Wednesday Session 1   

This course is geared for those new to yoga, those interested in a slower and more gentle practice, or those recovering from illness or injury. It includes a combination of meditation, breath work, and flowing movement intended for all abilities. Participants will move from seated on the floor (or a chair) to standing and then will return to mats. Participants will experiment with balance, strength, flexibility, and stillness while practicing mindfulness and meditation techniques.

NOTE: The Gentle Yoga A and B classes are companion courses. Members can just register for both or just one.  

 

Songs have been a fascinating component of many of our favorite movies. We will analyze songs in terms of cultural significance, role within the movie itself, lyrics, and the historical context of when they were written. Great songs like “Moon River,” “As Time Goes By,” “Mrs. Robinson,” and “My Heart Will Go On” each set a tone or mood, define characters, advance the plot, and express the film's themes in a manner that elevates the art of moviemaking.

As Brexit revealed, the European Union is only one of many ways to understand Europe. This course explores efforts to define Europe after World War II. Each week, members will analyze short primary texts offering distinct visions of Europe, its subregions, and its inhabitants, reading foundational texts of European integration in conversation with perspectives on belonging in Europe from the Balkans, Central Europe, and non-white communities. We will debate the strengths and limitations of each vision, working together to revise our own definition(s) of Europe. All texts provided as PDF (print copies upon advance request) and read aloud in class; no out-of-class preparation.

Would you love to be able to sit at a piano/keyboard and play your favorite songs — without having to know how to read sheet music? This course is appropriate for beginners who have no or very little experience with playing piano/keyboard. Topics will include introductory lessons on piano notes, chords, rhythms, and breakdowns of popular songs.

NOTE: Participants in this course are not required to own a piano/keyboard in order to take the class (although highly encouraged).

This course explores the long, tempestuous reign of the Habsburg Emperor Franz Josef and the fractious Austro-Hungarian empire he tried to govern. Committed to holding together one of the most muti-cultural, multi-religious, and multi-ethnic empires in modern history, the last of the Habsburgs tried to build a unified, modern, western state out of widely diverse communities fueled by nationalist drives. This socio-political “tinder box” would ultimately explode in Sarajevo in 1914.

Most rom-coms center on two people falling in love for the first time. Meet cute. Miscommunication. Happily ever after. But in Hollywood studio films of the 1940s, we also find another kind of romance, one critic Stanley Cavell called the "comedy of remarriage." These begin with a married couple who have begun to lose interest in each other, and center on strong women—played by the likes of Katherine Hepburn and Barbara Stanwyck—whose love needs to be re-earned by their husbands. We will watch and discuss several comedies of remarriage from the classic period, as well as recent attempts to update the genre.

Films we will view, in full or part, will include The Lady Eve, It Happened One Night, Bringing Up Baby,  HIs Girl Friday, Adam’s Rib, The Parent Trap, and The Jane Austen Book Club.

This course will be a continuation of the course taught in the Spring 2026 term, although it is not a prerequisite. We will look at Hitler's actions against the Jews in Germany and Austria, Germany’s aggression against its neighbors, and the challenge facing Roosevelt in how to respond to the situation. We will also highlight the beginning of WWII and the Holocaust.

During his lifetime, composer Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) appeared as one of, if not the first, significant Soviet composer whose work intertwined with state policies and social expectations. However, we now understand more about how Shostakovich used his music to critique and defy Stalinist authoritarianism and global fascism. This course will trace the life of Dmitri Shostakovich through his compositions, exploring the many layers of meaning in his work, and interrogate how the Cold War used art as a specific site of battle.

Is humor an intrinsic part of being human? What is funny to us? Why is it funny? What does offensive humor tell us about ourselves, our society? This course introduces members to the philosophy, history, culture, and psychology of humor and laughter. Our time will be spent reviewing pertinent literature, observing humorous archetypes, and actually creating our own examples. The objective is to enable members to achieve a little wisdom about mirth and self.

This course is a richly illustrated survey of Maya culture from pre-Columbian to contemporary times, focusing first on archaeological study of the art and architecture of the Maya past, including such world-heritage sites as Copan, Palenque, Tikal, and Chichen Itza. We will then look at the social and political history, syncretistic religious traditions, art, and literature of the colonial, modern, and contemporary Maya peoples in their diverse Mexican and Central American settings, in the context of a globalized world economy and increasingly globalized popular culture.

Course Materials: The Maya by Michael D. Coe and Stephen Houston is the 10th Edition, published by Thames & Hudson in November 2022. -- $18 paperback on Amazon.

This course reads the Miss Marple novel The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side alongside several Poirot and Marple short stories, all of which involve poisoning. Through a combination of lecture and discussion, the course will explore questions about Christie’s contexts and her relevance today. Why was poison Christie’s favorite murder weapon? How does learning about poisons enrich our reading experience? How does Christie anticipate modern concerns about fame, celebrity, drugs, and privacy? Is there more to Christie than just finding out whodunit?

Course Materials: The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side, by Agatha Christie. Amazon $11.48 paperback/ $0.00 Kindle Unlimited