Winona State University Retiree Center
SPRING 2016
http://www.winona.edu/retiree/senioruni.asp
For further program information, please call 507.457.5565
What Is Senior University?
Senior University WSU is a program of the Winona State University
Retiree Center. Senior University is a peer-led set of short courses
taught by professor emeriti, WSU faculty, and topic experts to
provide intellectual and cultural stimulation and growth, thus
providing opportunities for lifelong learning and leadership,
combined with the fellowship of peers sharing a common quest
for continued growth.
Non-credit classes, one day a week during a 4-6 week term, no
tests, no grades.
Retiree Center Director, Jessica Kauphusman
Retiree Center Office Manager, Nancy Amann
507-457-5565
retiree@winona.edu
The Winona State University Retiree Center exists to support
the mission of Winona State University and enrich the
campus community as well as the lives of retired staff,
faculty and administration by providing institutional
connections between the university and retirees who may
wish to continue their intellectual and social participation in
collegial life and service to the university.
Retiree Center Advisory Board
James Bromeland
Vicki Decker
Russ Dennison
Gary Evans
Marilyn Ezdon
Arlette Gensmer
Jim Hurley
Tim Hatfield
Donna Helble
Bea Hoffmann
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Serena Holstad
Mary Joyce
Heather Kosik
Rich MacDonald
Bill McBreen
Bill Meyer
Kevin Possin
Joanne Rosczyk
Janet Ruggeberg
Diane Runkle
Senior University Classes
Spring 2016
Poetic Poles: Whitman and Dickinson......................pg 4
The Sistine Chapel............................................................pg 5
Spring Wildflowers...........................................................pg 6
Adventures Through the Gender Spectrum...........pg 7
Spring Birding....................................................................pg 8
The Essays of Michel de Montaigne...........................pg 9
Exploring Printmaking..................................................pg 10
SENIOR UNIVERSITY CURRICULUM COMMITTEE:
Jim Reynolds, Kevin Possin, Bea Hoffmann, Jess Kauphusman
Fitness and Wellness for Active Adults - Senior University, Fall 2015
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Poetic Poles: Whitman and Dickinson
Instructor: Emilio DeGrazia
Day: Tuesday
Time: 1:30 - 3:30 p.m.
Sessions: January 26, February 2, 9, 16, 23
Location: Room to be announced
Course Fee: $40.00
Walt Whitman, our most eloquent and American globalist, and Emily
Dickinson, private“Belle of Amherst,’’ express their sense of what is
important in life in radically different ways. Through close reading of
representative works we will explore how their visions diverge and
possibly converge.
Emilio DeGrazia, a long-time resident of Winona, Minnesota, began
publishing poetry and creative prose in1973, and founded Great
River Review, the state’s most enduring small press literary magazine,
in 1977. A first collection of short fiction, Enemy Country (New Rivers,
1984), was selected by Anne Tyler for a Writer’s Choice Award, and
a novel, Billy Brazil (New Rivers, 1991), was chosen for a Minnesota
Voices Project award. A second collection, Seventeen Grams of Soul
(Lone Oak Press), received a Minnesota Book Award in 1995, and
Lone Oak published a second novel, A Canticle for Bread and Stones,
in 1996. Recently DeGrazia published Burying the Tree, his first collection of essays, a memoir (of sorts) called Walking on Air in a Field
of Greens, and Seasonings, his first collection of poetry. He also has a
blog called “Downstream” with the Twin Cities Daily Planet. His secret
desire has always been to be a poet when he grows up. In 2012 he
was named to a two year term as official Poet Laureate of Winona,
MN.
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The Sistine Chapel, Touchstone of the
Renaissance: History, Art, Meaning
Instructor: Dominic Ricciotti
Day: Tuesday
Time: 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Location: Room to be announced
Sessions: March 15, 22, 29, April 5
Course Fee: $40.00
This course offers an in-depth look at one of the great monuments of
Renaissance art: the Sistine Chapel (i.e. “Everything you Ever Wanted
to Know about the Sistine Chapel”). While Michelangelo’s Creation
Cycle commanding the center part of the ceiling is well known, far
less familiar are his images flanking it, not to mention the paintings on the walls below by earlier artists. Among the questions
this course explores: How do all the paintings of the chapel cohere
despite stylistic shifts among its parts? How are they thematically
interrelated? What is the overall meaning of the chapel?
This course will be taught by Dominic Ricciotti, and is prompted
by his return visit to the Sistine Chapel in 2012. As a PhD student,
Dominic took a minor in Renaissance art (his specialization was
modern art). For most of his 36-year teaching career he covered - at
the survey level - the Renaissance and the Sistine Chapel, but when
he came to WSU in 1985 he began to teach an upper division course
in the period, giving the Sistine Chapel considerable emphasis, never
however devoting eight hours to it. He is delighted by the prospect
of spending that amount of class time on this most historic and
highly complex multi-part work.
