A History of Scary Movies

NEW. Let’s learn the stories behind the classic movies, starting with the silent era (“Phantom of the Opera” and “Nosferatu”). From the 1930's (“Frankenstein”, “Dracula”, “King Kong”, etc.) we will proceed to the 1950s Sci-Fi thrillers (“The Day the Earth Stood Still”, “War of the Worlds”, “Beast from 20,000 Fathoms”, etc.). We will discuss the actors and the producers, as well as see vintage footage of each movie classic. A comparison of the old and new will be presented with the 1931 and 2008 versions of “King Kong”.

6 Mondays, March 18 - May 6 (No seminar April 1 and 22)
12:30 p.m.. - 2:30 p.m.

Gary Ruff is a retired high school teacher and an avid fan of these movies. He feels that these movies have become ingrained into the American entertainment culture. He has taught various music seminars for UDLLI over a seven-year period.

Cameras Don't Take Pictures, People Do

NEW. We will conduct a series of discussions, PowerPoint presentations and practical processes to enhance your photography in the digital world.  This seminar will address the thought process of taking photos and will help reduce the fear of digital photography, no matter what type of camera you own or what type of photos you take.  We will also discuss simple composition to improve daily photos, basic digital photo editing to get to the heart of the photo, social media and your photos, and archiving your images when you don’t have a negative.

6 Mondays, March 18 - May 6 (No seminar April 1 and 22)
3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. at River Campus

Skip Peterson is an award winning freelance photographer who retired in 2007 after a 34 year career at the Dayton Daily News.  Peterson was chief photographer and photo editor of the newspaper for the last 24 years.  During his career, he has covered Super Bowls, World Series, NCAA basketball championships, produced a six-month documentary, “The Faces of Hard Times”, and spent 3 months covering various Olympic trials and the Olympic Games in Atlanta.  He was a contract photographer for the book, America 24/7.  In addition to hundreds of newspapers across the U.S., his work has appeared in Life, Time, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, Ohio 24/7 and 5 volumes of the Best of Photojournalism.  A graduate of Ohio University with a degree in journalism, Skip Peterson was the lead photographer and photo editor on the project, Military Medicine: Unnecessary Danger, which received the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting in 1998.  He was an adjunct faculty member at the University of Dayton teaching photojournalism in the 80's and early 90's and has led workshops on photography and photo editing in the Midwest.

Christian Ethics in the New Testament's Shadow

NEW. First century Christians created a moral community shaped byJesus' life and teachings. The New Testament cast a long shadow on subsequent generations grappling to relate its teachings to changing circumstances. In this seminar, we will explore ways that Christian theologians, past and present, applied and adapted scripture to such topics as violence, war,politics, poverty, economics, friendship, sexual ethics, marriage, and the role of women in the church and society. In my previous seminar, we focused on theNew Testament world, where Christians were a marginal community. In this seminar, we will treat issues faced by Christians when they occupy a more prominent role in society.

6 Mondays, March 18 – May 6 (No Seminar April 1 and 22)
9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. at River Campus

Robert Reece, a professor emeritus at Wright State University, holds a Ph.D. in religious ethics from Yale University. He has been a frequent UDLLI moderator.

Cinemagic - The Legacy of Georges Melies

NEW. Georges Melies went from magician of the stage to magician of the movies. We will go back to the early 1920s in Paris to see how here invented what movies were to be about, and he did it without computers, photoshopping, or complex digital cameras.

6 Mondays, MArch 18 - May 6 (No Seminar on April 1 and 22)
9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. at River Campus

Enrique Romaguera is professor emeritus from the language department at the University of Dayton. He has moderated many UDLLI seminars on the French cinema.

Civil War Victims Meet Old Testament Job

NEW. Questions of both head and heart abound as both Job from the Old Testament as well as Lincoln, his wife, his assassin, and others wrestle as to where to find justice in a world where injustice prevails, and most of all where to find God.

