Social Sciences   

The Camino de Santiago is a 500-mile pilgrimage walk in Spain along old Roman roads and trade routes. Thousands walk this path each year in search of spiritual enlightenment, physical challenge, and personal growth. Hear what it is like to be a modern-day pilgrim walking this journey.

There has been an increasing need to provide civics education to adults for the past number of years. Recently, we have seen a growing division amongst people on social media, television and in person. The ability for people to civilly discuss ideas, differing viewpoints and varied political philosophies quickly erode into shouting matches and cancel culture. Part of this hostility towards each other can be found in civic illiteracy and the lack of basic understanding of government. People tend to shout their ideas rather than reason them when they lack the proper education to take or make a position and support it with reasoning. This lecture series will give people the opportunity to hear non-partisan views on topics such as basic ideas of government, influences of the enlightenment philosophers, debates at the Constitutional Convention, the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights, political parties, the 14th Amendment, voting and citizenship rights. These topics, intertwined with answering participant questions, will give participants a richer understanding of the basics of civics and government.

Right from the beginning it was clear that our country would not succeed without confronting James Madison’s challenge. “Is there no virtue among us? If there be not, no form of government can render us secure.” The central themes of this discussion course are derived from two books. Habits of the Heart, from 1985, is an examination of the conditions of the relationship of individual and community revealed by interviews conducted by a team of sociologists. The practices revealed in those surveys are given a context and intellectual weight through the examination of ideas from the founding fathers and especially the ideas of Alexis de Tocqueville in his work, Democracy in America. Developing a vision of how the individualism of the American experiment can be compatible with a community oriented to the public good is a complex and exhaustive project. This course is an effort to explore some of the categories and tools of analysis that might be viewed as a fruitful start toward this, using these two works. For each of the four sessions there will be a presentation of ideas that help to clarify the readings and a a discussion of specific selections from these works. Although the sessions will be focused on specific selections, purchasing the books is recommended. 

It is often said that China is the world’s oldest continuous civilization. While the Egyptians, Syrians, and Iraqis may have something to say about that, in today’s China there is no dispute. China’s view of itself has remained remarkably consistent over at least three millennia, Perhaps it is best summed up in a letter from one of China’s greatest emperors to England’s King George III, rejecting the request of the King’s emissary to establish a diplomatic presence in Beijing: “Our dynasty’s domestic virtue has penetrated every country under Heaven, and kings of all nations have offered their costly tribute…we possess all things…and have no use for your country’s manufactures.” Since the Qing emperor’s letter was written in 1793, China has experienced a spectacular collapse, and a phoenix like rise. Let’s examine China’s tumultuous past, how it informs today’s China, and talk about what this portends for the remainder of the 21st century.

Transferred from the U.S. Air Force to the U.S. Space Force in the summer of 2020, the New Boston Space Force Station was originally established in 1942 as a practice area for bombers and fighter planes from nearby Grenier Army Air Field (now Manchester–Boston Regional Airport).  The Commander will provide a brief Mission Brief, and then  lead participants on a tour of Heritage Hall. Bring your questions as the course ends with a question and answer period.

Transferred from the U.S. Air Force to the U.S. Space Force in the summer of 2020, the New Boston Space Force Station was originally established in 1942 as a practice area for bombers and fighter planes from nearby Grenier Army Air Field (now Manchester–Boston Regional Airport).  The Commander will provide a brief Mission Brief, and then  lead participants on a tour of Heritage Hall. Bring your questions as the course ends with a question and answer period.

Money, Money, Money! explores physical money from its earliest origins to modern times. The story of money is the story of man’s development of civilization, and the two are inextricably linked. That drags in a lot of subjects, like history, economics, geography and the like, but these will only be used to tell the rest of the story. Ancient and medieval coins, US coins and banknotes in two sessions, and world coins and banknotes comprise the four sessions.

Words have all kinds of special powers - as representation, promises, lies, stories, profanity, and more. How do we know what language is "doing" in any given context? What are or should be the ethical principles around language in these areas? We will look at theories about the relation of language to "reality" and whether language is one thing or many. We will explore ethical theories about when "lying" is and is not permitted. We'll ask whether we should have special rules for certain words that are considered profane or racist or threatening even when they are far from immediate action. We will consider theories from a variety of philosophical or even spiritual perspectives. As a group we can identify other areas of ethical interest.

The Spanish Inquisition was just one of several inquisitions that occurred between the 12th and 19th centuries. Religion was not something one just did at church. It was the peoples’ science, their philosophy, their politics, their identity, and their hope for salvation. It was not a personal preference but an abiding and universal truth. Heresy, then, struck at the heart of that truth. It doomed the heretic, endangered those near him, and tore apart the fabric of community.The goal of this class will be to reach a basic understanding of the uniqueness of the Spanish Inquisition and how it operated. By providing both the historical, political, cultural, religious and judicial aspects of the Spanish Inquisition this course will explore why intolerance became a normal acceptable way of life.

Our founding fathers knew that truth is essential for democracy to flourish. George Washington believed, “Truth will ultimately prevail where pains are taken to bring it to light.” Benjamin Franklin warned, “We have given you a republic if you can keep it.” However, a MIT study determined that Twitter falsehoods spread 6 times faster than truth. Since 1980, increasing income inequality has contributed to more political polarization. Could better tax policies help to solve this problem? Pope Francis “Laudato Si: On Care for our Common Home” enjoined us to stop plundering our planet because the poor suffer the most. Climate extremes are increasing. What can we do right now to stop global warming?