The Lourie Center Launches Rebranded Continuing Education Program

Columbia, SC- The Lourie Center, in cooperation with Riggs Partners, has rebranded and re-launched its continuing education program. The Lourie Center was selected as one of the recipients of the October 2020 Riggs Partners CreateAthon®, a 24-hour marketing marathon designed to deliver professional marketing services to nonprofit organizations. From this event emerged a new name and image for the educational program; The Lourie Lectures replaces what was formerly the Midlands Lifelong Learning Program and will offer a series of courses (currently online) in March and April 2021.

The Lourie Lectures provide engaging discourse for adults over 50. Taught by academics and content experts, topics explore the arts and humanities, science, culture and more. Satisfy your thirst for learning through these weekly talks, presented by the Lourie Center, a 501(c)(3) organization.

The Lourie Lectures Spring Schedule

ONLINE: Take Your Brain to the Gym
Mondays 11 am-12 pm
March 1, 8, 15, 22
Lead yourself to creativity, perspective, organization, and wonder. The brain is a muscle, and you can do strength training to make it stronger. This interactive course will help participants identify their current brain preferences- think of it as a trainer evaluation. We will then use practice exercises to strengthen specific parts of the brain. Each week we will focus on a unique brain function-
(1) wonder, (2) creativity, (3) perspective, and (4) organization. Participants will practice using their brains to expand and enhance skills and to boost joy in doing everyday things.
Please note that this is a course that requires participation. You cannot build muscles by watching people exercise and you cannot build brain functionality by watching someone think.

Instructor Dr. Linda Salane, CEO of WNN (Why Not Now) Consulting and Executive Coaching, is a graduate professor in organizational leadership at Columbia College. Salane works with business, government and non-profit organizations in leadership development, team building, succession planning, and strategic planning. Her mission: lead change, challenging everyone to make a difference. Laugh, love, and live to the fullest- seeing life as a gift and a responsibility.

ONLINE: Holocaust Remembered
Tuesdays, 11 am- 12 pm
March 2, 9, 16, 23
The course will focus on identifying the forces that played out in Europe/Asia during the middle of the 20th Century-resulting in the significant event of the Holocaust. Through discussion and Holocaust survivor and Liberator testimony the magnitude of the event will be presented. This will be presented by Dr. Filler and other invited guests.

Instructor Dr. Lilly Filler, a retired physician and daughter of holocaust survivors, oversaw the creation and 2001 installation of the Columbia Holocaust Memorial Monument in downtown Columbia Memorial Park. From that effort, she formed and co-chairs the Columbia Holocaust Education Commission. She was appointed to the SC Council on the Holocaust in 2012 by the Governor and serves on the international board of the Association of Holocaust Organizations. Since retirement in 2014, Filler spends her days studying, lecturing, and teaching the lessons of the Holocaust to teachers, students, and the general community.

ONLINE: Give My Regards to Broadway: Listening to Broadway Musicals
Tuesdays 1–2 pm
March 2, 9, 16, 23
Do you go crazy for A Chorus Line? Are you fan of Phantom of the Opera? Head-over-heels for Hamilton? In this course we will learn tools for listening to Broadway musicals (as well to music in general) to get the most out of your experience, whether live or on-screen. Class lessons will focus on the role of rhythm in Broadway musicals, development of musical topics and storylines, the relationship of Broadway musicals to popular music, and how the Broadway sound has changed over time.

Instructor J. Daniel Jenkins is an associate professor of music theory at the University of South Carolina, and is affiliate faculty in International Studies, Euro Studies and Women's and Gender Studies.

ONLINE: Building Columbia: Architecture from 1786 to Today
Tuesdays 11am- 12 pm
April 6, 13, 20, 27
South Carolina’s capital city features a conglomerate of building forms and aesthetics reflecting a wide range of design trends and construction methodologies. As the first planned city in the United States, Columbia has experienced an architectural evolution involving both unique and formulaic responses to each generation’s needs and tastes. Explore four centuries of Columbia as we take a deep dive into buildings present and long-gone, each of which have played their own role in shaping what we know as Columbia in 2021. Participants will learn of the forces that shaped (and sacked) the capital city’s built environment from 1786 to the present. We will explore the role that historic preservation has played in retaining tangible links to our past while providing unique venues suitable for contemporary demands. Simultaneously you will learn the nomenclature behind the structure. Curious about the difference between a muntin and a mullion? Come and find out that answer and many more to the questions you may have about the buildings you encounter.

Instructor John Sherrer is Director of Cultural Resources at Historic Columbia, overseeing the administration of the organization’s museums, horticultural, facilities, and research departments, sharing historic preservation advocacy responsibilities with the executive director.

ONLINE: "Stories of Struggle": The Redemptive Qualities of Stories
Wednesdays at 11 am – 12 pm
April 7, 14, 21, 28
Journalist Claudia Smith Brinson spent two decades interviewing black activists and searching archives before writing "Stories of Struggle: The Clash Over Civil Rights in South Carolina." We will examine the extraordinary suffering inflicted on the Clarendon County petitioners of Briggs v. Elliott and the courage they summoned to persist for decades in their quest for what they called "Equal Everything." Briggs v. Elliott was the first of five lawsuits composing Brown v. Board of Education, the 1954 and 1955 US Supreme Court decisions that segregation in public schools is unconstitutional. In our last class, we will explore whether facts, documentation, and first-person accounts can transform our world view and thus our behavior.

Instructor Claudia Smith Brinson, an award-winning author and newspaper journalist in South Carolina for more than thirty years, also taught writing at the University of South Carolina and directed the Writing for Print and Digital Media major at Columbia College. Her book “Stories of Struggle: The Clash Over Civil Rights in South Carolina”, chronicles twenty years of racial struggle and progress in South Carolina, through extensive research and interviews with over 150 civil rights activists.

ONLINE: Cancer Literacy: Evidence-Based Choices
Wednesdays 12:30-1:30 pm
April 7, 14, 21, 28
“Cancer” is a diagnosis that strikes fear and uncertainty in patients and their families. Advances in cancer treatment are occurring at a rapid pace and costs for new therapies are high. The course highlights new cancer treatments and the evidence that patients and their healthcare providers use to weigh the choices for cancer care.

Instructor Dr. Sondra Berger is Emeritus Professor in the College of Pharmacy at the University of South Carolina. With a Ph.D. in Pharmacology, Dr. Berger led research for more than 30 years to understand how cancer drugs work.

Fees, Per Four-Week Class
• Full Members of Lourie Center $10
• Associate Members of Lourie Center $20
• Non-Members $30
Registration and payment can be made at the center or online.

Bring a friend for FREE!
As a special promotion for the re-launch of this program, The Lourie Lectures is offering a Guest Pass for each course registered and paid for online during the months of January-March. Simply enter the name and email address of the friend at registration and they will be invited to attend the course as your guest.

Register Online at louriecentersc.com/lourie-lectures
Or Call 803-779-1971 x 103

Media Contact: Stephanie Benjamin, Director of Marketing
Phone: 803-779-1971 x103
Email: Stephanie@louriecentersc.com

The Lourie Center provides opportunities for adults over 50 to remain physically fit, socially engaged, intellectually stimulated, and independent. For more information, call 803-779-1971 or visit the web site at www.louriecentersc.com.