Adult Program Archive

Computers and robots were supposed to make our lives easier, our work days and weeks shorter, but Americans are working harder and longer and getting a lot less satisfaction from it.  How did we get here?  What will work look like in the future? And how can we make a better and more fulfilling life for ourselves and our communities?

Dr. Caleb Smith is Professor of English and American Studies at Yale. He is an expert on the cultural history of discipline and punishment in the United States. His books include: 

• The Prison and the American Imagination, Yale U.P. 2009 traces a genealogy of the penitentiary system from its origins in enlightenment reforms to the prison industrial complex; 
• The Life and the Adventures of a Haunted Convict, Random House, 2016, authenticated and edited Austin Reed’s 1858 manuscript,  the first known prison memoir by an African American writer;  
• The Oracle and the Curse: A Poetics of Justice from the Revolution to the Civil War, Harvard UP, 2013.

A presentation on the environmental and human impacts of climate change (with a particular emphasis on the Chicagoland area) and how to address these shared threats through communal and democratic action. While climate risks are everywhere, so too are opportunities to take action. Learn and share ideas on how to be an effective part of the climate movement, empower others, and take actions that will have exponential benefits for our communities and future generations.  

Mark Mesle is the Midwest Senior Outreach Coordinator for the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA). NPCA works to protect and enhance national parks for future generations. Mark is part of the NPCA’s national committee that works to leverage the power of the parks as part of the broader climate movement.  His parents, Bob and Barbara Mesle, are UCE members.

How do you talk about what you believe and how does what you believe show up in the way you live your life? How do you articulate what it means to be a Unitarian Universalist? In these four sessions, designed for youth and adults (age 12 and up) Kathy Underwood and Rev. Eileen Wiviott will accompany you on the journey toward understanding and articulating your beliefs and how they align with our UU faith. 

A Conversation with Andi Chatburn, DO, MA, HEC-C, 
Regional Director for Ethics, Providence Health, Washington Montana Region.  

Dr Chatburn will share personal experiences bearing witness to conflict from the bedside to the boardroom and beyond, working as a clinical bioethicist during the global COVID pandemic and ongoing domestic political turmoil…

Dr. Jarvis will speak about how a large regional health system in rural America confronted the medical and cultural realities of Covid, and what unique steps were taken initially. They eventually became the epicenter of the delta wave pandemic, and are now dealing with another peak. The crisis continues to be exacerbated by a low vaccination rate in Springfield, and dismal vaccination rates in the more rural areas. There will be some discussion of the politics of downplaying the effectiveness of masks, social distancing, and vaccines. 

Whether you’re new to Toni Morrison or an experienced reader of her novels, it’s always better to have friends to discuss with.  A MERCY is s h o r t  (for Toni)–only 167 pages. We’ll tackle the novel in two halves to make it easier yet.  This novel is set in pre-colonial America. Ms. Morrison always addresses issues from multiple points of view and with multiple narrators.  Her self-proclaimed project to write the stories for African-American girls and women back into the mainframe of American history.  I love the complex characters and plot of A Mercy.  I hope you will too.  Please come and bring your experience and voice to the conversation about the Nobel prize winning author who wrote ten novels about why Black Lives Matter.

In these sessions, we will explore how politics and religion have interacted throughout US history to shape who counts as “religious;” which kinds of religious groups get access to rights, privileges, and liberties; how our historical memory of American religion has been shaped; and the ways that religion, race, and ethnicity interact in terms of social and political identity today. The first session will explore the politics of American religious diversity before the 20th century, with a special focus on the wide array of religious beliefs and traditions that have been historically present here but have been marginalized from politics and eventually from popular understandings of history. The second session will discuss the intersection between the political and partisan changes of the 1960s and 1970s, on the one hand, and the shifting boundaries of American religious identity and alliance, on the other. The third session will look at contemporary times and analyze how race, political party, and religion are causally linked. 

In this three-week series, we will discuss how Kimberlé Crenshaw’s definition of intersectionality—or how race, class, gender, sexuality, and other identities interconnect and overlap—shows up in the The Fifth Season. Other topics to address include the role of science in interpreting science fiction and the role of speculative fiction in creating the Beloved Community. 

Andy Fisher talks about the critical problem of climate change, based on materials from “The Climate Reality Project” founded by former Vice President Al Gore. Dan Solomon follows up with a presentation on how Religious Naturalism can provide a framework for facing Climate Change.

In this three-part series, Taryn and Rev. Susan explore the history, theology, and ritual of Neo-Paganism. In the first session, we delved into the history and theology of pre-modern Paganism. In the next session, we explored the rich history and variety of theologies and ethics that are expressed within various Neo-Pagan communities. In the final session, we learned about ritual elements and experience a short ritual. Yes, a virtual ritual.

Pain hurts more when it feels meaningless, so we are powerfully motivated to find some meaning in our suffering. Unfortunately, people often do this in ways which seem to imply that nothing bad really happens. In this class, we will explore ways in which people with good intentions offer comforts which can lead to an unhealthy denial of life’s problems. Drawing on the resources of process relational thinkers like H.N. Wieman, Daniel Day Williams, and Marjorie Suchocki we will work to develop healthier approaches to our shared suffering.

