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- America and Spain's Civil War, 1936-1939
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Speaker: John Burt
Dates: 6/27/2024 - 8/1/2024
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 5
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
Spain's civil war meant different things to different Americans-a diplomatic crisis, a call to arms, a business opportunity, a religious war, a political problem, a journalism story, and a foreshadowing of worse to come. For about 3,000 Americans it meant answering the call of their convictions to lend a hand while FDR wanted no part of the matter. For years afterward, for the survivors of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, it meant "Viva La Quince Brigada!"
This online class will meet June 27, July 11, 18, 25, and August 1. There will be no class July 4.
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- America's Immigration Dilemma
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Speaker: Jared Day
Dates: 7/3/2024 - 7/31/2024
Times: 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Days: W
Sessions: 5
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
This course will examine one of the most fraught topics in American politics today: immigration. Despite the U.S.'s long history of acceptance and openness to foreign immigration, since 2000 concerns have spiked about the number and ethnicity of those being admitted. Throughout American history, immigration policy has evolved and reacted to often dramatic shifts in American society. Particular attention will be given to immigration laws in the 1920s, Lyndon Johnson’s landmark Immigration Act of 1965, and recent developments in problems and policies along U.S. borders.
This online class will meet on July 3, 10, 17, 24, and 31.
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- Disease, Society, and Science
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Speaker: Julia Hudson-Richards
Dates: 6/27/2024 - 8/1/2024
Times: 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Days: Th
Sessions: 5
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
This course looks at a variety of pandemic events and endemic diseases (bubonic plague, New World epidemics, Spanish flu, modern plagues, and "endemic" illnesses like tuberculosis), the ways that they have shaped the societies they've affected, and how science developed to cure and prevent illness.
This online class will meet on June 27, July 11, 18, 25, and August 1. There is no class on July 4.
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- Pittsburgh Rivers and Waterways
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Speaker: Werner Loehlein
Dates: 7/2/2024 - 7/30/2024
Times: 10:00 AM - 11:50 AM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
This class will take participants on a journey of the history of the major watersheds (the Allegheny, Monongahela, Beaver, and main-stem Ohio River) that comprise the Upper Ohio River Basin surrounding Pittsburgh. This journey will begin with how glaciers defined our major river system, followed by discussions of the major historical floods and droughts, the development of the regional navigation system, the multi-purpose reservoir system, and local channel improvement projects network.
This in-person class will meet on July 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30.
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- Soldier and the State
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Speaker: Charles Metcalf
Dates: 7/2/2024 - 7/30/2024
Times: 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
Three pillars support the U.S. government as well as its society: civil affairs; military affairs, and the American people. They are separate and independent entities but also unified and interdependent entities. The result is a delicate, shared balance of power, with the American people serving as its fulcrum. Finding and maintaining that proper balance between military capabilities and civilian control of our armed forces, therefore, is an essential and necessary task that underscores the importance and relevance of good governance. The course will focus primarily on foundations and theories of civil-military relations, basics of national security, and an overview of the military establishment.
This online class will meet on July 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30.
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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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- Western Pennsylvania Historic Places: A Virtual Tour
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Speaker: Kenneth Koncerak
Dates: 5/15/2024 - 6/12/2024
Times: 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Days: W
Sessions: 5
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
This course takes members on a virtual and chronological tour of historic places in Western Pennsylvania, from Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village in Washington County to the Quecreek Mine Rescue in Somerset County. The course is designed to encourage participants to explore these places on their own and with their families.
This online class will meet on May 15, 22, 29, June 5, and 12.
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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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- What Makes a Great President
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Speaker: Louise Mayo
Dates: 5/16/2024 - 6/13/2024
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:50 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
This course will be a discussion of the characteristics that make a great president. We will examine those presidents that history has judged to be exceptional. We will also look at those who have failed or have not quite succeeded and why they did not make the grade. We will consider interesting facts that explore why the status of some presidents like Woodrow Wilson and Andrew Jackson has fallen recently.
This in-person class will meet on May 16, 23, 30, June 6, and 13.
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- World War II and the Cold War: Global Impact
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Speaker: Michael Rizzi
Dates: 5/16/2024 - 6/20/2024
Times: 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 5
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
This course offers a concise history of World War II and its aftermath. It introduces the social, economic, and political causes and consequences of the war around the world, including the United States, Africa, Latin America, and the South Pacific. Students will learn how World War II fits into a broader historical context and generated the political circumstances that still shape our world today.
This online class will meet on May 16, 23, 30, June 6, and 20. Please note that class will not meet on June 13.
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