Charles Edward Yonkers

This three-session course is an exploration of different kinds of special places in our lives: natural and geographic ones that we experience and treasure; social ones that we honor and celebrate; and subjective ones particular to our unique perceptions. A light reading list of excerpts will stimulate discussion and perhaps promote either writing or other creative expressions.

Charles Edward Yonkers is a former Peace Corps Country Director, lawyer (Harvard, J.D., Yale, B.A.), and adjunct professor in Georgetown’s Graduate Liberal Studies Program (M.A.L.S.). His thesis was “The Creation of a Sense of Place: History, Culture, and Henderson, KY.” He has taught a course on A Sense of Place since 2011. His current place is Pot Pie Farm, Wittman, MD. Live ZOOM Class Sessions Only, Tuesdays, April 13, 20, 27 from 10:30-12:00 pm $30. Enrollment in the Live ZOOM Option is Limited. To register for the course, or for more information about Chesapeake Forum classes go to https://chesapeakeforum.org/april-2021-courses or visit us on Facebook.

Miranda Donnelly

Aging is a natural process in human development and there are certain common features of aging that we can anticipate. But where does “normal” aging end? In our first session, we will talk about what we can expect as we age and ways to identify and prepare for interruptions to these natural processes. We will consider physical, cognitive, sensory, sexual, emotional, and social features of aging and what we can do to make the most of the aging experience.  In our second session, we will discuss life interruptions and the role of the Caregiver. When the familiar cadence of life is interrupted by injury, disease, or disability in ourselves or a loved one, we are challenged to adapt quickly. While much of the focus is on the individual whose body or mind is directly affected by the interruption, loved ones also experience significant changes to daily life. In this conversation, we will talk about the unique challenges of assuming the role of caregiver and ways we can adapt and maintain wellness.

Miranda Donnelly is a registered occupational therapist (OTR) who finds meaning in helping people participate in life after neurologic injury. Donnelly graduated from Towson University with a Masters in OT and, after working clinically with adults who experienced life interruptions due to neurologic conditions, is pursuing a PhD in occupational science at the University of Southern California. Donnelly works in the USC Neural Plasticity and Neurorehabilitation Laboratory, where she is involved in applying virtual reality-based human computer interfaces to stroke rehabilitation and studying factors that influence stroke recovery. She is also the host of the “OT Uncorked” podcast, in which she covers hot topics in occupational therapy with a glass of wine and guests from the profession. She currently resides in sunny Los Angeles and is newly married to her husband Sean. Choose between Live ZOOM Class Sessions or Recorded Tuesdays, April 13, 20 from 1:00-2:30 pm $20.To register for the course, or for more information about Chesapeake Forum classes go to https://chesapeakeforum.org/april-2021-courses or visit us on Facebook.

Linda F. Earls

From newspaper accounts to personal narratives to essays, we’ll analyze the everyday lives of slaves on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in the 19th century. What harrowing and unique challenges did females face? Males? How did slaves work together and independently to outwit their masters, and at what cost? How did they endure the ever-changing and ever-unpredictable Maryland weather? We’ll retrace the journey of slaves such as Frederick Douglass, whose life began on the Wye Plantation of Talbot County, and ended on his own estate of Cedar Hill in Washington, D.C. To imagine what life would have been like for him, we will take a virtual tour of both estates. Please join us for what promises to be a memorable session!

Linda Earls began teaching at Chesapeake College in 1995 as an adjunct faculty instructor to the English department but was hired as a full-time professor in 1997 (teaching reading, composition and literature courses, particularly American and African American literature). She frequently coteaches American literature with American history professors, as she believes the two courses go “hand in glove.” A lover of history, she hasan extensive collection of Civil War letters, and since childhood has been fascinated visiting and reading anything pertaining to the war. A native of the Eastern Shore, Earls shares her passion for making history “come alive” with her students by traveling with them to locations such as Cedar Hill in Washington, D.C. (former home of Frederick Douglass); the Wye House & Plantation (where Douglass was kept as a slave); the Edgar Allan Poe House in Baltimore; and many other local sites. She received her BA in English and her MA in Literature from Salisbury University, and worked on her PhD in American Literature at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C.Choose between Live ZOOM Class Sessions or Recorded. Wednesdays, April 7, 14 from 1:00-2:30 pm $20. To register for the course, or for more information about Chesapeake Forum Winter/Spring 2021 classes go to our website at https://chesapeakeforum.org/ or visit us on Facebook.

