The Gonson Society Lecture Series

Brighten up your fall daytimes with stimulating presentations at CCAE! On Tuesdays at 10:30 am presenters will focus on topics of health and well being. On Thursdays, at 10:30 am and again at noon, the world of arts, history, and ideas will be the focus. All lectures take place at 56 Brattle Street.

Suggested donation: $4 (no one will be turned away if they are unable to pay).

Besides attending the lectures, you can also sign up to become a member of the Gonson Society;

We will then be sure to invite you to all Gonson Society programs, and share early notice of any new offerings. If you do not have e–mail or access to a computer, call us or stop by the Registration Office — we will add you to the list of people who will receive notification by regular mail.

Presented with support from the:

"To Your Health" is partially
supported by a grant from:

ALL LECTURES TAKE PLACE AT 56 BRATTLE STREET.

Tuesday, January 10: To Your Health
10:30 AM

DREAM WISDOM: How Dreams Guide & Support Personal Change
Ramsay Raymond

Our night dreams give us direct access to the guiding wisdom of the essential Self, which works through the creative unconscious to promote our healing, integration, and wholeness. Drawing upon the perspectives of CG Jung, Psychosynthesis, and bioenergetics, this talk focuses on how dreams guide and support personal change and how the process of change is greatly enhanced when we consciously draw upon this remarkable right-brain resource. Included are stories of transformative grace and impeccable direction, a "map" of the psyche, and useful tips on working with dreams at home.

Thursday, January 12
10:30 AM

THE BIRTH OF LANGUAGE
Danielle Kennedy

Language comes so naturally to humans that we don't always think about where it comes from and why we have this ability; that's where linguists come in. In this lecture, we'll discuss the beginnings of language, from language acquisition in babies to the creation of new languages to theories on how and why human language itself developed in the first place.

12:00 noon

ABSTRACT DANCE THEATER
Joey Pelletier

What happens when theater is more than words? Boston-based playwright, actor, and horeographer Joey Pelletier (who has worked with many of the area’s small theater copanies) talks about using movement and clowning techniques to transform his own work and others into abstract dance pieces.

Tuesday, January 17: To Your Health
10:30 AM

DANGEROUS OBSESSIONS: HOLLYWOOD AND THE QUEST FOR BODY PERFECTION
Emily Fox Kales

In her new book, BODY SHOTS: Hollywood and the Culture of Eating Disorders (SUNY Press) Dr. Kales combines these two areas of expertise in a compelling exploration of the connection between Hollywood's images of beauty and their insidious effect on our self-esteem and body image. Using patient and student interviews, she provides an analysis of contemporary movies demonstrating how Hollywood's unattainable stand of beauty can trigger chronic dissatisfaction with our own bodies. Lean to "read" the messages behind your favorite movies.

Thursday, January 19
10:30 AM

BRINGING HISTORY (AND MYSTERY) TO LIFE THROUGH AUDIO DRAMA
Siobhan Bredin

Join local playwright, Siobhan Bredin, for a mini-tour through original audio dramas in the style of 1930s and ‘40s radio plays covering topics ranging from public art in Cambridge during the Great Depression (“The Perplexing Public Paintings Puzzle”) to code breaking in Britain during World War II (“The Bletchley Park Enigma Caper”).

12:00 noon

THE ART CONNECTION
Susan Collings and Sarah Berry

The Art Connection enriches and empowers under-served communities by expanding access to original works of art. We facilitate the choice of art, from artists and other donors, by those who may not have the opportunity to experience the transformative possibilities of art in their lives. Executive director Susan Collings and program manager Sarah Berry talk about this unique gifting program, the impact original works of art have on the daily lives of others, and the thousands of places in the Boston area that have received the benefit of original works of art.

Tuesday, January 24: To Your Health
10:30 AM

SCHOOL GARDENS: A REVOLUTION IN HOW CHILDREN LEARN ABOUT THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE FOOD THEY EAT
Jane Hirschi

Jane Hirschi, founding director of CitySprouts school garden program will talk about the potential of school gardens in public elementary education to shift children's awareness of the natural environment and the food they choose. CitySprouts is the only district-wide school garden program in the region that partners with a public school district to integrate school garden learning in public education curricula, making the school garden accessible as a learning resource to every child in the district.

Thursday, January 26
10:30 AM

OPPOSITION HOUSE
Susan Chasen

The strange and amusing story of one modest Cambridge house, built in 1807, is a window into the early development controversies that shaped the current layout of the city. Filmmaker Susan Chasen will introduce and discuss her short documentary.

12:00 noon

AN EXHIBIT OF "TWO-DAY PORTRAITS"
Bret Gamache

CCAE Studio School instructor Bret Gamache talks about the work currently on display in the gallery at 42 Brattle Street. Having only two classes to work on these portraits helps emphasize the importance of starting a painting. We simplify the face by establishing the "big action" or the light/dark abstraction created on the sitter's face. Our aim is to create portraits that embody life, while introducing "good habits" into our painting process.

