June Mini Courses   

**This class will be taught In-Person at the SFSU Main Campus**

The Presidio of San Francisco was founded in 1776 by a military expedition sent by  Spanish imperial authorities. It passed to the government of Mexico in 1821, and to the  United States in 1846. The Presidio was initially an artillery post to protect the bay  against foreign invaders, but after 1898 it became a major U.S. Army post supporting  U.S. expansion into the Pacific. It was a major post supporting U.S. operations against Japan during WWII and in Vietnam in the 1960s. Changes in military technology made  the post obsolete by 1989. In 1994, the Army turned it over to the Presidio Trust and the  National Park Service. We shall trace that history. 

**This class will be taught on Zoom**

Ireland has made a lasting impact on the history of Europe, America, and Australia. This course  will explore the dynamic and at times turbulent history of modern Ireland. This survey course  will introduce key moments in Irish history such as the Gaelic Revival, the Irish War of  Independence, the Troubles, and Ireland's economic miracle. We will also highlight key figures  in modern Ireland such as Countess Markievicz, the first women elected to the Parliament of  the United Kingdom, and Nobel Peace Prize winner David Hume. 

**This class will be taught In-Person**

For many computer users AI chatbots (such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, etc.) have replaced the traditional search engines (e.g., Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo and others) as the preferred methods way for making online queries. Their natural language interfaces (text or voice) and conversational styles makes them very appealing and fun to use. To take full advantage of this powerful AI technology, a course on how to use AI chatbots can be very useful for maximizing their potential for learning, productivity, and creativity. By understanding their capabilities, limitations, and best practices, users can craft more effective prompts, critically evaluate responses, and integrate AI assistance seamlessly into their workflows. Such a course can help individuals—from students to professionals—enhance their research, automate routine tasks, and generate high-quality content while maintaining ethical considerations. Learning how to interact with AI chatbots efficiently ensures that users harness AI as a valuable assistant rather than relying on it uncritically, fostering both digital literacy and responsible AI usage. This course will cover the fundamentals of AI chatbots and the crafting of query prompts and other mechanisms for interfacing with it. Extensive use of examples will be used, and surprises can certainly be expected.

**This class will be taught on Zoom**

The Brill Building era is that fantastic period in the 50s and 60s when the best popular music was mass-produced by a young generation of great talents, like Phil Spector, Carole King, Neil Diamond, Don Kirshner, Neil Sedaka, Burt Bacharach, Leiber & Stoller and more. Songs like Be My Baby, You've Lost that Lovin' Feelin', Save the Last Dance for Me, Hound Dog, The  Locomotion, Do Wah Diddy Diddy and more. We all grew up with this music and there are many great stories behind these songs.

**This class will be taught In-Person in the Vista Room at the main SFSU Campus.**

**In addition to the course fee, a $5.00 per person charge has been added to cover the cost of ingredients. The Vista Room is in Burk Hall. https://cob.sfsu.edu/vistaroom**

This course will show participants how easy it is to make fresh, handmade pasta. By demonstrating both water based and egg based Italian pasta doughs, each student will try making one or two different shapes either using their hands or some of the various equipment we have available in the Vista Room.  A variety of sauces will be available, and we will all sit down and enjoy a meal of pasta with sides of vegetables and a salad (prepared by Chef Tim).   

Note that we cannot accommodate gluten free pastas in this class as the science and craft of making pastas without gluten would require several more lectures 

**This class will be taught In-Person**

American singers and songwriters Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey codified the Classic Blues, boldly imprinting their personalities on American culture in the 1920s. A dozen videoclips and short films are presented including the milestone 1929 sound movie “Saint Louis Blues,” a landmark collaboration between Bessie Smith and the composer, W.C. Handy.

**This class will be taught In-Person**

Ten years ago, in the second most consequential vote of 2016, the people of Great Britain filed for divorce  from Europe. Some said it was necessary to preserve the national soul; others saw it as a profound and self inflicted wound. As with many such situations, it was a messy process and the complaining party certainly didn’t end up where it thought it might. In this class, we will talk about British politics and culture, how the  process worked out, and where Britain finds itself today. What does this process tell us about globalization, the bureaucratic state, and the impact of “populist” politics on complex issues?

**This class is a Hybrid. This section of the class will be taught In-Person**

Gay opera fans are a commonplace phenomenon, as are LGBT people working in opera. But what about gay characters in opera? To coincide with the observance of Gay Pride in June, San Francisco Opera’s Dramaturg Emeritus Kip Cranna will use video and audio examples to explore the hidden, hinted and overtly LGBT characters in the opera repertoire and how they have been portrayed and received, from the 17th Century to the present day.

**This class is a Hybrid. This section of the class will be taught on Zoom**

Gay opera fans are a commonplace phenomenon, as are LGBT people working in opera. But what about gay characters in opera? To coincide with the observance of Gay Pride in June, San Francisco Opera’s Dramaturg Emeritus Kip Cranna will use video and audio examples to explore the hidden, hinted and overtly LGBT characters in the opera repertoire and how they have been portrayed and received, from the 17th Century to the present day.