Courses: Winter   

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

The most civilized people in the Land of Canaan, the Phoenicians taught boat-building to the  Egyptians, built Solomon’s Temple (even as the Hebrews worshipped Phoenician gods), and gave everyone  the alphabet. The Rape of Europa myth tells how Zeus abducted the Phoenician princess, Europa, across  the sea to Crete, giving us an allegory for the spread of civilization to Europe. Another Phoenician princess  also sailed westward, this time voluntarily, to found fabled Carthage, and the Carthaginians became  dominating merchants and sailors. However, aggressive Etruscans, Greeks, and Romans drove them to war,  and the end came in three titanic struggles the Romans called the Punic Wars, when, despite Hannibal’s  brilliance, Rome erased Carthage entirely, then promoted its legends.  

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

The Hollywood movie industry has always been driven by youth culture and beauty. So it is not  a surprise that film characters in their 60s and older are dramatically underrepresented in  cinema as compared to their representation in our population. Moreover, according to  quantitative surveys, “old age” is shown in Hollywood films through a narrative of decline, often  providing a distorted picture. This course will examine ageism in Hollywood filmmaking from  several perspectives, beginning with industry studies that define the issue, followed by 20th century movie narratives about older stars; how “age-ing out” impacts actors based on gender;  actors and actresses who are bucking the system; pros and cons of the latest technology trend  in filmmaking—CGI and anti-aging software; and a review of age appropriate film narratives  with accurate depictions.  

**This class will be taught on Zoom**

This lecture series is a sequel to an earlier course covering an earlier period. This six-week course offers you the opportunity to meet a large and often unfamiliar cast of characters—both Black and white, enslaved and free—who developed a range of tools and tactics, means and methods to escape enslavement or try to resist it in the period between the drafting of the United States Constitution in 1787 and 1865, the year that marked the end of the Civil War. 

**This class will be taught on Zoom**

“Eskimos have many words for snow”, “A language is a dialect with an army and a navy”, “Aborigines speak  primitive languages”, “English has the world’s richest vocabulary”, “Children learn languages more easily  than adults”, “Languages die because they are not fit enough for the modern world”, “Animals speak their  own language” — you’ve probably heard or read these statements, but are they actually true? In this  course, we’ll examine these and related beliefs about language and we’ll investigate what aspects of them  are true and what aspects are false or even nonsensical. In doing so, we’ll explore such topics as language  diversity, language history, language acquisition by children and language learning by adults, animal and  human communication, and much more. We’ll also consider where language myths come from and why  they tend to persist despite all the scientific evidence to the contrary. 

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

This course surveys the development of the film score for motion pictures from its earliest inception through today. Selected examples throughout its history will be demonstrated in class through film clips and interviews with composers and film-makers. Students will learn the importance of the film score and how it functions to support the aesthetic and narrative elements of the story. 

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

You will be making greeting cards and other paper projects that will make you the envy of all your friends.  And you’ll learn techniques that you can duplicate once you get back home. At the end of each class you  will take home a completed card or box or frame that you can be truly proud of.

For most projects paper will be supplied. 

Required supplies are ruler, pen, pencil, scissors and double sided tape. If you prefer, kits of supplies will be available for purchase from the instructor for $10.

THIS CLASS IS FULL. Please click the "Add to Waitlist" button below.

The "Add to Waitlist" button will only appear if you are signed in, have a valid membership, and enrollment is open. Note that your membership must be valid throughout the length of the course.

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

Looking back on turning points, highlights and lowlights of our lives can be invigorating and  illuminating, and the process can result in arresting, evocative, publishable pieces. Our class will  focus on writing flash memoir, brief true stories under 2,000 words. Each week we’ll examine the  story-telling building blocks vital for memoir: vivid characters and settings, careful narrative  pacing, lucid language, insightful musing. We’ll read and discuss a variety of brief published  memoirs and embark each week on writing new flash pieces of our own. We’ll also discuss  publication opportunities and best practices for submitting. 

