Politics   

• Confronting the Past in International Relations 

• ONLINE: A Zoom invitation link will be sent one day before class begins.

  What do nations owe themselves and others when they have committed great atrocities in the recent past? What should we expect of governments by way of acknowledgement or reparations to address past sins? These questions focus on how we can or should deal with the past, and what we can learn from the past. We will look at the very divergent ways that nations such as Germany (formerly West and East), Japan, Russia, Poland, France, Canada, and the United States have confronted (or not) serious wrong-doing, and the way that present-minded agendas help to shape these responses. As James Baldwin commented, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” Gene Homel has taught history and politics since 1973 at universities and colleges in Ontario and British Columbia. He holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto and has written and presented extensively on history and culture.

  

  

   

• Fee: $20.00

• Instructor(s): Gene Homel

• Dates: 9/8/2026 - 9/8/2026

  Times: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

• Sessions: 1

  Days: Tu

• Building: Online Course

  Room: Online via Zoom

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• She's Gone Missing: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women 

• IN-PERSON: The Elderwise classroom, 2275 Platt Road

  There is an epidemic that no one is talking about outside of Indian Country. Within the Indian community we are dealing with an epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women. With numbers so high that they are unreported, how do we deal with it all? Why aren’t there concrete statistics? What has the FBI done to help with this epidemic? Why do the crimes go unreported? What does “Missing White Woman Syndrome” have to do with this? Join us to discuss some history, and to learn about why this is an issue and what we can do in and out of the Indian Country to make sure that our sisters, mothers, daughters, wives, and girlfriends, don’t become statistics. Heather Bruegl is a citizen of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin and a first-line descendant of the Stockbridge- Munsee Tribe. She is a doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, where she studies First Nations Education. Heather’s research focuses on the importance of telling the truth in history, in museums, and in cultural institutions. She is also a public historian, activist, and independent consultant who works with institutions and organizations for Indigenous sovereignty and collective liberation.

  

  

• Fee: $20.00

• Instructor(s): Heather Bruegl

• Dates: 9/30/2026 - 9/30/2026

  Times: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

• Sessions: 1

  Days: W

• Building: 2275 Platt Road

  Room: Classroom

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• Taking Apart the News, Special Midterm Edition 

• ONLINE: A Zoom invitation link will be sent one day before each class session begins.

  1st session: Wednesday, October 21

  2nd session: Friday, November 6

  It certainly appears that this year’s midterm elections will be more important than the average off-year voting, and also a crucial test of President Trump’s power and ambitions, even though he is not on the ballot. Recent polling indicates that large percentages of likely voters see certain actions as genuinely intended by the White House as efforts to increase presidential authority while limiting aspects of America’s democracy. All three branches of government are unpopular, but so are the major media. Our two classes will evaluate the nation’s tensions and polarization leading up to the midterms, and then the results and outlook three days after the voting. The same battleground states, all of which Trump won in 2024, again will be in play. Watch Georgia and Michigan, which have highly contested and expensive races for all major offices. In our beleaguered two-party system, Independents may determine the outcomes. Al Chambers is a veteran journalist and communicator who continues to focus on the power and speed of news, media and technology in this rapidly changing world.

  

• Fee: $40.00

• Instructor(s): Al Chambers

• Dates: 10/21/2026 - 11/6/2026

  Times: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

• Sessions: 2

  Days: W F

• Building: Online Course

  Room: Online via Zoom

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• National Midterm Elections Panel: Predictions and Outcomes 

• ONLINE: A Zoom invitation link will be sent one day before each class session begins.

  1st session: Wednesday, October 28

  2nd session: Wednesday, November 11

  It has been ten years since the first Elderwise politics panel, and our panel members (The Three Amigos) still offer differing views as they struggle to figure things out. Almost a week before the November 3 election, they will speculate on the impact of foreign wars, living costs, and personalities on partisan allegiances. What do polls suggest? Will incumbent parties, as usual, falter in off-year elections? Donald Trump is not on the ballot; will that make a difference? Then a week after the election, our trio asks, first, did voting and reporting results occur freely and accurately? If not, why not? If so, did Republicans maintain their U.S. Senate majority? Did the GOP keep its U.S. House majority? What about Michigan federal and state outcomes? What turnout patterns emerged? What issues proved decisive? Join us as we try to understand where we are now, and what’s in our future politics and policies. Jeffrey Bernstein studies and teaches political science and American politics at Eastern Michigan University (EMU). Jeffrey specializes in public opinion and political behavior. Michael Homel is Professor Emeritus of history at EMU. Mike’s special expertise is in the fields of 20th century American history and American urban history. Larry Kestenbaum is the Washtenaw County Clerk/Register of Deeds. He is the creator and owner of the Internet’s most comprehensive source for American political biography, PoliticalGraveyard.com.

  

   

• Fee: $40.00

• Instructor(s): Panel Political

• Dates: 10/28/2026 - 11/11/2026

  Times: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

• Sessions: 2

  Days: W

• Building: Online Course

  Room: Online via Zoom

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