaeological site. Registration is free and open now. Please note that this parking for this Walk requires a State Vehicle Admissions Sticker which may be purchased when you arrive on site. And be sure to review our current COVID-19 Walk Protocols before registering for and attending this Walk. This will be the last PLATO Walk of 2021.

FALL LECTURES

Our fall lecture series will begin on Thursday, September 23^rd at 1:30 pm with "Ask the Weather Guy.” Register here for this this 90-minute Zoom webinar featuring Jonathan Martin, Chair and Professor in the UW-Madison Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. Registration is required to attend.

In the meantime, members are invited to access Past Recordings.

THEATER

NEW! For your at-home virtual streaming pleasure:

Angela's Ashes: The Musical - Based on the captivating memoir by Frank McCourt, the show's website states that "if ever a musical could be said to embody the ‘rollercoaster of emotion’, then Angela’s Ashes is that musical."

Come from Away - A filmed Broadway musical commemorating the days when 38 planes were ordered to land unexpectedly due to the 9/11 attacks in the small town of Gander in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

As always, browse a variety of options on PLATO’s Virtual Theater Trips page where new items are frequently added. 

FEATURED AGORA WORKS

Each week, we offer for your enjoyment, a featured piece from contributors to The Agora, PLATO's journal of arts and ideas. The week we offer Geese, a poem by Mary DeWolf, reconnecting us to nature and the transitioning of the season.

SOCIAL GATHERINGS

Social Gatherings - we are working on plans to resume in late fall so stay tuned - updates will be posted here!

SOCIAL JUSTICE EVENTS & READINGS
Select from a range of topics and formats 
for your late summer reading, viewing, or listening, 
curated by PLATO's Diversity Awareness Committee.

DID YOU KNOW? for September 7 – 20, 2021

Did You Know…Yang See, who worked as the main liaison between the CIA and the Lao Royal Army during the secret Hmong Guerrilla war against North Vietnam, was the person most responsible for the US Government finally accepting the Hmong resettlement in the US.

Visit the Social Justice Webpage for more about Yang See
and past DID YOU KNOW? features.

DID YOU KNOW? – spotlighting notable contributions made by non-mainstream individuals you might not have learned or read about. Suggestions for inclusions are welcome (send to Kathy at: ksmichaelis@gmail.com)