Since the beginning of recorded history, humans have pondered what we are made of. The answer lies in the study of chemistry, but many people shy away from chemistry because it can be difficult to see the connections to their everyday lives. Like other field guides, this Field Guide to Chemistry will focus on five “habitats” that are familiar to our daily lives: our natural world (earth, air, fire, and water), the human body, our homes, automobiles, and our technological devices. We will examine in non-technical ways the key chemical substances and concepts that contribute to each habitat. No chemistry knowledge necessary!

Books are elegant and ubiquitous pieces of technology that have been refined over hundreds of years. They function as compact representatives of ourselves and transmit whatever we fill them with, be it art, literature, science, law, etc. This course will provide an overview of the evolution of the book as object, its role as a means of communication, the societies that developed the predecessors to our modern book, how books have knit various communities together, the many instances of wholesale destruction of books, the differences between physical and digital reading, and the modern proliferation of book arts.

Our six class sessions will emphasize understanding drawing materials, thoughtful approaches to drawing, mindfulness, and a variety of methods in the practice of drawing. Advanced artists and students with beginning interest will gain more of an understanding of the importance of their own personal vision and the ability to suspend judgement while also being critical in the context of creativity. A historical overview of significant artists’ work is presented at the beginning of each class. Students will have the opportunity to discuss their work and develop a drawing-related vocabulary of terms used in critique and conversation. Personal critiques/discussions of work as well as group discussions are planned.

The course will examine the extraordinary explosion of knowledge about the universe acquired in a single century. We will consider how we know when space and time began and at what rate space has grown since. What shapes space to produce gravity? What are the universe’s primary constituents? What heat from an extremely hot beginning remains? Who made these discoveries and how? What technologies have fostered the discoveries that are among humans’ greatest achievements? Join a 13.8 billion-year journey that may have no end.

2020’s two seminal historical events – the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II and the 30th anniversary of the German unification – present us with the perfect opportunity to explore the striking transformation of Germany from a brutal belligerent dictatorship to a flourishing and pacifist democracy. Join German Historian and Ex-Berliner, Anette Isaacs, for a fascinating discussion of how key events like the Potsdam Conference, the Berlin Airlift, and the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall played a crucial role in this remarkable process.

Playing for over four weeks at the Roxy, Greta Gerwig's Little Women is the seventh feature-length film version of this novel. What continues to draw people to Louisa May Alcott's famous 19th-century text? In this course, we will explore similarities and differences among film interpretations and the novel itself. We will also discuss the social and literary context that helped shape this work and consider some of her other works, such as her sensational stories; selections from her 1868 work Hospital Sketches, which focuses on her experiences as a Civil War nurse; and her 1873 satirical story Transcendental Wild Oats. Considering these works will further reveal her versatility as a writer, while also opening up additional ways of interpreting her ever-famous novel.

This class, the fourth in the series, will explore some of the most important courtroom trials in American history. These cases – and the people involved (judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and defendants) – have shaped American jurisprudence and offer fascinating glimpses into an ever-evolving American society. The study of these cases will provide an in-depth look at judicial milestones in our country’s history. Case studies will include: the Court-Martial of George Armstrong Custer; the Plenty Horses trial in the wake of Wounded Knee; the Black Sox trial for throwing the 1919 World Series; the Sam Sheppard homicide trial; and the trial of Patty Hearst (a two-part unit).

Humanitarian aid is rapidly changing. What was once charity work is now multi-billion dollar international operations. The humanitarian community is rethinking and reworking how it delivers assistance to ensure effectiveness and longer-term impact. From reducing the risk of natural disaster in southern Africa in cooperation with member states and regional organizations to coordination and delivery of large-scale international assistance in conflict areas like Syria, humanitarians are responding to the needs of tens of millions of people, a number growing every year. This discussion-rich course provides insight on the delivery of principled humanitarian assistance and examines the inevitable conundrums that emerge in helping people affected by conflict and disaster.

Since the earliest films, Hollywood has helped shape the public's image of the journalist. Of course, many movies stretch the truth, but they also uncover aspects of newsroom culture that news consumers seldom encounter in real life. Despite the exaggerations in most of these films, they have fanned a kind of fascination with the scoundrels and heroes who populate cinematic newsrooms. This course will examine some of the classic scenes of movie journalists plying their trade, and we will compare those depictions with the real world of reporting, editing and podcasting the news. All films discussed in this class are available online through a variety of streaming services. Students are encouraged to watch as many of the key films as possible outside of class, as this will improve their understanding of the material. During the Zoom presentation of the class, the instructor will include viewings of key clips from central films, and will describe other films in some detail. 

The Internet is a dangerous place. Security threats include manytypes of scams, phishing e-mails, identity theft, wifi snooping. Your privacy may be compromised by your phone location data being sold without your knowledge, by social media collecting and inferring knowledge of your personal behavior and characteristics, by corporate and police use of face recognition technology, and by Internet of Things devices like smart speakers revealing intimate data about your life. This course covers why your security and privacy are important, how to stay safe online, and how to maintain
your privacy online.

The course will inform and inspire you to write in any format, with an emphasis on your own life perspectives. We will use the metaphor of “The Great Pause” to explore options for your writing – prose, memoir, poetry, essay or letters. This particular course will focus more on inspiring your own content than on technical writing skills, although references will guide you as you desire to hone your writing. The course begins with foundational writing skills and practices, then moves through many sample formats. Some opportunity to read and discuss in small groups will be provided in break-out sessions. All sharing is optional and confidential. Participants will be encouraged to prize their voices at this time in their personal and our collective history.
 

He was a Nobel Laureate, a bongo drum player with style, a free spirit curious about many things, and an exceptional teacher. His talent was on display in two public lecture series recorded for posterity: his 1964 Messenger Lectures at Cornell on “The Character of Physical Law” (described by Bill Gates as “the best science lectures he ever saw”), and his 1979 Robb lectures at the University of Auckland, in which he explains to a general audience his Nobel-winning work on Quantum Electrodynamics. We will sample these lectures online for homework and discuss them in class, to gain insight into Feynman’s style of thinking. We will also enjoy some of the many anecdotes that contribute to his legacy.

Romeo and Juliet, a tragedy, uses all the conventions of romantic comedy. Midsummer Night's Dream, a comedy probably written the same year, concludes with buffoons giving a riotously-funny performance of a tragedy that looks like a parody of Romeo and Juliet. Why would the "funny" Shakespeare parody the "tragic" Shakespeare? Why did Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night's Dream, which bewilderingly scramble the heart-breaking with the hilarious, become two of Shakespeare's best-loved and most often-filmed plays? And what can they teach us about the overlap of the tragic and the comic in our lives? Lecture, and discussion via Zoom breakout rooms.

In 1968, the Kerner Commission, created by President Lyndon B. Johnson to examine unrest and uprisings across the U.S., issued an indictment of journalism. News coverage, the commission reported, was sensationalized and grossly inaccurate. One major conclusion: “Important segments of the media failed to report adequately on the causes and consequences of civil disorders and on the underlying problems of race relations.” More than 50 years later, individual journalists, journalism organizations and members of the public level the same accusations. Summer 2020 saw editors and reporters resigning or getting fired, organizations issuing apologies, style guides changing. While there are encouraging signs of progress, race is still a flashpoint for the U.S. media. This course will explore race and diversity, and why they matter for journalists and for all of us. 

Waltzing with Bears will explore the fate of grizzly bears in the Rocky Mountain West. This lecture and discussion class will consider how we experience grizzlies in both physical and intellectual ways as legally defined animals to be managed and as creatures of imagination and myth.