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- American Southwest, Crossroads of Culture
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Speaker: George Scheper
Dates: 5/14/2024 - 6/11/2024
Times: 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
This course explores the art, history, and cultures of the American Southwest, from ancient Native American homeland to the contemporary cultural mosaic. We begin some 2,000 years ago, with the homeland of the Ancestral Pueblo people, visiting such archaeological sites as Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde, and Canyon de Chelly. We then turn to the historical communities of the Hopi, Zuni and other Pueblo peoples and their Navajo and Apache neighbors. We trace the impact of the coming of the Spanish in the 16th and 17th centuries, and then the arrival of Anglo traders and settlers, and the genesis of the Southwest as a multicultural mecca from the 1920s to the present day.
This online class will meet on May 14, 21, 28, June 4, and 11.
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- Inanimate Reason: Mechanizing Thought, Automata to AI
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Speaker: Jeff Aziz
Dates: 5/14/2024 - 6/11/2024
Times: 10:00 AM - 11:50 AM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
This course will explore the strange human project to reproduce ourselves as machines even to the point of mechanizing our mental capacities and experience. The course will bring together the philosophy and history of computing, including the current moment of large language model artificial intelligence. The course will explore how we have understood these minds of our making in literature and film and examine the current moment in which artificial intelligence seems to have arrived. We will work with several important texts including Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey and William Gibson's Neuromancer.
This in-person class meets on May 14, 21, 28, June 4, and 11.
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- Irish Culture and Traditions
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Speaker: Marie Young
Dates: 5/14/2024 - 6/11/2024
Times: 10:00 AM - 11:50 AM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
This course is a study of Irish culture in Ireland as well as in the Irish diaspora overseas over the past ten years. Members will explore aspects of Irish culture and traditions still vibrant and thriving today. The course will be conducted in English. Discussions and lectures will be organized around themes from Gaelic games, to music, to Irish language, and will include current cultural changes and advances in Ireland and among its people.
This in-person course meets on May 14, 21, 28, June 4, and 11.
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- What is Our Human Evolution Story?
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Speaker: Thalia Gray
Dates: 5/14/2024 - 6/11/2024
Times: 10:00 AM - 11:50 AM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
This course describes the fascinating current picture of our human origins. The fossil picture has been emerging for the past 200 years, and every year brings new discoveries. New research techniques allow for precise information to be decoded from fossils, caves, and other archaeological sites. The identity of our direct ancestors and the path to how we got here is hotly debated by paleoanthropologists and is a rich source of speculation and new understandings. Who were the first hominids to walk upright? Who first made specialized tools and art? At what point did people look and behave just like us? And what happened to the others?
This in-person class will meet on May 14, 21, 28, June 4, and 11.
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- Fresco Painters of Florence
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Speaker: Nora Hamerman
Dates: 5/14/2024 - 6/11/2024
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
From Giotto to Masaccio to Botticelli, the greatest artists of the Italian Renaissance covered the walls of Florentine churches and palaces with beautiful scenes that combine sacred narratives from the Bible with scenes and portraits out of the daily life of the prosperous city. Besides showing the paintings and explaining their content, the course will give a detailed account of how frescoes are made by combining pigments with wet plaster to form a long-lasting image that is part of the actual wall and the techniques that have been used to remove them from the walls (much more often than most people imagine) and attach them to new surfaces.
This online class will meet on May 14, 21, 28, June 4, and 11.
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- Let's Talk About Food in Italian
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Speaker: Cinzia Delfini
Dates: 5/14/2024 - 6/11/2024
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
This course is an introduction to the basic vocabulary and structure to talk about food in Italian. We will start from learning basic vocabulary and move on to learning verbs and expressions to talk about food in general. Members will learn some recipes and will be able to have a conversation in an Italian coffee shop and in a restaurant. Note: This is a repetition of the same course offered in-person in Fall 2023.
This online class will meet on May 14, 21, 28, June 4, and 11.
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- Zentangle™: Go Big!
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Speaker: Sue Schneider
Dates: 5/14/2024 - 7/30/2024
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 10
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
Zentangle™ is an easy, relaxing and fun art form based on creatively drawing repetitive patterns. It is traditionally done in black and white on small 3.5” squares of paper, but in this course, we will explore larger formats using a variety of media, including watercolor, colored pencils and pens, and background variations. In addition to abstract pattern imagery, we will apply Zentangle™ techniques to animals, geometric drawing, origami designs, and more. No previous experience is needed, just a willingness to play and experiment.
