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This course explores the dramatic cultural shifts in thinking and living that reshaped America and Western Europe between the end of World War I and the Great Depression. Known as the Roaring Twenties, the Jazz Age, and the era of the Lost Generation, this period redefined values, norms, morals, and manners. We will immerse ourselves in the culturally and socially vibrant ambiance of 1920s Paris, where expatriate writers gathered in cafés and salons to challenge convention and invent new ways of living and writing. Through F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Babylon Revisited and Bernice Bobs Her Hair, Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, and Gertrude Stein’s The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, we will examine how their lives and works reflected both the exhilaration and disillusionment of the age. We will consider how the legacy of this remarkable decade continues to influence literature and culture today.
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Instructor: Asya Ferda
Capacity Remaining: 12
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Dates: 4/15/2026 - 5/20/2026
Times: 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
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Sessions: 6
Days: W
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Building: Online
Room:
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Registration Fee: $90, Members Only
You must sign in to your account to verify membership before the add to cart button will appear.
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Have you ever wondered who writes presidential speeches? This course examines the changes in presidential speechwriting, from the earliest speechwriters in George Washington’s administration to contemporary speechwriters. Yes, Hamilton did help Washington write his Farewell Address. But, no, Lincoln did not write the Gettysburg Address on the back of an envelope. We will examine the process used by a wide range of presidents and look at copies of speechwriting drafts from FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Carter, and George H.W. Bush. We will view video and audio clips from speeches and from former White House speechwriters describing the process.
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Instructor: Diana Carlin
Capacity Remaining: 12
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Dates: 3/30/2026 - 5/4/2026
Times: 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
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Sessions: 6
Days: M
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Building: Online
Room:
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Registration Fee: $90, Members Only
You must sign in to your account to verify membership before the add to cart button will appear.
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In July 1925, Clarence Darrow, William Jennings Bryan, and a supporting cast of fascinating characters converged upon Dayton, Tennessee for what became known as The Scopes Monkey Trial. Religion. Science. Public education. Free speech. Textbooks. Participants fought about all of these for eight days in an epic battle that was broadcast to the nation. One hundred years later, we are still fighting about these same issues. This course will be a deep dive into the trial including why it was held in Dayton, Tennessee, how Bryan and Darrow got involved, what actually went on in the courtroom, whether Inherit The Wind accurately depicts what occurred, and who won and lost the case. Perhaps most importantly, we will discuss why we should care today.
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Instructor: Douglas Mishkin
Capacity Remaining: 12
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Dates: 3/31/2026 - 5/5/2026
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
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Sessions: 6
Days: Tu
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Building: Online
Room:
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Registration Fee: $90, Members Only
You must sign in to your account to verify membership before the add to cart button will appear.
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Comics, the combination of words and pictures to tell stories, has been a part of human communication for far longer than many realize, stretching from cave paintings on stone walls to the Bayeux Tapestry to the latest adventures of Batman and Spider-Man. Comics are an incredibly malleable medium, a literary artform that has too often been limited by the public perception of comics as merely a platform for four-color super-heroics. This course will trace the history of comics as a way of telling intimate and epic stories, exploring social and political issues, and capturing the cultural climate via the deceptive simplicity of panels, word balloons, and lines drawn on paper or displayed on device screens. And yes, we will also take a look at superheroes. Readings will include Understanding Comics, Watchmen, Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, Fun Home, and Persepolis.
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Instructor: Arnold Blumberg
Capacity Remaining: 12
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Dates: 3/31/2026 - 5/5/2026
Times: 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
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Sessions: 6
Days: Tu
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Building: Online
Room:
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Registration Fee: $90, Members Only
You must sign in to your account to verify membership before the add to cart button will appear.
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Art in the streets (including graffiti, murals, stickers, paste-ups, and other public installations) offers powerful means of expression for marginalized voices, shapes urban environments, and presents competing visions of community life. Unlike art made for museums or the commercial market, street art is often counter-institutional, engaging social issues from critical perspectives. This course examines graffiti and street art in the US and beyond, exploring their histories, motivations, and global connections. Participants will consider the rise of the mural movement, strategies for preserving and presenting street art, its increasing institutionalization, and its potential to foster social change.
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Instructor: Heather Shirey
Capacity Remaining: 12
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Dates: 4/1/2026 - 5/6/2026
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
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Sessions: 6
Days: W
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Building: Online
Room:
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Registration Fee: $90, Members Only
You must sign in to your account to verify membership before the add to cart button will appear.
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Siberia constitutes three quarters of Russia’s territory, but only a quarter of the country’s population lives there. Yet, the role of Siberia in making Russia a large and wealthy empire should not be underestimated. In this course, we will discuss Siberia’s role in the rise, and possibly imminent dismantling, of Russia as a unified state; Siberia’s economic importance, both historically and today; the region’s indigenous peoples and their cultures; its role as a penal colony throughout history and how that function transformed the region; its importance for climate change and environmental issues; and the relations between Russia and China, in which Siberia plays a crucial role.
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Instructor: Asya Pereltsvaig
Capacity Remaining: 12
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Dates: 4/1/2026 - 5/6/2026
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
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Sessions: 6
Days: W
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Building: Online
Room:
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Registration Fee: $90, Members Only
You must sign in to your account to verify membership before the add to cart button will appear.
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Why do so many great violinists also become composers? This course will explore the fascinating legacy of violinist-composers across history, including Baroque virtuosos like Heinrich Biber, Romantic legends like Niccolò Paganini, and 20th century innovators like George Enescu and Grazyna Bacewicz. Through listening, discussing, and studying visual materials, we will examine how these artists wrote music tailored to their instruments and themselves. Taught by a professional violinist, this course offers a behind-the-strings look at how performance and composition intertwine in the hands of the same creative mind.
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Instructor: Ilana Zaks
Capacity Remaining: 12
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Dates: 4/6/2026 - 5/11/2026
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
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Sessions: 6
Days: M
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Building: Online
Room:
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Registration Fee: $90, Members Only
You must sign in to your account to verify membership before the add to cart button will appear.
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The death of Pope Francis and the election of the first US born Pope have been in the news repeatedly in the last few months, capturing the imagination of many people, including non-Catholics. Who are these men? What are their life stories? How were they similar to and different from each other? In this course, we will discuss the lives and dominant perspectives of the last ten Popes, exploring their most significant positions and their influence on world affairs.
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Instructor: Olivia Espin
Capacity Remaining: 11
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Dates: 4/7/2026 - 5/12/2026
Times: 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
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Sessions: 6
Days: Tu
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Building: Online
Room:
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Registration Fee: $90, Members Only
You must sign in to your account to verify membership before the add to cart button will appear.
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