Tuesday, January 31: To Your Health
10:30 AM

THE AGE OF ANANDA
Kumar Sharma

Physicist and mathematician Kumar Sharma is also a pracitioner of Integral Yoga, whose mission is to transform the human species into a higher status of physical and spiritual being. This Yoga of Conscious Evolution enables us to consciously evolve from our current troubled status to a glorious state of blissful being within our lifetimes. Along the way health and rejuvenation are realized as side benefits! Sharma will talk about this practice and his book, The Age of Ananda: Conscious Evolution to the Life Divine.

Thursday, February 2
10:30 AM

GEORGIA O'KEEFE
Judy Schurgin

Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986) was one of the most individualistic and successful American artists of the 20th century. A prolific artist, she produced about nine hundred works of art during her lifetime. Although she worked primarily in oils, her early works included watercolors, and pastel and charcoal drawings. When failing eyesight forced her to abandon painting, she created objects in clay. A brilliant colorist, she simplified the shapes and details of her subjects, which were always part of her immediate environment. Join us as we learn about this fiercely independent and talented woman. View slides of her most famous works which include her early watercolors while teaching in Canyon, Texas, barns and trees of Lake George, New York, where she vacationed with her husband Alfred Steiglitz, skyscrapers and magnified flowers in New York City, and hills, sinuous rivers, shells, and bleached bones from the deserts of New Mexico, where she lived from 1949 until her death in 1986.

12:00 noon

ROBERT FROST IN CAMBRIDGE
Warren G. Little

Four time Pulitzer prize-winning poet Robert Frost may be best known for the poetry inspired by his farm in New Hampshire and his summers in Vermont, but for 22 years, after the death of his wife, Frost lived just outside Harvard Square. Educator and longtime Cambridge resident Warren G. Little talks about Frost's time in Cambridge, his writing circles, and the community he created.

Tuesday, February 7: To Your Health
10:30 AM

TRADING TIME
Carol Moses

The Time Trade Circle is a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating and strengthening informal support systems in the community by exchanging services. Our goal is to enable people to connect with their neighbors to get help when they need it and give help when they can. The Time Trade Circle is a member-based organization that offers and asks for services ranging from haircuts and errands to music lessons and heavy lifting. Outreach coordinator Carol Moses talks about the kinds of services available and the value of building and maintaining connections with others.

Thursday, February 9
10:30 AM

POET POPULIST TONI BEE
Toni Bee

Selected in 2011, Toni Bee is a writer, photographer, and community advocate who was born in Boston. She went to private schools in Roxbury that were full of culture and creativity. Toni's father had a fondness for words, which gave her the foundation for poetry; and her mother's joy for community planted the seed for Bee's advocacy. Bee will talk about her work as a writer and community advocate, and read some of her poems.

12:00 noon

ART ALL AROUND
Sarah Hutt

Arts advocate, consultant, sculptor and former director of public art for the city of Boston, Sarah Hutt takes us on a tour of some of the contemporary public art that surrounds us, from the wonderful “Make Way for Ducklings” by Nancy Shorn in Boston Public Garden to Mags Harries’ “Gloves” in the Porter Square T station.

Tuesday, February 14: To Your Health
10:30 AM

A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO PREVENTING INFLAMMATION
Li Zheng, Ph.D, licensed acupuncturist

Are you suffering from inflammatory or autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, MS, or IBS? Are you puzzled by the prevalence of allergies, depression, and anxiety despite the advances in medical technology? Do you want to know why cancer has become an epidemic in our country? Are you aware that most of these diseases are preventable? Li Zheng, Ph.D. and licensed acupuncturist, will discuss these issues and answer your questions.

Thursday, February 16
10:30 AM

LOVE THAT (NOT SO) DIRTY WATER
Danielle Stehlik

Have you wondered if you can swim in the Charles River? Interested in volunteering outdoors but not sure how? Want to find a fun, familiy-friendly event in the summer that's free? Come learn about the Charles River Conservancy with a volunteer and outreach coordinator.

12:00 noon

DESIGN FOR LIVING
Michael Valvo

Designer Michael Valvo discusses techniques and strategies to make your home – inside and out -- comfortable and personal, without breaking the bank.

Tuesday, February 21: To Your Health
10:30 AM

PREPARING FOR MEDICARE
Bari Olevsky

Medicare is a complex program, and understanding how to get the best coverage for the lowest cost can help seniors avoid financial and health risks. Bari Olevsky describes the rules, Describes the rules, coverage, costs and potential pitfalls of Medicare, aimed at those about to retire, as well as their families. Topics include how and when to enroll, benefits of the various parts of Medicare (including the new Prescription Drug Coverage), additional coverage, plus information on how the Affordable Care Act affects Medicare.

