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- Disinformation and the Fight for Democracy Online
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Speaker: Ralph Bangs
Dates: 7/1/2025 - 7/29/2025
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
Lies, propaganda, and conspiracy theories are used to deny reality and promote authoritarian interests in America today. This course identifies the anti-democratic truth-killers, examines how they create and amplify disinformation and manipulate the population, and discusses how to win the war on truth. We will rely on the book, On Disinformation: How to Fight for Truth and Protect Democracy (McIntyre, 2023), and other sources.
This course will meet online July 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29.
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- Ethics Thought Experiments Online
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Speaker: Sarah Rosenson
Dates: 7/2/2025 - 7/30/2025
Times: 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Days: W
Sessions: 5
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
In this interactive online discussion course, we will explore famous philosophical thought experiments and their practical applications. How does the trolley problem relate to the question of whether self-driving cars should be programmed to protect passengers inside the car or the pedestrians outside the car if brakes fail? What does John Rawls’ “veil of ignorance” thought experiment teach us about how to set up a just society? Participants will receive text handouts which we will study during the class sessions. Come join the conversation!
This course will meet online July 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30.
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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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- 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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- 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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- 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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- Leadership and Legacy of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Online
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Speaker: David Fetterman
Dates: 7/1/2025 - 7/29/2025
Times: 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
This course will examine the life, work, and enduring legacy of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, both during their time in the White House and beyond. We will delve into their political careers, post-presidential humanitarian efforts, and impact on American society and the world. Through readings and critical analysis, we will explore the complexities of their legacy and their contributions to issues such as human rights, democracy, and public health.
This course will meet online July 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29.
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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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- 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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