This online class will meet on May 14, 21, 28, June 4, 11, July 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30.
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- Getting Started in Watercolors
- THIS CLASS IS FULL. Please click the "Add to Waitlist" button below.
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Speaker: Elaine Bergstrom
Dates: 5/14/2024 - 7/30/2024
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 10
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
Do you love the softness of watercolors but do not know where to begin or need a refresher? Start with color mixing and palette arranging. Determine which materials to use and how. Learn about graded washes, creating texture, wet on wet, brush strokes, and brush techniques. Have fun creating and learning about your watercolor journey.
This online class will meet on May 14, 21, 28, June 4, 11, July 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30.
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- Gandhi's Economics: Lessons for the 21st Century
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Speaker: Gautam Mukerjee
Dates: 5/14/2024 - 6/11/2024
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:50 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
This course looks at Gandhi’s economics and its relevance in the 21st century. We begin in South Africa with Gandhi’s take on the harshness and exploitative thrust of imperialism and colonialism. This led to the birth of a resistance movement, which he subsequently transplanted to India. Combining the ideas of Ruskin with the age-old principles of nonviolence and self-reliance, Gandhi forged a unique brand of economics. These are powerful lessons as modern capitalism tries to straddle relentless wealth creation with rising social dysfunction and environmental degradation.
This in-person class will meet on May 14, 21, 28, June 4, and 11.
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- Introduction to Augustine
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Speaker: Irene Wolf
Dates: 5/14/2024 - 6/11/2024
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:50 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
Does evil exist? What is evil? What causes evil? Three major areas of study include the problem of evil, free choice of the will, and God’s existence. These areas and foundational questions will be answered by analyzing Augustine of Hippo’s text De libero arbitrio voluntatis (On Free Choice of the Will). No previous study of philosophy is necessary, and all are welcome.
This in-person class will meet on May 14, 21, 28, June 4, and 11.
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- Taylor Swift: The Sum and Substance
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Speaker: Jessica Lynch
Dates: 5/14/2024 - 6/11/2024
Times: 3:15 PM - 5:00 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
“Someday, I'll be livin' in a big, ole city / And all you're ever gonna be is mean / Someday, I'll be big enough so you can't hit me” —Taylor Swift, 2010, “Speak Now.” Taylor Swift is a current cultural phenomenon. How did she get to be where she is? Is there nothing she can't do, whether boost NFL ratings or influence U.S. presidential elections? Dive into a study of her background, lyrics, marketing, business dealings, and recordings to see how she became worth $1.1 billion with worldwide social and economic dominance.
This in-person class will meet on May 14, 21, 28, June 4, and 11.
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- Five Big Global and Regional Trends in World Geography
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Speaker: Paul Adams
Dates: 5/14/2024 - 6/11/2024
Times: 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
This course explores five big trends in the human and physical geographies of our planet. It begins with investigation from a global perspective and then explores how it similarly or differently impacts regions of the globe. The five big issues are climate change, human migration, endangered languages, population growth, and urbanization.
This online class will meet on May 14, 21, 28, June 4, and 11.
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- Beginning Level French
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Speaker: Cathleen Sendek-Sapp
Dates: 5/14/2024 - 7/30/2024
Times: 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 10
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
In this course, designed for students with minimal prior knowledge of French, our focus will be on mastering phrases and set structures that may be useful for communicating across a variety of situations. Students will be encouraged to develop strategies to try to make themselves understood where language proficiency may be lacking. The material presented in the Beginning Level French course will vary each term according to the needs of the participants.
This class meets online May 14, 21, 28; June 4, 11; July 2, 9, 16, 23, 30.
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- How to Think Like a Computer: Coding for Total Beginners
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Speaker: Philip Dicicco
Dates: 5/14/2024 - 6/18/2024
Times: 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
Do you feel overwhelmed by technology? Do you wish you understood how it works and why it can be confusing? Join us in this friendly and supportive environment as we explore the fascinating world of computer programming. We'll break down complex concepts into easy-to-understand lessons, starting from the ground up and using jargon-free language. By learning the basics of programming, you'll gain valuable insights into how modern technology works. This newfound understanding will reduce anxiety, boost confidence, and empower you to navigate the ever-changing digital landscape with ease.
This online class will meet on May 14, 21, 28, June 4, and 18. It will not meet on June 11.
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