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…
History Study Group
via ZoomWe will be reading The Burgundians: A Vanished Empire (Bart Van Loo). It's the story of 1,111+ years of dynastic struggles in Northern Europe, including military campaigns, art, architecture, and…
Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomFirst, please note that this time is different than our usual second Wednesday of the month schedule. For this session, we will begin the book, The Case Against Reality: How…
Dealing with Today’s Social Problems Using Systemic Tools Developed in the Medical Field (The Annual Rhoda Lewin Lecture)
Washburn Library, 5244 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55419In the early-1950's diagnosing medical conditions was greatly assisted by organizing the human body into 7 levels. This led some educational Institutions to begin naming their biological departments as "Life…
Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomWe will discuss chapters five through seven from the book, The Case Against Reality: How Evolution Hid the Truth from our Eyes, by Donald Hoffman. Just to be safe, we will…
History Study Group
via ZoomWe will be reading and discussing Pax Romana: War, Peace and Conquest in the Roman World (Adrian Goldsworthy) We are going back in time, to the 1st & 2nd centuries. We…
Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomWe will conclude our reading of The Case Against Reality: How Evolution Hid the Truth from our Eyes by Donald Hoffman. People have reacted very differently to the thesis that Hoffman…
Annual Picnic
Cherokee Park Picnic Shelter, Chippewa and Winona St., St. PaulThis is our annual summer picnic. MISF will provide the drinks, plasticware, and grills, and St. Paul Parks & Rec the electricity and more grills. You provide a dish to…
History Study Group
via ZoomWe will continue reading and discussing Pax Romana: War, Peace and Conquest in the Roman World (Adrian Goldsworthy). For this session we will finishing the book. We are going back in time,…
Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomWe are going to start reading a new book: Corruptible (2021) by Brian Klass. This book is about power and why those who abuse it so often have it. Does power really corrupt?…
Edward S. Curtis “The North American Indian” Photograph Exhibit
Washburn Library, 5244 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55419The nationally known Edward S. Curtis documented 80 Native American tribes in the Western United States back in the 1890's through 1920's, through photographs, recording their music, myths and religion,…
Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomWe will complete our discussion of the book Corruptible by Brian Klass. Note that this group will be meeting on the third Wednesday of the month rather than our usual second…
Ranked Choice Voting: A Top Reform to Strengthen our Democracy
Washburn Library, 5244 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55419Join the Minnesota Independent Scholars Forum to learn all about Ranked Choice Voting, a top reform to strengthen our democracy. Jeanne Massey, Executive Director of FairVote Minnesota and a national…
History Study Group
via ZoomWe will be discussing The Woman Behind the New Deal: The Life of Frances Perkins, FDR'S Secretary of Labor and His Moral Conscience (2010) by Kirstin Downey I am quite excited about…
Fall Social
Nokomis Square Cooperative, 5015 35th Avenue South, MinneapolisWhat: Get to know the Minnesota Independent Scholars Forum and what its members are up to at an informal late lunch/early supper get-together. MISF will provide the drinks and utensils, you…