“Thirty years after rising to global stardom in The Wizard of Oz, showbiz legend Judy Garland arrives in London to perform a five-week sold-out run at The Talk of the Town.  While preparing for the shows, Garland battles with management, reminisces with friends and adoring fans, and embarks on a whirlwind romance with soon-to-be fifth husband Mickey Deans, all while bravely struggling to overcome intensifying anxiety and physical decline.” (OCPL description) Connecting with our 2021 book, Finding Dorothy, this film will be the basis of a Zoom discussion of Garland’s life as a budding star and her later troubles. (Renee Zellweger won the Oscar for best actress for her starring role.) Please join us for this interactive program. There are many DVD copies of the film available in the public library system and through streaming services. Note: For a complete list of this season’s programs, please check the CNY Reads website: cnyreads.org.

The impulse to write is often triggered by the desire to shine light into a dark place. While writing cannot/should not take the place of therapy, it can help us address the hard stuff of our past. We'll create a supportive, non-judgmental space in which to write, release and let go. Expect weekly writing assignments and a chance to read your work in class.


 

In this class we will be learning not only basics but some deeper levels of meditation through advanced techniques. Discover the insight, clarity and lasting peace that comes from practicing these deep meditative states. We will learn ways to open our hearts to love and divine guidance and experience and practice healing using healing energy with other people. Feel the joy and satisfaction of being an instrument as well as a receiver of spiritual insight and healing. This class requires only a notebook, a pen, love, compassion and kindness.

This class will highlight many of the subjects Lisa has previously taught for Oasis including: Angel Therapy, Mediumship, Talking to Heaven and Journey of Our Souls. We will discuss everything from signs and symbols we receive from Heaven to what it is like to live on the other side. There will be plenty of time to ask questions and gain insight that will help you navigate through this life in a more meaningful way.

This course will introduce students to the nature of religion itself and its study in academic contexts, and then to several of the world’s religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and others. In doing so we will stress foundational texts, practices, beliefs and sacred stories; we will also attend to major historical developments, but will not be ‘surveying' any religion’s whole history.

This recent encyclical, “To All Brothers and Sisters,” and subtitled “On Fraternity and Social Friendship,” presents a unique vision and challenge to think about the world differently based upon a greater sense of sisterhood and brotherhood. It is a complementary encyclical to “Laudato Si” as it addresses political and sociological realities and was written as the pandemic was shaking the world order. It is not only a religious document, however, but an analysis from a uniquely international perspective that can help change our outlook and see our commitment to a more expansive world view. It is not necessary to buy a copy as PowerPoint slides will be used for summary in the discussions.

Explore many of Nietzsche’s key teachings, his friendship with Wagner, and his influence on Freud and Jung. Special attention will be given to Jung’s response to Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Was Nietzsche sympathetic with ideals that later became associated with Hitler?  Why do we recognize his name and yet often know so little about the man?

The torturous years-long quarrel between Henry II and Thomas Becket concerning the rights of Crown and Church in Medieval England is the stuff of legend. Close friends turned bitter opponents, they became locked in a feud that culminated in Becket's gruesome murder shortly after Christmas in the year 1170. Referencing the people and events that influenced Henry's reign and Becket's career all within a generation of the Norman Conquest–Eleanor of Aquitaine, the White Ship, Papal Schism of 1159, Constitutions of Clarendon, etc.–this course follows the quarrel at length from beginning to end and finally invites you to decide for yourself who ultimately prevailed. And why.

As opposition to the war continued to grow, the Nixon administration continued to look for a path to “peace with honor.” Until that agreement was reached, fighting persisted, often growing in intensity as the slow withdrawal of US troops continued. We will look at the process and problems of US disengagement through the early 1970s. We will also begin to examine the legacy of Vietnam and how perception has changed in the years since. There is no need to have been in any of the prior classes to enjoy this one!