U.S. law enforcement & regulatory agencies have changed such that money laundering is now treated as an independent and primary focus across all relevant agencies. Banks through the Anti Money Laundering Act and Bank Secrecy Act are required to work with U.S. law enforcement and regulatory agencies to identify, solve and prevent financial crimes. This course reviews the history of financial crime enforcement and how agencies and financial institutions work to combat financial crimes and terrorism. This is an overview of the extent, nature, causes, and control of financial crimes. It will examine the nature and extent of offenses committed by individuals, crime networks, corporations, professionals, and public officials. It will identify challenges and techniques to prevent, detect, investigate, regulate, and sanction financial crimes.

Paperback Readings:

The Panama Papers: Breaking the Story of How the Rich & Powerful Hide Their Money; F. Obermaier and B. Obermayer, April 11, 2017, Oneworld Publications, ISBN-10: 1786070707; ISBN-13: 978-1786070708

Instructor: Eddie Goodwin’s experience includes directing financial crime divisions as a Bank Secrecy Act Anti Money Laundering Officer at domestic banks and an international division of a world-wide bank. His experience includes money laundering cases and information sharing with U.S. law enforcement and regulatory agencies, and state and local law enforcement. He is a financial crime professional with extensive criminal justice experience in Bank Secrecy Act, Anti Money Laundering, fraud investigations, international and domestic crime case investigation, fraud detection and anti-money laundering forensic system analysis. He earned degrees at Northeastern University -MS Criminal Justice; Nichols College- MBA; and the College of the Holy Cross -BA. 

Though it’s a long way from the ancient Mediterranean world where the history of Western Literature begins to the Arctic, some of the works I read during my sojourn in Fairbanks, Alaska have continued to haunt me during my years here in Massachusetts, partly because of the continuing vitality of ancient themes such as patriarchy, child-murder and war in modern fiction, and partly because of the acknowledgment of essentially modern concerns, such as gender roles and ecology in the culture of Native Alaskans. Among the most memorable of Alaskan narratives are those by the Gwich’in writer, Velma Wallis. We will be reading several of her novels: Two Old Women, and The Bird Girl and the Man Who Followed the Sun.

Required Readings

Velma Wallis. Two Old Women. Fairbanks, (Epicenter Press, 1993)

Instructor: Lillian Corti earned a doctorate in Comparative Literature at the City University of New York in 1984 and has taught at various institutions including Queens College, Tulsa University, Marien N’gouabi University and the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where she was on the faculty of the English Department and a member of the Women’s Studies Department for many years.

Artificial intelligence is changing education and research in new, exciting, and sometimes scary ways. What if, for example, we could generate a podcast about the Federalist Papers, look for new themes in old textbooks, and have conversations between Bronson Alcott meeting Maria Montessori? This course will do all of these things and more.

Instructor: Karl Hakkarainen is retired after a 40-year career in the computer industry. A graduate of Amherst College, he is a long-time WISE instructor who has taught courses on technology, history, journalism, music, and law. His grandchildren still ask for and generally heed his advice with their technology concerns. He was born in Gardner, Massachusetts. 

In your life, have you ever taken music lessons on a string, wind, or percussion instrument (such as the piano or xylophone)? If so, when given music/music notation from your teacher to practice, could you first sing, hum, or whistle the melody accurately prior to playing it on your instrument? Or, conversely, did you need to play it to know what the melody sounded like? If this latter question, and its answer, resonates with you... then this class is for you! And yes, it’s also for those of us who have never played a musical instrument.  Many instrumental method books do not reflect the way people naturally learn language - a process that begins with learning to speak, and only then moves on learning to read. This is often called sound–to–symbol because it emphasizes oral and aural recognition as precursors to theoretical knowledge and reading skills.

Instructor: Mitchell Lutch is Wind Band Director at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he directs the concert band and chamber ensembles, and teaches music theory, performance, and appreciation. He received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Instrumental Conducting at the University of Washington and earned his Master of Music degree from New England Conservatory (NEC). His Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education is from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. Conducting appearances and research presentations include concerts and conferences throughout the United States, Quebec, London, Japan, The People’s Republic of China, the former Soviet Union, Luxembourg, Prague, and Mexico. 

Title IX is a landmark federal civil rights law enacted in 1972 that prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program that receives funding from the federal government. How did it become law? It is known as the “sports-equity” law, but the original law doesn’t mention sports. What has the impact been on women’s sports? Men’s sports? What other impacts has Title IX had on American schools, including sexual harassment and sexual violence? What’s the lasting legacy of Title IX?

Instructor: Jean Sifleet is a retired business attorney and CPA. Many years ago, she used Title IX to get equity for her daughters’ high school ice hockey teams. The boys had after-school ice time, bus transportation, uniforms, equipment, all paid for by school (taxpayer) funds. The girls’ teams got no school support; the parents paid for everything. Year after year, the parents worked for some equity for the girls’ teams and recognition as Varsity Teams and were blocked at every turn. Finally, Jean filed a Title IX complaint to change the situation and obtain equity for the girls. Title IX forced the change that was needed. During her business career, she worked in corporate management, consulting, and private practice. In retirement, she served as an Access to Justice Fellow and worked with the Mass Law Reform Institute on immigration and law reform issues. Jean has taught numerous courses for WISE and welcomes participant discussion of the issues.