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- The U.S. Supreme Court in 2026 Online Lecture Online
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Speaker: Tom Allen
Dates: 10/20/2026 - 11/17/2026
Times: 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
During its 2025-2026 term, the U.S. Supreme Court heard cases raising significant issues involving Presidential power, gerrymandering of Congressional districts, birthright citizenship, voting rights, gun rights, and transgender rights. In this class, we will analyze the Supreme Court's most important rulings of 2026.
NOTE: This course will be offered twice: once in person and once online. It is the same course.
This course will meet online October 20, 27, November 3, 10, and 17.
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- Zentangle: In a Festive Spirit Online
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Speaker: Sue Schneider
Dates: 10/20/2026 - 11/17/2026
Times: 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
Let the calming meditative practice of Zentangle drawing infuse the upcoming holidays with a festive spirit. Projects will use Zentangle principles and patterns to craft cards, gifts, little books, and decor. No previous experience is necessary.
This course will meet online October 20, 27, November 3, 10, and 17.
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- Hiking and Observing the Fall Season
- THIS CLASS IS FULL. Please click the "Add to Waitlist" button below.
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Speaker: Melissa Sokulski
Dates: 10/20/2026 - 11/17/2026
Times: 10:00 AM - 11:50 AM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
In Eastern theory, fall is the transition from yang to yin, between the expansive growth phases of spring and summer to the inward, cooler fall and winter seasons. We will take five easy hikes around Schenley Park to observe the fall season, noticing plants dropping their seeds, trees releasing their fruit, and other trees dropping nuts. We will explore the abundance of mushrooms, watch wildlife, and soak in the colors of the changing leaves. This course will meet rain or shine (except when lightning or in a thunderstorm) and involve walking on possibly uneven natural paths and surfaces, up to one mile or so each week.
This course will meet in person October 20, 27, November 3, 10, and 17.
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- In the Likeness of a Human Mind: Thinking Critically About AI In-Person
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Speaker: Cressida Magaro
Dates: 10/20/2026 - 11/17/2026
Times: 10:00 AM - 11:50 AM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
This course examines the history, technology, and politics of artificial intelligence, with a focus on preparing members to think critically about the current and future impacts of AI and associated technologies on society. This is not a course for learning how to use AI; instead we will consider deeper questions surrounding human-computer interaction, intelligence and consciousness, bias, and the nature of truth.
This course will meet in person October 20, 27, November 3, 10, and 17.
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- Biblical Prophets Online
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Speaker: Sandra Collins
Dates: 10/20/2026 - 11/17/2026
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
This course provides a general survey of prophetic literature in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. Prophets, while necessary, are the religious conscience of the people and, as such, are often social pariahs. Thematically we will consider the role of oracles; prophetic literature and women; the theology of prophecies; social justice in the prophets; and how different faith communities read and interpret the prophetic literature.
This course will meet online October 20, 27, November 3, 10, and 17.
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- Caribbean Women Writers: Voice, Memory, and Being Human In-Person
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Speaker: Gemma Stemley
Dates: 10/20/2026 - 11/17/2026
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:50 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
Caribbean women writers have reshaped contemporary literature with explorations of identity, history, migration, and belonging. This course introduces new and experienced readers to the literature in selected short works by writers Jamaica Kincaid, Rosa Guy, Claudia Rankine, Ramabai Espinet, and Merle Hodge. We will explore thematic themes of brief readings that will be provided. The emphasis will be on shared reflection and dialogue to discover how much we as a people have in common in our day-to-day lives, regardless of cultural upbringing.
This course will meet in person October 20, 27, November 3, 10, and 17.
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- Who Was Henry Clay Frick?
- THIS CLASS IS FULL. Please click the "Add to Waitlist" button below.
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Speaker: Douglas Swanson
Dates: 10/20/2026 - 11/17/2026
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:50 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Modality: In-Person
Fee: $0.00
History generally remembers Henry Clay Frick as Andrew Carnegie's anti-union enforcer and as a prodigious art collector. The author of an upcoming biography of Frick, to be published by W.W. Norton, reveals a deeper, more layered, and previously undiscovered version of the man. He was far more influential in business and politics than generally acknowledged, and far more venal and corrupt than even his legion of detractors have claimed.
This course will meet in person October 20, 27, November 3, 10, and 17.
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- Contemporary Asian Cinema Online
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Speaker: Lucy Fischer
Dates: 10/20/2026 - 11/17/2026
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
This course will provide a sampling of important contemporary feature films from Asia, including works from China, India, Japan, South Korea, and possibly other nations. Attention will be paid not only to the specific films themselves (and their aesthetic strategies) but to the history of cinema in that country, the previous work of the director of the film, and the social/political context in which the film was made. Participants will view complete films before each class which are available through numerous online streaming services.
This course will meet online October 20, 27, November 3, 10, and 17.
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- Social Engineering in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World Online
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Speaker: anupama jain
Dates: 10/20/2026 - 11/17/2026
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
This course delves into the novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1932), which is considered a masterpiece of dystopian literature because it seemed to predict major historical turns of the 20th century. Members will learn about an imaginary worldstate in which people are engineered to love their society and their own places in it. We will read the novel against a backdrop of questions about happiness, ideal communities, the impact of new technologies on humanity, and whether human freedom is always merely an illusion.
Course Materials: Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley.
This course will meet online October 20, 27, November 3, 10, and 17.
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- TED Talks
- THIS CLASS IS FULL. Please click the "Add to Waitlist" button below.
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Speaker: Kathy Callahan
Dates: 10/20/2026 - 11/24/2026
Times: 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
Technology, Entertainment, and Design (TED), a nonprofit organization that promotes “ideas worth spreading,” features talks by some of the world’s most engaging speakers on a wide variety of subjects. The TED website features more than 3,900 talks on video. In this class, be prepared for discussion! We will discuss, debate, and reflect on a few of these talks each week. Some talks are informational, and some are just plain fun. Members are encouraged to select talks that inspire or intrigue them to kick off the discussion.
This course will meet online October 20, 27, November 10, 17, and 24. There is no class November 3.
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- Developmental Perspectives in Myth and Fairy Tales Online
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Speaker: Christina Frasher
Dates: 10/20/2026 - 11/17/2026
Times: 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Modality: Online
Fee: $0.00
Stories encourage us to wander in our imaginations, connecting metaphorical phrases to our own identities and lived experiences. Myths and fairy tales provide fertile ground for our psychological selves and can be helpful containers to understanding the joys and conflicts in life. This course will explore lifelong social, emotional, and cognitive developments through the lens of developmental psychology across the lifespan, using myth and fairy tale as our guides.
This course will meet online October 20, 27, November 3, 10, and 17.
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