PLATO Weekly Update

July 19, 2022

CURRICULUM

COVID-19 PROTOCOLS FOR COURSES

Current COVID protocols for specific Host Locations for Summer Courses are listed in the Curriculum Showcase.

SUMMER COURSES
Find everything you need to know on the Summer Course Schedule page.

FALL COURSES

· On Tuesday, August 23, the Fall Course schedule will be posted to the Courses webpage and course enrollment begins that same day!

· Fall courses start the week of September 19.

SPECIAL EVENTS 

BREAKFAST GATHERING 
Join us on Friday, August 12 at 9:30am at the UW Memorial Union Terrace. If rain is in the forecast, we will meet indoors – look for Host Sharon Scrattish in the glassed-in lobby to find out where our tables are located. Note – just to let you plan ahead – at our July 8 gathering we found there were no restaurants open but 15 of us shared Peet's Coffee and conversation at a crowded but friendly indoor round table. RSVP and learn more here, including parking tips!

FIELD TRIP: REGISTRATION NOW OPEN
On Wednesday, August 31, we’ll board a bus for a day in the Sheboygan, Wisconsin area. In the morning we will spend time at the beautiful Kohler-Andrae State Park followed with an afternoon visit to the new Art Preserve of the John Michael Kohler Arts Center. Lunch will be on your own at Shops at Woodlake Kohler. Register, view photos, and learn more here.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Details coming soon! 

Tuesday, October 4 – A Walk Through Forest Hill Cemetery lead by Bruce Gregg, longtime member of PLATO and of Historic Madison.

Sunday, October 16 – a theater trip to see Titanic at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater.

Plans are also in the works for a second field trip in late August/early September and another theater trip in November!

LECTURES  
Stay cool and entertained indoors watching archived PLATO Lectures.

FEATURED AGORA WORKS

Visit The Agora Features webpage for highlights from this past season, created and curated by fellow PLATO members for your pleasure. 

Our Biweekly Feature for July 12 – July 25 continues to be Kohlrabi, a poem by Kate Dike, who reflects on a joyful childhood summer memory.

SOCIAL JUSTICE EVENTS & READINGS

Select from a range of topics and formats 

for your Summer reading, viewing, or listening, 

curated by PLATO's Diversity Awareness Committee.

DID YOU KNOW? for July 19 – August 1

Did You Know… Matthew Henson was an African American explorer best known as the co-discoverer of the North Pole in 1909 with Robert Edwin Peary. While Peary received much recognition for the accomplishment, Henson, as a black man, was largely ignored in press reports at the time. It took almost 30 years for him to receive the proper recognition.

Born to Maryland sharecroppers in 1866, Henson was orphaned early and had to make his own way. He became a cabin boy on a ship where the captain mentored him in seamanship. Henson was working on land in a hat shop in Washington D.C. in 1887 when he met naval engineer and global explorer Robert Peary. Peary was impressed by Henson’s seafaring credentials and hired him as his valet for upcoming expeditions to Nicaragua, Greenland, and eventually the North Pole.

Visit the Social Justice Webpage for more about Matthew Henson 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).