Chapter Events
Online Chapter Events
The Online Chapter of BNC is both its own chapter and an extension of the inclusive virtual community created by active chapters and members from all over the world.
MIndfulness-Based Stress Reduction
Section 1: Sundays, April 27-June 15, 2025
9:30 am - noon EDT on Zoom
Section 2: Tuesdays, April 29-June 24, 2025. No class on June 3.
9:30 am - noon EDT on Zoom SOLD OUT
After teaching a popular Online Chapter class in 2024, mindfulness instructor Kelly Weisberg (BNC, Brandeis '71, PhD '76) returns with an extended series of weekly classes just for BNC members.
Mindfulness, the practice of focusing on moment-to-moment experience without self-criticism and with acceptance, teaches us techniques for stress management. Participants are guided through formal mindfulness practices, small group discussion and talks, and practices and exercises. Enrollment is limited to 12 people per class.
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction programs typically cost from $395 to $725, depending on the provider. Thanks to Kelly’s generosity, this series of classes is only $18 to BNC members. The entire registration fee supports the BNC Professorship in Engineering Science.
About the instructor: Kelly Weisberg, Ph.D., J.D., is a life member of Brandeis National Committee. She received undergraduate and graduate degrees from Brandeis University, and a law degree from UC Berkeley. She recently retired from the University of California San Francisco College of Law (formerly Hastings College of Law). As a certified mindfulness instructor, Kelly has taught mindfulness and compassion classes to healthcare professionals, social workers, caregivers, business leaders, lawyers, educators, people with disabilities and chronic pain, and the general public. For more information, visit Kelly’s website: https://exploremindfulpaths.com
Study Groups
Law Study Group
Meets on the third Tuesday of every month, 4-5:30 pm ET / 1-2:30 pm PT, through June 17, 2025
Come together with fellow lawyers for exhilarating conversation that will help strengthen your memory into retirement.
For attorneys who miss the intense, intellectual stimulation of discussing issues of legal significance, this is a unique opportunity to participate in diverse conversation with attorneys from around the country.
The group is open to men and women. Potential topics include recent U. S. Supreme Court decisions, appellate cases, pending litigation of significance to the country, as well as non-constitutional issues, including legal-political cross-over issues. There’s no end to topics of contemporary and historic importance to discuss and debate. The group is led by Paul Fisher, a retired mediator/arbitrator/attorney.
The $25 registration fee is a donation to the BNC Professorship in Engineering Science.
register for the law study group
National Men's Current Events Group
Meets on the second Tuesday of every month, 4-5:30 pm ET / 1-2:30 pm PT, through June 2025
Men of the Brandeis National Committee are invited to join a monthly current events study group hosted by the Conejo Valley/ San Fernando Valley Chapter. Share your opinion and hear a diversity of opinions from BNC members around the country.
Topics are proposed and voted on by members a week before each meeting. Group protocols support stimulating discussion without interruptions. Everyone has an opportunity to contribute to the discussion.
The $25 registration fee is a donation to the BNC Professorship in Engineering Science.
register for the men's current events group
Banned Books Study Group
Meets on the third Wednesday of every month, 7 pm ET, through May 31, 2025.
Led by BNC President Merle Carrus, P’12.
The $25 registration fee is a donation to the BNC Professorship in Engineering Science.
Recordings of Previous Online Chapter Events
Previous Online Chapter Events (not recorded)
3-3-25 Meet the Author | Bringing Ben Home: A Murder, A Conviction, and the Fight to Redeem American Justice (Barbara Bradley Hagerty)
Chapter Events
Book and Author: Boston
April 23, 2025
11 AM-3 PM
Temple Beth Avodah, 45 Puddingstone Lane, Newton Centre, MA 02459
About the author: Marjan Kamali is the Fanny Hurst Writer in Residence in the English Department at Brandeis. Born in Turkey to Iranian parents, Marjan spent her childhood in Kenya, Germany, Turkey, Iran, and the United States. Marjan holds degrees from UC Berkeley, Columbia University, and New York University. She is the 2022 recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Award and the author of The Lion Women of Tehran, The Stationery Shop, and Together Tea. Copies of the books will be available for purchase and signing.
Wraps and salads by Better Life Food catering will be served, followed by ice cream and sorbet.
Registration: $54 (non-BNC members $65)
Benefactor: $100
Register by April 9 by sending cash or check to Carole Rothstein, 143 Rangely Road, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467 along with the following information:
- Name, address, phone number, email
- Number of reservations
- Number of people who want non-dairy dessert option
Hosted by the Greater Boston Chapter of BNC.
Spring Celebration of Books and Authors: Los Angeles
April 24, 2025
11 AM-2 PM
Whiskey Red's
13813 Fiji Way, Marina del Rey, CA 90292
Meet the authors: Antoine Wilson is the author of the novels Mouth to Mouth (featured on Barack Obama’s 2022 Summer Reading List), Panorama City, and The Interloper. In Mouth to Mouth, a successful art dealer confesses the story of his rise to a former classmate in an airport bar – a story that begins with his rescue and resuscitation of a drowning man, with whom he will become inextricably linked, to disturbing ends.
Lisa Niver’s engaging memoir Brave-ish: One Break-up, Six Continents and Feeling Fearless After Fifty tells the story of the 50 challenges that Lisa took before she turned 50, interweaving the challenging dynamics of a marriage at a crossroads with vivid accounts of solo travel and self-exploration.
Laurie Stevens is the author of the best-selling Gabriel McRay psychological thriller series. Suspense Magazine calls Laurie "the leader of the pack" of the genre, and International Thriller Writers claims she’s "cracked the code" of writing psychological suspense. Her short stories are in many collections and her newest novel, The Return, pits human consciousness against AI. All books will be available for purchase and signing.
Registration: $125 per person / $150 Angel /$175 Patron. Free validated parking for all attendees.All proceeds over $65 benefit the BNC Professorship in Engineering Science.
RSVP by April 1. Send a check in the amount of your registration and indicate your choice of entree (pan-seared salmon, spaghetti pomodoro, grilled chicken breast) to Ruth Rose, 434 N. Kings Road, Los Angeles, CA 90048. Telephone: 323-651-1833.
Hosted by the Los Angeles Chapter of BNC.
University on Wheels with Professor Dan Breen
April 25, 2025
11 AM
Congregation Har Shalom
11510 Falls Road, Potomac, MD
Join us for a fascinating talk on a 1919 D.C. murder case that helped shape modern legal views on coerced confessions--featuring insights from Justice Louis D. Brandeis and led by beloved Brandeis professor Dan Breen. Professor Breen will present the details of the Ziang Sun Wan case and the outcomes of recent cases in which convicted defendants have asserted their innocence on appeal, despite having confessed to violent crimes after their arrests.
Presented by the Brandeis National Committee, Greater Washington Chapter
Cost: $20 online, $22 at the door
REGISTER HERE