Lifestyle and Wellness   

This session will explore the four most common dementia diagnoses and provide an overview of disease progression. Course leaders will share strategies for connecting with individuals living with dementia and better understanding their unique experience. 

Every concert, theatrical performance, and corporate event you have attended had an invisible army making it happen. This session pulls back the curtain on live event production: the people, the technology, and the split-second decisions that turn an empty stage into an experience. We will cover how lighting, audio, video, and rigging work together and what happens when something goes wrong mid-show. No technical background needed.

Getting older has its ups and downs. Mindfulness can keep you balanced and resilient, come what may. This course will explore five simple mind and body practices to help you thrive in your later years. You'll learn to use gratitude, mindful activity, mindful eating, meditation and self-compassion to enhance daily life and smooth out the rough spots. A few easy practice exercises will give you some new tools you can use to live your best life.

Whether you're considering part-time work, volunteer opportunities, new hobbies, or simply seeking a more meaningful retirement, understanding your interests can provide valuable direction. Based on the Strong Interest Inventory and John Holland's six interest themes (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional), this interactive workshop will help you identify your own "compass," explore activities that match your natural interests, and discover new possibilities for a pleasurable, engaging, and purposeful next chapter.

Grand Canyon National Park is one of the most iconic landscapes on Earth, combining vast breathtaking scenery with deep geological and human history. From rim to river this course introduces how the canyon was formed, and describes human experience from ancestral Native cultures to more recent exploration, exploitation, conservation, and recreation.

In addition to information on options for a rewarding visit, this course includes a first-hand account of a recent visit to the park including an unforgettable 3 days at the South Rim combined with a 4-day backpacking experience below the rim.

Puzzles of all kinds provide enjoyment and mental stimulation.  Solving puzzles is reported to benefit brain function by maintaining and strengthening mental competence, agility, and memory. Many people are familiar with Sudoku but may not be aware of the many other types of numerical logic puzzles. This course will explore the origins and specific rules of many of these puzzles. Solving strategies will be demonstrated and discussed. Class time will include opportunities to solve various puzzles in small groups. Whether novice or expert, this course is intended to be fun for all.

What actually works when conditions are unstable? Bruce Lee was more than a martial artist—he was a systems thinker who engineered motion under pressure. This course explores how Lee developed adaptable methods across martial arts, film, philosophy, and culture. Students will examine principles of efficiency, timing, and emotional control, applying them to performance, decision-making, and identity. Through case studies and discussion, the class shows how disciplined adaptability shapes resilience and creative power.

Recommended reading: The Bruce Lee Code by Thomas Lee, Career Press, 2023.

The adoption of new technologies and the mass commercialization of culture has opened the door for more deceptive advertising. This course will examine how deceit and scams manifest in multiple forms of contemporary advertising, from ads that don’t look like ads, misleading verbiage, consumer tracking/targeting, ponzi schemes, and plain old snake oil peddling. What are the rhetorical strategies of deceptive ads? Are devices really listening to you? How do we regulate advertising? And most importantly, how do you spot a scam? 

Recommended reading: Doublespeak: From “Revenue Enhancement” to “Terminal Living”: How Government, Business, Advertisers, and Others Use Language to Deceive You by W. Lutz, Ig Publishing, 2015; "The Importance of Being a Complainer: You have the Power to Hold Deceptive Marketers Accountable," B. Patten, 2024, https://truthinadvertising.org/blog/the-importance-of-being-a-complainer/.