Lecture: “Changing Minds: Technology, the Sociology of Knowledge, and Russian Literature”

On Monday, June 13 at 7:30 pm in the Gathering Room, Peter B. Kaufman will present a talk on “Changing Minds: Technology, the Sociology of Knowledge, and Russian Literature

Kaufman is Senior Program Officer for Resource Development and Strategic Initiatives at MIT Open Learning.  

A Russianist educated at Cornell and Columbia, he has studied structures of totalitarian thought control and is the author of The New Enlightenment and the Fight to Free Knowledge (2021).

Kaufman will speak about the ways minds can change now, at a time of craziness and incipient violence around our country.  He will describe our strife-torn republic – with misguided beliefs about vaccines being poison, elections being stolen, and violence being seen as a legitimate part of political discourse.  He will also discuss the warnings of the great World War II philosophers and sociologists and describe some of things universities, libraries, museums, archives – and everyday citizens - can do to try to heal some of our divisions. 

As background, he recommends reading:  Karen Yourish et al., “Inside the Apocalyptic Worldview of ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight,’” New York Times, April 30, 2022, online at: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/04/30/us/tucker-carlson-tonight.html
Barbara F. Walter, “We Are Living in the Age of Civil War,” The New Republic, April 14, 2022, online at: https://newrepublic.com/article/165959/global-age-civil-war.

All residents are invited to this timely and interesting presentation.

Water, Water Not Everywhere, But...

Tucked into the alcove (with the ATM machine) off the Residents Lounge is a new Water Cooler.

The water is cold and delicious. It never runs dry.

We are expecting a scorching summer and MUST HYDRATE to stay healthy. So, while meandering down Kendal’s Main Street, or meeting in the Gathering Room, or Lounge, remind yourself to drink a cup of cold water, and enjoy the ELIXIR OF LIFE.

This message has been brought to you by the Health and Wellness Committee.

Saturday Opera

Kendal’s Saturday Opera program continues. This coming week it will be Un Ballo in Maschera by Giuseppe Verdi. It is a great choice for Saturday, June 11.

The main roles are sung by Placido Domingo, Josephine Barstow, Florence Quiver, Sumi Jo, and Leo Nucci. John Schlesinger directs and Georg Solti conducts the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (the State Opera’s ”house band”) in a performance from the 1990 Salzburg Festival.

You will be welcomed by other opera lovers, so please join them in the Gathering Room at 1:00 pm.

New Trip Announced

There will be a new trip (planned by the Trips Committee) on Wednesday, June 29 to the Storm King Arts Center, Mountainville, NY.

Participants will see outstanding contemporary and modern art with large- and small-scale sculptures in a setting of 500 acres of rolling meadows, woods, and hills.

Artists include Alexander Calder, Mark di Suvero, David Smith, Isamu Noguchi, Richard Serra, and many others.

A tram runs continuously all day. Storm King is more than an arts depot. It’s an experience.

Wednesday Art Class

The Wednesday Art Class will continue with focus on Painting Fundamentals.

It will take place at 3:00 pm in the Art Room.

June 8: Color painting techniques - hue with reflection and shadow – cool and warm color choices to create highlights and shadows

June 15: Wet-on-wet and blending techniques for watercolor – value and color of object and its shadow – cool versus warm colors for highlights and shadows.

To register for each class, contact Gretchen Engler

Steel Drum Concert

On Sunday, June 12, at 3:00 pm, Kendal will host the Steel Passion Steel Drum Band of Christ Church in Tarrytown, which returns for its sixth Kendal concert.

Weather permitting, the program will be held under the tent on the Terrace. The band plays in the “island” style of the Caribbean; its music ranges from calypso to pop and from jazz to classical.

Be prepared for a good time!

All residents can join us on the Terrace for an afternoon of otherworldly music.

Behold the Land – The Black Arts Movement in the South

“Behold the Land – The Black Arts Movement in the South” will be a lecture presented to a Kendal audience on Monday, June 6.

James Smethurst, son of Bix and Bill Smethurst, is Professor of Afro-American Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. His primary research areas are African-American literature, culture, and intellectual history from the late 19th to the late 20th century, with a particular emphasis on Black cultural and political radicalism.

His June 6th talk will center on elements of the Black Arts Movement from the early 1960s until the early 1980s. Much of the support for the movement to the North and West came from a whole infrastructure of Black Arts organizations, institutions, and events in the South. This deep public support for the work of a people in the process of freeing itself changed our notions of what art is and whom it is for.

James Smethurst earned his Ph.D. in English from Harvard. Prior to joining the U. Mass Amherst faculty, he taught at the University of North Florida.

The talk will be given in the Gathering Room at 7:30 pm.

Herb Garden News

A note from the residents’ Herb Garden Committee tells us:

The herbs have been planted! In a few weeks, look forward to enhancing your palate with basil, cilantro, chamomile, two kinds of parsley, garlic, chives, oregano, thyme, rosemary, mint, and nasturtium (edible flowers).

Please let the plants settle in their new home for a few weeks. We can start to enjoy the aromatic plants by mid June. Look for the announcement.

Meanwhile, think about volunteering to water or to weed the herbs...very therapeutic. To sign up, please contact Janet or Maria.

The residents’ planter has the dragonfly hovering over the herbs as well as a black sign “Herb Garden.”

The Herb Garden Committee

The Give & Take Table Talks (Actually Writes)

Dear Friends,

Please DON’T look for me on June 1 on T Level. 

Repeat: NO GIVE AND TAKE TABLE on WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1st!

I will be away, doing table things, but I will
return on Thursday afternoon

                      JUNE 2nd at 3:00 PM

Does everyone read me?  DON’T EVEN THINK about Give and Take until late Thursday, 6/2.

I mean it.  Don’t go down there with your stuff. There won’t be any place to put it.  Seriously.

          Hoping you got the message,
          The Give and Take Table

Saturday Opera

Kendal’s Saturday Opera Program continues with John Adams’ first opera Nixon in China. It is our fare for June 4th.

The work, with a libretto by Alice Goodman, describes President Nixon’s visit to the People’s Republic of China in 1972.

The principal roles are sung by James Maddalena (Richard Nixon), Janis Kelly (Pat Nixon), Richard Paul Fink (Henry Kissinger), Russell Braun (Zhou En-lai), Robert Brubaker (Mao Tse-tung), and Kathleen Kim (Madame Chiang Ch’ing).

The director is Peter Sellars, the conductor John Adams, in this February 2011 performance by the Metropolitan Opera.

Please join us on June 4th in the Gathering Room at 1:00 pm.