**This class will be taught on Zoom**

A comprehensive history of Bill Hanna, Joe Barbera, and their artists, who gave us Tom and Jerry, The  Flintstones, Yogi Bear, Scooby-Doo, The Jetsons, Jonny Quest, Smurfs, Huckleberry Hound, The Banana  Splits, Wacky Races, and hundreds more. Their television work in animation and live-action is covered in  detail, along with theatrical films, recordings, and the overall impact the studio had on the entertainment  industry to this day. 

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

The Beatles famously asked if we really “want a revolution.” But what’s a revolution, anyway? How do  revolutions start? Does it have to be quick? Or successful? How much has to change? Does it need to be  violent? We will explore the theory and practice of political/ideological revolutions in the modern world.  We will stop in London in 1689, Boston in 1775, Paris in 1789, St. Petersburg in 1918, Djakarta in 1947,  Cairo in 1952, Moscow and Prague in 1990, Tunis in 2011, and a host of other places and times. Are we  done with them or are they merely unpredictable?  

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

At a time when the future of freedom and democracy in America is being questioned by pundits and  everyday Americans alike, this class revisits what the founding fathers meant by "life, liberty, and the  pursuit of happiness" and how they apply to older Americans. It explores how individual rights and justice  are reflected in “aging policy,” and traces the trajectory from elders being viewed as vulnerable and in need  of protection to acknowledging them as rights-holders. It highlights grassroots initiatives to defend older  Americans' rights and the unfulfilled promise of the Elder Justice Act of 2010. It also describes how the  denial of fundamental rights earlier in their lives continues to impact the health and security of today's  elders. 

The class examines threats to elder rights, which include cognitive decline, undue influence, ageism, the  cumulative effects of discrimination, loss of power and influence within their families and communities,  and social isolation. It explores how these threats can be mitigated through advance planning, strengthening  relationships, community planning and services that support independence and reduce risks, and restorative  justice. Special attention is paid to lesser-known rights that older Americans hold, including the right to  receive long-term care in the least restrictive settings possible, the rights of nursing home residents to make  choices in their everyday lives and engage with their communities, the rights of crime victims' to restitution  and compensation, and the right of incarcerated elders to apply for “compassionate release” as they  approach the end of their lives. Also discussed are initiatives to combat ageism and destructive “generations  at war” narratives. The class further describes strategies and opportunities for advancing elder rights and  justice. 

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

An in-depth overview of how British rock of the 1960s changed popular music and culture forever. Led by  the Beatles, the British Invasion stormed the US with the Rolling Stones, the Who, the Kinks, Pink Floyd,  Dusty Springfield, and the first bands of stars like Van Morrison (in Them), Jeff Beck (the Yardbirds), and  Jimmy Page (the Yardbirds), as well as many others. Using both common and rare recordings and video  clips, the course will trace the British Invasion from Liverpool Merseybeat through the blues rock, hard  rock, psychedelia, and progressive art rock British artists innovated. 

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

An in-depth overview of how British rock of the 1960s changed popular music and culture forever. Led by  the Beatles, the British Invasion stormed the US with the Rolling Stones, the Who, the Kinks, Pink Floyd,  Dusty Springfield, and the first bands of stars like Van Morrison (in Them), Jeff Beck (the Yardbirds), and  Jimmy Page (the Yardbirds), as well as many others. Using both common and rare recordings and video  clips, the course will trace the British Invasion from Liverpool Merseybeat through the blues rock, hard  rock, psychedelia, and progressive art rock British artists innovated. 

**This class will be taught on Zoom**

The philosophical movement of the early 19th century, called Transcendentalism, challenged early 19th century attitudes about nature and religion at a time when America’s newly inspired intellectual class wanted to create a separate American identity from our European inheritance. Nonetheless, these New Englanders were influenced by German, French, English and Scottish writers of the Enlightenment and early Romantic movements, as well as by fascinating new trends in Bible scholarship and translations from Eastern Philosophical literature. The ideas of the Transcendentalists sparked controversy but had a lasting impact, fueling reform movements from abolition of slavery to public education and women’s role in society.