What is Town and Gown?
The Town and Gown series is a collaboration among MSU’s AgeAlive, East Lansing’s Prime Time, and the Social Science Scholars Program to provide Greater Lansing area seniors with opportunities for social connection, intellectual enrichment, and engagement in meaningful activities.
Town and Gown provides two ways of learning and connecting:
First, the Town and Gown presentation series involves MSU faculty and alumni giving entertaining and accessible live talks on a wide range of topics: from psychology, music and history to politics, climate change and technology. The participants consist of Greater Lansing seniors and students from Michigan State University. Presentations are delivered live via Zoom every Tuesday evening from 5pm-6:30pm between early August and mid-June. These sessions are free and participants have every opportunity to ask questions of the speakers. See below for the upcoming presentations. If you would like to attend one or more of these sessions, please go to this registration page. If you would like to see archived presentations, please scroll down the list below.
Second, the Town and Gown discussion series provides weekly opportunities for small groups of local seniors to talk informally on a range of topics with an MSU undergraduate moderator. This series runs from mid-June till the end of August. More information on this series will follow shortly!
Additionally, if you would like to learn about financial support for Town and Gown, or are considering a donation, please click here!
Town and Gown provides two ways of learning and connecting:
First, the Town and Gown presentation series involves MSU faculty and alumni giving entertaining and accessible live talks on a wide range of topics: from psychology, music and history to politics, climate change and technology. The participants consist of Greater Lansing seniors and students from Michigan State University. Presentations are delivered live via Zoom every Tuesday evening from 5pm-6:30pm between early August and mid-June. These sessions are free and participants have every opportunity to ask questions of the speakers. See below for the upcoming presentations. If you would like to attend one or more of these sessions, please go to this registration page. If you would like to see archived presentations, please scroll down the list below.
Second, the Town and Gown discussion series provides weekly opportunities for small groups of local seniors to talk informally on a range of topics with an MSU undergraduate moderator. This series runs from mid-June till the end of August. More information on this series will follow shortly!
Additionally, if you would like to learn about financial support for Town and Gown, or are considering a donation, please click here!
Upcoming TALKS
Recent Talks
|
|
Swanthea Monroe - May 10th, 2022Rev. Dr. Swanthea Monroe is the senior pastor at the People’s Church here in East Lansing and is the first woman to ever fulfill the role. A South-Dakota native, she has been working in ordained ministry for over 20 years. Dr. Monroe has also taught courses on theology, preaching, and contemporary culture as part of the American Academy of Religion.
|
|
|
MARIA LAPINSKI - APRIL 19, 2022Professor Maria Lapinski (Department of Communication) is Director of the Michigan State University (MSU) Health and Risk Communication Center. A global expert on how to improve health and wellbeing by means of designing persuasive messaging. She has carried out projects in Asia, the Pacific Rim, Central America, and Africa and North America on topics as varied as reducing the transmission of HIV, improving perceptions of risks of shark attacks among divers, promoting conservation practices in Tibet, and lessening the risks of people contracting wild animal diseases.
|
|
|
DAVID RAYL - APRIL 12, 2022Professor David Rayl, DMA, is a professor of music, director of choral programs and senior associate dean for graduate and research at the MSU College of Music. A passionate and active instructor, he has personally advised over 100 doctoral and master’s students in choral conducting. As a conductor, Dr. Rayl has led performances both across the US and around the world, including the Church of the Madeleine in Paris, the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing, and the Maggio Musicale in Florence.
|
|
|
STEPHEN SCHIESTEL - MARCH 29, 2022Professor Stephen Schiestel, CFA holds the Addy Professorship of Practice in Finance at the MSU Broad School of Business. A passionate educator and financial advisor, he is dedicated to improving personal financial education and financial decision making. A full-time teacher of finance at MSU, Stephen is also an owner of Grand Capital Advisors
|
|
|
MICHAEL BOIVIN - MARCH 15, 2022Professor Michael Boivin (Departments of Psychiatry, Neurology and Ophthalmology), has devoted his career to improving the wellbeing of children in Benin, Malawi and Uganda affected by such diseases as HIV, cerebral malaria, and maternal anemia. In recent years, Dr. Boivin has carried out important work in showing how simple interventions can improve the social skills, mental health, language, and cognitive ability of children whose parents have HIV-AIDS or have died from the disease. He is also exploring the neurocognitive effects of cerebral malaria.
|
