Winter 2025!   

This course explores how dogs and cats experience the world through their unique senses and why they do some behaviors that challenge and puzzle us. We will discuss the juicy topic of animal emotions and how we can know what animals feel – by observing their body language. We will consider how to identify when an animal is in pain and what you can do to reduce your dog or cat’s fear, anxiety, stress, and frustration–the Fear Free approach. We will discuss grief and loss in animals and how to help aging animals continue to have quality of life. Even when we don’t know exactly how animals feel, we can help them by making small changes in their environment and teaching them that once scary things predict good things (desensitization and counterconditioning). The class will include plenty of question-and-answer time, during which you can ask your behavior and training questions. Great information for shelter and rescue volunteers, too.

During his tenure in Weimar (1708-1717), Johann Sebastian Bach composed around 20 cantatas, which represent a significant development in his musical style. These works, created for the court chapel, showcase Bach's expressive melodies, intricate counterpoint, and innovative orchestration. They paved the way for his extensive cantata production later in his career as he became Thomaskantor in Leipzig. We invite you to join us as we explore some of Bach's most notable Weimar cantatas. We will discuss the occasion for each piece, review its text, and conduct high-level musical analysis to enable a deeper appreciation of Bach's musical language. The sessions will include listening to excerpts or entire cantatas if time allows. Whether you're a Bach enthusiast or new to his music, this course will equip you with new insights and tools to engage with the works of one of the greatest composers in history.

London in the 1700's is not known for notable English composers. British audiences were avid music lovers and were clamoring to hear good music. Enter German-born George Frederic Handel in 1712. One of the greatest Baroque composers, Handel thrilled London audiences with an astonishing amount of music for the London stage. Then who should show up in London in 1762 but another German, Johann Christian Bach, the youngest son of J. S. Bach. Young Bach was a critical figure in moving musical style out of the Baroque and into the Classical era. Finally, Franz Joseph Haydn, born in Austria, was enticed to make two visits to London in the 1790s, resulting in the "London" symphonies, twelve of the finest symphonies ever composed. This class will review the lives, times, and music of Handel, J. C. Bach, and Haydn, and will look in detail at how musical styles transitioned from Baroque to Classical between about 1740 and 1790.

As global governance becomes ever more complex, both the political and economic systems find themselves having to constantly evolve and respond to new challenges, from new actors to new technology, like AI. Global governance incorporates a dizzying framework of institutions, rules, norms, and procedures that are supposed to facilitate collective action and cooperation. However, the wide range of issues the world is facing, from economic development and trade to human rights, environmental protection, and peace and security, the efforts of global organizations like the UN, WTO, IMF, and governments operating within this global system, are struggling to address global challenges that transcend national borders and require collective solutions.

In this course, we will learn about the incredibly successful chimpanzee and mountain gorilla habituation programs in Rwanda and Uganda and what it’s like to track chimps and gorillas through the underbrush. We will discuss lesser-known facts about these primates and review the difference between monkeys and apes, including their behaviors and physical attributes. We will also look at what Rwanda is like today and why it is so prosperous — only 30 years after one of the most horrific and devastating genocides in modern history.

In this introduction to Google Docs, we will show you how to create documents and share work “in the cloud.” We will also discuss how Google Docs can fit into and simplify workflow across devices and operating systems. This class is intended for desktop/laptop computer users but will include information for mobile device users. The Chrome web browser is recommended. This class will use recorded and live demonstrations as well as written material. 

CLASS CANCELLED

Please contact us with any questions.

This is a course for poets and non-poets alike, anyone who has ever encountered the poetry of Emily Dickinson and wished they knew more about her. Together we will examine and discuss 21st century editions and interpretations of the poetry and letters with a goal of understanding her ever-evolving poetic legacy more fully for ourselves. Although a PDF of materials will be available, and online Dickinson archives, you may wish to purchase “Emily Dickinson’s Poems: As She Preserved Them”  edited by Christanne Miller.

This course is a continued survey of selected European folk dances. It will include a discussion of the traditional themes, movement patterns, music, garments, and social customs of each dance. The instructor blends educational elements of history, culture, and creativity into an interactive process of reading, listening, watching, discussing, and moving through the course material.

