Chester Village West Hosting New Lifelong Learning Programs

Chester Village West, a senior living community, will offer six lectures and informative presentations by biographers, historians and medical experts in April, May and June.

All six lectures, which begin at 4 p.m. in the community’s event room, are free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided.

Each lecture will be limited to 40 participants on a first-come, first served basis; early registration is encouraged. To register, call 860.333.8992 or visit the Chester Village website.

The lectures are in partnership with the Wesleyan Institute for Lifelong Learning and Middlesex Hospital. The schedule of lectures is as follows:

Monday, April 11, 4 p.m.

Reading from A Body Undone: Living On after Great Pain

Christina Crosby, Professor of English, Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies

Wesleyan University

In the early evening on October 1, 2003, Christina Crosby was three miles into a 17-mile bicycle ride, intent on reaching her goal of 1,000 miles for the riding season. As she crested a hill, she caught a branch in the spokes of her bicycle, which instantly pitched her to the pavement. Her chin took the full force of the blow, and her head snapped back. In that instant, she was paralyzed. In A Body, Undone, Crosby communicates in unflinching prose the experience of "diving into the wreck" of her body to acknowledge grief, and loss, but also to recognize the beauty, fragility, and dependencies of all human bodies.

Register for Reading from A Body Undone: Living On after Great Pain here.

Tuesday, April 26, 4 p.m.

Heroes for All Time: Connecticut’s Civil War Soldiers Tell Their Stories

Historian and Author Dione Longley

Dione Longley will speak about "Heroes for All Time: Connecticut’s Civil War Soldiers Tell Their Stories”, the book she co-authored with Buck Zaidel using soldiers’ letters and diaries and written accounts by nurses, doctors, soldiers’ families, and volunteers on the home front to vividly portray the war through their moving stories.

Register for Heroes for All Time: Connecticut’s Civil War Soldiers Tell Their Stories here.

Thursday, May 5, 4:00 p.m.

Diabetes: A Delicate Balance

Christine M. Signore, M.D.

Dr. Christine Signore, an endocrinologist with Middlesex Hospital’s MultiSpecialty Group, will talk about how a diabetes diagnosis is made and how to improve control of diabetes through lifestyle modifications and goals of treatment.

Register for Diabetes: A Delicate Balance at here.

Monday, May 9, 4:00 p.m.

Pete Seeger and the Politics of Participation

Rob Rosenthal, John E. Andreas Professor of Sociology

Wesleyan University

Pete Seeger, the preeminent American folk singer and political activist, was a persistent, positive presence in social movements from the 1940s onward. Professor Rob Rosenthal became personally familiar with Seeger when writing two books, "Playing for Change: Music and Musicians in the Service of Social Movements" (2011) and "Pete Seeger: In His Own Words" (2012). In his talk, Rosenthal will discuss Seeger's life and legacy in 20th century folk music, and his influence on today’s social justice and environmental movements.

Register for Pete Seeger and the Politics of Participation here.

Thursday, June 2, 4:00 p.m.

It’s Worth a Shot

Alina Filozov, D.O.

Alina Filozov, D.O., an Infectious Disease physician specialist at Middlesex Hospital, will review current recommendations on routine and travel-related immunizations. She will discuss who is appropriate to receive various vaccines recommended for seniors, including those for shingles, pneumonia and whooping cough. Pre-travel vaccine advice will also be discussed.

Register for It’s Worth a Shot here.

Tuesday, June 28, 2016, 4:00 p.m.

Is It More than Just the Blues?

Robert A. Grillo, Jr., M.D.

Robert Grillo, M.D., a specialist in geriatric psychiatry at Middlesex Hospital, will review the symptoms, diagnosis and epidemiology of depression in the elderly. He will also discuss specific risk factors of developing depression for older persons, treatment options and prevention.

Register for Is It More than Just the Blues? here.