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- 100 D-Days: The Air War Against the Rising Sun
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Speaker: Buck Beasom
Dates: 10/14/2024 - 11/18/2024
Times: 9:00 AM - 10:45 AM
Days: M
Sessions: 6
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
This course, a bookend to the course War in the Skies: The Air War in Europe 1939-45, covers World War II in the Pacific, with a particular focus on the air war. It traces the development of Japan as a modern military power, its early triumphs in Asia and the South Pacific, and how the Allies – particularly the United States – turned the tide, mainly using air power launched from carriers or air bases captured during the “island hopping” campaigns of 1943-45. It concludes with the ultimate immolation of Japan under the weight of American incendiaries and – eventually – two atomic bombs.
This course will meet online October 14, 21, 28, November 4, 11, and 18. Please note: this course meets 6 times.
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- A Short History of Happiness: From the Buddha to Science
- THIS CLASS IS FULL. Please click the "Add to Waitlist" button below.
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Speaker: Joseph Givvin
Dates: 8/29/2024 - 9/26/2024
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:50 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
Most people desire happiness, a good life, and fulfillment. The names may differ, but all of us are seeking the greatest good of life. Can we find it in this world? Can the serial killer and the saint be said to be pursuing the same happiness? Could some paths to happiness be better than others? How do we find them? Prophets, philosophers, and scientists have wrestled with these questions. This course will explore some diverse perspectives to see if any offer insights into your own happiness and the happiness of others.
This course will meet in person August 29, September 5, 12, 19, and 26.
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- "A War of Annihilation": Nazi Germany's Invasion of the USSR
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Speaker: Barry Fulks
Dates: 8/26/2024 - 9/30/2024
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Days: M
Sessions: 5
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
Why did Hitler decide that Operation Barbarossa, a Vernichtungskrieg (war of annihilation) against the Soviet Union, should be launched in 1941? Intended to obliterate the Soviet Union and create a mega-Germany poised to take on the United States for global dominion, Barbarossa was the largest military operation in history, yet it failed. Why? Were there options that could have prevented the failure of Barbarossa? Were there alternatives to Barbarossa that could have altered the contours and even the outcome of World War II in Europe? This course will examine these and other questions emanating from Hitler’s most fateful decision of World War II.
This course will meet online August 26, September 9, 16, 23, and 30. There is no class on September 2nd.
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- Darkness and Light: Lincoln's Depression and Leadership
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Speaker: David Fetterman
Dates: 10/17/2024 - 11/14/2024
Times: 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Days: Th
Sessions: 5
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
This course will explore Abraham Lincoln’s life and how his experience of melancholy (a name for depression in the 19th century) influenced his leadership and legacy. We will explore societal attitudes toward mental health in the 19th century and today. Finally, we will consider the impact of Lincoln’s melancholy on several of his leadership traits (e.g., empathy, resilience, and visionary thinking). A key text will be Joshua Wolf Shenk’s Lincoln’s Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness.
This course will meet online October 17, 24, 31, November 7, and 14.
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- Germany: From Occupation to Unification
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Speaker: Anette Isaacs
Dates: 10/15/2024 - 11/19/2024
Times: 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
This year’s 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall presents us with the perfect opportunity to witness the striking transformation of Germany, from a brutal belligerent dictatorship to a flourishing and pacifist democracy. This course will be a fascinating discussion of how Europe’s most populous nation fared in the last eight decades. We will begin our exploration in the pivotal year 1945 and go to the present, allowing us to gain a deep understanding of German history, politics, and society.
This course will meet online October 15, 22, 29, November 12, and 19. Please note: there is no class November 5th.
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- Gorbachev to Putin: The Fall and Rise of Russia
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Speaker: Jared Day
Dates: 10/16/2024 - 11/13/2024
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Days: W
Sessions: 5
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
This course examines the precipitous decline of Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. It examines the economic and political meltdown of the Yeltsin years, even as reformers sought to introduce western-style norms combined with unprecedented levels of social and economic openness. We will also explore the rise of Vladimir Putin and his reassertion of Russian power both at home and abroad, leading to fraught relations and a series of wars with neighboring states.
