Fine Arts, Film & Literature   

Prepare to have fun with writing. Practice observing, using your imagination, and expanding your use of language. Explore several different types of poetry and prose styles including memoir, fiction, and creative non-fiction. Practice using the senses in your writing, and discover different methods to increase creativity. LIMIT 15

Even those familiar with just the usual anthology poems by Emily Dickinson recognize the unique quality of her writing. In this class we will explore a wide selection of her more than seventeen hundred poems, poems often difficult, oblique, enigmatic, brilliant, and startling. Prepare to be puzzled at times as well as awed. Members of the class will choose some of the poems we explore. We will use a simple kind of “close reading” method that will allow us to build understanding and appreciate the verbal textures and intricacies that demonstrate Dickinson’s stature as the greatest American poet.

This class will read and discuss works of fiction and poetry from western civilization. Writers include John Donne, Nikolai Gogol, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Edgar Allan Poe, Herman Melville, and Christina Rossetti and from the Bible. No special background is required beyond an interest in reading and discussing. LIMIT 16

Participants will view four full-length operas with the theme of tragic love stories. All four are among the most popular in the entire operatic repertoire and will be shown with English subtitles. Those shown will be Verdi’s La Traviata, Bizet’s Carmen, and Puccini’s La Boheme and Madama Butterfly. Some background information will be included, and classroom discussion will be encouraged.

This is a class for beginners, those at the intermediate level, and anyone who just wants to get together to paint. The weekly sessions consist of a demonstration, a time for questions, and personal paint projects touching on the principles of art, with guest artists sharing their work. Basic watercolor supplies are required. LIMIT 18