Wednesday Session 2   

Racism has always impacted all aspects of life for Black, Latino, Asian, Indigenous, White, and other racialized groups in America and today is manifested in all U.S. institutions and systems. This course will focus on the newest edition of one of the best books ever written on this topic: Feagin and Ducey, Racist America: Roots, Current Realities, and Future Reparations, 5th ed., 2025. We will also learn from guest speakers, the instructor's writings, and other books and materials written in the last two years by racism experts.

Please Note: This course is hybrid, offering attendance both in the Homewood Community Engagement Center and online.

This course will examine one of the most transformative and controversial presidents in U.S. history. Andrew Jackson was a politician and leader who became a political and social icon for a generation of Americans in the first half of the 19th century. We will explore Jackson's early life and military career along with the political rise of the "near west" as a distinct region and a force in American society. Jackson's presidential tenure represented a clear demarcation away from the patrician politics of the founding fathers’ era towards a democracy that was more inclusive, more populist, and more volatile.

From Madeline Miller's Circe to Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Gods of Jade and Shadow, re-imaginings and re-tellings of world mythology have taken root within the context of modern readership. The variation of genres, authors, and audiences indicates the resonance that mythology from across time and cultures still holds. But why do we come back to these old tales? And what were they, once upon a time? In this course, we will study ancient myths and modern fiction side by side to determine how myth continues to have a hold on us, and ask how much of myth we, in turn, hold onto and perpetuate.

The schools of animal behavior: ethology and behaviorism will be the lens of examining our companion animals. This course will allow us to observe the co-evolution of humans with animals. We will analyze the domestication process and phenotypes, both behavioral and physical. The domestication of dogs, horses, and cats will be emphasized. Strategies to humanely limit overpopulation of these animals, both nationally and internationally, will be explored.

Jonathan Swift's dystopian fantasy is not a children's tale about big people and little people, but rather an excoriating indictment of war, imperialism, political corruption, and consumerism. The grandiose Lilliputians find their counterparts today in Washington and Harrisburg. The obsessive-compulsive scientists of Laputa make us think of today's infatuation with AI. We will learn that Swift was no woman-hating misanthrope, but rather a prophet for our times.

Recommended book: "The Essential Writings of Jonathan Swift," edited by Claude Rawson and Ian Higgins. New York: Norton, 2009. ISBN 9780393930658

This course will provide participants the knowledge necessary to obtain an enhanced experience from their usual wine drinking. We will review the key elements of terroir such as climate, geography and soil, discuss their influence on the wine and look at several wine regions. We will continue with descriptions of the visual, olfactive, tasting and aftertaste phases covering the art and some elemental science for each of the phases. Finally, we will practice what we learned with two virtual wine tastings. The instructor will identify four affordable wines available at the store in advance.