Adult Programs

Sloan*Longway offers a variety of programs intended for our adult patrons. Please check back soon for more events.

Archaeology and the Stone Street Native American Ancestral Recovery Project
Guest: Dr. Beverly Smith, Associate Professor of Anthropology, U of M Flint
Date: Thursday, February 23, 2012
Time: 6:30-8:00 PM
Location: Sloan Museum
Fee: Free with admission , $9 for Adults, $8 for Seniors, $6 for Kids
Have you ever wondered how scientists and archaeologists learn about people who lived in the past by looking at the bones and graves? Join us as we explore the ways scientists and archaeologists can use human remains and artifacts found at the Stone Street Native American Ancestral Recovery Project to understand Flint’s past and discuss the historical and scientific importance of this discovery. Children are welcome to Stay and Play! Staff available to show your children the wonders of Sloan Museum. Limited to 40 Participants – Pre-Sale Tickets are available

2012: Fact or Fiction?
Guest Speaker: Dr. Pat Durrell, Youngstown State University
Date: Saturday, February 25
Time: Doors open at 6:30, talk starts at 7:00 followed by Q&A
Location: Longway Planetarium
Age: For ages 10 and older
Fee: Free—provided through the generous support of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
There has been a lot made of the date Dec. 21, 2012 -- the end of one cycle of the Mayan Long Count Calendar. Any of a number of doomsday scenarios have been said to occur on that day, usually assuming some type of astronomical catastrophe. This talk will visit the various misconceptions concerning the destruction of the world in 2012 and separate the fiction from the facts. More details

Flint’s Historic Buildings
Guest: Dr. Richard Hill-Rowley, Associate Professor of Earth and Resource Science, U of M Flint
Date: March 8, 2012

Time: 6:30-8:00PM
Location: Sloan Museum
Fee: Free with admission , $9 for Adults, $8 for Seniors, $6 for Kids
Flint has many historic homes, but what does it mean for a house to be historic and how does it get this standing? Come learn the story of one of Flint’s historic houses from past to present and the design for its surprising future. Children are welcome to Stay and Play! Staff available to show your children the wonders of Sloan Museum. Limited to 40 Participants – Pre-Sale Tickets are available.

Poetry Under the Stars

Date: Tuesday, March 13

Time: Meet the poets from 6:30–7:00pm, readings start at 7:00pm. 

Location: Longway Planetarium

Age: For ages 10 and older

Fee: Free, compliments of Dr. Jamile T. Lawand, on behalf of the “Middle Eastern” Studies Program at U of M-Flint.

No matter where you stand on Earth, look up and you’ll see the same sky as everyone else.  The stars and planets have been a source of wonder and mystery for millions of years. People from every culture have pondered the night sky in amazement and have been moved and inspired. Reading this month is Jamile Trueba Lawand, Ibaa Ismail, and students of Arabic from U of M-Flint.. Poems will be read in English as well as Arabic and then explained in English. More Details

The Daring Trader: Jacob Smith in the Michigan Territory
Guest: Author Kim Crawford
Date: Thursday, March 22, 2012
Time: 6:30-8:00PM
Location: Sloan Museum
Fee: Free with admission , $9 for Adults, $8 for Seniors, $6 for Kids

Join author, Kim Crawford, as he leads a discussion about his newest book, The Daring Trader: Jacob Smith in the Michigan Territory. A fur trader in the Michigan Territory and confidant of both the U.S. government and local Indian tribes, Jacob Smith could have stepped out of a James Fennimore Cooper novel. Controversial, mysterious, and bold during his lifetime, in death Smith has not, until now, received the attention he deserves as a pivotal figure in Michigan’s American period and the War of 1812. This is the exciting and unlikely story of a man at the frontier’s edge, whose missions during both war and peace laid the groundwork for Michigan to accommodate settlers and farmers moving west. The book investigates Smith’s many pursuits, including his role as an advisor to the Indians, from whom the federal government would gradually gain millions of acres of land, due in large part to Smith’s work as an agent of influence.

The Universe Through Superman's Eyes
Guest Speaker: Dr. Rajib Ganguly, University of Michigan-Flint
Date: Saturday, March 24
Time: Doors open at 6:30, talk starts at 7:00 followed by Q&A.
Location: Longway Planetarium
Age: For ages 10 and older
Fee: Free—provided through the generous support of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation 
Superman has X-ray vision. So what does he see? Well, the night sky from the surface of the Earth does nothing for him, since X-rays (thankfully) don't penetrate the atmosphere. Above the atmosphere, he can see some neat things, though-come to Longway Planetarium to find out. More details