Presentations - August / September 2001
| The Men's Center Board appreciates the volunteer presenters who return from time to time and welcome first timers. Their presentations add a new dimension to our weekly Wednesday night gatherings.
Please take time to read the descriptions and plan to attend if they stimulate your interest. Bring a friend to share the experience and acquaint him/her with the Men's Center. Each presentation is intended to promote personal growth, stimulate your interest in a topic, and to give you an opportunity to interact with other attendees. We are always looking for new presenters and topics. Please call Randy at The Men's Center, 612-822-5892 with your ideas and names. We appreciate your help. |
Presentations are the sole responsibility of the presenter(s). The Men's Center does not endorse, takes no specific position, nor does it hold any opinion on the presentations, or of any information imparted, or of the presenter(s) themselves.
The Men's Center is a RESOURCE for the community, a clearing house for information of all kinds, agreeable or not, to one's beliefs. Listen, participate and make your own decisions. All groups meet at TMC, 3249 Hennepin Ave. So, Suite 55, unless otherwise noted. These low cost presentations are shown in the Calendar of Events and a more extensive description follows. No pre-registration is needed; entrance fees collected at the door are:
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August / September 2001
Hot Stone Therapy
Presenter: Autumn Williams
Wednesday, August 1, 7-9 pm
Open to Men and Women
Body-work via thermal therapy using heated stone
Autumn Williams works at the Refinery in Dinkytown.
Being in the Garden: Flowing with the Seasons of Life
Presenter: Louis Bourgeois
Wednesday, August 8, 7-9 pm
Open to Men and Women
Join Louis for an exploration of heart and soul. The Garden is a wonderful metaphor for living. Our journey is a circle, an endless cycle, away from and back to the Garden. We will investigate and discuss the four seasons of our lives, giving blessing to both the transitions of endings and beginnings.
Louis is an author and a gardener, living with his wife, Suzanne, in Plymouth. He is a longtime friend and member of the Men's Center.
Decoding Bafflegab
Presenter: Jim Duffy
Wednesday, August 15, 7-9 pm
Open to Men and Women
"Decoding Bafflegab" refers to using critical-thinking about questionable assertions. Learn some basic principles of logical fallacy, scientific method, and probability so that you can more easily identify bafflegab, which is defined as pronouncements that can easily mislead persons lacking in critical thinking. For instance, some claims of expertise about human behavior can bamboozle us when our critical thinking is on a holiday. You can find out about some basic ways to parse those claims. Some assertions that appear true may be actually false, unknowable, or otherwise empty of useful information – or they may actually be true. Also learn to recognize two fundamental kinds of rationality: problem-solving algorithms and inductive conclusions.
Jim Duffy is a writer and freelance researcher in a wide variety of areas of the human studies. He a humanist educator and consultant whose popular presentations on many different subjects at the Men's Center have been well received as both interesting and useful as well as sometimes controversial.
Touch, Two- Way Wordless Magic
Presenter: Roy Sanbower, D.C.
Wednesday, August 22, 7-9 pm
Open to Men & Women
Touch conjures a universe of dreams, needs, desires and stories. We'll discuss touch from minimal to extremes and how the giver and receiver are also their opposites (both sides give and receive) ! Then, we'll do an "exercise" within the relationship created when we touch.
Roy Sanbower: "Having been a Chiropractor for 20 years, I've touched and been touched by many people professionally and I've maintained a high value on self-reflection of the dynamic process of touch !"
Great Fathers Workshop
Presenter: Mark Brandenberg
Wednesday, August 29, 7-9 pm
Open to Men Only
This workshop will give fathers information on how to be a more effective father and is based on extensive research done by the National Center for Fathering. It will include a written assessment of each participant's fathering practices and skills. It will also include small group discussions of the challenges of fathering. There will be an opportunity to make action plans for each father based on the assessment and the information presented
Mark Brandenberg M.A., C.P.P.C, C.S.C is a certified personal coach and father who coaches fathers, entrepreneurs, and those in transition. He has a Master's degree in counseling psychology and has worked as an athletics coach, counselor, sports counselor, and personal coach.
Creating Living Relationships Between Dads and Their Daughters
Presenter: Audrey Evans
Wednesday, September 5, 7-9 pm
Open to Men Only
Most men want to share a loving relationship with their daughters but are sometimes puzzled about how to do this. We will explore such topics as the "Daddy's Little Girl" phenomenon, how and why to use tact when commenting on your daughter's appearance, what daughters really want from their fathers, how to help your daughter achieve her full career and life potential, and latent sexuality concerns regarding dads towards their daughters. Lots of time of for questions.
Audrey W. Evans, M.A., C.C.D.P., is a counselor in private practice (15 years) in the Hopkins-Minnetonka area. Specializes in father-daughter, love addiction, and relationship issues with both men and women. Former chemical dependency program director, Hiawatha Valley Mental Health agency, Winona. Graduate U of M and St. Mary's College, Winona
How Money Works
Presenter: Bob Cooks
Wednesday, September 12, 7-9 pm
Open to Men & Women
The information necessary to become debt free and financially independent. Earning money, asset protection, preparing for emergencies, debt elimination, asset protection, retirement and more. Bring pen and paper for notes.
Bob Cook: More than 30 years adult experience in government and private industry and I just learned this information in the last 4 years. I have spent my time since, teaching others what I learned. I love helping people. Divorced, custodial parent of 2 teen-aged daughters.
Presentation
Presenter: John McGuiness
Wednesday, September 19, 7-9 pm
No description at press time.
Finding Your Soul in a Poem
Presenter: Jon Benfer
Wednesday September 26, 7-9 pm
Open to Men of all sexual orientations
Using poetry from ancient to modern times, men will explore the life of the poem as a means of digging into the nature of soul. We'll look at where poems take our attention, where the writer stands to create them, and what happens to us as listeners when we experience a poem.
Jon Benfer is a business and personal coach and poet in Minneapolis. He leads frequent workshops in the LGBTQ community on relationships, attraction, and self-revelation.
Creating Your Own Spiritual Practice
Presenter:Vernon Paul
Wednesday, October 3, 7-9 pm
Open to Men & Women
This presentation and discussion is based on the topic "Creating Your Own Spiritual Practice". Major elements that will be covered are:
- creating your own sanctuary (sacred space
- balance - identifying important areas in a person's life and putting them in relationship
- nourishing your spiritual life, reading, etc.
- mediation - and importance of it
- mindfulness
- service
This presentation and discussion is, generally, generic in nature and takes people where they are at.
Vern Paul is a retired design manager who spent about thirty five years in the high-tech industry. Formal education is in electrical engineering and mathematics. his avocation is spirituality and is a trained spiritual guide. His core views are that the essence of all the worlds spiritual traditions, including indigenous ones, are about transformation of consciousness and that lead the individual to wholeness and holiness.