Thursday Session 2   

The American Film Institute released a list of the best film scores, which includes many well-known classics and some surprises. The composers of those scores have something in common: a fascinating life and a solid career. Let’s enjoy the ride through the process the composers followed while creating those historical pieces that convey what the movie is trying to say without words and evoke an emotional response even the most brilliant bit of dialogue cannot. Some of these scores have even outlived the film they soundtracked.

Part II of this course will continue to examine the significance of the Vietnam Era and the Vietnam War in the context of the recent history of the United States. Although the conflict is almost fifty years old, its legacy has loomed over American foreign policy, American consciousness, and the American psyche since it occurred. For an entire generation of Americans and Vietnamese, the Vietnam War was the defining event of their lives. Individuals who experienced “Vietnam” still deal with the subliminal aspects of it. Recent scholarship has characterized the Vietnam War as an extremely complex phenomenon in which a struggle for decolonization and self-determination became enmeshed in Cold War politics.

NOTE: Vietnam Era: Part I is recommended, but not a prerequisite for this course.

 

This course will discuss two Shakespearean favorites, Much Ado about Nothing and Romeo and Juliet, one comedy and one tragedy. Members will try to understand these plays in their historical context, just as Shakespeare’s contemporaries might have understood them. In addition to text study, participants will view some works of art that shed light on the plays. The class will also discuss films of the plays: Branagh’s Much Ado About Nothing and Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet. 

NOTE: Class time will not be used for viewing films. Members will have two options for film viewing: borrowing or purchasing the DVD or viewing on a streaming service.

Improv is play. Imagine for the next 90 minutes that everything you say or do will be right. You cannot make a mistake. No scripts. Nothing to remember. No wrong answers. Just have fun! Your rich collection of life experiences, assorted objects, and literary prompts inspire the games and short scenes. “Yes and …” means you listen and agree with your partner’s suggestions, then add something of your own to move the scene forward. Your partner does the same for you. You leave refreshed with the sound of laughter to brighten your day.

While 50% of adult Americans believe the Holocaust could happen again, 10% claim to have never heard of the Holocaust, and 40% could not name a concentration camp or ghetto. Last year saw a two-thirds increase in antisemitic incidents, and many Jews do not feel safe today. Is history repeating itself? Using pictorial evidence of events and videos of survivor testimonies, this course will explore the human attitudes and behaviors that not only led to the murder of 6 million Jews but are still evident today. The instructor will share the challenges his parents faced and what it was like growing up as a child of survivors. Using lessons learned, we will look at our own attitudes and behaviors toward others, and what we can do to help fulfill the promise of "Never Again."

In this significant year, the revolutions which shook Europe would send refugees to United States, some of whom would help to shape American politics for three decades or more. The conclusion of the war with Mexico would dramatically reshape the geography and population of the country. The presidential election was a three-way race, foreshadowing changes in politics. And a group of women followed the advice of Abigail Adams to foment their own revolution as they met at Seneca Falls.

This course is about the roles of women in and around photography from the 1830s to the 1980s. The history of photography is often framed in terms of the work of well-known individual photographers. This class will have plenty of those, from cornerstone figures like Julia Margaret Cameron in the 1860s, to Dorothea Lange in the 1930s and Diane Arbus in the 1960s. Many more women photographers have received increasing attention in recent years, such as pictorialist Anne Brigman and documentarian Jill Freedman. Beyond the work of prominent individuals, members will widen their field of vision to other roles women have played—as photographic subjects, as bridge-builders, as targeted consumers, and as thinkers who have steered the ongoing conversation about photography in culture.

Lincoln’s assassination was more than just a tale of John Wilkes Booth killing Lincoln in a theater. This course will cover the extent of hatred of Lincoln prior to his inauguration and the backgrounds of Booth and his alleged conspirators and their various plots and preparations. The course will also discuss Lincoln's death watch and funeral, the conspirators' trial and results, and whether the punished and unpunished deserved their fates. Finally, many myths and falsehoods surrounding the assassination will be dispelled.

In this interactive discussion class, we will delve deeply into Joseph’s fascinating story, exploring themes of sibling rivalry, the potential for individuals to grow into better people, the importance of forgiveness, and the concept of free will. We will look at parenting advice from a book on sibling rivalry, and we will discuss how painters, novelists and filmmakers have used creativity and imagination to bring Joseph’s story to life. Participants should bring a bible (hard copy or digital) to class.

Sholem Aleichem’s Fiddler on the Roof won fame with its portrayal of Tevya and his daughters. But this portrayal was from a male writer’s viewpoint. What additional insights might a female writer of that time have provided? Unfortunately, few stories by Yiddish women writers were available in English. Thanks to the women’s movement, Jewish feminists in the 1990s found and translated women’s stories. The sixteen stories in Yenta Mash’s On the Landing, finally published in 2018, reveal the events of these women’s lives—from shtetl to Gulag to Israel. During each class session, a lecture will lead into discussion of two of Mash’s stories.

Emerson revered self-reliance and individualism, distrusted organized religion, loved the outdoors, and believed in improving society.  Emerson is the writer we all meant to read but got scared off by attempting "Nature." He writes so beautifully that, when you have finished reading an essay, you are, at least for that moment, a believer. But later we find ourselves asking, “What did he say?" and this course hopes to answer that question. We will read selections from his amazing essays and his luminous poems.

As a follow-up to last year's popular Broadway and the Great American Songbook course (which is not a prerequisite), this course will examine some of the greatest crooners and songstresses in recorded music. Examples include Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Mel Torme, Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett, and more. Because this is a discussion course, we also can discuss singers who are of particular interest to our participants. In our final class session in November, we will also hear some of their contributions to the holiday music repertoire.