Calendar of Events

February 2024

Wednesday, Feb. 7, – Lunch Bunch 1:00 pm – Erie Grill in Pittsford. RSVP to the upcoming Evite or call me, Nancy Bellini, at 631-334-9306.

Wednesday, Feb.7, 7:00 pm – Webinar: School Boards: The Battleground for Education Culture Wars. Across the country, we have seen school boards, and candidates for school boards, taking up controversial policies that have led to banning books from school libraries; the censorship of curriculum in school classrooms due to individuals finding content “objectionable”; and policies leading to the prevention of safe school climates for students of all sexual orientations and gender. Join us for an AAUW National Public Policy Committee
webinar to learn how the AAUW state Board is fighting back and what you can do locally.
Marilyn Monkelbaan will send to all the Webinar link on Feb. 5.

Monday, Feb. 12, 3:30 pm – Great Decisions – via Zoom. Climate Technology & Competition – “Global trade and green energy” The United States and China, with other powerful countries following suit, approach  future and current climate initiatives with an increased commitment to trade protectionism and nationalism by various measures including trade restrictions? Or could a growing spirit of international accord develop to confront the “common enemy” of climate change?  Judy Lohr will lead this very timely discussion. Marilyn will email a Zoom invitation close to the date and a Great Decisions lecture video will be streamed to participants at the beginning of the meeting. Please call Judy DuPré at 585-381-4639 if you have any questions.

Friday, Feb. 16,10:00 am – Branch Program via Zoom: A Brief Guide to AI. Susan Kavanagh, Director of Client Experience at KLDiscovery and currently is also serving as President of  the Board of Directors of Tech Rochester will provide us with information about her
educational and career pathway while also helping us understand what she achieves professionally at KLDiscovery. We will learn how she uses her experiences and leadership skills as she leads the board of Tech Rochester. In addition Ms. Kavanagh will assist us in understanding the uses of Artificial Intelligence historically band how AI has evolved to the point  where we are hearing and reading about its use. She will provide examples of how AI is
beneficial in business and in educational settings and how it is used in her work where she advocates for advancement of technology in the legal professions. We will learn about Tech Rochester and the organization’s local goals of connecting with and assisting tech companies. Find out if we need to be concerned about employees being replaced by robots, how we can embrace the use of Artificial Intelligence, how AI can assist students while also reaching a comfort level with educators. Susan will welcome your questions throughout her presentation so bring your concerns to the event.  Watch for the Zoom link which Eileen Hartmann will send out the day before this program.

Monday, Feb. 26, 3:45 pm – Book Group –  via Zoom. Demon Copperfield by Barbara Kingsolver is this month’s selection. Corinne Coon will lead the discussion on the author’s update on the themes explored by Charles Dickens in David Copperfield. Kingsolver has set this novel in Appalachia rather than England, but the institutional poverty, perilous foster care, child labor practices and lost loves/heartbreaks persist today as they did in Dickens’ time. Copper-headed Damon Fields (aka Demon) is the son of a teen mother and a father who died before Demon was born. The teen mother abuses various substances and marries a man who physically abuses Demon. Demon’s best friend/neighbor’s family keeps tabs on Demon until his mother dies of an overdose and he is placed in the DSS system. Through it all, Demon finds skills and resilience to help him overcome numerous setbacks, hardships and troubles, just as David Copperfield did in Dickens’ novel. Please watch for the invitation to Zoom.