Please note:  Participants need to bring their favorite Bible translation.

6 Mondays, March 18 - May 6 (No seminar April 1 and 22)
12:30 p.m.. – 2:30 p.m.. at River Campus

Raymond A. Merz received a bachelor’s degree from Taylor University and a master’s degree from United Theological Seminary. He received a master’s degree in American history from the University of Cincinnati. He served as ordained pastor in The United Methodist Church for 40 years. Since his retirement, he has taught at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Dayton, First Presbyterian in Naples, Florida, Chautauqua Institution of New York, and the University of Dayton.

Dreamwork, Part II

We will expand the concept of dream interpretation by exploring the psychological theories of CarlJung, a student of Sigmund Freud. Beginning dream interpreters, as well as advanced, may attend, as the seminar will open with a review of basic dream concepts.

4 Mondays, March 18 - April 15 (No seminar April 1)
9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. at River Campus

Dr. Linda Fischbach has been a clinical therapist for 30 years. She has studied and utilized dream interpretation in her practice since 1985. Dr. Fischbach is currently serving as the president of the UDLLI Board of Governors.

Gentle Hatha Yoga

NEW. Questions of both head and heart abound as both Job from the Old Testament as well as Lincoln, his wife, his assassin, and others wrestle as to where to find justice in a world where injustice prevails, and most of all where to find God.

Required Equipment: yoga mat, light blanket and pillow; bolsters and blocks for experienced practitioners.

9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. at Franciscan Center (St Leonard's)

Debra Stewart has an MBA, MATLT and is a Ph.D. Psy Candidate and registered yoga instructor with Alliance. She has been an ACE personal trainer with 20 years of experience.

Legal Terms and Procedures

NEW. We will discuss the legal terms and general procedures used in several fields of Ohio law.  Included will be common court procedures, probate and estates, real estate, contracts, business entities, domestic relations, judgments, liens, bankruptcy, accident and negligence claims, property appropriations, and common legal pitfalls.

6 Mondays, March 18 - May 6 (No seminar April 1 and 22)
12:30 p.m.. - 2:30 p.m.. at River Campus

Alan A. Biegel is a 1963 graduate of the University of Dayton and a 1967 graduate of Chase College of Law. He has practiced law in Montgomery County for 45 years and has previously moderated seminars for UDLLI.

Living Abroad

NEW. What everyday changes occur in one’s life when living abroad? This seminar will include presentations by individuals who have lived in countries other than their home country. Americans who have worked in other countries will share unique work customs, social experiences, and habits in their host countries that differ from the United States. In addition, in one session we will feature a panel discussion by recent immigrants about adapting to the unique customs in the United States.

6 Mondays, March 18 - May 6 (No seminar April 1 and 22)
3:00 p.m.. - 5:00 p.m.. at River Campus

Louise Van Vliet retired from the Speech Pathology and Audiology Department at Miami University in 2003. She team-taught students from Miami and Palacky (Czech Republic) and Miami and Comenius (Slovak Republic) from 1993 to 2002 and served as a Fulbright lecturer at Comenius University in 2000. She currently teaches English as an additional language, to recent immigrants.

Shade Gardening with Hostas and Other Perennials

NEW. Literally, thousands of varieties of shade-loving hostas are available that are easy to grow and will produce the color, texture, and drama that people desire for their gardens.  Shade gardens planted with these showy plants and many other shade-loving perennials add color and variety that can rival sun gardens featuring high-maintenance daylilies, roses and the every-year drudgery of replanting blooming annuals.  Unlike the fast-fading rosebuds shared with friends, hosta plants themselves are a snap to subdivide and share-making them a perennial gift for green-thumbed friends that has earned these beauties the nickname, “The Friendship Plant.”