Please note because this course is being presented through the Cobb Institute, there will be a fee.  See the registration page for details.

The 2020-21 UUA Common Read is “Breathe: A Letter to My Sons” by Imani Perry. Breathe reflects on race, racism, and the hope that one’s child will be wholly known and valued by society. It is “an unforgettable lesson in Black resistance and resilience.”

If you see Toni Morrison’s novel BELOVED as daunting, that’s all the more reason it’s appropriate to discuss with friends. If you happen to have read all or parts of it before, or other novels by Ms. Morrison, you will see many connections on this re-reading. If you are new to Ms. Morrison’s works, prepare to be dazzled by this beautiful and brilliant writer. My exploratory approach– in the limited time we have– will be to focus on the ways this novel suggests that Traumas (both individual and collective) might be faced and stared down. Why do some characters develop resilience and even healing? What can we learn about facing our own traumas and the traumas of the United States? How might an introductory understanding of traditional African religions help us think about this novel? What did Morrison mean when she said her lifelong project was to write the story of African American girls and women back into American history? Why did Morrison win the Nobel Prize for literature (the first African American woman to do so) for this work? This important and compelling storytelling is worth your attention

How much do you really know about Unitarian, Universalist and Unitarian Universalist history?  You might be surprised to hear that there’s more to the story of our movement than a European heretic and a handful of 19^thcentury White men.  Our history is broad and rich and deep.  It’s interesting, inspiring, confusing, and sometimes disheartening and even downright maddening…

Dr. Jay McDaniel will share his own experience with Zen Buddhism and introduce you to some basic concepts and practices in Buddhism as approached in a Zen way: the primary of the present moment, the problem of cloning, the value of letting go; the limitations of verbal discourse; spontaneity of the here-and-now; the wisdom of no-self, the universality of impermanence, the illusion of isolated existence; the ultimacy of inter-becoming; mindfulness, reincarnation, and in Mahayana Buddhism, the promise to be reborn again and again until all living beings can be saved. Along the way Dr. McDaniel will show connections between these ideas and ideas in process philosophy, thus introducing a buddhist process philosophy. He will situate this Zen approach within the larger context of historical Buddhism and give participants a sense of the larger whole of this evolving tradition. The format will be thirty minute of presentation by Dr. McDaniel along with open discussion.

Process Theology and UU Principles 1, 2, & 7

1. The inherent worth and dignity of every person
2. Justice, equity, and compassion in human relations;
7. Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are all a part.

The process relational worldview, values, and modes of thought offer a broad worldview which creatively links these UU principles and gives them greater depth. Since this is part of a larger series on “Visions of God,” we will give some attention, but not all of our attention, to this radically different concept of God. Process relational thinking is a valuable resource helping us address issues of environmental and social justice, and links with feminist, womanist, and queer theologies.

• What can we as Unitarian Universalists learn from reading the New Testament?
• Who was Jesus and why does he matter?
• How can getting in touch with our Unitarian and our Universalist roots help us rethink the Christian message and even understand it in a new way?

In this class was focused on discussing these questions and more on five Tuesdays in November and December 2020. The course was based on readings from the New Testament and the recent Beacon Press release “Christ for Unitarian Universalists.” You were to purchase a copy of the book to follow the course’s reading schedule, but the discussion was accessible for those who had not done the reading and would simply like to show up to share and listen.

Amy Pooley has been a UU for over a decade and a Christian for just a few years. She has a love for our faith’s Unitarian and Universalist roots. She is a graduate student in Counseling and she and her wife Ruth are the moms of a toddler. 

This class aimed to help people explore a range of important visions embracing or rejecting “God,” and to share personal journeys with each other. We hoped class members would learn some new ideas, clarify familiar ones, make new connections, and enrich in their own thinking.

The question, “Do you believe in God?” is not productive unless we can get some clarity about what a person means by “God.” But for us, the question certainly raises interwoven questions of both REALITY and VALUES. It asks about what exists and how the universe works. Talk of “God” also raises important questions about what values “God” stands for and what feelings are invoked. Geneticist and religious naturalist, Ursula Goodenough, notes that religion is about both “What is, and what matters.” –i.e., truth and ethics. Religions, including atheistic secularism, propose visions of reality coupled with claims about how we should treat each other given those beliefs. This class explored how some concepts of “God” engage us in those reflections.

This 4-part virtual Series “Transcendentalism and Today” with author of “Conflagration: How the Transcendentalists Sparked the American Struggle for Racial, Gender, and Social Justice,” John Buehrens was held via Zoom.

This series was co-sponsored by Unitarian Church of Evanston, Unity Temple, and North Shore Unitarian Church. Open to the public.

Life planning occurs at many different stages of one’s life: going to school, getting married, starting a family, buying a house, and,  as you move along life’s path toward retirement—acknowledging the need for planning and acting on housing, healthcare, financial and legal decisions. We do this to protect our assets and maintain or improve the quality of our lives.

The seminar was designed to encourage participants to take proactive steps for life planning. For example, you can plan to meet with an attorney to document your will or trust, explore investments needed to reach your financial goals, and make and record decisions regarding your future health care needs.