What happens when the systematic erosion of trust has been cultivated as a weapon of power and control? Institutional racism in law enforcement

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​Detective Travis Hurley is sent to Limbo, a desolate opal mining town in the South Australian outback, to investigate the possibility of re-opening the cold case of Charlotte Hayes, a local Indigenous woman who disappeared 20 years ago. When Travis begins his inquiries, he is met with suspicion and hostility. There had been only a cursory investigation 20 years ago, because, after all, she was just another dead Aboriginal woman. To the Black locals, Travis is another white cop, just like the earlier ones who harassed, interrogated and beat them, and then, as evidence started to point to a white perpetrator, dropped the case and walked away. As Charlie, Charlotte’s brother, bitterly tells Travis, “White girl disappears, and it gets on the TV. The helicopters turn up. Black girl goes missing, it’s swept under the rug.” 

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Watch the film on your own, then join us for the discussion, hosted by Valerie Edwards. This event is free and open to the community. 

This course in the Wise Aging series continues to expand our consciousness about aging. Rejecting the declinist view of aging in favor of a positive mindset of creativity, renewal and joy, we continue to explore the tools and techniques that are key to aging wisely, and to reframe our vision so as to see ourselves on the path to becoming wise elders. We will explore how to put what we've learned about wise aging more fully into practice, through topics that will include The Wisdom of Rituals; Impermanence; Cultivating Spiritual Qualities; Getting Ready to Let Go; and Moving Forward With Joy. The textbook recommended for this class is “Getting Good at Getting Older” by Richard Siegel and Rabbi Laura Geller. This course is free and without charge except for the cost of the textbook. It is not necessary to have taken any previous Wise Aging courses in order to attend this class.

What happens when young women are trained to uphold and promote the very power structure that keeps them down? Institutional sexism in higher education

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In 1953, Katherine Watson, a progressive, idealistic young art teacher, travels from California to New England to teach art history at the prestigious all-female Wellesley College, where she anticipates working with the smartest young women in the country and being able to make a difference in their lives. But while the school prides itself on its high standards of academic excellence, it quickly becomes clear to Miss Watson that the only grade that really counts at Wellesley is the one a husband gives his wife for her performance as a wife and mother. “I thought I was headed to a place that would turn out tomorrow’s leaders," she fumes, "not their wives!” When her plans for a more adventurous art curriculum are stymied by the college’s conservative Board, and her efforts to change her students’ perspectives are met with resistance and retaliation, Miss Watson must decide whether to give in…or keep fighting.

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Watch the film on your own, then join us for the discussion, hosted by Valerie Edwards. This event is free and open to the community.

If a community has been destroyed, how can it be reborn?

In 1870 post-civil was Texas, former Confederate Captain Jefferson Kidd makes his living traveling from town to town, reading newspaper stories to local residents. Riding out from Wichita Falls, Kidd comes across a wrecked government wagon, with its black driver brutally lynched and its passenger, a young white girl speaking only Kiowa, terrified and hiding in the woods. Kidd learns that she was being taken, against her will, to live with relatives near San Antonio, but when he asks passing lawmen for help, they shrug off any responsibility for the girl. Instead, they order Kidd to take her to the Indian Agency representative at Red River, and Kidd - an itinerant traveler unaccustomed to caring for children - suddenly finds himself the child's de-facto guardian.

Watch the film on your own, then join us for the discussion, hosted by Valerie Edwards. This event is free and open to the community. 

This introductory course in the Wise Aging Series explores the later stage of life through topics that will include reflecting on our life stories, relating compassionately to our changing bodies, cultivating spiritual qualities that can sustain and uplift us, building nourishing relationships, and living with loss while finding light and purpose. We will draw on text study, discussion, meditation, journaling and other practices to help us live more mindfully, authentically, and joyfully. This course is free and without charge except for the cost of the textbook. It is not necessary to have taken any other Wise Aging courses in order to attend this class.

This introductory course in the Wise Aging Series explores the later stage of life through topics that will include reflecting on our life stories, relating compassionately to our changing bodies, cultivating spiritual qualities that can sustain and uplift us, building nourishing relationships, and living with loss while finding light and purpose. We will draw on text study, discussion, meditation, journaling and other practices to help us live more mindfully, authentically, and joyfully. This course is free and without charge except for the cost of the textbook.