What’s that word I’m looking for?

At this time of year, I am apt to tell you to be of good cheer and to celebrate and fa-la-la-la, and so forth and so on. I still will tell you to do all of those things, but I also want to share the happy news that Shelby Jones, our membership coordinator, and Morgan House, our part-time curriculum specialist, will be moving on to new opportunities (see announcement below). I was looking for a word to describe that feeling of being happy for someone while also feeling a bit sad because they are going to be missed. I struggled, thinking that the Germans must have such a word. After all, they gave us the wonderful word schadenfreude, which, of course is not the word I was looking for. The Inuit people must have a word, then, right? With 40 different words for “snow”, there must be something that they’ve come up with to say what I mean. Alas, I can’t find my Inuit-English dictionary. A few of my fellow English-speakers have emailed me to say how “bittersweet” this news is. Ah, yes, maybe that is the word. I’m not sure if “bittersweet” quite connotes the correct ratio of sweet to bitter. Sweet is definitely the prevalent flavor in this recipe! I will definitely miss having Shelby and Morgan as part of the Osher team, and I know that you will too—but I want to take a moment to thank them both and to celebrate the work they’ve done here! Santa may have to bring me a new dictionary that includes words that capture these difficult to describe sentiments, but in the meantime, I think we should all celebrate, be of good cheer, fa-la-la-la, and so forth and so on—Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Very Happy New Year to all of our Osher members and friends!

Stay safe and healthy,

Tracy Jacobs

I’m writing to share exciting news about Osher staff members Shelby Jones and Morgan House.

Shelby has accepted a position with the Baltimore County Department of Aging as the SHIP (State Health Insurance Assistance Program) Program Manager and Morgan has accepted a full-time position with ZeniMax Studios as a Quality Assurance Tester. I’m very excited for both of them as they embark on new opportunities but, of course, I am sad that the Osher team will be losing these two amazing colleagues.

Shelby has been with Osher since August 2017. From the start, Shelby has demonstrated her versatility in her role as Osher Membership Coordinator. She has been the liaison with all of our volunteer committees and interest groups. She has been the friendly face to greet Osher members when they arrive for classes. She was instrumental in our transition to online registration and membership database management. She has shared terrific stories about Osher students, instructors, and activities through the Engage TU blog. The list goes on, but more than anything, it’s not so much what Shelby has accomplished but how she has done so. Her bright outlook and positive attitude propel her can-do spirit. Osher students, instructors, and her TU colleagues all appreciate her thoughtfulness, customer service, authenticity, and big smile. Osher at Towson University has benefited tremendously from Shelby’s contributions. Shelby’s final day with us will be Friday, January 7.

Morgan joined Osher as our part-time Curriculum Specialist in March 2020. Just a few days after he started working with us, the Covid-19 pandemic caused us to cancel our spring semester and we all found ourselves working from home. Morgan did a terrific job adapting to his ever-changing role as we navigated the challenge of bringing our courses online for the first time. He has been extremely helpful in putting the curriculum together and being a liaison to Osher instructors. His final day with us will be Friday, December 17.

Please join me in thanking Shelby and Morgan and in wishing them well as they look forward to their new roles!

It Was Only a Joke…or Was it?: The Philosophy of Humor with Steve Gimbel

Wednesday, January 12 at 10 a.m. via Zoom

Humor is a part of every human society, yet we still argue about whether a given comment was “only a joke.” What makes something an instance of joking? Philosophers have theories (of course they do) and we will explore the pros and cons of the various accounts of humor (with plenty of funny examples).

Steve Gimbel is a philosophy professor at Gettysburg College and author of seven books including “Isn’t that Clever: A Philosophy of Humor and Comedy”. He was an amateur stand-up comedian for several years, but (much to the chagrin of his students) decided to keep his day job.