Events
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History Study Group
via ZoomWe will be reading and discussing If a Pirate I Must Be: The True Story of Black Bart, "King of the Caribbean Pirates" by Richard Sellers
How much did the pirate pay for his peg and hook? An arm and a leg!
Bartholomew Roberts, aka Black Bart, a great Caribbean pirate. Drinking tea instead of rum, banning women and gambling, he never made his prisoners walk the plank. Evidently there are many more interesting facts to discover, so say the reviews!
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Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomThe MISF Philosophy Study Group plans to have its next meeting on Wednesday, June 12, at 7:00 pm via Zoom. We will be continuing our discussion of the book An Aristotelian…
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Can understanding of urban ecosystems improve our odds?
Shoreview Library 4560 Victoria St N, Shoreview, MNFollowing many centuries of mostly agrarian lives, more than half of the people on our planet now live in cities. Early industrial cities were a mess, choked with smog, filthy water, large epidemics, to the point that lifespans around 1900 were shorter for folks living in cities than the countryside.
This talk examines the progress we’ve made, and some ideas for future progress, illustrated in part by Larry Baker's own research. We’ll continue this vein with a structured discussion to dive deeper on the topic of “improving our odds” for the livability of cities in the future
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Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomFor this meeting we will discuss chapters 6 and 7 of the book, An Aristotelian Account of Induction: Creating Something from Nothing, by Louis Groarke. For those who might need a little persuading to attend, I have put together a notable argument:
All books about Aristotle are delightful. This is a book about Aristotle. Therefore, this book is delightful.
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Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomThe next meeting of the MISF Philosophy Study Group is on Wednesday, August 14, at 7:00 pm via Zoom. We will conclude our discussion of the book, An Aristotelian Account of Induction: Creating Something from Nothing, by Louis Groarke with the attendance of the author, himself.
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Annual Picnic
Indian Mounds Park 10 Mounds Boulevard, St. Paul, MNThis is our annual summer picnic. MISF will provide the drinks, plasticware, and grills, and St. Paul Parks & Rec the electricity and more grills. You provide a dish to…
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Philosophy Study Group
Zoom MeetingOur book for this meeting is What Would Nietzsche Do?: Philosophical Solutions to Everyday Problems (2017) by Marcus Weeks. A paperback version of the book lists for $20 but can be had…
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“Power Behind Your Writing: What Every Writer Needs to Know”
Shoreview Library 4560 Victoria St N, Shoreview, MNEvelyn Klein will discuss how and why this book came about in the course of her teaching English, language arts and world languages for many years. In order to be…
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Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomAt our last meeting we discussed the book, What Would Nietzsche Do?: Philosophical Solutions to Everyday Problems, by Marcus Weeks. This book took various problems that people may encounter in everyday…
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Cohousing–Living in an Intentional Community
Maplewood Library 3025 Southlawn Dr, Maplewood, MNBecca and Lynn will share with you a housing model unfamiliar in the USA, Cohousing. It is a type of intentional community that will reduce our carbon footprint, reduce loneliness and get us a lot more fun in the process. There are examples of about 180 cohousing communities across the US and we will share views of them.
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Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomThe MISF Philosophy Study Group meets next on Wednesday, November 13, at 7:00 pm via Zoom. For this meeting we will discuss Friedrich Nietzsche's classic, On the Genealogy of Morals, first…
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“Family Declassified”: Uncovering My Grandfather’s Journey from Spy to Children’s Book Author
via ZoomWhy do people keep deep secrets about their lives and ancestry? In Family Declassified (Sunbury Press, 2023) Katherine Fennelly applied her expertise as a social science researcher to answer this question…
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Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomWe will continue our reading of On the Genealogy of Morals by Friedrich Nietzsche by discussing his Second Treatise, “'Guilt,' 'Bad Conscious,' and Related Matters.” If you wish to remain guilt-free with…
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Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomNote that this meeting is the first Monday of the month, rather than our usual second Wednesday. We will finish our discussion of On the Genealogy of Morals by Friedrich Nietzsche by…
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The Accidental Hero: how a WWII Czech liberation story is a current event
Shoreview Library 4560 Victoria St N, Shoreview, MNA string of jaw-dropping coincidences in the last week of WWII had Colonel Matt Konop liberating the same Czech villages his grandparents had left for Wisconsin in the 1860s. Konop’s…
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Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomWe will be beginning a new book, The Philosophy of Freedom, by Rudolf Steiner. Originally published in 1894, this book has been translated many times and has been very influential…
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Uncommon Common Sense: Riding the Dragons of Complexity
Shoreview Library 4560 Victoria St N, Shoreview, MNComplexity sciences, and their applications to human systems, have been around since the early 1980s, but the power in academe, business, industry, and government still sit squarely in Newtonian worldviews. Why?…
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Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomDuring this meeting we will finish our discussion of the book, The Philosophy of Freedom, by Rudolf Steiner by reading Parts II and III. In Part I Steiner laid out…
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A brief introduction to the history of artmaking in Minnesota
Shoreview Library 4560 Victoria St N, Shoreview, MNFrom such historic luminaries as Seth Eastman and Alexis Fournier to contemporary artists Jim Denomie and Dan Bruggeman, this lecture will review the nearly 200 year history of artmaking in Minnesota. Bring your questions. Art historian Brian Szott, Curator…
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Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomWe will begin reading Simone de Beauvoir's attempt to provide an ethical foundation for existentialism, The Ethics of Ambiguity. This book is available in paperback for about $15 and as…
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Poetry Day
Shoreview Library 4560 Victoria St N, Shoreview, MNPoetry day will feature two outstanding local poets, Connie Wanek and Joyce Sutphen. Each will read from a selection of her works with time for questions and an open mic for…
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Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomWe will finish discussing Simone de Beauvoir's attempt to build an ethical system for existentialist philosophy, The Ethics of Ambiguity. Not a few people didn't think it was possible. Did…
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Religion As A Resource for Peace And A Justification For Violence.
