Government and Politics   

Experience the incredible four years which transformed California from an unknown backwater into a worldwide phenomenon. This period created the largest migration of mankind in the history of the world along with a rapid admission into the US. Terry McAteer will bring life to well known characters such as: Montgomery, Stockton, Mason, Vallejo, Sutter, Fremont, Kearney, Larkin, Sloan and Buchanan. All Californians need to take this class to fully appreciate the Golden State.

Experience the incredible four years which transformed California from an unknown backwater into a worldwide phenomenon. This period created the largest migration of mankind in the history of the world along with a rapid admission into the US. Terry McAteer will bring life to well known characters such as: Montgomery, Stockton, Mason, Vallejo, Sutter, Fremont, Kearney, Larkin, Sloan and Buchanan. All Californians need to take this class to fully appreciate the Golden State.

Franklin Roosevelt once said that the presidency was “pre-eminently a place of moral leadership.” Yet he was also a practical politician who sometime put aside morality for political advantage or survival. Eleanor Roosevelt was often his conscience, reminding him to do what was right. In this course we will explore the relationship between these two towering figures of the 20th century during the presidency of FDR. We will see how a moral vision and practical politics can clash but also be blended together in order to create needed change.

While Alton Logan languished in prison for 26 years for a murder he never committed, lawyers for another man never revealed that it had been their client who was the real killer. The secrecy surrounding what a defendant tells his attorney is just one example of the ethical dilemmas faced regularly by criminal defenders. This course will explore similar actual cases with no easy answers.

America’s national identity has long been shaped by religious stories of divine destiny, chosenness, and sacred purpose. From the Puritan “City on a Hill” address to presidential inauguration speeches, this course reads the evolution of American religious nationalism as an open-ended literary tradition, drawing on genres like the epic, romance, tragedy, jeremiad, and apocalyptic fantasy. 

Standing in contrast to these dominant narratives of the nation are the counter-traditions crafted by abolitionists, Indigenous leaders, Black nationalists, Catholic immigrants, and religious fringe movements. Through foundational texts, sermons, speeches, and popular culture, we will investigate how the idea of America is imagined and contested over time. How do religious and political communities construct stories of belonging, exclusion, and destiny? And how do these stories reflect their geographic, cultural, and historical contexts?

Weekly topics may include the Puritan jeremiad, Manifest Destiny as epic, the Civil War as messianic crisis, Black nationalist prophecy, Indigenous spiritual resistance, Catholic and Mormon exceptionalism, and more contemporary visions of apocalypse and conspiracy. No prior background in religious studies or literary theory is required—just an interest in how stories shape the world we live in.

How are countries born? How do countries die? Are there winners in 21st century wars? Who determines the borders of a country? Ukraine's new borders, the annexation of territories, and the rare earth agreement between USA and Ukraine - are these wonderful opportunities, terrible scars on the body of Europe, or simply factors in the new reality in which we live? At the time of writing this lecture proposal, it is still unknown how the war between Russia and Ukraine will end. The lecture will be formed in the course of rapidly changing news. In the next two hours, we will try to assess / answer these questions together.

How are countries born? How do countries die? Are there winners in 21st century wars? Who determines the borders of a country? Ukraine's new borders, the annexation of territories, and the rare earth agreement between USA and Ukraine - are these wonderful opportunities, terrible scars on the body of Europe, or simply factors in the new reality in which we live? At the time of writing this lecture proposal, it is still unknown how the war between Russia and Ukraine will end. The lecture will be formed in the course of rapidly changing news. In the next two hours, we will try to assess / answer these questions together.

This course will focus on the background and details of several historic events that currently are symbolized at historical sites and public monuments. We’ll study ten Revolutionary Boston sites where it all began. We’ll then take a look at five events during this war as well as the Charters of Freedom including the highlights of the Constitutional Convention. We’ll conclude with ten Civil War sites. You will learn not only about the famous sites, but also about a few lesser known but significant ones. Be prepared to learn multiple perspectives, fascinating details, and stories behind each location or monument.

If you think today is filled with divisiveness between red and blue then you should have lived in America the latter part of the 19th Century. The end of the Civil War with 700,000 American dead began this era of angst. The post-war era coupled with the acrimony between a growing divide between the haves and have-nots led to labor unrest and a complete revisioning of democracy in this country. The parallels are amazing! Taught by Terry McAteer