Lunch and Learn Winter 2024

No Registration Required 

Open to members only

All Programs are In-Person, East Campus Forum Auditorium

except for January 19th Presentation

12:15 pm – Cookies, tea and coffee

1:00 pm – Presentation

 

January 12 – ChatGPT

What is ChatGPT? What is it used for? How is it related to Artificial Intelligence? What can a regular person do with ChatGPT? This presentation includes a demonstration of ChatGPT and how to open up a ChatGPT account.

Gary Bischoff is an electronics engineer with a Master’s degree in Computer Science from Columbia University. Gary has worked in the field of electronics and computers for his entire career. He is literate in many computer languages and taught engineering students in electronics, computer programming and microcomputers at SUNY New Paltz.

 

January 19 – House Up On the Hill: HMTX Industries Headquarters

This presentation will take place in the Culinary Arts dining room on the West Campus W121

Floating delicately on top of an exposed rock ledge in Norwalk, The House Up On The Hill (HUOTH) is the new 24,000 square foot world headquarters for flooring manufacturer HMTX Industries, a company that prides itself on sustainability, innovation and teamwork. While meeting the world’s most stringent green building rating system–The Living Building Challenge—the HUOTH showcases art, technology, and leading-edge solutions to regenerative design. It is a biophilic-designed building, intended to foster collaboration and innovation. The HUOTH is one of about 40 commercial buildings of its size worldwide built to meet The Living Building Challenge.

Rick Taylor is the Senior Director, Community Engagement at HMTX Industries. He has worked for HMTX for over 22 years and has been an integral part of the immense growth of the organization. His current passion is helping to build the HMTX brand through community engagement and philanthropy.

 

January 26 – Meet Precious Phillips

In recognition of Black History Month, meet Precious Phillips, a black woman with a unique story of cultural diversity and professional success. Born in Hanover Germany, Precious and her older brother were raised by their Ghanaian mother before moving to Ellington, Connecticut—a predominantly white town. Hear how she navigated the challenges of assimilation and how her time at UConn broadened her perspectives and fueled both her academic and personal growth. Beyond her professional career, she remains connected to her multicultural roots. Learn how her life experiences foster empathy, understanding and a deep appreciation for diversity. 

Precious Phillips graduated from the University of Connecticut with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and English. She works for an established life insurance organization, aligning her passion for financial security with the promotion of financial stability for her clients.

 

February 2 – A Connecticut Yankee in China

In 1980, two years after the Cultural Revolution, Dianne, as director of the pre-college division of Manhattan School of Music, was invited to lead a group of performing artists to the People’s Republic of China. She later led a similar group to Taiwan for three consecutive summer music festivals. Then in 1990 she sponsored identical twin violinists whose parents were violinists in the Nationalist Chinese Army.  She returned in 1999 to teach english in Xi’an, the home of the terracotta warriors. She demonstrates how english can be taught through the use of music.

Dianne Danese Flagello, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music, Honorary Doctor of Music Arts  from Manhattan School of Music (MSM). She served at the MSM as Director of the Pre-College Division for 25 years and taught in the New York City public school system for 20 years. In 1981 she led a group of twelve music teachers to the Shanghai and Beijing Conservatories for a series of Master classes and concerts. She became a member of the Global Volunteers and taught English to students in China, Vietnam, Italy and Peru. She is currently president of Maelos Music, Inc, a publishing company devoted to the publishing and recording of over 100 musical compositions written by her late husband Nicolas Flagello.

 

February 9 – Concentration Camp Diary of Odd Nansen

Hailed by The New Yorker as “among the most compelling documents to come out of the war,” From Day to Day is a World War II concentration camp diary, secretly written by Odd Nansen, a Norwegian held captive in Nazi camps in Norway and Germany.  After having been out of print for over 60 years, Timothy Boyce rescued the diary from oblivion after reading the memoir of another Holocaust survivor, whose life, as a 10 year-old boy, was saved by Nansen while both were prisoners in Sachsenhausen. Through selected readings, Tim will explain who Nansen was, why he was arrested, why he wrote the diary, how he preserved it and why this diary is as important today as it was when first written.

Timothy Boyce practiced law as a partner in Dechert LLP, an international law firm. He holds an MBA and a JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and a BS from Georgetown University.  His articles have appeared in The Quarterly Journal of Military History, World War II Magazine, The Scandinavian Review and Viking Magazine.  Tim, who lives in Tryon, NC, retired in 2014 to devote full time to writing and speaking.