Social Science   

TED is a non-partisan organization recognizing that "ideas change everything." TED hosts remarkable speakers addressing a wide array of topics. The video recordings of these talks have been viewed more than 30 billion times. In each session we will view two TED talks and discuss what we saw. I will choose the talks for the first day, but class members will choose topics for later sessions from a list of several titles I have reviewed. I encourage class members to bring their own TED talk suggestions to our first session to assure we have the broadest possible range of topics to discuss. You can Google TED talks to review offerings and find background information.

Lee Pizzimenti is a Professor of Law Emerita at University of Toledo,and has facilitated the TED Talks class several times.

We will read and discuss the book, Generations by Jean Twenge. The speed of cultural change means that today's growing-up experience is completely different from ours or those in the decades that followed. Each period had a substantial influence on the behaviors, attitudes, values and personality traits of the time. In fact, the author shows when you were born has a greater effect on your personality and attitudes than the family that raised you. She gives examples of how technologies such as television, home appliances, air conditioning, birth control, the internet and social media have made each the new generation different from its predecessors. These differences also provide clues to how these generations will affect the future. Please read Chapter 1 for the first session.

Gerry Lapidus has lead book OLLI discussion classes for many years. They utilize books that are full of ideas and are intended to create conversation. He was a product manager at AT&T.