Sedona Center   

Music cleanses the mind and frees the soul. We'll listen to some of the world's greatest classical music composed by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Dvorak, Franck, Mussorsky, Saint-Saens, Vaughan-Williams, Copland, Barber and Bernstein. Thanks to YouTube, we'll watch performers close-up in their home concert halls. This is not an analytical class. We'll simply listen and briefly say how the music makes us feel. Please Note: This class skips a week for Labor Day 9/7.

Curt Walters is the best known living painter of the Grand Canyon, and has spent five decades observing and interpreting one of the world’s most complex landscapes. We will view a selection of Walters' Grand Canyon and Sedona paintings to understand the context, techniques and visual impact across his masterworks. We will explore Walters' art while developing an eye for close looking and formal visual analysis in landscape painting.

Thinking a little foggy? Forget where you put your cell phone? Join our class to learn brain-power boosts. We'll solve puzzles, do memory exercises and practice physical stretches. We'll talk about good brain-nutrition, and take quick walks outdoors to clear the brain and re-oxygenate our bodies. Share your favorite techniques for remembering and learn from others.

Level 1 is for people new to Tai Chi and those wanting to be more comfortable with the initial moves. Tai Chi is a gentle slow exercise for the mind and body.

Level 2 is for those who have completed level 1, and are ready to learn more. Tai Chi is a gentle slow excercise for the mind and body.

By presenting relevant concepts and data, this on-going course aims to equip each participant to be an educated consumer of news on a wide range of economic topics. Discussions will be fact-driven and nontechnical. No formal economics training is required. Please Note: This class skips a week for Labor Day 9/7.

Participants are invited to give short (10–20 min) presentations on a key issue shaping American democracy—covering such aspects as governing principles, current challenges and global comparisons. Each presentation will be followed by open discussion aimed at fostering civic awareness, critical thinking, careful listening and respectful dialogue. Together we will deepen understanding of community values and engage in meaningful conversation about America’s changing role in a changing world.

The scope and complexity of history invites efforts to simplify and explain its patterns and outcomes. Why do some societies last, and others don't? What effects stability, economic growth, the degree of political power, etc? Let's explore some of the major theories addressing these issues.

David McCullough’s 1776 is the 3rd and final in our series celebrating the 250th anniversary of the courage and genius of those who laid the foundation for an American Republic & Democracy. Having previously reviewed McCullough’s John Adams and George Washington, our focus will now be the year 1776. Each week will include interviews & speeches by McCullough on this year and the Founding Fathers, as well as clips from various historic documentaries and the HBO Miniseries, John Adams.

This course focuses on the history of India since the Great Mahabharata War. We will explore significant facts and features of the history of India over the past 5000 years and highlight the philosophical, religious and cultural aspects over this period. Please Note: This class skips a week for Labor Day 9/7.

When we perceive something, we attach meaning to it…and that impacts how we feel!! Can that be intentionally changed? Aren't we are often stunned when someone else responds differently than we are!! What impacts our perspective? What is the role of advertising, of subliminal cues, of illusions, of personal framework? Come enjoy exploring the pervasiveness of perspective and practice generating new possibilities and tolerances.

Organize your thoughts, photos, artwork, letters, diaries, and emails. We will write in class and at home - yes, homework. Bring paper, pen, and/or laptop. Your first chapter will be on your grandparents, second chapter on your parents, then chapters about your life divided into 15-year segments. Writing topics will be suggested, and your work edited. You may read your work aloud to the class, if you like. Please Note: This class skips a week for Labor Day 9/7.