LEARNING PROGRAMS

Lake/Sumter AAUW offers members an array of learning programs, including General Meetings, Diversity Discussions, Book Club, Great Decisions, and Day Trips.

General Meetings

The branch holds General Meetings on the fourth Saturday of the month from September through May. We usually meet at the Allamanda Recreation Center (1515 St. Charles Place). Please check the location on the home page..

Doors open at 9:15 a.m., social time starts at 9:30 a.m., and the meeting starts at 10:00 a.m.
Each meeting includes an educational program as well as a short business meeting.
Recent programs have included presentations by Rosie the Riveter: Florida's Women in WWII, SISters in Seeking Insights for Solutions, and our own Tech Trek campers.

General Meetings are open to the public.

Embracing Community Programs (Formerly DEI)

This new name preserves our intent to provide stimulating learning opportunities for our members around diversity, equity, and inclusion while also using somewhat more neutral terms to describe our focus. The new name also reflects the trajectory of our work over the last five years, from direct learning about racism and its impacts to learning how to address our differences in positive and productive ways. /Sumter AAUW's Embracing Community Committee supports our branch commitment to diversity and enhances members' awareness of diversity issues by providing programs for members and guests to learn about other racial, ethnic, and cultural groups.

Opportunities Clearinghouse: This program, new this year, will provide listings of upcoming online and in-person learning events that members can pursue independently. Opportunities will be published in the newsletter each month.

Braver Angels is bringing together questioners and supporters of public health to hear each other out with a goal of humanizing, understanding, and remembering that “everyone is worth listening to.” Listen to this episode here: https://tinyurl.com/5edmy7v3

Great Reads: Each month's newsletter will highlight several reading selections.

Book Club

The Lake/Sumter AAUW Book Club meets at 10:30 on the third Wednesday of every month from September through May (location TBD), followed by lunch with whoever is available. The December meeting is devoted to a holiday lunch. At the end of each program year, members recommend and select books for the coming year.

Our September 16th Book: How to Read A Book by Monica Wood

A contemporary novel about guilt, second chances, and the unexpected ways people help one another heal.

The September 16th meeting will be held at 10:30 am at The Ashton at Villages Crossing, 13517 NE 86th Ct., Lady Lake FL

Our October 21st Book: The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels by Jon Meacham

In recognition of the 250th anniversary of our country, the group decided to read a few books that help us all remember our past with a look to the future. With this in mind we selected a nonfiction book by American journalist, historian, and presidential biographer Jon Meacham.

The summer gives us all time for a head start on reading not only Meacham’s work, but to select other books you have read that you would recommend for the group. We will meet in September to select books for our discussions for the upcoming months from the recommendations we receive from YOU.

Please send your recommendations by August 15th to BOTH: Kate Manion (kmanion52@gmail.com) and Katie Haviland (katiehaviland1@gmail.com). Include: the title, author and a brief description of each book you recommend. We will compile the suggestions with your brief descriptions and send them to you by September 1st for your consideration and vote.

Great Decisions

Our branch participates in the Foreign Policy Association's Great Decisions discussion group. This is an activity prepared every year by the Foreign Policy Association in New York, a non-partisan association which analyzes issues from a geo-political and historical perspective. We use their prepared text and read one chapter per week on the topic of the week. During our meetings, we discuss the reading and watch a video lecture on the topic which expands on the readings. Members of the group in past years have found the experience very worthwhile and often a real stretch from how we have thought of the issues in the past.

In 2027, there will be two groups: one on Mondays and one on Tuesdays for 8 weeks. The meetings will begin on Tuesday, January 19, 2027. The meetings will end on March 9, 2027. Meetings will be held in the Sumter County Villages Annex Conference Room, 8033 East CR 466 near the corner of Morse Blvd.

Great Decisions 2027 Topics

American Foreign Policy and the Future of Multilateralism Author: G. John Ikenberry
American Options in the Middle East Author: Phil Gordon
The Future of Germany in Europe and the Atlantic World Author: Liana Fix
U.S.-China: The Case for Engagement Author: Zongyuan Zoe Liu
Brazil and the Global South: Confronting a New America Author: Matias Spektor
AI and American Choices Author: Michael Horowitz
Energy Security: Challenges for American Foreign Policy Author: Samantha Gross
Organized Crime in the Americas Authors: Jorge Castaneda and Lisa Sanchez

We have a very active group and we would like to have even more participants . Please encourage your friends and significant others both in and out of the AAUW group to join us. The Great Decisions discussion group is open to all members as well as non-members. The Great Decisions Briefing book costs $40 and is due by October 25, 2026. There is also an extra participation charge of $20 for non-AAUW members.

Please contact our Great Decisions Coordinator if you plan on attending the discussion group. Include your name and which day you would like to attend.