PLATO Weekly Update

October 12, 2021

CURRICULUM

We hope that everyone is continuing to enjoy our Fall course offerings. Please note the following COVID-19 Protocols continue to be in place for in-person participants:

· Wear masks inside of Host Location buildings.

· Follow social distancing guidelines.

· Follow any additional guidelines required at Host Locations - see the Courses Page or check with your course coordinator.

SPECIAL EVENTS

NEW! AN AUDIO PLAY

For listening at home: 

Coal Country
Written by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen, Coal Country is an audio play that tells the story of the 2010 Upper Big Branch mine explosion in West Virginia, the most deadly mining disaster in recent U.S. history. It is a riveting, emotionally stunning work based on first-person accounts by survivors and family members. Blank and Jensen are a writing team who The New Yorker calls "among the foremost practitioners of documentary theater in the U.S." The performance is directed by Blank and features original music by three-time Grammy award-winning country/folk legend Steve Earle. 

To access Coal Country free for one month:

· Go to audible.com

· Search for Coal Country

· Follow the prompts

· After your 30-day free trial the cost is $7.95 per mont; cancel anytime.

THEATER 

For virtual streaming at home:

Can I Live?
Fehinti Balogun offers an invitation to a vital new digital performance about the climate catastrophe, sharing his personal journey into the biggest challenge of our times. Weaving his story with spoken word, rap, theatre, animation and the scientific facts, Balogun charts a course through the fundamental issues, identifying the intimate relationship between the environmental crisis and the global struggle for social justice, and sharing how, as a young Black British man, he has found his place in the climate movement. Available now through October 17th.

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

INVITATION

Have you attended a talk you enjoyed and think more people should be aware of it? Are you curious about something and think others might be too? Send your ideas for new lecture topics and include the name of a speaker if you have it to mdiiorio1234@gmail.com.

FALL LECTURES

Join us for “What is Critical Race Theory, and Why is it Controversial?” on Tuesday, October 26th at 1:30pm. Register here for this 90-minute Zoom lecture with Gloria Ladson-Billings, Professor Emerita at UW-Madison and former Kellner Family Distinguished Professor of Urban Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. She will talk with us about how CRT applies to education and why it has become part of the culture wars in this country. Registration is required to attend.

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

PLEASE NOTE
We have new contact information! 

PLATO’s new phone number and mailing address:

Telephone: 608-572-6869

Mailing Address: 6209 Mineral Point Rd. #203, Madison, WI, 53705-4549

Our email address remains: info@platomadison.org

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. This week we are pleased to present Margaret Mary, a poem by George Faunce, that is sure to delight grandparents and grandchildren alike.

SOCIAL GATHERINGS

Social Gatherings - due to the pandemic, we hope to resume next semester.

SOCIAL JUSTICE EVENTS & READINGS

Select from a range of topics and formats 

for your early Fall reading, viewing, or listening, 

curated by PLATO's Diversity Awareness Committee.

DID YOU KNOW? for October 4-19, 2021

Did You Know… Maria Tallchief was the first Native American woman to break into ballet. Elizabeth Marie Tallchief was born in 1925 in Oklahoma; her father was a member of the Osage Nation. At age 17, she moved to New York City to pursue her dreams of becoming a dancer.

Visit the Social Justice Webpage for more about Maria Tallchief 
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).