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Follow Wildflowers Through a
Bluffland’s Spring
Instructor: Dave Palmquist
Day: Wednesday
Time: 1:00-3:30 p.m.
Sessions: March 30, April 13, 27, May 11, 18
Location: Room for 1st class period to be announced
Course Fee: $45.00
Participants will get to know the amazing variety of spring wildflowers
that live with us in the Blufflands. Session I, in the classroom, will orient participants to these plants, their habitats, relationships to wildlife
and people and how we can help ensure their survival. Sessions 2-5,
held one or two weeks apart, will visit local natural areas following the
emergence of new wildflowers throughout the season. Plan extra time
to drive to and from class locations. (Participants are welcome to bring
cameras, binoculars and field guides.) Please note: Since the class size is
limited, only registered participants please in the field trip classes. Thank
you.
Wednesday – March 30: WSU Campus; room to be announced
Wednesday - April 13: Weaver Dunes and John A. Latsch State Park
Wednesday - April 27: Whitewater State Park
Wednesday - May 11: Carley State Park
Wednesday - May 18: Perrot State Park
Dave Palmquist recently retired from Minnesota State Parks after 39
years as a Whitewater State Park Naturalist. He led naturalist programs,
including wildflower activities, for over ten thousand visitors a year. He
collaborated with many organizations including WSU, SMU, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, and school districts in training environmental educators
and providing a variety of interpretive services. Dave got his B.A. degree
at the University of Minnesota in a major he designed for his career. He
has worked at the Bell Museum of Natural History, the Science Museum
of Minnesota, and Wood Lake Nature Center. In retirement, he and his
wife Kathy, volunteer at Whitewater State Park and for other environmental organizations. Kathy will assist on field trips. She is a retired
elementary teacher with a minor in environmental science.
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Adventures Through the Gender Spectrum
Instructors: Jamie Ann Meyers & Mary Jo Klinker
Day: Monday
Time: 3:00-4:30 p.m.
Sessions: April 4, 11, 18, 25, May 2, 9
Location: To be announced
Course Fee: $40.00
When did you first become aware of your gender identity? Do you make
conscious and deliberate decisions each day based on your gender identity? If you wanted to change anything about your gender expression, roles
and identity, what would it be? Are you conscious of your privilege and
the power such privilege bestows upon you? Do you have questions about
what it means to be transgender and why some people must transition
from their birth assigned sex to a gender identity that makes them whole?
Do you have questions about the gender transitions of people in the media
such as Caitlyn Jenner and Chaz Bono? During this course we will examine
these and many other questions as we explore the gender spectrum. Each
of us has a gender, defined by our gender expression, gender roles and
gender identity. We will discuss how we have experienced gender and will
examine the social construction of gender by focusing on two broad groups
– those of us who are cisgender (birth-assigned sex and gender identity
are the same) and those of us who are transgender (birth-assigned sex and
gender identity are different).
Dr. JamieAnn Meyers - (preferred gender pronouns she/her/her’s) is a transwoman and Professor Emerita at Winona State University. She has extensive
experience in presenting and facilitating educational programs dealing
with gender identity and sexual orientation. JamieAnn advocates for the
LGBTQIA+ community in secular and faith communities as a lead trainer
with the Minnesota GLBTA Campus Alliance and the convener of TransLutherans. She takes a social justice and intersectional anti-oppression
approach to her activism and advocacy.
Dr. Mary Jo Klinker (preferred gender pronouns she/her/her’s) is an assistant professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Winona State
University. Her teaching and research interests include LGBT/Queer politics
and history, transnational feminism, contemporary masculinities, and postfeminist media studies. Dr. Meyers and Dr. Klinker have worked together
on organizing community workshops on micro-aggressions and bisexual
organizing in rural contexts.
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Spring Birding
Instructor: Eric Nelson & Julie McCormick
Day: Thursday
Time: Class times vary: See schedule below
Sessions: April 7, 28; May 5, 12, 19
Location: Room for 1st class period to be announced
Course Fee: $45.00
Retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wildlife biologist, Eric Nelson, and
experienced birder, Julie McCormick, will share their vast knowledge
and experience about birds and the hobby of birding during this
spring’s birding class. Always a very popular course, participants will
have an initial classroom introduction, followed by four weeks of field
trips to various locations in the Winona area to view the spring bird
migration. New this year: A headphone tour guide system to facilitate
instructor communication with participants on field trips. Please note:
Since the class size is limited, only registered participants please in the
field trip classes. Thank you.
