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- The Intersection of Environmental Law and Justice In-Person
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Speaker: Lynn O'Connor
Dates: 6/30/2025 - 7/28/2025
Times: 10:00 AM - 11:50 AM
Days: M
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
This course will first look at the history of environmental law in the United States, the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and its mandate to regulate and enforce the standards sought by Congress, and the relevant case law to date. The relationship between the environment and the economy will be explored, with an emphasis on the environmental legacy of heavy manufacturing (such as steel in the Mon Valley) and its impact on the local economy. Finally, we will look at international environmental litigation in the Hague and what the cases in the International Court of Justice say regarding environmental justice.
This course will meet in person June 30, July 7, 14, 21, and 28.
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- Questioning the Criminal Justice System: Arrest to Trial In-Person
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Speaker: Errol Miller
Dates: 6/30/2025 - 7/28/2025
Times: 10:00 AM - 11:50 AM
Days: M
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
Society has many systems for detaining individuals depending on the motives for imposing detention: deterrence, isolation, rehabilitation, or retribution. We will compare the various systems of detention including adult criminal, juvenile, civil commitment of the mentally ill, and pretrial detention. We will try to find out how the best features of various systems can be used to achieve society's goals. News accounts of recent cases will serve to frame our discussion.
This course will meet in person June 30, July 7, 14, 21, and 28.
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- Pittsburgh History to World War II In-Person
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Speaker: Virginia Montanez
Dates: 7/1/2025 - 7/29/2025
Times: 10:00 AM - 11:50 AM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
This course is designed to give lifelong learners a better understanding of the forces that saw Pittsburgh’s transformation from a resource-rich wilderness into an industrial powerhouse whose people and innovations helped build America. This course will present Pittsburgh’s history to the start of World War II as more than two-dimensional, grayscale ideas about rivers, coal, and steel. Rather, the city’s history is presented in a vibrant way that not only tells the stories of the names we know—Braddock, Forbes, Carnegie, Rooney—but digs deeper to pull from the margins the voices whose stories we haven’t yet heard.
This course will meet in person July 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29.
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- Self-Taught Artists: Their Stories and Their Art In-Person
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Speaker: Rebecca Carpenter
Dates: 7/1/2025 - 7/29/2025
Times: 10:00 AM - 11:50 AM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
This course will introduce members to the genre of self-taught art and the artists who create it. Formerly called "outsider art," these artists paint, sculpt, sew, and decorate spaces with minimal to no influences from outside sources. Their materials are commonly what is at hand: found objects for sculpture, cardboard for canvases, and cast-off scrap for garden churches. We will look at the lives and work of a number of artists, many of whom had little to no education and lived in economically and socially challenging environments. The artists include Bill Traylor, the Quilters of Gee's Bend, Howard Finster, Nellie Mae Brown, and Australian aboriginal and Inuit artists, among others.
This course will meet in person July 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29.
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- Fossil Energy, Greenhouse Gas, and Climate Change In-Person
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Speaker: Daniel Soeder
Dates: 7/1/2025 - 7/29/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:50 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
This course will be an exploration of the history of fossil energy use and how fossil fuel combustion products are contributing to changing climates. We will examine climate science and will discuss the politics of climate denial. Practical, achievable solutions will be presented to stabilize climate, such as the decarbonization of the electric power and transportation sectors of the economy and the removal of excess greenhouse gas from the atmosphere. Climate change affects us all, and informed citizens are critical for addressing this crisis.
This course will meet in person July 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29.
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- Immigration, Unionization, and Chaos in the Industrial Age In-Person
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Speaker: Elizabeth Rodenz
Dates: 7/1/2025 - 7/29/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:50 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
The Industrial Age experienced in America brought numerous challenges to the companies that emerged and ultimately to the workers. This course will trace aspects of industrialization, the emergence of unions, and the immigration that occurred throughout the 1860s into the early 1920s. Most specifically, this course focuses on the coal industry. How did immigration solve the need for workers in mulitple industries? What factors contributed to the Industrial Age's tremendous growth? What stalled the unionization movement throughout the Industrial Age and beyond? These questions and others will be discussed.
This course will meet in person July 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29.
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- Nunchi: The Korean Art of Understanding People and Situation In-Person
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Speaker: Kyoungah Lee
Dates: 7/1/2025 - 7/29/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:50 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
Participants will explore nunchi, the Korean art of understanding others' emotions and navigating social situations with ease. Through guided discussions of the book The Power of Nunchi by Euny Hong, we will examine how this subtle yet powerful practice can enhance our relationships, boost emotional intelligence, and improve our daily interactions. Whether in personal or professional settings, nunchi offers practical insights into empathy, listening, and connecting with those around us. Join us for a thought-provoking journey into the wisdom of this ancient Korean concept.
This course will meet in person July 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29.
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- The Korean War In-Person
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Speaker: David Albert
Dates: 7/2/2025 - 7/30/2025
Times: 10:00 AM - 11:50 AM
Days: W
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
The Korean War has long been called the forgotten war, but recent events have rekindled interest in learning something about the first war that America did not win. The course will look at the political and diplomatic events that led to the conflict, the geography of the war, and some of the key personalities involved and how they influenced the progress of the war. It also will look at the key campaigns and the eventual outcome.
This course will meet in person July 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30.