6 Mondays, March 18 - May 6 (No seminar on April 1 and 22)
12:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. at River Campus

Steve Harman - When the Harmans relocated to Dayton in 1986, they found a home on a nice parcel of land…a heavily wooded and shady lot with almost no direct sunshine; no place for familiar vegetable gardening or lovely hybrid tea roses.  Then a friend introduced them to shady gardening with hostas and many companion perennials.  Since then, the Harmans have planted well over 300 different varieties of hostas and have become active members of an area gardening society of avid gardeners who call themselves “hostaholics” for their passion for this shade-loving plant.  Through his association with such hosta gardeners and the Miami Valley Hosta Society, Steve Harman has gained a good working knowledge of growing hostas, the “Friendship Plant.”

Since 1776: How Technology-Driven Progress Created a Nation of Anxious Abundance

Beginning in 1776, an ever-accelerating series of discoveries, inventions, products, and enterprises transformed America into a nation that the Founding Fathers could not have imagined. The collective impact of this technology-driven progress created unprecedented abundance along with rising expectations. The sequence in this study will illustrate developments creating changes in community, culture, national identity, economic opportunities, and values. Participants will be encouraged to offer alternative interpretations to the significance of progress in making us different from earlier generations.

6 Mondays, March 18 - May 6 (No seminar April 1 and 22)
12:30 p.m.. – 2:30 p.m.. at River Campus

Squire Brown, Ph.D., is a retired aerospace engineer with a passion for the history of technology. He is a docent for the National Museum of the USAF as well as an active member of the Society for the History of Technology and the Society for Industrial Archeology.

The Life of Amphibians and Reptiles

NEW. “Herpetology” is the study of Amphibians and Reptiles, the most misconceived animals in the world. There are many stories, myths and taboos surrounding frogs, toads, crocodiles, lizards, turtles and snakes. These are really amazing and innocent animals. In this seminar, we will discuss the uniqueness, biology and life habits of these elusive animals.  We will focus on the usefulness of these animals to man - especially snakes, their venom and the need to conserve these animals in the modern human dominated world.

4 Mondays, March 18 - April 15 (No seminar April 1)
3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Dr. Sharath Krishna received his Ph.D. from the Mangalore University, India.  He teaches Ecology at Central State University, Wilberforce, Ohio and is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Boonshoft School of Medicine, Wright State University.  His research was on the ecology of snakes in the tropical rainforest of South India.  Later he developed an interest in studying the venom proteins of snakes, beginning with the very rare and endemic species of Pit Vipers and now of the rattle snakes.  His current project is an NIH funded research project to examine the possibility of developing a therapeutic agent targeting prostate cancer cells.  He has been working on both venomous and nonvenomous snakes for the last 35 years.

Wine Appreciation

The history of wine, variety of grapes used in making wine, types of wine, regions of wine production, wine and heart disease, how to read wine labels, the pairing of wine and food (and maybe a wee bit of wine tasting) are some of the offerings to be covered in this seminar.

6 Mondays, March 18 - May 6 (No seminar April 1 and 22)
3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Jason S. Bush is a level one Sommelier. He has been employed at Arrow Wine and Spirits for the last eight years where he is lead wine buyer and manager. He works on a daily basis with customers and tastes wines to decide whether to carry them in their store.

Zentangle: Relax, Focus and Create

Zentangle is a meditative art form not to be confused with doodling! By focusing on patterns (called tangles) one stroke at a time, each student will create unique small works of art while achieving a sense of peace through the process. This seminar is especially for those of us who always wanted to draw but thought we couldn’t do it! This seminar is for those who have nevertaken a Zentangle seminar in the past.

Required Supplies: Kits will be provided by the moderator for $10 per student.

6 Mondays, March 18 - May 6 (No seminar on April 1 and 22)
12:30 p.m.. – 2:30 p.m.. at River Campus

Peg Farmer is a certified Zentangle teacher. She was a frustrated art enthusiast who finally found her niche through Zentangle and is eager to share it. She has been involved with UDLLI as a student and seminar liaison since 2004. Her work experience was in social service, public and private administration.