In addition to the individual presentation offerings for LifeLong Learning Program members, this spring, LLP is launching LLP Plus, a separate seminar program that offers an opportunity for deeper learning through a series of meetings focused on a single topic. LLP is a collaboration between Colgate University’s Upstate Institute and the central New York community to provide adults with ongoing educational and enrichment opportunities on a variety of topics presented by local experts. Community members are invited to learn more about the Lifelong Learning Program and LLP Plus on Wednesday, Jan. 15, from 3–5 p.m. at the Palace Theater.
The initial LLP Plus seminar will feature an extended discussion of David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, directed by Margaret Darby, who retired from Colgate’s Department of Writing and Rhetoric in 2015 as an associate professor, having published articles on Dickens in several academic journals and books. Rather than studying what professional critics and biographers have written about the novel, the pedagogical philosophy will be to deepen the participant's capacity to find and enlarge individual responses to the text.
Darby says the LLP board was interested in offering an opportunity to explore a topic in more depth than the usual one or two sessions allow, so she developed a new model: a seminar series composed of four or more sessions that would encourage a deeper dive. She hopes future seminars might explore a wide range of topics in a variety of intellectual disciplines taught by specialists in widely differing fields of knowledge.
“At first glance, this might look like a book club, but it is not. It is a mini-course taught by a Dickens scholar, but I am also a retired professor in the Department of Writing and Rhetoric at Colgate,” Darby says. “This means that it will feature a simple writing strategy that I used for many years in my undergraduate teaching: in-class writing that is designed never to be read by anyone. This is not writing to be shared, corrected, edited, or submitted to another's judgment. This is writing to bring words to full consciousness, to the tip of the tongue, for immediate use.”
Darby says she will ask the seminar participants to bring a pencil and paper to each class, as well as their copy of the novel, but she will not lecture on Dickens criticism or biography.
“This will be a course on learning to notice more fully how one reacts to a text, not to remember personal associations but rather to see how paying attention yields insight into the maker's design,” Darby says. “It will be a course in extreme noticing: what do we notice Dickens doing, and what do his choices do for him? He is writing to be read, and this novel has been read continuously since 1849; his readers owe him their most profound attention.”
LLP Plus spring 2025 meeting dates will be March 31, April 7, 14, and 28, and May 5 from 3:30–4:30 p.m. in the Town of Hamilton Hall. The LLP Plus program fee is $30 for LLP members and $50 for non-members. Registration will be open to LLP members first, non-member registration is contingent upon space availability if members do not fill the class. Completed applications and registration fees must be received by Friday, March 14, 2025. Registration and payment information is available here, for more information or questions contact llp@colgate.edu.
LLP’s individual course presentations also begin this month, they are free for LLP members and students and are open to non-members for a $10 fee. For more information on upcoming presentations and LLP Plus seminars, or to become a member or presenter, please email llp@colgate.edu. All classes are live and in-person and sessions will not be recorded.
Spring 2025 Course Schedule
Jan. 9: “Politics and Dirty Hands” with David McCabe, the Richard J. and Joan Head Chair in Philosophy at Colgate University. 3:30–4 p.m. Palace Theater.
Jan. 23: “A View from Taiwan” with David Robinson, the Robert H.N. Ho Professor in Asian Studies and a Professor of History at Colgate University. 2–3 p.m. Palace Theater.
Feb. 6: “Colgate’s Third-Century Plan” with Colgate University President Brian W. Casey. 3:30–4:30 p.m. Palace Theater.
Feb. 19: “Silence and Serenity: A Tour of the Chapel House” with Georgia Frank, Charles A. Dana Professor of Religion and Interim Director of Chapel House at Colgate University. 3–4 p.m. Chapel House.
Feb. 26: “The Art of Rhetoric Through the Ages” with Jennifer Lin LeMesurier, an Associate Professor of Writing and Rhetoric at Colgate University. 3:30–4:30. Palace Theater.
March 5: “Media Literacy 101: Understanding the Press Amidst Tidal Changes” with Dan DeVries, Vice President of University Communications at Colgate University, and Stephanie DeVries, Communications Specialist for Colgate's centers and institutes. 3–4 p.m. Palace Theater.
March 13: “On the Brink: Saving the Florida Panther from Extinction” with John Pumilio, LEED Green Associate, Certified Energy Manager, Certified Health Coach and Director of Sustainability at Colgate University. 3–4:30 p.m. Palace Theater.
March 27: “Jazz and Popular Song” with Michael Coyle, Professor of English at Colgate University and Kara Rusch, artist and former partner at Cadence Jazz. 3–4:30 p.m. Palace Theater.
April 17: “Sports Injuries in Athletes” with Dr. Kamaljeet Banga, Board-certified orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist at Community Memorial Hospital. 3:30-4:30 p.m. Palace Theater.
April 23: “Women’s Soccer” with Lyndse Hokanson, Colgate’s Head Women's Soccer Coach. 2-3 p.m. Palace Theater.
May 15: “History of Earlville Opera House” with Michelle Connelly, executive director for the Earlville Opera House (EOH) and Bruce Ward, a local architect and the current board president for the EOH. 3-4:30 p.m. Earlville Opera House, 18 E. Main Street, Earlville.