Thursday - April 7, 9:00 a.m. WSU Campus; room to be announced.
Optional waterfowl class that day at 3:00 pm
Thursday - April 28, 9:00 a.m. Field trip
Thursday - May 5, 7:30 a.m. Field trip
Thursday - May 12, 7:30 a.m. Field trip
Thursday, May 19, 7:30 a.m. Field trip and luncheon
Eric Nelson obtained his Masters degree in wildlife biology at UW-Stevens Point, and became a birder-for-life during his studies of ornithology, wildlife management, and the conservation ethic of Aldo Leopold. Eric worked as a biologist with the US Fish and Wildlife Service
for 32 years, 20 of those in Winona at the Upper Mississippi Refuge,
retiring in 2010.
Julie McCormick has been watching birds, and participating in bird
counts for 23 years. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and Art
from UW: Platteville, raised whooping crane chicks when an intern at
the International Crane Foundation, and has worked and volunteered
at Whitewater State Park from 2001-2014. Her knowledge and enthusiasm for bird watching knows no bounds!
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A Renaissance Man at the Dawn of
the Modern Age: The Essays of
Michel de Montaigne
Instructor: Rosine Tenenbaum
Day: Tuesday
Time: 2:00-3:30 p.m.
Sessions: May 3, 10, 17, 24
Location: To be announced
Course Fee: $40.00
This course will be taught in English using the great Donald
Frame translation of “The Complete Essays of Montaigne”.
Each class period will deal with at least one specific topic
addressed in one or several of Montaigne’s essays. Students
will be provided with a few questions in advance, to be reflected upon as they prepare for the next class. As a result,
most of the class period will be spent discussing Montaigne’s
ideas, elucidating perplexing contradictions and reflecting
on Montaigne’s perception of the world and his place in it. By
doing so, participants will be encouraged to define their own
perception of the world and their place in it. The format of
the class will be discussion more than lecture, although the
instructor will offer clarification and background information
to help students better understand the context of the writing
and the perspective of the author.
Dr. Rosine Tenenbaum, is a WSU Professor Emeritus of Foreign
Languages. She has a thorough knowledge and keen interest
in the writings of Michel de Montaigne. The last course she
taught at WSU was on the French Renaissance and on Montaigne’s essays in particular. The last paper she presented at
the WSU CLASP Series was on Blaise Pascal who was responding to Montaigne.
9 | Senior University 2016
Exploring Printmaking
Instructor: Mary Coughlan
Day: Tuesday
Time: 1:00-3:30 p.m.
Sessions: May 10, 17, 24
Location: Winona Arts Center
Course Fee: $70.00
This course introduces participants to various techniques of the
monotype, a hybrid of printing and painting through a hands-on
experience. Images will be created through additive, subtractive,
transfer drawings and stencils using water-based inks on various
printmaking papers. Please note: This course is limited to 10
participants.
Mary Coughlan is an artist and art advocate living in rural Trempealeau County, Wisconsin. She grew up in the Chicago area,
studied printmaking in Salzburg, Austria with Yoshi Takahashi,
earned her B.A. in Art from the College of St. Teresa, and an M.F.A.
in Printmaking from the University of Minnesota. In addition to
her degrees in art she has studied biology, botany and geology.
Mary obtained experience with native plants and grasses working at Prairie Moon Nursery near Winona, Minnesota. She finds
inspiration for her work from her surroundings. Her prints and
drawings most often include plants and natural forms. Mary has
taught studio art courses in printmaking, drawing and design
at WSU since 1989. She is active in the Winona arts community
serving as the Chair of the Winona Art Center’s Exhibits Committee. In 1998 she received the Minnesota State Arts Board Arts
Community Leadership Award in recognition of her many years
of arts advocacy on behalf of artists in the Winona area. She was
the recipient of the 2006 Winona Fine Arts Commission Award,
for her contributions in promoting the arts and the quality of life
for the citizens of the City of Winona. Her work is represented by
Beaches Corner Art Studio Gallery in rural Ettrick, Wisconsin.
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Senior University WSU Spring 2016
All Registration is online with a
credit card through Eventbrite
We can no longer accept cash or checks for
Senior U registration. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.
Please visit the Senior University website to register:
http://www.winona.edu/retiree/senioruni.asp
Watch your email for a message confirming your registration and providing additional details about the class
or classes for which you have registered.
If you do not receive a confirmation email, or if you have
any questions or need assistance, contact us weekdays
during regular business hours at:
WSU Outreach and Continuing Education
continuingeducation@winona.edu
507.457.5080 (Direct)
800.342.5987 Ext. 5080 (Toll free)
WSU Retiree Center
retiree@winona.edu
507.457.5565
http://www.winona.edu/retiree/senioruni.asp
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