Literature   

Small town life, blue sea summers, and harsh dark winters characterize the Maine landscape that we cherish. We will see our state through the eyes and imaginations of iconic Maine authors as we read four novels in eight weeks. The class is highly participatory with the discussion facilitated by four teams of two presenters. Come prepared to immerse yourself. Please read the first half of How to Read a Book for the first class. New remote course. Format includes discussion.

REQUIRED MATERIALS:

How to Read a Book, Monica Wood,
ISBN 9780063243675;

Billy Summers, Stephen King,
ISBN 9781982173623;

This Other Eden, Paul Harding,
ISBN 9781324074526;

Tell Me Everything, Elizabeth Strout,
ISBN 9780593446096

The discussion facilitators will be Susan Carter, Matt Ellenberger, David Hartley, Paula Johnson, Anna Messmer, Mark Sundermann, and Karen Winslow. Using a collaborative model, we will take a deep dive into contemporary fiction.

Boston has always been a fertile ground for crime fiction. Think Whitey Bulger, sure, but what can you say about a city that reelects its mayor from Federal prison? A city with a history of petty and major crime, corrupt politicians, cheating law enforcement types, and a long list of bad actors with respect to race? In this course, we will read and discuss eight crime novels set in and around Boston, including such classic authors as George V. Higgins and Dennis Lehane. New in-person course. Format includes lecture and discussion.

The aim of this repeat course is to enjoy Huck’s odyssey on the Mississippi River for the story itself. We look beneath the surface, focus on the vernacular (all dialects) and the literary devices, such as irony, humor, and satire, to criticize the staid, hypocritical mores and religious views of 19th century America. Who was Mark Twain and how did he differ from Samuel Clemens? Was Huck’s refusal to turn in Jim as a runaway slave the greatest act of moral courage in American literature? Who is truly noble? What has been Twain’s effect upon American and world literature? Repeat in-person course. Format includes lecture and discussion.
REQUIRED MATERIAL: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain, ISBN 9780486280615

Four great mystery writers — three British and one American — examine crimes committed in the aftermath of the two World Wars, revealing the lingering presence of war long after the fighting has stopped. We will read Dorothy Sayers’s The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (1928), Margery Allingham’s The Tiger in the Smoke (1952), Peter Dickinson’s The Glass-Sided Ants’ Nest (1968), and Donna Leon’s Willful Behavior (2002). New in-person course. Format includes discussion.

REQUIRED MATERIALS:

The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club,
Dorothy Sayers, 9780062311917;

The Tiger in the Smoke, Margery Allingham, ISBN1911295217;

The Glass-Sided Ants’ Nest, Peter Dickinson, ISBN0140058648;

Willful Behavior,
Donna Leon, ISBN 9780802128515

This course is for everyone who wants to read, discuss, and write poetry, whether you’ve written before, or not. Each class will be divided among workshopping participant poems, discussing the topic of the week from The Poetry Home Repair Manual, and examples of poetry. Writing prompts will be offered for in-class writing and optional sharing. We believe that writers learn best with both praise and friendly honesty in a nurturing setting of fellow learners. Requirements: An open mind, a sense of fun and discovery, and a readiness to read and write during and in-between the classes.  Format includes discussion and hands-on.
REQUIRED BOOK: The Poetry Home Repair Manual, Ted Kooser, ISBN 0803259786

By challenging Europe’s dehumanizing aristocratic values, Shakespeare’s “tragicomedies” pose conceptions of humanity that seek the common good, dignify productive labor, and evoke emotions of awe and discovery. These plays converge, in surprising detail, with republican currents among Puritan activists (who also embraced the revolutionary new sciences), and similar impulses embedded in England’s American colonial projects, where Captain John Smith led in the sharpening cultural clash. With equal parts history and drama, Europe and America, we explore Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Smith’s popular writings, and contemporary Puritan texts, revealing their common, America-focused hopes for a truly “New World.” REPEAT hybrid course. Format includes lecture, discussion, and film.
REQUIRED MATERIALS: The Tempest, William Shakespeare, any edition.

By challenging Europe’s dehumanizing aristocratic values, Shakespeare’s “tragicomedies” pose conceptions of humanity that seek the common good, dignify productive labor, and evoke emotions of awe and discovery. These plays converge, in surprising detail, with republican currents among Puritan activists (who also embraced the revolutionary new sciences), and similar impulses embedded in England’s American colonial projects, where Captain John Smith led in the sharpening cultural clash. With equal parts history and drama, Europe and America, we explore Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Smith’s popular writings, and contemporary Puritan texts, revealing their common, America-focused hopes for a truly “New World.” REPEAT hybrid course. Format includes lecture, discussion, and film.
REQUIRED MATERIALS: The Tempest, William Shakespeare, any edition.