Institute or Learning in Retirement – October 2014

Meet the Instructors:

Dr. Sandy McNabb

Ken Marich

The ILR is pleased to welcome Sandy McNabb as a member of our faculty. Sandy has an international career, including university professor and Internet Technologist and Telecommunications executive. She lived in England, Belgium, and Germany and for seven years in Egypt where she obtained a firsthand view of the anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across the Middle East.

Sandy’s lectures will be in PowerPoint format and feature viewpoints through the eyes of key leaders and the media, focusing on life before the uprisings, the revolutions in different countries and current conditions. The course will provide a realistic overview of events that occurred in Tunisia, Egypt, the Monarchies (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE) and Syria. Sandy will also provide a look at the future of political Islam and the rise of ISIL (Islamic State) in Iraq.

Sandy earned a BA in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin and a PhD in Artificial Intelligence at Indiana University in 1977. Besides English, she also speaks French, Spanish, Russian and Arabic. Her professional teaching experience included working as an assistant professor at Hunter College in New York and as an associate professor at Nile University in Cairo, Egypt. While in Egypt, Dr. McNabb also served as Chief of Party for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). In other residences in Europe she held executive positions at AT&T, Lucent Technologies and T-Mobile International. Sandy left Egypt after the January 2011 revolution because she could not get her work permit approved and Egypt was starting to restrict residence visas for foreigners. Sandy chose Tucson because it had the same climate as Egypt and after coming over the hill and seeing SaddleBrooke nestled at the foot of the beautiful mountains.

We are very fortunate to have Sandy McNabb share her knowledge and experiences related to the Middle East with us here in SaddleBrooke. For more information go to www.sbilr.org.

Harriet Schultz

Ken Marich

The ILR is pleased to have Harriet Schultz as an instructor for the course entitled What the Buddha Taught. This course starts on October 21 and continues for six weeks. Buddhism was founded in India over 2500 years ago by Buddha Shakyamuni. Buddhism is a non-theistic philosophy and psychology. The main purpose of Buddhism is to relieve human suffering through a practice of a study of the mind. That is what the Buddha taught. The Buddhist way of life is just as relevant today as it was in ancient India.

Harriet was born in New York in 1937. She married Alan Schultz, a civil engineer, in 1958 and this was the start of their travels. Following Alan’s work assignments she lived in Chicago, Pakistan, West Africa, England, Colombia, Panama and India. Harriet earned a BA degree with honors from the University of Illinois in 1986 in Philosophy with specialization in metaphysics. While in India she studied at the Tibetan Institute for Buddhist Studies to further her knowledge in Buddhist philosophy. In New Delhi Harriet and a Buddhist Monk associate started a meditation group for Westerners interested in Buddhism. In addition to her interests in Buddhism, she served as the President of the American Women’s Association (AWA) in New Delhi. This program was involved in implementing outreach programs to assist with poverty alleviation. She received the U.S. Ambassador’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to the American Community in 1990.

Harriet and Alan moved to SaddleBrooke in 1993 and quickly became active in numerous volunteer programs to benefit the local communities. She was one of the five founders of the Community Outreach programs that resulted in the formation of the Kids Closet and was instrumental in the formation of our successful thrift shop known as the Golden Goose. From 2002 to 2005 Harriet served as a non-denominational Volunteer Chaplin at the University of Arizona Medical Center in Tucson. Harriet has been teaching classes professionally in SaddleBrooke for 18 years in the areas of Meditation, Buddhist History and Buddhist Psychology and Philosophy.

We are grateful to have Harriet share her knowledge and experience to help us better understand what Buddhism is and how it can guide us to find peace and happiness. For more information on the ILR go to www.sbilr.org.

Learn something new

Byron Cotter

SaddleBrooke offers residents some fabulous lifelong learning opportunities! Give your brain a workout and expand your horizons by learning something new.

The SaddleBrooke Institute for Learning in Retirement offers 20 to 25 courses per year. Most courses run for five weeks, meeting for two hours one day each week. The ILR offers courses in history, art, science, medicine, literature, music, theater, the Supreme Court and in many more areas. Instructors are residents who are experts in relevant fields. Examples of courses on offer include What makes Beethoven Beethoven, Chekhov – A Literary Genius, Nanotechnology and Two Kings, Eight Wives (Shakespeare). Go to www.sbilr.org for more information.

The University of Arizona College of Sciences gives a series of lectures on scientific topics at the DesertView Performing Arts Center each year. Topics this fall include What Makes the Sun Shine and What’s With All the Talk About Asteroids? For details on future lectures, see www.cos.arizona.edu/connections/for-the-public/ua-science-cafes.

The SaddleBrooke Computer Club offers a wide range of courses to help SaddleBrooke residents use their computers more effectively. Some of the recent courses include Set Up Your New PC, iPad for PC Users, Beginning PowerPoint, Introduction to Skype, Video Editing 101 courses including various modules such as how to edit videos on mac and more, PhotoElements A & B (digital photo editing), Computer Security 1 and 2, Basic Excel, Family Tree Maker, iCloud iTunes, PC Troubleshooting, Google Maps and Earth, EZ Mac, Beginning Word and many more. Check out the current list at http://www.saddlebrookecc.org.

A number of health related lectures are available to residents including Health Night Out lectures and the HOA 2 sponsored Integrative Wellness Symposium. Check them out on the HOA 2 website at www.sbhoa2.org under the Fitness tab.

The Central Arizona College (CAC) runs several courses in SaddleBrooke. In particular, Karen Gray, a retired USGS geologist, teaches a course through the CAC on geology with an emphasis on the Southwest. Watch for details.

The SaddleBrooke Fine Arts Guild offers courses on drawing, water color, landscape painting, painting florals and other topics. See www.saddlebrookefinearts.org for more information.

The SkyGazers astronomy club has talks on topics in the field of astronomy at its monthly meetings. If you want to learn about what’s out there beyond planet Earth, just go to https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/SBSKYGAZERS/info to see what’s on offer.

The Friends of SaddleBrooke Libraries sponsors regular lectures on various topics, e.g., Arizona history. See www.friendssblib.org.

The SaddleBrooke Nature Club frequently has guest lecturers at its monthly meetings. Information is available at www.saddlebrookenatureclub.com.

Many other SaddleBrooke clubs offer courses and instruction related to their particular areas of interest. These include courses on various types of dancing, greenware, silversmithing, pottery and karate, just to mention a few. Several private instructors also offer courses on various topics like Spanish and bridge. Just go to the Activities tab on the SaddleBrooke HOA 2 website, www.sbhoa2.org for links to see what’s being offered.

Two Kings, Eight Wives

Two Kings, Eight Wives (a revised repeat) by Linda Griffin will be presented Tuesdays, 10:00 a.m. to noon on November 11, 18 and 25 and December 2 and 9.

To participate, become a lifetime member in ILR for $25. Members can then enroll in courses which are an excellent value at just $15 each. Registration is easy. Just go to www.sbilr.org. There you will find course details and instructions for registering online or by mail. If you have questions call Joel Waldstreicher at 818-9038.