Thursday, February 23
10:30 AM

FUFU AND OREOS
Obehi Janice

Lowell-based writer and performance artist Obehi Janice talks about the development and design of her new theater piece, “fufu & oreos,” a semi-autobiographical, semi-improvised one-woman show that stages the journey of Nigerian-American performer/writer as she reflects on depression, faith, and identity with irreverent humor and moving testimony. Janice is a graduate of Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service with a self-designed degree in Culture, Politics, and Theater.

12:00 noon

PAINTING THE LANDSCAPE
Tony Riccardi

CCAE Studio Art teacher Tony Riccardi talks about the elements of landscape painting, techniques and tools. “We’ll talk about what commands our awe inspires our resilience to the next level.” Riccardi will illustrate his points using examples of his work and that of his students currently on display in CCAE’s gallery space.

Tuesday, February 28: To Your Health
10:30 AM

WOMEN'S HEALTH
Marino Center for Progressive Health

A team of three specialists in women’s health come from the Marino Center for Progressive Health to discuss issues and preventative strategies.

Thursday, March 1
10:30 AM

HOW TO AVOID BEING AIRBORNE IN A GIANT PUPPET PARADE
Mary Curtin

Mary Curtin, local arts producer, used to be an aspiring puppeteer. but then one windy day, in the middle of a parade, she (then 36 years of age) had an epiphany: the band was having way more fun. At age 36, Mary picked up a horn and, with along with the Dirty Water Brass Band, hasn’t looked back since.

12:00 noon

"WE BELIEVE IN YOU!" 12 INSPIRING STORIES FROM MASSACHUSETTS WOMEN'S HISTORY
Bonnie Hurd Smith

In an unusual presentation of women's history, author and motivational speaker Bonnie Hurd Smith examines the motives, methods, and support systems used by twelve successful women from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries in ways you can apply to your personal and professional life today. From poet Anne Bradstreet and essayist Judith Sargent Murray to abolitionist Maria Stewart and suffragist Lucy Stone, their stories are filled with timeless life lessons.

Tuesday, March 6: To Your Health
10:30 AM

HOW TO FIND THE RIGHT DOCTOR: BALANCING CARE AND CURE
Dr. Lydia Mayer

This lecture suggests healing be a conscious goal in any clinical interaction and prepares any patient to identify clinicians who will help them heal. The talk offers explicit tools and examples so patients learn how to seek and shape satisfying, effective health care.

Thursday, March 8
10:30 AM

ARTHUR AND PERCEVAL
Diana Durham

The Troubadours sang of it; courtly knights quested for it; Monty Python laughed at it. The Chalice beckons through the mists of pre-history to bind us in its intrigue still. In this talk, Diana Durham, author of “The Return of King Arthur: Completing the Quest for Wholeness” (Tarcher/Penguin) discusses why the young knight Perceval’s quest for the grail has as much meaning today as when the story was first told centuries ago. Humor and the rich symbolism of the Middle Ages combine as we hear from King Arthur, Merlin, the Grieving Maiden and other characters with author and scholar Diana Durham.

12:00 noon

FROM DAKAR TO THE HEART OF THE GAMBIA: THE COAST OF SENEGAL AND THE GAMBIA RIVER
Harry and Frances Pratt

Dakar, its past shrouded in the African slave trade, is the pulsating capital of Senegal, while the river that flows through it, the Gambia, is the life blood of the territorial sliver known as The Gambia. Inveterate adventurers Harry and Frances Pratt take you on a photographic ocean and riverine voyage aboard the intimate yacht Callisto, visiting a pair of schools in the interior of one of Africa’s least prosperous countries; to the mysterious Wassu Stone Circles, a mini-Stonehenge; and on a pirogue trip through the magnificent Baobolong Wetland Reserve, a world of mangroves alive with birds and other wildlife.

Tuesday, March 13: To Your Health
10:30 AM

INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE
Marino Center for Progressive Health

A panel of three different specialists from the Marino Center for Progressive Health discuss the new emphasis on a team approach to finding the best outcome for each patient.

Thursday, March 15
10:30 AM

ON EQUAL TERMS: WOMEN IN CONSTRUCTION: 30 YEARS AND STILL ORGANIZING
Susan Eisenberg

A master electrician as well as a poet and theater artist, Susan Eisenberg explores women’s experience in the construction trades in a mixed-media exhibit that celebrates the pioneers, as well as the tradeswomen and their allies who have kept the gates open for three decades.

12:00 noon

PHOTO ILLUMINATIONS: EXPERIMENTS IN PHOTO-BASED MIXED MEDIA
Cristina Hajosy

Derived from the illuminated manuscript decorations of the Middle Ages, "Photo Illuminations" blend contemporary photography and mixed media techniques to elevate the photographic image. This show highlights the work of instructor, Cristina Hajosy and her Cambridge Center students. A wide variety of imagemaking styles will show the wonderful possibilities of photography within other artistic contexts.