History of CLL

CLL has been providing courses and lectures to the Leisure World community since May 19, 2003 when Don Eisen gave the first course on “Staging the American Family.”  This has been followed by a multitude of courses on topics that include “The Birth of Mathematics” (the late James Hummel), “Meeting Socrates” (William Fee), “Chinese Language and Culture” (Charles Yang), “Supreme Court and Constitution” (Richard Thornell),  “What to do With the Deficit” (Elizabeth Hawkins), “Great Decisions” (David Frager), “Tango: The Myth and the Passion” (the late Louis Feldner), and many others too numerous to cover here (but see the CLL web page for a full list of past courses – www.cllmd.com).  

CLL has also offered many individual lectures since 2006 covering topics that include terrorism, writing a novel, physics without math, veterans, energy, and more.  These one-time lectures are always well attended and they can be used by potential instructors to explore ideas for courses they might want to give later.

CLL courses and lectures have been given by many different people. The record is held by Don Eisen who has given 14 courses, all focusing around theater and plays.  The subjects that Don has taught reflect his background as the founding chair of the Department of Theater and Dance at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.  

While the majority of CLL courses and lectures have focused on the arts and humanities, the late James Hummel, a math professor at the University of Maryland, gave seven different courses focusing on various aspects of mathematics. 

It is important to note that one does not have to be a college professor or teacher to give courses in CLL – and in fact many of the most interesting courses and lectures have been by people with varied backgrounds, and not necessarily on the areas of their life’s profession. For example, George Birnbaum, a retired chemist, has given a series of popular courses on biographies of interesting people.  Similarly, CLL Board of Director and Event Committee Chairperson, Fred Shapiro, worked in business for most of his career, but he has given a wonderful set of courses on his passion – photography.