Shoreview Library 4560 Victoria St N, Shoreview, MNPeace is a shared aspiration and value in all of our religious traditions. Peace, however, remains an ever-receding goal in our world. Speaking of peace as a shared value is…
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Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomWe will be embarking on a new book: How Nature Works: The Science of Self-organized Criticality (1996) by Per Bak. Unfortunately, this is one of the pricier books that we have…
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Annual Meeting
Shoreview Library 4560 Victoria St N, Shoreview, MNThe Annual Meeting of the MISF membership will precede the Rhoda Lewin Lecture and last about a half-hour. Business to be conducted this year includes committee reports and Board member…
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When Minnehaha Flowed With Whiskey: A Spirited History Of The Falls
Shoreview Library 4560 Victoria St N, Shoreview, MNDrunks, criminals, and rowdies went to Minnehaha Falls to raise a ruckus, dance, and have fun. From the 1860s until the early 20th century, Minnehaha Falls was not a family-oriented…
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Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomWe will continue our discussion of Per Bak's book, How Nature Works: The Science of Self-organized Criticality, by reading chapters 4-7. One of the remarkable aspects of self-organized criticality (SOC)…
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Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomWe will finish our discussion of the book, How Nature Works: The Science of Self-organized Criticality, by Per Bak. For those who will have read the book and will attend…
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Annual Picnic
Cherokee Park Picnic Shelter Chippewa and Winona Streets, St. Paul, MNThis is our annual summer picnic. MISF will provide the drinks, plasticware, and grills, and St. Paul Parks & Rec the electricity and more grills. You provide a dish to…
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Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomWe will begin discussing a new book, Caste: The Origins of our Discontents (2020), by Isabel Wilkerson. The book focuses on race in the U.S. (Wilkerson is black), but examines the…
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Electricity, Magnetism and Birds
Shoreview Library 4560 Victoria St N, Shoreview, MNWhen we consider how physics applies to birds, we are inclined to think about topics such as the aerodynamics of flight, the mechanics of feathers and bills, the optics enabling…
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Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomWe will continue discussing the book, Caste: The Origins of our Discontents, by Isabel Wilkerson, by reading Sections 3 and 4. In these sections Wilkerson gets into the heart of…
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Christian Nationalism: A Dangerous Manifestation of a Deeper Problem
Maplewood Library 3025 Southlawn Dr, Maplewood, MNChristian Nationalism is a political ideology and movement that understands the United States as founded as a White Protestant Evangelical Christian Nation. They believe secular liberal democracy has failed God’s…
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Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomThe MISF Philosophy Study Group is going to have their next meeting on Wednesday, November 12, at 7:00 pm via Zoom. We will conclude our discussion of the book, Caste: The…
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Mystery in the Midwest
Shoreview Library 4560 Victoria St N, Shoreview, MNIs the modern American mystery novel the most important literature being written today? Why do private eyes and fictional detectives continue to fascinate us? Do we want all our problems…
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Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomFor this meeting we are going to discuss three different existentialist works of fiction, two by Jean Paul Sartre and one by Earnest Hemingway. The former includes the short story…
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Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomWe will be studying the book, The Boxer and the Goalkeeper: Sartre Vs Camus (2012), by Andy Martin. A new copy of this book can be had for around $20, but…
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The Origin Story of Fort Road/West Seventh Street
Shoreview Library 4560 Victoria St N, Shoreview, MNIn 2024, out of a series of neighborhood (garden tour) histories along West Seventh Street, Joe Landsberger combined them into a narrative origin of Saint Paul and Minnesota. He came…
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Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomWe will conclude our discussion of the book, The Boxer and the Goalkeeper: Sartre Vs Camus, by Andy Martin. In spite of rumors to the contrary, our next book will…
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Woman’s World: Women Artists in Russia
Bethlehem Lutheran Church - Commons Room 41st and Lyndale, MinneapolisWhere in the world are the women artists? The answer: In the Russian Empire and Soviet Union. This ppt presentation traces the ways in which women artists were vital to the development of…
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Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomWe will begin discussing the book, The Subversive Simone Weil: A Life in Five Ideas (2023), by Robert Zaretsky. This book is available new for around $15 in either paperback or as…
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From Memoir to Fiction and Today’s Publishing World
Bethlehem Lutheran Church - Commons Room 41st and Lyndale, MinneapolisVince Wyckoff will reveal the backstory to his first work of non-fiction, Beware of Cat, and Other Encounters of a Letter Carrier, and how it nearly cost him his career amid…
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Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomWe are finishing our discussion of the book, The Subversive Simone Weil: A Life in Five Ideas, by Robert Zaretsky. The last parts of the book cover Weil's concepts of rootedness…
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Black Arts Minnesota: An Autoethnographic Approach
Bethlehem Lutheran Church - Commons Room 41st and Lyndale, MinneapolisThis talk demonstrates how archival research and artistic practices bear witness to a Black presence in Minnesota dating as far back as the 1860s. A North Minneapolis native and fifth-generation Minnesotan, Davu…
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Philosophy Study Group
via ZoomWe will discuss chapter 1, “The Idea of Perfection”, from the book, The Sovereignty of Good (1970), by Iris Murdoch. Not only will we discuss perfection, but we intend to model…
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Poetry Day
Bethlehem Lutheran Church - Commons Room 41st and Lyndale, MinneapolisMorgan will do a retrospective reading, a sort of live-time selected and new gathering of poems highlighting work from different periods in her life as a poet. She will also…