Wednesday Session 2

Spring Term 2023 course registration is open.

Each course is marked, in the description, if it is an in-person, face-to-face course or if it is an online Zoom course.

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Impact of Jews on Classical Music
After having a limited presence in the music of the early 19th century, a few decades later, Jews held leading positions as conductors, composers, performers, theatrical producers, music publishers and patrons of arts. Music became a medium of cultural, religious and philosophical dialogue after the Jewish Enlightenment--Haskalah. The 20th century brought war, displacement and prejudice. Still, Jews thrived in all areas of the musical field. We will explore how bold composers like Copland, Schoenberg, Mendelssohn, and Glass thrived in contexts of prejudice and war or displacement; how performers like Perlman, Horowitz, Stern, Heifetz, Ax and Argerich gave virtuosity and showmanship a new meaning; and how conductors like Szell, Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Fiedler and others gave distinctive sounds to the best orchestras of the world.

Show Description
Instructor: Emanuel Abramovits Fee: $0.00
Dates: 3/15/2023 - 4/12/2023 Days: W Times: 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM Sessions: 5
This class will be held over Zoom
This class will meet on March 15, 22, 29; Apr 5 and 12.

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Unsung Heroes of Science & Technology in the 20th Century
This course examines the life and work of several lesser known but highly influential science and technology innovators of the 20th century. The list includes Claude Shannon, first to suggest that information could be measured and compressed; George Dantzig, whose work spawned the discipline of decision science; Grace Hopper, the Navy Rear Admiral inventor of the COBOL computer language; and Douglas Engelbart, whose 1968 “Mother of All Demos” inspired the Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows decades later. What were the sources of their creativity? What were the most important contemporary influences on their work and what inspired them? How have their contributions shaped the world we live in today?

Show Description
Instructor: Richard Wilson Fee: $0.00
Dates: 3/15/2023 - 4/12/2023 Days: W Times: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM Sessions: 5
This class will be held over Zoom
This class will meet on March 15, 22, 29; Apr 5 and 12.

Saving the Union, 1861–1865
Well-known people such as Clara Barton, Walt Whitman, and Frederick Douglass, along with hundreds of ordinary women and men on farms, railroads and in mills, in the words of Elisha Hunt Rhodes, gave "all for the Union."

Show Description
Instructor: John Burt Fee: $0.00
Dates: 3/15/2023 - 4/12/2023 Days: W Times: 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM Sessions: 5
This class will be held over Zoom
This class will meet on March 15, 22, 29; Apr 5 and 12.

First Contacts: Native and European Encounters in North America in the 17th Century
This set of lectures will examine European and Native American culture and society just before and during the age of colonization of North America in the 17th century. The cases we will give special attention to are the Jamestown settlement, the Plymouth colony and the Dutch settlement of New Netherland. We will look at the fraught relations that emerged in each area and how they contributed to the emergence of African American slavery and Americans’ distinct views of liberty, freedom, race and class.

Show Description
Instructor: Jared Day Fee: $0.00
Dates: 3/15/2023 - 4/12/2023 Days: W Times: 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM Sessions: 5
This class will be held over Zoom
This class will meet on March 15, 22, 29; Apr 5 and 12.

Pittsburgh's East End: An Architectural History
The East End of Pittsburgh refers to more than just a geographic section of the city but to a crucial economic and social development in the city’s history. The course reveals the history of the East End primarily through the rich architectural heritage which remains. The course traces the East End from its rural beginnings, to its vibrant example of an early railroad and streetcar suburb, through the challenges it faced in the late twentieth century and up to and including the recent revival of its fortunes. The course covers the developmental history of various East End neighborhoods and illustrates how architectural can be a window to history.

Show Description
Instructor: Robert Jucha Fee: $0.00
Dates: 3/15/2023 - 4/12/2023 Days: W Times: 10:00 AM - 11:40 AM Sessions: 5
This class will be held In-Person
This class will meet on March 15, 22, 29; Apr 5 and 12.

Arthur Miller: Iconic American Dramatist
In the world of theater, no plays are more revered than those of Arthur Miller. They have been translated into many languages and produced in places as distant as Japan. Broadway's "Death of a Salesman" with an African American cast has been a huge success. In class we will look closely at his work and its significance, focusing on "Death of a Salesman" and "All My Sons."

