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- Better Balance! Steady and Strong™
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Speaker: Diane Markovitz
Dates: 8/29/2024 - 11/14/2024
Times: 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Days: Th
Sessions: 10
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
Are you looking for an exercise program designed to improve your everyday life? Try Better Balance! Steady And Strong™. Work with a physical therapist to learn balance and strengthening exercises. Come join the fun and learn a program designed to improve your daily function while also decreasing your risk of falls and injury. No special equipment is necessary, and all exercises are completed sitting or standing. This program is suitable for beginners yet appropriate for those with more exercise experience as it can be adapted to fit individual needs. Participants will be given instructions on how to complete this program at home for continued benefits. Wear comfortable clothes and supportive shoes.
This course will meet online August 29, September 5, 12, 19, 26, October 17, 24, 31, November 7 and 14. There is no class October 3rd and 10th.
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- Challenges to Foreign Policy Today
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Speaker: Dennis Jett
Dates: 8/29/2024 - 9/26/2024
Times: 10:00 AM - 11:50 AM
Days: Th
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
The course will be a lecture series on the challenges to making foreign policy today and will consist of five talks followed by discussion. The topics may change since they depend, in part, on current events, but they could include: why foreign policy is harder to make today; where ambassadors come from, where they go, and why they still matter; intelligence and foreign policy; the evolution of conflict and the impossibility of effective peacekeeping; the Iran nuclear deal and what it says about how foreign policy is made; and why it is hard to have a treaty with anyone anymore.
This course will meet in person August 29, September 5, 12, 19, and 26.
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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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- American Civics 101: Looking Toward the 2024 Election
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Speaker: Alan Perper (he/him)
Dates: 8/29/2024 - 9/26/2024
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 5
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
This course is an update on the American Civics 101 last offered in Summer 2023, just in time for the 2024 election season, when the fundamentals of understanding our democracy could not be more important. Many Americans take their United States citizenship for granted. What if the rules changed and you now had to take a government civics test every year to remain a citizen… would you be able to pass? The course explores branches of government, the United States Constitution and its amendments, gerrymandering, the debt ceiling, and much more. Material connects to real time, rapidly moving events affecting our institutions and discourse.
This class will meet online August 29, September 5, 12, 19, and 26.
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- Art and Crime Part 1: Artists
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Speaker: Nora Hamerman
Dates: 8/29/2024 - 9/26/2024
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 5
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
Part 1 of the course will recount the lives of artists – famous and not so famous – who were the perpetrators or the victims of crimes. These include Caravaggio, who fled from Rome after being accused of murder; Benvenuto Cellini and Pompeo Leoni, two prominent Italian Renaissance sculptors; and Gianlorenzo Bernini, the dominant sculptor of the 17th century. Two great female artists, Properzia de’ Rossi and Artemisia Gentileschi, survived violent crimes and went on to produce significant bodies of work. Also, in this series we will look at forgers, including the infamous Dutchman Van Meegeren who made fake Vermeers.
This course will meet online August 29, September 5, 12, 19, and 26.
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- Intermediate Spanish
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Speaker: Alvaro Bernal
Dates: 8/29/2024 - 11/14/2024
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 10
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
This 10-week course is appropriate for participants who are comfortable with basic Spanish conversation using the present tense (or members who have successfully completed several cycles of the Beginning Spanish course). The course focuses on the use of the past and future tenses, more extensive vocabulary, and structures and syntax. At the end of the course, members are expected to feel comfortable with standard Spanish conversation.
This course will meet online August 29, September 5, 12, 19, 26, October 17, 24, 31, November 7, and 14. There is no class October 3rd and 10th.
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- Advanced Conversational Spanish
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Speaker: María Franco de Gómez
Dates: 8/29/2024 - 11/14/2024
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 10
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
This ten-week course is appropriate for participants who are comfortable and successful at communicating in Spanish and want to further develop their reading and conversational skills. Participants are expected to be able to use present, past and future tenses, and have significant vocabulary and understanding of syntax (or have successfully completed Intermediate Spanish). The course is taught in Spanish and focuses on analyzing and discussing reading material. Weekly class material is provided. NOTE: This course is often taken several times. This is a versatile course that includes different class material under the same goals and objects every term.
This class will meet online August 29, September 5, 12, 19, 26, October 17, 24, 31, November 7, and 14. There is no class October 3rd and 10th.
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- What Makes Sondheim Great
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Speaker: Gail Leondar-Wright
Dates: 8/29/2024 - 9/26/2024
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 5
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
The recently deceased composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim is commonly thought to be one of the most important musical theater artists of the past 50 years, and the single most influential force in bringing Broadway musicals into the modern era. What makes him great? We will unpack some of Sondheim’s works including Gypsy, Company, Follies, Sweeney Todd and Sunday in the Park with George, looking for evidence that he is a “playwright in song.” We will see how Sondheim has elevated the genre, ushering in the musical’s modern era.
This course will meet online August 29, September 5, 12, 19, and 26.
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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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- English Country Dance
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Speaker: Gaye Fifer
Dates: 8/29/2024 - 9/26/2024
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:50 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
This course, appropriate for members of any level, begins by teaching the basic figures used in English country dancing and practices them in the context of beautiful historic and modern dance compositions. Members will explore the grace, elegance, and playfulness of this dance form (think of Pride & Prejudice). No partner or experience necessary. Participants will regularly switch partners in our dance sessions. Be prepared for physical, mental, and social stimulation! The focus will be on dancing and enjoying moving with the music.
This course will meet in person August 29, September 5, 12, 19, and 26.
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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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- 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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- J.R.R. Tolkien: Life and Works
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Speaker: Alan Irvine
Dates: 8/29/2024 - 9/26/2024
Times: 3:15 PM - 5:00 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
Once looked upon as simply a writer of fantastic adventures, J.R.R. Tolkien is increasingly acknowledged as one of the 20th century’s most important literary figures, one who used the genre of fantasy to examine important issues of religion and morality. In this course, we will examine Tolkien’s key works as well as some other writings and discuss his influence on fantasy and popular culture. The course is ideal for long-time Tolkien fans who want to explore his works in more depth, as well as those who have never read him and are curious.
This class will meet in person August 29, September 5, 12, 19, and 26.
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