Smells conjure up warm memories, emotions, and human relationships. Our noses are amazing molecular detectors, but how much do we really know about our sense of smell? How do we perceive smells and describe them to others? What smells are associated with certain diseases and therapies? Come explore the sense of smell, from the biology that makes it possible to the chemistry behind fragrances and essential oils. In the first class, we will discuss the biological path from nose to brain, explore the connection between smell and memory, identify odor molecules and their sources, and compare the abilities of humans to smell with that of other animals. In the second class, we will investigate essential oils, the creation of perfumes, product labels, and regulations. In the third class, we’ll evaluate aromatherapy claims and review proposed future uses of smell in our daily lives.

We will dive into the free Google Drive services found in your Google account, which will simplify your life and make you more productive. We will show you how cloud-based apps work within the Google universe. We will cover the advantages of using Google’s office productivity apps — and the pitfalls. Touching on security and privacy, we will show how Google’s products can work with — and sometimes better than — the business software you might be familiar with. This class is for desktop/laptop computer users and will include information for mobile devices. The Chrome web browser is recommended. This class will use recorded and live demonstrations as well as written material.

This course covers the history of Washington State from roughly the 1780s to the present. It examines Native Peoples; the arrival, influence, and impact of Euro-American explorers, fur traders, missionaries, and settlers; and the efforts of the United States at controlling the region by asserting authority over the land and Native societies to the mid-19th century. The course then transitions to the urbanization and industrialization of the region by looking at economic, political, social, and cultural developments during the late 19th and 20th centuries. An overarching theme is how a sense of regional identity evolved over time, one often (and strongly) connected to the environment of the Pacific Northwest.

The criminal justice system is regularly a topic of the news and political campaigns, but its portrayal is often inaccurate or misleading. As a consequence, the average person doesn’t really know that much about the system and how it works. This is despite the fact that the system is typically one of the largest budget items at the state and local levels. This course is designed to give participants a baseline knowledge of the system and the tools to encourage them to explore further on their own.

The saying goes, “When Pavarotti sings, we are all Italian.” Former Metropolitan Opera violinist Erica Miner first learned to speak the language of opera by accompanying the likes of Luciano Pavarotti and Mirella Freni from the orchestra pit. In this presentation, which is both fun and informative, Erica shares some of her favorite Italian-flavored anecdotes along with video excerpts from beloved Italian operas like “La Bohème,” “Tosca,” and “Aida.”                                                              

For a brief and shining moment during the papacy of Julius II, the greatest sculptor and the greatest painter of the High Renaissance were painting frescoes a stone’s throw from one another in the Vatican. Our first session will look at Michelangelo and the Sistine Ceiling. Despite stormy relations with his papal patron and his own insistence that “I’m no painter,” Michelangelo’s Sistine Ceiling, now gorgeously restored, remains perhaps the greatest work of art ever conceived and executed. We will delve into its complicated program and symbolism. In the following session, we will approach Raphael in the Papal Apartments. When Pope Julius II commissioned Raphael to decorate the Stanza della Segnatura, the young painter had yet to distinguish himself in frescoes. Inspired by Michelangelo’s example, Raphael’s The School of Athens and the works alongside it epitomize the spirit of the High Renaissance.

Since Mary Shelley wrote “Frankenstein” on a dare, women have been pioneering and pushing the boundaries of the speculative. Speculative fiction covers a variety of literary genres including science fiction, horror, and fantasy. Speculative works imagine alternative worlds in order to better understand our own reality. This course highlights recent and upcoming Latina authors who utilize the speculative to explore colonial legacies in the U.S. Southwest and Mexico. From a critical literary lens, we will investigate how Latina writers like Isabel Cañas and Silvia Moreno-Garcia utilize the supernatural to conceptualize and confront real-life monsters. Dare to enter a world of Texas vampiros and haunted haciendas?

In this course, we will begin a leisurely reading of Chaucer’s great satirical classic in the original Middle English language, a project we will pursue over many subsequent quarters. Our text will be Larry D. Benson’s edition (Houghton Mifflin), widely available in paperback and online. Make sure you get this edition so that we all have the same line numbers. Our point of departure will depend on how far we got in the Fall, so instructions on reading for the first class meeting will be forthcoming before the quarter starts.

We will explore W. H. Auden’s poem, “September 1, 1939,” about fascism and the outbreak of World War II. Auden packed an immense amount of history and knowledge into this poem, and we will do a line-by-line analysis of his language, as well as bringing in a small number of other Auden poems that bear on the subject of war. Also to be discussed will be why Auden rejected this poem from his works, and whether his doing so in any way minimizes the poem’s cultural and historical importance.