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- Pitt Nationality Rooms: The Classrooms that Teach In-Person
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Speaker: Michael Walter
Dates: 7/9/2025 - 8/6/2025
Times: 10:00 AM - 11:50 AM
Days: W
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
This course introduces 31 Nationality Rooms of the University of Pittsburgh. The rooms were designed to represent the cultures of various ethnic groups that settled in Allegheny County but are also in use as functional classrooms. As Wesley Posvar, former Pitt Chancellor, said, "More than any other single asset, the Nationality Rooms epitomize the University of Pittsburgh character by melding culture, beauty, and learning. In their diversity, the rooms preserve and honor our ethnic identities. Collectively, they symbolize our national unity."
This course will meet in person July 9, 16, 23, 30, and August. PLEASE NOTE: this course will begin and end one week later than stated in the catalog
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- Animal Cognition and Culture In-Person
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Speaker: Lisa Ludvico
Dates: 7/2/2025 - 7/30/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:50 PM
Days: W
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
Cognition and culture will be explored in animals, using evolutionary theory as the framework for this course. Topics include animal learning, the accelerated process of domestication, and an examination into our companion animals' behavior. However, the majority of the course will be dedicated to the culture of wild animal populations and their cultural behavior that includes hunting, foraging and thieving behavior—to name just a few. Short videos will be shown in class, and readings are available upon request.
This course will meet in person July 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30.
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- Mass Media in Crisis In-Person
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Speaker: Michael Fields
Dates: 7/2/2025 - 7/30/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:50 PM
Days: W
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
Our democracy relies upon a vigorous and independent media, as our founders realized when they added the First Amendment to the Constitution. But mass media has changed over the years and has become much less a force in the conduct of our national affairs. This course offers an insight into the development of media from Gutenberg to the internet. How and why consolidation has lessened the number of media voices and the effect that has had on our democratic institutions will be subjects of discussion in this course.
This course will meet in person July 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30.
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- Saving Taxes in Retirement In-Person
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Speaker: Bud Kahn
Dates: 7/3/2025 - 7/31/2025
Times: 10:00 AM - 11:50 AM
Days: Th
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
Diligent savers enter the second half of retirement with little insight into the complex tax and distribution planning dangers that can wipe away the sacrifice made during their working years. This course is designed to educate participants about how to keep more of their retirement savings by effective use of planning opportunities available under current tax laws. This course is updated annually to reflect new legislative developments and tax planning opportunities.
This course will meet in person July 3, 10, 17, 24, and 31.
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- Soccer: Understanding the Beautiful Game In-Person
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Speaker: Jervel Tobierre
Dates: 7/3/2025 - 7/31/2025
Times: 10:00 AM - 11:50 AM
Days: Th
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
Soccer is the most played sport in the world with over 240 million participants around the globe. It is also the fastest growing sport in the United States. Although the history of the sport in the United States, in both an amateur and professional capacity, dates back decades, it is still not fully understood and appreciated. Many viewers do not understand the complexities, strategies, and rules of the beautiful game. With the next FIFA World Cup set to be co-hosted by the United States in 2026, this course will help members appreciate the sport before the international spotlight arrives on our shores.
This course will meet in person July 3, 10, 17, 24, and 31.
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- Cinema of 1975 In-Person
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Speaker: Daniel Singleton
Dates: 7/3/2025 - 7/31/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:50 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
This year will be the 50th anniversary of such iconic movies as Jaws, Dog Day Afternoon, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Nashville, Night Moves, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. This course will look back at these and other popular films that captivated audiences in 1975. We will place these films in the cultural contexts of American life in the 1970s as well as the artistic contexts in the New Hollywood Cinema and the rise of blockbuster filmmaking. We will discuss how and why they have resonated with viewers then and now, and we will come away with a new understanding of what it means for a movie to be a classic.
This course will meet in person July 3, 10, 17, 24, and 31.
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- Healthcare Marketplace: Reality, Regulation, and Reform In-Person
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Speaker: W Thomas McGough
Dates: 7/3/2025 - 7/31/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:50 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
We will explore how healthcare is distributed in the United States. Who gets what? From whom? Who pays for it? Why? How did we get to this uncomfortable, inefficient, and unjust place? Can our bewilderingly complicated and widely criticized system be reformed to deliver high-quality care ethically, effectively, and economically?
This course will meet in person July 3, 10, 17, 24, and 31.
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- Jews and Antisemitism in Eastern Europe In-Person
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Speaker: Irina Livezeanu
Dates: 7/3/2025 - 7/31/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:50 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
Until the Holocaust, a large majority of European Jews lived in the eastern part of the continent. Ashkenazi Jews were welcomed in Poland when they were expelled from England, France, and German lands in the Middle Ages. Sephardic Jews were welcomed in the Ottoman Empire when they fled the Iberian Peninsula in the 15th century. But as western Jews were gradually emancipated beginning in the 18th century, east European states like Romania and Russia resisted. Antisemitism emerged. Its most violent forms before the Holocaust were the pogroms in the Russian Empire.
This course will meet in person July 3, 10, 17, 24, and 31.
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- Living Without Democracy: A Cinematic Exploration In-Person
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Speaker: Steven Cherry
Dates: 6/27/2025 - 8/1/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Days: F
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
This course will explore films where people live in oppressive contexts. Some films will be viewed in class while others will be watched by individuals on their own. We will cover broad concepts: national socialism and antisemitism, slavery and Jim Crow, life behind the Iron Curtain, immigration, anti-immigration perspectives, and totalitarian personality cults. The movies we will watch are cinematically excellent, and may include: The Shop on Main Street (1965), Aferim! (2015), Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020), The Lives of Others (2006), and A Better Life (2011).
This course will meet in person June 27, July 11, 18, 25, and August 1. There is no class July 4th.
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