Show Description
Instructor: Anne Faigen Fee: $0.00
Dates: 3/15/2023 - 4/12/2023 Days: W Times: 10:30 AM - 12:20 PM Sessions: 5
This class will be held In-Person
This class will meet on March 15, 22, 29; Apr 5 and 12.

Banned, Persecuted and Demonized: Censored Literature in Democratic America
In this course we will read and discuss three novels by great writers who have been and are currently censored in libraries across America: “Fury” by Salman Rushdie; “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie; and “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood. In addition to discussing the major themes of these wonderful and important novels--racism, misogyny and reproductive freedom, and religious fanaticism--we will attempt to understand why these books and their authors, like so many others in the last few years, have been the subject of such a virulent campaign of persecution and censorship by America’s right wing. Within the context of our discussions, we will ask: What are so many afraid of? Why is book-banning always the knee jerk response to literature that questions or opposes mainstream thinking? Censorship leads to book banning, which leads to book burning, which leads to violence--what do the book banners really want?

Show Description
Instructor: Kenneth Boas Fee: $0.00
Dates: 3/15/2023 - 4/12/2023 Days: W Times: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM Sessions: 5
This class will be held over Zoom
This class will meet on March 15, 22, 29; Apr 5 and 12.

Ethiopian History and Folk Wisdom
The course comprises of two core components. These are Ethiopian history and Ethiopian folk wisdom. For Ethiopian history, three different eras will be presented: ancient, medieval and modern history of Ethiopia. For the Ethiopian folk wisdom component, members will explore Ethiopian foods and feeding habits, cultural celebrations of Ethiopia, dresses and dressing styles of Ethiopia, Ethiopian music, musical instruments and dancing, etc. In general, the course will provide members with a vivid picture of Ethiopia, its history and folk wisdom (culture).

Show Description
Instructor: Meshesha Jobo Fee: $0.00
Dates: 3/15/2023 - 4/12/2023 Days: W Times: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM Sessions: 5
This class will be held over Zoom
This class will meet on March 15, 22, 29; Apr 5 and 12.

History of the Supreme Court
Nearly every facet of our society has been profoundly-and frequently controversially impacted by Supreme Court decisions. Yet this is the least known of the three branches of our government. This course traces the history of America’s highest court and its significant rulings, including a discussion of the major justices and of those decisions that have shaped America and its Constitution.

Show Description
Instructor: Louise Mayo Fee: $0.00
Dates: 3/15/2023 - 4/12/2023 Days: W Times: 1:00 PM - 2:50 PM Sessions: 5
This class will be held In-Person
This class will meet on March 15, 22, 29; Apr 5 and 12.

New Way to Look at Movies
Regardless of form or genre, storytellers have always used the same building blocks: plot, characters, descriptive details, dialogue, action, narrative and conflict. The movie-watching experience is enhanced by understanding how each of these contributes to the story. We will see them at work in four classic films: “Thelma & Louise” (1991), “Moonlight” (2016), “Casablanca” (1942), and “Pride & Prejudice” (2005). We will also look at the unique structure of mainstream Hollywood movies and storytelling structures more generally.

Show Description
Instructor: Steven Cherry Fee: $0.00
Dates: 3/15/2023 - 4/12/2023 Days: W Times: 12:00 PM - 2:50 PM Sessions: 5
This class will be held In-Person
This class will meet on March 15, 22, 29; Apr 5 and 12.

Life Imitates Opera, Opera Imitates Life
Oscar Wilde wrote in “The Decay of Lying” that “Life imitates art far more than art imitates life.” Does life imitate opera, or is it the other way around? Some philosophers posit that it is a chicken and egg thing. Consider how Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin” resembles events in Pushkin’s life, even the fatal duel. Other operas based on actual events include Verdi’s “La Traviata,” Mascagni’s “Cavalleria rusticana,” Adams’s “The Death of Klinghoffer,” and Sonenberg’s “The Summer King.” Puccini’s operas involve love, infidelity, jealousy, vengeance and death; how do those mirror his life? Can an event in the real world be inspired by a creative work? This course will explore a variety of operas to analyze how art and life influence each other.

Show Description
Instructor: Marilyn Egan Fee: $0.00
Dates: 3/15/2023 - 4/5/2023 Days: W Times: 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM Sessions: 4
This is a 4 week course

This class will be held over Zoom
This class will meet on March 15, 22, 29 and Apr 5.

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