May 2017 UMRA's Annual Gala Luncheon: laugh with our special speaker
Tue, May 23 2017, 12pm
Campus Club ABC
UMRA members are in for a special treat this Annual Meeting, May 23, particularly if you have ever had to write to recommend someone for an academic position or had a letter written on your behalf!
Our guest speaker will be Julie Schumacher, professor of English and creative writing at the University. She will be talking about her recent work—the widely acclaimed Dear Committee Members, which won numerous awards including the Thurber Prize for American Humor, New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, National Public Radio’s “Best Books of 2014,” Boston Globe’s one of “Best Books of 2014,” and the Chicago Tribune’s “Laugh Out Loud Book of the Year.” Continuing to be a best seller, it is required reading at some universities.
Dear Committee Members is an academic satire composed entirely of letters of recommendation written by a cranky, eccentric professor of English—Professor Jason T. Fitger—at Payne University, somewhere in the Midwest. Though he cares deeply about literature and the arts and humanities, Fitger is sorely lacking in diplomatic skills. In the letters he writes on behalf of his students and junior faculty, he gives into the temptation to discuss his own woes, failures both in academics and love, and to complain about the university and its emphasis on all things STEM. One could also be reminded of Woodrow Wilson’s quip when he left the presidency of Princeton to move to the White House saying that he was so happy to be leaving politics behind.
Julie has recently followed up with a splendidly wicked academic coloring book, “Doodling for Academics,” published this spring by University of Chicago Press. “To an outsider, working as a university professor might seem like a dream: summers off, a few hours of class each week, an exchange of ideas with brilliant colleagues, books and late afternoon latte...Who wouldn’t envy that life?” one reviewer said. But “Those in the trenches of academe are well acquainted with the professoriate’s dark underside: the hierarchies and pseudo-political power plays, the peculiar colleagues, the over-parented students, the stacks of essays that need to be graded ASAP.”
Julie has long ties to the University of Minnesota. A professor of English and creative writing since 1997, she also served as the director of the Creative Writing Program, a highly competitive top-ten MFA graduate program. Julie’s University ties also run in the family. Her husband, Lawrence Jacobs, holds the Walter F. and Joan Mondale Chair for Political Studies in the Humphrey School.
After what promises to be a lively talk, UMRA members will have an opportunity to meet and chat with Julie, buy a book, and have her sign it.
—Steve Benson, Program Committee
Upcoming Events
We are fortunate to have UMRA member and former Minnesota Landscape Arboretum director Peter Moe to lead this approximately 3.7-mile hike at the Arboretum on Monday, May 6. Plan to have lunch together after the hike at the Eatery café inside the Oswald Visitor Center.
This session will continue the discussion begun in the May 8, 2023 session. See that article for details.
If you currently live in your own home or apartment, have you looked ahead to when you might want to consider a senior living option? Do you have any idea what those options might be? How much they cost? What they provide? UMRA’s May 14 workshop will provide an overview of the world of senior living and the basic information you need.
You’re invited to join the final Family History Interest Group meeting for 2023–24. This will be an opportunity to ask questions related to family history, share insights, talk about recent projects, and suggest topics for next year.
Stephanie Daily will lead the discussion of Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by best-selling author Mary Roach when the UMRA Book Club meets via Zoom at 2 p.m. on Friday, May 17.
The May 20 hike will start at the Historic Lift Bridge in Stillwater and go along the river to the new bridge, cross over and then back on the Wisconsin side, a total of approximately 5 miles. Most of the route is paved. We will eat lunch after at Brian's Bar and Grill in Stillwater. Car pooling will be available.
Climatologist and meteorologist Mark Seeley joined the U of M faculty in 1978 and has been a weekly commentator on Minnesota Public Radio since 1992. We are honored to welcome him as our guest speaker for UMRA’s May Luncheon Forum and 2024 Annual Meeting. He is always entertaining and informative.
UMRA’s Fourth Friday Book Club welcomes back, for the second time, author Julie Schumacher, U of M Regents professor of creative writing and English, for a conversation about her novel The Shakespeare Requirement.
We are in for a treat on June 3! Lynn Anderson, will lead us on trails at two parks near her Monticello home. Bring a bag lunch and we will gather in Lynn's yard along the Mississippi River for eating and socializing after the hike.
Get out to the ballpark with fellow UMRA members for the annual U of M Day at Target Field as the Minnesota Twins take on the Oakland Athletics on June 14 at 7:10 p.m.
Please join us at 9:30 on June 17, 2024 for a walk around Lake Como in St. Paul before attending the UMRA Summer Social and Picnic starting at 11 at the Como Pavilion. A perfect opportunity to get in a walk before we gather to celebrate summer.
Picnic under the covered, open-air Como pavilion, gaze at the water, spy some birds, catch up with friends and former colleagues, and meet new members. We’ll have lunch with plenty of time for visiting and then compete in teams as we are challenged by our Quiz master(s)!
Healthy aging, mindfulness, fighting ageism, and more will be the focus of the third annual Age-Friendly University Day to be held on the U of M Twin Cities campus.