SANDWICH – One Day University, a day long college experience that brings together well regarded professors and interested attendees for about a half a day, is coming to Cape Cod this weekend.
The program’s founder, Steve Schragis, said the goal is to have people feel they are back in college for the day.
“It’s meant to be fun and interesting and thought provoking,” he said.
“It gives you some exposure to what really great college professors are like but there’s no home work and no exams it’s just meat to be fun and thought provoking and intellectually stimulating,” he added.
It will be held in Sandwich at Heritage Museums and Gardens Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The classes touch on a variety of fields.
In the arena of politics is the class “FDR: What We Know Now That We Didn’t Known Then,” taught by Richard Pious of Columbia University/Barnstable College.
The looks at events around December 7, 1941 when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Four days later Germany and Italy also declared war on the U.S.
Yet America’s involvement in World War II had been predetermined as early as May of 1940 when Franklin Delano Roosevelt circumvented an isolationist Congress by making a secret deal with Winston Churchill and the British.
Did FDR unconstitutionally usurp legislative powers, or was his action consistent with the intent of the Framers of the Constitution? Did FDR’s decision mark the beginning of the “imperial presidency,” in which presidents bypass congressional war powers? Or was it an exercise of persuasion and political leadership?
In the realm of psychology, there is “Positive Psychology: The Science of Happiness,” taught by Catherine Sanderson of Amherst College.
This talk will present both surprising and not-so-surprising information on the science behind happiness.
What role do money, IQ, marriage, friends, children, weather, and religion play in making us feel happier? Is happiness stable over time? How can happiness be increased?
Professor Sanderson will describe cutting-edge research from the field of positive psychology on the factors that do (and do not) predict happiness, and provide all participants with practical (and relatively easy!) ways to increase their own psychological well-being.
The third class is “The New Frontier of the Brain and Learning” taught by John J. Stein of Brown University.
The topic is the fact that every animal you can think of – mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, and amphibians – has a brain. But the human brain is unique. Although it’s not the largest, this truly amazing organ gives us the power to speak, imagine and problem solve.
In the last few years, scientists have been making incredible breakthroughs in understanding how this seemingly inscrutable mass of cells actually works. The class will examine the structures of the brain and how each section controls our daily functions, including motor control, visual processing, auditory processing, sensation, learning, memory and emotions.
In this brand new class, Professor John Stein will walk the class through the current understanding of the anatomy of the brain and then examine what the latest science has uncovered about the brain’s principal role in learning, thinking and memory.