This course will meet online October 16, 23, 30, November 6, and 13.
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- Map of the World, Part 1
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Speaker: Michael Rizzi
Dates: 10/17/2024 - 11/14/2024
Times: 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 5
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
This course introduces members to world geography, with special emphasis on issues in the news. Have you ever read about a refugee crisis in a foreign country, and been unsure where that country is? This course will help you fill in the blanks on your own mental map of the world and learn something interesting about every country on the planet. Follow along as we move from region to continent to identify countries and to discuss their history, language, culture, and contemporary political issues.
This course will meet online October 17, 24, 31, November 7, and 14.
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- Pittsburgh: History, Culture, and Society
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Speaker: Laurie Sprankle
Dates: 8/29/2024 - 9/26/2024
Times: 3:15 PM - 4:45 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 5
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
This course will explore the history, culture, and society of Pittsburgh from its founding to its present. Emphasis will be placed on how the past informs the present and the overall course of development of the city over time and place.
This course will meet online August 29, September 5, 12, 19, and 26.
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- Presidential Election Campaigns
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Speaker: Louise Mayo
Dates: 10/17/2024 - 11/14/2024
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:50 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
Do the current presidential election and primary campaigns seem to be particularly nasty, negative, and even scary? How do they compare with campaigns of the past? This course examines presidential campaigns from the beginning of the Republic to the present, including the process of picking presidential candidates.
Do the current presidential election and primary campaigns seem to be particularly nasty, negative, and even scary? How do they compare with campaigns of the past? This course examines presidential campaigns from the beginning of the Republic to the present, including the process of picking presidential candidates.
This course will meet in person October 17, 24, 31, November 7, and 14.
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- Red Star Falling: Collapse of the Soviet Union, 1953-1991
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Speaker: Jared Day
Dates: 8/28/2024 - 9/25/2024
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Days: W
Sessions: 5
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
This course examines the decline and eventual collapse of the Soviet Union. From the death of Stalin to the post-Soviet era, we will explore figures such as Nakita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev with special focus on the singular premiership of Mikhail Gorbachev. We will also study the lives and aspirations of average Russians as they tried to balance revolutionary principles with their average needs and wants during the Cold War, all within an economic and political system that was failing.
This course will meet online August 28, September 4, 11, 18, and 25.
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- Shaping of the Modern World, Part 1
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Speaker: Robert Rodrigues
Dates: 8/26/2024 - 9/30/2024
Times: 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Days: M
Sessions: 5
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
The course will introduce a "toolbox" for studying history and examining the trends of the 20th century. World War I serves as a springboard for the entire century. The Russian Revolution, the Global Economic Crisis, and the rise of the totalitarian states emerge from the ashes and desolation of World War I. Members will see the connections that run through the first half of the 20th century (and into the second half) that were launched by the holocaust of World War I. It continues to serve as a cataclysm and aberration in the flow of human history.
This course will meet online August 26, September 9, 16, 23, and 30. There is no class on September 2.
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- Shaping of the Modern World, Part 2
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Speaker: Robert Rodrigues
Dates: 10/16/2024 - 11/13/2024
Times: 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Days: W
Sessions: 5
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
This course is an introduction to the history of the world in the twentieth century and will primarily feature the second half of the century. It will examine the forces that have produced the great changes of that century and integrate the American experience with that of Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Africa. Topics included will be World War II, the New Nationalism, a post-modern revolt in Latin America, the Cold War, and the collapse of the Soviet Union ending the century will be explored. (Note: Part 1 is not needed to register for this course).
This course is an introduction to the history of the world in the twentieth century and will primarily feature the second half of the century. It will examine the forces that have produced the great changes of that century and integrate the American experience with that of Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Africa. Topics included will be World War II, the New Nationalism, a post-modern revolt in Latin America, the Cold War, and the collapse of the Soviet Union ending the century will be explored. (Note: Part 1 is not needed to register for this course).
This course will meet online October 16, 23, 30, November 6, and 13.