In this course, we will continue with the Tang dynasty through the Song and, finally, the bloody Yuan (Mongolian) dynasty, looking at the influences of foreigners in trade and invasions. We will compare the daily life of the scholar and his exams and the “pure” Southern gentleman and his parties and poetry. More visual arts will be examined: Buddhist cave paintings to regal portraits to incredible landscapes. And we will continue with more stories of the Silk Road.

In this course, we will undertake a reading of Shakespeare’s rather jaundiced dramatic reworking of Chaucer’s great 14th century romance, based in the context of the Trojan War. We will consider how the play questions the values of love, honor, and hierarchy, and how it resists easy answers. Students are asked to read through Act 2 for the first class meeting. Any edition of the play will do, though it is recommended to find one with annotations, and with line numbers (the instructor recommends Signet Classic paperbacks, widely available).

We shall explore American foreign policy in the modern era, with particular attention to U.S. relations with China, the Middle East, Russia, and South Asia. In each of these regions and with major power rivalries ebbing and flowing, we’ll delve into whether consecutive U.S. administrations’ foreign policies have furthered our national interests, reflected our democratic values, both, or neither. Among related topics, we’ll cover the tensions in the Taiwan Strait; the 2001 and 2003 invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq; recent U.S. military and diplomatic support for Ukraine and Israel; and ponder how India – now the world’s most populous country and largest democracy – will jockey for global recognition and relevance. Each session will include a Resource List and will begin with a 60-minute lecture followed by a robust Question & Answer session. All are welcome!

This course is an introduction to the sciences of meteorology and climatology. Earth’s climate system involves the interactions of solar energy with water and land, and the variabilities in these interactions that are created by the seasons. Here, we explore weather and climate by starting with the global picture, then focus on some of the details of our local picture, perched as we are on the western edge of a continent with a massive ocean to our west and two significant mountain ranges nearby. We will discuss weather vs. climate; global distribution of solar energy; atmospheric composition, ozone, heat exchange, greenhouse effect, pressure & winds; formation & effects of the Polar Jet Stream, tropical storms (hurricanes); and the climate crisis.

Bird naturalist Candy Brown has been interested in all animals since she was young. Her husband, Todd Brown, is a gifted photographer who takes pictures in Washington State and on trips around the western U.S. While Candy shows Todd’s photos in class, she will share natural history information about the pictured wildlife. In the Washington session, we will discuss the proliferation of rabbits and coyotes in our area, how bats are helpful in our yards, and the presence of baby red foxes, squirrels, chipmunks, and more. Included in the Wildlife of the West session, we will see four bear species from Alaska, animals from Yellowstone and the Tetons, wild horses from Wyoming, and high-mountain critters from Colorado.

Microsoft launched Windows 11 over three years ago, promoting a slimmed-down, less complicated user interface. Over time, it has matured and added more features. For those who must move from Windows 10 with its upcoming support change to Windows 11, is it more attractive now? Let’s find out. For those already on Windows 11, how do I use Windows 11 more effectively? Let’s explore these and your other questions about Windows 11 upgrading and usage.

Class begins in less than 2 business days or is already in session... Please call 425.640.1830 or email cri@edmonds.edu to register.

Class begins in less than 2 business days or is already in session... Please call 425.640.1830 or email cri@edmonds.edu to register.

Class begins in less than 2 business days or is already in session... Please call 425.640.1830 or email cri@edmonds.edu to register.

Class begins in less than 2 business days or is already in session... Please call 425.640.1830 or email cri@edmonds.edu to register.

CLASS CANCELLED

Please contact us with any questions.

Class begins in less than 2 business days or is already in session... Please call 425.640.1830 or email cri@edmonds.edu to register.

Class begins in less than 2 business days or is already in session... Please call 425.640.1830 or email cri@edmonds.edu to register.

Class begins in less than 2 business days or is already in session... Please call 425.640.1830 or email cri@edmonds.edu to register.

Class begins in less than 2 business days or is already in session... Please call 425.640.1830 or email cri@edmonds.edu to register.

Class begins in less than 2 business days or is already in session... Please call 425.640.1830 or email cri@edmonds.edu to register.