Bruce Purdy

Take a roller coaster journey through the developing world, from the Civil War in Beirut to the Velvet Revolution in Eastern Europe, and most recently, to the chaos and confusion rising out of the Arab Spring. Whether it’s rebuilding trust in the financial system, investing in economic development and infrastructure, funding basic services like water and sanitation, trying to harness the massive influx of people migrating into urban areas, or grappling with gut-wrenching poverty, this course will examine the policies, procedures, major actors, and difficult challenges facing much of the globe. Infused throughout the course will be personal vignettes – some humorous and some not so humorous – of more than 45 years of one man’s trek and his quest to make a difference to remedy these challenges.

Bruce Purdy is an international development consultant with more than 45 years of experience planning and financing rural and urban infrastructure projects in more than 25 emerging and developing economies. Purdy holds a B.A. from Ohio Wesleyan University, an M.A. from the University of Maryland, and undertook extensive coursework in strategic and organizational planning at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Currently, Mr. Purdy is developing the Global Urban Leadership Program in the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland. Choose between Live ZOOM Class Sessions or Recorded, Wednesdays, April 7, 14 from 9:30-11 am $20. To register for the course, or for more information about Chesapeake Forum Winter/Spring 2021 classes go to our website at https://chesapeakeforum.org/ or visit us on Facebook.

Hunter H. Harris

During this one session class you will join me on two flights. First, we fly a Skyship 600 Airship from which we capture Air-To-Air video of “Crazy Horse” P-51 from a unique perspective. Then we will jump in the Mustang and fly like you’ve never flown before!  You may want to use a seatbelt as we fly many acrobatic maneuvers and do some low-level attack runs on a (practice) SAM missile site with two views of video from the cockpit. We’ll finish up with a pretty decent landing directly into the sun, an hour’s flight condensed down to 30 minutes.  I will take questions at the end.

Hunter is a native Eastern Sho’ farm boy (several generations Chesapeake Bay front farm) who loves anything mechanical or flyable. Holds FAA Commercial Pilots license for all ‘categories’ and most ‘classes’ of aircraft, also FAA licensed Aircraft Mechanic and FAA Certified Flight Instructor. Hunter is an elected member of The Society of Experimental Test Pilots, as well as a former FAA Aviation Rulemaking Committee Member. International award-winning Aerial Photographer, unemployed blimp pilot and a bunch of other stuff. Choose between Live ZOOM Class Session or Recorded, Tuesday, April 6 from 1:30-3:00 pm $10.To register for the course, or for more information about Chesapeake Forum Winter/Spring 2021 classes go to our website at https://chesapeakeforum.org/ or visit us on Facebook.

Phil Hesser

Anna Ella Carroll and Harriet Tubman served the federal government during the Civil War with Carroll writing in support of President Lincoln’s policies and advocating the Tennessee River campaign and Tubman serving as a scout, spy, and nurse. Living with limited means in the last decades of the 19^th century, they both sought government pensions in recognition of their contributions. Reviewing the documentation and arguments for and against, we will explore both cases to determine the eligibility and merit of each case. Ready to grab hold of a political hot potato? Then join our pension board as we examine whether compensation for national service in war is “a woman’s province” in the last years of the 19^th century.

Phil Hesser, PhD., has taught in the US and Africa and served as protection and education officer with UNHCR and program director with the Academy for Educational Development. Having received his B.A. degree at the University of California – Santa Barbara and M.A. and PhD. degrees at Binghamton University, he has continued his work in education as an Adjunct Professor of History at Salisbury University and is a part-time faculty member in History and Political Science at Wor-Wic Community College. Pursuing his interest at the intersection of landscape, life and livelihood in Delmarva and on the Bay, he wrote What a River Says: Exploring the Blackwater River and Refuge (Cambridge: Friends of Blackwater, 2014)) and is completing The Old Home Is Not There: The Native Land of Harriet Tubman with co-author Charlie Ewers. Choose between Live ZOOM Class Sessions or Recorded, Thursdays, April 1, 8 from 1:00-2:30 pm $20. To register for the course, or for more information about Chesapeake Forum Winter/Spring 2021 classes go to our website at https://chesapeakeforum.org/ or visit us on Facebook.

