Friday Session 1   

Explore the songs and times of the great songwriters of stage and screen. Using clips from Broadway, film, and television, we will share their life stories, hits and misses, some gossip (all in good fun) and appreciate their genius. If music is the food of love, let’s gorge ourselves on the music of Frank Loesser, Stephen Schwartz, Jule Styne, Johnny Mercer, and Harry Warren.  

Parts one and two of this survey of contemporary architectural trends in Asia explored the two largest markets in Asia for architects, China and Japan. Part three will venture to South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Once again, the tensions between tradition and modernity will enlighten the works of the architects that we will study. As was the case with architects in China and Japan, there will be the constant need to define the relationship between the man-made to its natural surroundings. 

In this course, we will be looking at various verb conjugations and use of the present tense in French and applying them in classroom activities. This course is geared to students who have difficulty in comfortably delivering simple sentences in French. Some prior knowledge of French is expected. Advanced speaking skills are not required.

We will look at a representative selection of poems by each of five significant poets, one per week. The poems will be read and discussed individually, without any intended theme or sequence. This second in an ongoing series of classes will include John Donne, William Butler Yeats, James Wright, Naomi Shihab Nye, and Wisława Szymborska. Participants need not have taken part one to enjoy this course.  

This course addresses the impact of music used in religious services, extending partially into the implications for secular environments. Topics covered include Jewish chant, Christian musical genres, Islamic chant, raga, and musical references from Confucianism, addressing questions such as whether style and lyrics matter, and if increased participation from audiences mean a greater sense of affirmation of whatever is being sung and taught. This culminates in the question of how music perhaps creates a religious experience for these claiming to be secular. Religion, morals, and music are closely related, yet we forget how the third relates to the other two.