Futures Study Group
via ZoomA volume that provides a broad overview of the coming webinars. A very good set of studies that deal with anticipation and futures is the series RethinkX (https://www.rethinkx.com/). Many of the series…
Reducing Social, Economic and Ecological Stress with the Genuine Progress Indicator
via ZoomThe dominate economic signal on Earth, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), is inaccurate and dangerous in relation to our overall well-being and sustainability on Earth, while the Genuine Progress Indicator…
History Study Group
via ZoomWe will be concluding the book, Fields of Blood: Religion and the History of Violence by Karen Armstrong. In Part III, Armstrong covers the modern era, from the Reformation and the…
Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomNote that April 11 is not the second Wednesday of the month, the time we have been meeting recently. We will finish discussing the book, Philosophy in the Flesh: the…
This Was 2020
via ZoomWhat role can the public library play in publishing community voices and creating communitas? The year 2020 was especially difficult for Minnesotans as we weathered the COVID-19 pandemic and George…
History Study Group
via ZoomOur next book is: The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine by Serhii Plokhy. We are taking on the 2021 revised edition that is evidently quite popular as it is…
Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomWe will begin reading A History of Philosophy in the Twentieth Century (2001) by Christian Delacampagne. The paperback version retails for around $28 ($23 on Amazon), but there are used books…
Ginny Hanson Poetry Day: The Poetry of Donna Issac
via ZoomDonna Isaac will read from each of her publications as well as new poems she is working on. Teacher and Poet, Donna Isaac holds English degrees from James Madison University…
Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomWe will continue reading A History of Philosophy in the Twentieth Century by Christian Delacampagne. For the 8th we will discuss chapters 2 and 3, in which the author covers the development of…
Minnesota in World War II
Robert H. Rohlf Room at Ridgedale Library, Ridgedale MNWhat was the reality of war for a state so far from Nazi Germany or Imperial Japan? Learn the stories of ordinary people who went to far flung battlefields or…
History Study Group
via ZoomWe are still gaining daylight these days - which means you can enjoy our next book almost anywhere: The Light Ages: The Surprising Story of Medieval Science by Seb Falk.…
Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomWe plan to conclude our discussion of A History of Philosophy in the Twentieth Century by Christian Delacampagne. Early in my study of philosophy I was told that if you really want…
Futures Study Group
via ZoomAs mentioned previously, there was interest in hydroponics of raising commercial plants in houses. A related area that has not been touched on is the raising of fish commercially. The…
Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomFor this meeting we are going to begin a discussion about distributive justice. First, we'll do an overview. Both the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy and the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy have articles on distributive…
Annual Picnic
Cherokee Park Picnic Shelter, Chippewa and Winona St., St. PaulCome join us at the small picnic shelter in Cherokee Park in St. Paul's West Side neighborhood for our annual picnic. We will start gathering at 11:30 with serving beginning…
History Study Group
via ZoomHeading Southeast from our last book we travel to Burma. A place greatly influenced by natural disaster, colonial rule, fast-rising inequality, disintegrating state institutions, social media, China next door, climate…
Global Climate Summit in Egypt November 2022: The Role of Fresh Energy in the Push for Meeting the U.S. Commitment of 50% Reduction in Carbon Emissions
Washburn Library, 5244 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55419J. Drake Hamilton, Senior Director, Science Policy, Fresh Energy, will explain that President Biden, on November 1, 2021, was at the Global Climate Summit held in Glasgow, Scotland. To 40,000…
History Study Group
via ZoomWe are finishing the book, Chapters 6-9, The Hidden History of Burma: Race, Capitalism, and the Crisis of Democracy in the 21st Century, by ThantMyint-U. Burma, a place greatly influenced by natural…
Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomWe will discuss a paper by Nancy Fraser, “Social Movements vs. Disciplinary Bureaucracies: The Discourses of Social Needs” (1987) Center for Humanistic Studies Occasional Papers, Number 8, 3-37. For a copy of…
Minnesota and the Ultra-Resistance
Washburn Library, 5244 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55419Based on his 2018-2019 oral history project, “We Don’t Want You to Go Either,” Peter Simmons will talk about Minnesotans who, during 1967-1970, took part in raids on Selective Service…
History Study Group
via ZoomWe will be discussing Tycoon's War: How Cornelius Vanderbilt Invaded a Country to Overthrow America's Most Famous Military Adventurer. Of course you have heard about Cornelius Vanderbilt and his unbelievable…
Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomWe will begin reading The Human Condition (1958) by Hannah Arendt. You can find a new paperback of this book for around $22 or an ebook for about $15. Since this…
The Civilian Conservation Corps in Minnesota
Washburn Library, 5244 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55419The Great Depression New Deal-era program, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), has been recognized as the largest conservation program in U.S. history. Its Minnesota story is a fascinating one, involving…
History Study Group
via ZoomWhile we read many fantastic books, this was the first time in months where everyone was really looking forward to the rest of the book! We have seen Cornelius Vanderbilt…
Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomWe will continue our discussion of The Human Condition by Hannah Arendt by reading Parts III and IV. This is not a difficult book to read, but the arguments can be complex…
Philosophy Study Group – Rescheduled!