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- The Spanish Civil War: The Global and the Local
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Speaker: Bridget Keown
Dates: 8/26/2024 - 9/30/2024
Times: 3:15 PM - 4:45 PM
Days: M
Sessions: 5
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
The Spanish Civil War represents one of the most important global political events of the 20th century. It inspired some of the most revered texts and well-known works of art in the western world. This course will introduce students to the history and artistic legacies of the Spanish Civil War. Together, we will examine how a national struggle became a global confrontation between democracy and fascism and consider the long-term political implications of its outcome. We will also learn about local Pittsburgh residents who joined International Brigades and explore how their experiences shaped world history as well as their hometown.
This course will meet online August 26, September 9, 16, 23, and 30. There will be no class September 2nd.
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- The Dawn of Everything: Humans Before Agriculture
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Speaker: Chuck Hier
Dates: 8/29/2024 - 9/26/2024
Times: 10:00 AM - 11:50 AM
Days: Th
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
It was once thought that our Late Paleolithic and Mesolithic forbears (the peoples emerging from the last Ice Age) foraged around in small hunter-gatherer bands for thousands of years until the discovery and practice of agriculture. Agricultural surpluses then led to cities, social classes, and writing. An anthropologist and an archeologist have written a book, The Dawn of Everything, that puts together evidence from their disciplines to create a revised picture of our pre-history. They see much more experimentation and social self-awareness in early peoples than pre-historians have hitherto assumed in these ‘primitive’ peoples.
This course will meet in person August 29, September 5, 12, 19, and 26.
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- U.S. Immigration History
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Speaker: Eladio Bobadilla
Dates: 10/14/2024 - 11/11/2024
Times: 10:00 AM - 11:50 AM
Days: M
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
The United States has historically been both a nation of immigrants and a nation wary of them. This course will explore the history of immigration to the United States, paying close attention to the paradoxes and ironies that have defined that history since the nation’s earliest days. We will trace changing migration patterns, examine the development of citizenship as a social and political construct, explain changes in immigration policy over time and their (intended and unintended) consequences, discover the roots of nativism, and assess the struggle for immigrants’ rights.
This course will meet in person October 14, 21, 28, November 4, and 11.
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- U.S. Presidents of the 1960s
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Speaker: Jon Hurwitz
Dates: 8/26/2024 - 9/30/2024
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Days: M
Sessions: 5
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
The decade of the 1960s was one of the most turbulent eras in American history, marked by massive social, cultural, and political changes. Fittingly, the decade also saw three of the most politically skilled and highly accomplished, but tragically-concluded presidential administrations America has ever experienced. In this course, we will look closely at these three leaders, examining both how they set changes in motion and how they responded to changes they often could not control. We also will explore the three very different tragedies that brought each administration to a shocking end.
| The decade of the 1960s was one of the most turbulent eras in American history, marked by massive social, cultural, and political changes. Fittingly, the decade also saw three of the most politically skilled and highly accomplished, but tragically-concluded presidential administrations America has ever experienced. In this course, we will look closely at these three leaders, examining both how they set changes in motion and how they responded to changes they often could not control. We also will explore the three very different tragedies that brought each administration to a shocking end. |
This course will meet online August 26, September 9, 16, 23, and 30. There is no class September 2nd.
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- Watching World War II at the Movies
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Speaker: Michael Young
Dates: 10/17/2024 - 11/14/2024
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:50 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
Starting even before 1939, World War II can be considered the first truly multi-media war. A major element of that were movies made not only to entertain but to send messages overly and subtly to the opposing sides’ populations of how to understand and react to the conflict. We will explore the propagandistic work from both the Allies and the Axis, the use of “shorts” from cartoons to documentaries, and full-length films which created ideals of heroes, motivations to fight, and expectations of facing loss.
This course will meet in person October 17, 24, 31, November 7, and 14.
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- Women in the Great Depression
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Speaker: Joan Gundersen
Dates: 8/29/2024 - 9/26/2024
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:50 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
The course will explore the ways race and gender affected the experience of American women during the Great Depression (1929-1942). Women were both among those most affected by the economic crises and among those offering creative responses in areas ranging from politics and economic relief to the creative arts. It is a period of great contrasts and contradictions, but from this period came many of the institutions and structures that continue to shape American life.
This course will meet in person August 29, September 5, 12, 19, and 26.
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