 Dear Senior Academy Members, The Senior Academy concluded the fall semester 2021with a lovely December holiday party in the Courses Restaurant. Executive Vice Chancellor Kathy Johnson could join us and The Majestics, complemented for some songs by board member Russell Vertner, provided much liked entertainment. The beginning of the new year has been marked by the continued upending of “normal” lives because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, we have returned to connecting via Zoom instead of in person at least for the events and gatherings scheduled for the first half of the spring semester. The Academy’s first webinar in this year was a collaboration with Always United “Protect Yourself. Protect Your Assets.” For those of you who could not join this event, you will be able to view the recording of the webinar, including the slides that accompanied the presentation when it becomes available next week. Financial issues are also the focus of the second webinar in January. Molly Phelps of TIAA will address “Dealing with Market Volatility: What You Need to Know,” a topic well suited for and of particular interest to those with retirement funds invested in the stock market. In February, IUPUI’s Athletic Director Roderick Perry will present a report about sports on campus. All events will be announced to the Senior Academy membership, including the invitation to register, a feature enabled by the IUPUI calendaring systems that is very useful for planning and evaluating programs. If you missed the announcement or did not register right away, you can always do so on the website from “Upcoming Events” webpage under the ACTIVITIES tab. You will be alerted to events later in February and in early March in the February Bulletin. And yet, you may already want to know about The Mind’s I project for which the Senior Academy is a sponsor, and that Anita Giddings of the Herron School of Art and Design has initiated and organized to occur at the Basile Gallery in her school. Begun in Chicago in 2012, Anne Harris’s The Mind’s I is an ongoing drawing project. Harris invites fellow artists to draw self-portraits with her inside a public gallery space but with few constraints except the mandate to work perceptually, unmediated by technology. Transforming the gallery into an open studio, visitors are invited to observe the creative process in action, watching works develop from draft to display right before their eyes. Self-perception and self-expression are central concerns of The Mind’s I, which marries mimesis, or representation, with diegesis, or thoughts and actions. The presence of each artist allows their individual portraits to stand on their own, but when taken together, The Mind’s I presents a moving composite about looking as much as it is about being seen. There may be opportunity and room for the artists among you to participate in this drawing project. Particulars will be included in the February Bulletin, but the dates are set: the introductory lecture by Anne Harris takes place on March 30th, followed by three days of drawing by 27 artists, and concluding with a gallery exhibit, which members of the Senior Academy will visit as part of a campus tour in early April. In addition to Senior Academy events, Interest Groups have been created, relying on information members submitted to the MEMBER CENTER. Upon joining, every member is encouraged to create a personal profile, which includes the option to indicate special interests for engaging in particular activities and connect with other members who share those interests. The String Theory Group was the first of those Interest Groups and it has recently been profiled in IUPUI TODAY, news for staff & faculty. The Book Club has its first meeting in 2022 on January 19 for a discussion of Alexandra Horowitz, On Looking. A Walker’s guide to the Art of Observation. The Walking Group will resume its activities when the weather becomes brighter and warmer. The scheduled meetings of all Interest Groups are posted on the website under “Upcoming Events” under the ACTIVITIES tab. Members who indicated an interest in outdoor activities make up quite a large group that is also diverse in its suggestions as to what to do and where to go. Those considerations are likely to develop into more concrete proposals with the arrival of spring. Another such large and diverse group has begun discussions and is coalescing around the broad theme and actions of volunteering, often the hallmark of civic and community engagement for retirees. At this point, two different strands of volunteering opportunities have been identified and tried. One centers on one-time events that bring Senior Academy members together with a particular goal. For example, on December 13, 2021, members of the Senior Academy, including spouses and friends, conducted a two-hour work session at Changing Footprints, an organization that collects and distributes gently used shoes for people in need of shoes in Indianapolis, around the United States, and internationally. In two hours, the Senior Academy team processed 2,000 pairs of shoes, work that contributed to the organization. An important feature of this volunteer event was that participants could help the effort while sitting so that those with mobility issues could be included, contributing to the sense and joy of working together as a team in a good cause. Another form of volunteering tends to be one-on-one and can be one-time or more extended over a longer time, typically categorized as mentoring. Senior Academy members are already contributing their experience, knowledge, skills, and connections to IUPUI’s Center for Service Learning. Similarly. The Graduate School is looking for mentors who can help with conducting mock interviews and reviewing CVs and resumés with graduate students who are preparing to go on the job market and who will benefit from those professional conversations and general support and guidance. If you are interested in volunteering as a mentor, a role I have taken on, with pleasure and satisfaction, please send a note to the Senior Academy, ude[dot]iupui[at]ymedacas, or directly to me, ude[dot]iupui[at]kcekowm; 317 332 8488, and I will provide further details for those opportunities that begin in February and will continue throughout the spring semester. An important regular feature of spring is the call to members for nominations to the IUPIUI Senior Academy Board and also for service in its committees. The Nominating Committee has been formed and is chaired by Mark Grove from whom you will receive the formal notice and invitation for nominations. Please consider becoming actively engaged with the Senior Academy in 2022-2023. May 2022 turn out to be a year that surprises with positive developments and that allows us to get together and travel in good health and with much enjoyment! Marianne S. Wokeck For questions and comments, contact us at ude[dot]iupui[at]ymedacas. |