via ZoomWe will finish up our discussion of Hannah Arendt's The Human Condition, covering Parts V and VI, in which she discusses action and the modern age, drawing her final conclusions…
Systems Change Not Climate Change
Washburn Library, 5244 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55419We can’t grow our way out of the problems such as climate change. That means neither growth nor “degrowth”. Malcolm X has said that a chicken cannot produce a duck…
History Study Group
via ZoomBlood and Thunder: An Epic of the American West, by Hampton Sides We are finishing the book. So far we have met a wonderful assortment of characters. Navajo warrior Narbona,…
Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomFor this meeting, rather than a book or other reading, we are going to assign a topic. The topic is Punishment. Both this meeting and our one in March will…
“Traveling Without Aggravation” – How Victor H. Green Changed Travel for Black Americans: Green Book Locations in the Historic Rondo Community (1940 – 1956)
Washburn Library, 5244 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55419Traveling without aggravation, especially with our families and young folk was never easy for Black people during the Jim Crowe Era and before the signing of Civil Rights Act of…
History Study Group
via ZoomThe Company: The Rise and Fall of the Hudson's Bay Empire (Stephen R. Bown). We are taking a different route this next book - we are heading up to Canada!…
Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomWe will read and discuss the Little Book of Restorative Justice (2015) by Howard Zehr. This is an inexpensive (less than $10), short book that we will cover in a single…
RESTORATIVE JUSTICE: Reweaving the Fabric of Community
Washburn Library, 5244 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55419Restorative justice is a grassroots movement, growing out of the 70s, that offers an alternative perspective on crime and how crime is addressed. Though its origin lies in the modern…
History Study Group
via ZoomThe Company: The Rise and Fall of the Hudson's Bay Empire Part 2 (Stephen R. Bown). We are taking a different route this next book - we are heading up to…
Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomWe will begin a discussion of the book When They Severed Earth from Sky: How the Human Mind Shapes Myth (2004) by Elizabeth Wayland Barber and Paul T. Barber. For the 12th we'll…
A Natural Curiosity: A History of the Bell Museum
Washburn Library, 5244 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55419From its humble beginnings as a one-room cabinet of scientific specimens, the University of Minnesota’s Bell Museum has grown to be an important cultural institution with a new public museum…
History Study Group
via ZoomRichest Man Who Ever Lived: The Life and Times of Jacob Fugger (Greg Steinmetz).The story of a man with a fortune rivaling nearly two percent of European GDP. Not only…
Beyond “Jeg elsker dig”: A Program of Nordic Song
Mindekirken (The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church) 924 East 21st Street, MinneapolisA few songs by Edvard Grieg are known to the classical music public, and occasional songs by other composers (Sibelius, especially) might show up on concert programs, particularly when the…
Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomWe will conclude talking about myth and the mind as presented in the book When They Severed Earth from Sky: How the Human Mind Shapes Myth by Elizabeth Wayland Barber and…
Poetry Day
Washburn Library, 5244 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55419Evelyn D. Klein will read from her new book Fear and Promise, Remembering the Year 2020. She will discuss the notion of poet as historian, bringing in famous poets of the…