Bob DeGour

Anyone interested in expanding their knowledge of international relations and participating in active discussions of crucial global issues will find these engaging and insightful conversations of important topics of the day very interesting. Course participants will select four topics from the 2020-2021 Briefing Book to focus on this semester: The Role of International Organizations in a Global Pandemic; National Security; China and Africa; Korean Peninsula; Persian Gulf Security; Brexit and the European Union; The Fight over the Melting Arctic; The End of Globalization.  Each session starts with a video on the topic prepared by the Foreign Policy Association, followed by engaged discussion among participants.  The 2000-2001 Briefing Book will be provided to Live Course participants.

Rich Harrison is the retired Director of Research & Development for Baltimore Aircoil Co., a worldwide manufacturer of evaporative cooling equipment and ice thermal storage equipment. During his 39 years at BAC, he developed numerous innovative components of those products and received ten patents. He has a bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech and a master’s degree from Purdue University. He resided in Columbia, Maryland, for 32 years and then found the light of the Eastern Shore.

Since entering his retirement years, Bob DeGour has become a fixture at Eastern Shore schools as the local Blue and Gold Officer for the US Naval Academy. His never-tiring efforts to give back find him in and out of the schools mentoring young people and teaching capstone courses in Biomed as well as Geopolitics to AP students.  Bob is a 1973 U.S. Naval Academy graduate and was the first midshipman to study concurrently in a civilian university post graduate program.  His classified thesis focused on socio-political systems in Pre-WW II Germany, the Soviet Union, and the Peoples Republic of China.  He served in the Navy Intel Community before transitioning to the private sector. Enrollment in the Live ZOOM class is limited to 12. Choose between Live ZOOM Class Sessions or Recorded, Thursdays, April 1, 8, 15, 22 from 10:00-11:30 am $50.`To register for the course, or for more information about Chesapeake Forum Winter/Spring 2021 classes go to our website at https://chesapeakeforum.org/ or visit us on Facebook.

Freer Gallery

The Smithsonian Institution has two museums of Asian art: The Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. The Freer Gallery houses one of the premier collections of Asian art, with objects dating from Neolithic times to the early 20th century, as well as the world’s most important collection of works by James McNeill Whistler. Although the galleries are closed, we can still appreciate Asian Art Collection with this virtual tour of the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. From Tokyo to Istanbul, this program of Asian art and culture will transport you across the Smithsonian’s many rich collections of Chinese paintings including Indian sculpture, Islamic painting and metalware, Japanese lacquer, Korean ceramics, American Art from the late 19th-century aesthetic movement, and Whistler’s Peacock Room.

Live ZOOM Class Session Only Thursday, March 18 at 2:00 pm. Free of Charge. To register for the course go to our website at https://chesapeakeforum.org/ or visit us on Facebook.

Rich Wagner

Recent discoveries and increased interactions among the disciplines of whole-genome genetic mapping, linguistics, archeology, and paleo-anthropology have helped broaden our understanding of prehistoric migrations of human populations, languages, and cultures. Taking these discoveries into account, we will focus on prehistoric migrations over the last eight thousand years in and between Europe, the Middle East, and the subcontinent of India. We will also touch on more ancient human migrations out of Africa and into Asia and the Americas. The history of these ancient migrations may indicate some systematics of human migration in general that may apply to more recent and even current migrations.

Rich Wagner is a physicist who has worked in the fields of elementary particles, astrophysics, high-energy-density physics, and prediction of complex physical phenomena using exceptionally large computers. He was an Assistant Secretary of Defense in the 1980s, with responsibility for oversight of the US nuclear weapon program and of all Department of Defense matters related to chemical and biological weapons. He holds a BA in physics from Williams College, and a PhD in physics from the University of Utah. He and his wife, Ginny, live in Oxford. Choose between Live ZOOM Class Sessions or Recorded, Wednesdays, March 17, 24 from 1:00-2:30 pm $20. To register for the course go to our website at https://chesapeakeforum.org/ or visit us on Facebook.