Beowulf, considered one of the most important works of Old English literature, is an epic poem where the hero travels great distances to prove his strength at impossible odds against supernatural demons and beasts. There are feasts, challenges, deeds of valor and a retelling of the history of the characters and their lineages.
Due to demand, this is an additional section of this course.
The Black Plague of the 14th century killed at least one-third of all the people in Europe within four years. Many thought that it was the end of the world. Yet, what immediately followed was the Renaissance, the foundation of our modern world. How could that period of art and culture
Mythology is our earliest form of literary expression and the foundation of all history and morality. This course will explore the mythologies of the world, contrasting their differences and also their commonalities. The text by Willis and Walker divides the mythologies of the world into regions and zones, providing background for discussion.
Upon reading the Versailles Treaty, French General Foch remarked it was merely a twenty-year armistice. From 1919 to 1939, Europe’s nations struggled to keep the peace, rebuild, and cope with economic depression – all while fascism and communism inflamed passions.
Critical challenges are severely impacting our local communities including issues caused by COVID-19, problems in police-community race relations, domestic terrorism, aging infrastructure, climate change, economic and neighborhood deterioration, and issues of achievement and equity in our public schools.
Since 1803, the United States Supreme Court has heard thousands of cases. This eight-week course will spotlight one landmark case each week from one of the following topics: racial discrimination, civil rights, voting rights, gender equality, gun ownership, criminal procedure, freedom of speech and religious rights.
In 1601, Michelangelo Merisi, known famously as Caravaggio, was at the height of his fame throughout Italy. Coming 50 years after the Renaissance, Caravaggio changed the course and vision of painting for all time. Each of his paintings created a scandal or was immediately hailed as a masterpiece, often both simultaneously.
In conjunction with the CMA exhibition Stories from Storage, which shows rarely seen collection works to tell new and untold stories about art objects and museums, this six-session course will expose and critically explore many of the foundational principles that have shaped understandings of art and art museum practice.
Conversational Hebrew allows students to reach their goal of communicating in Israel's native language as well as enjoy Hebrew Literature, songs, drama and film, read Israeli newspapers and view Israeli television.
Conversational Hebrew allows students to reach their goal of communicating in Israel's native language as well as enjoy Hebrew Literature, songs, drama and film, read Israeli newspapers and view Israeli television.
Hebrew literature engages advanced students in fictional novels and plays by leading Israeli authors and playwrights.
Conversational Hebrew allows students to reach their goal of communicating in Israel's native language as well as enjoy Hebrew Literature, songs, drama and film, read Israeli newspapers and view Israeli television.
Our built infrastructure is essential for our health and safety and our ability to work, travel, and recreate. The course will examine five historical examples of built infrastructure to illustrate the human endeavor involved and the immeasurable benefits of appropriate social investment and stewardship.
Before he set sail for America in the late 1930s, Alfred Hitchcock helped invent the British film industry. We will discover how the master of suspense got his start in the movies as we share our thoughts on four of his early masterpieces: Blackmail (1929), The 39 Steps (1935), Young and Innocent (1937), and The Lady Vanishes (1938).
Many of the most charismatic animals alive today are mammals. They range from familiar species we regularly see in our backyard, such as squirrels, mice, raccoons, and deer, to strange and exotic species that you may never have heard of such as pacaranas, colugos, sengis, and
As a white woman writing against racial segregation and race-based violence from her home in the north Georgia mountains in the 1940s, Lillian Smith (1897-1966) was far ahead of her time.
The core repertoire of Verdi and Wagner owes much to the works of their great predecessors. Wagner sought Meyerbeer's influence, emulated him, and later reviled him in his essay, Judaism in Music. His admiration for Halevy's 1835 opera La Juive (The Jewess) however, was lifelong.
Conversational Hebrew allows students to reach their goal of communicating in Israel's native language as well as enjoy Hebrew Literature, songs, drama and film, read Israeli newspapers and view Israeli television.
New Course: Classical Hebrew exposes students to the sights and sounds of the original Biblical Hebrew as it appears in both the Torah and the Hebrew prayers. Students will have multiple opportunities to explore ancient Hebrew texts and their meanings in-depth.
In this course, we will delve into the character, political philosophy, and historical significance of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.
Conversational Hebrew allows students to reach their goal of communicating in Israel's native language as well as enjoy Hebrew Literature, songs, drama and film, read Israeli newspapers and view Israeli television.
Introduction to Classical Hebrew starts with the foundation of mastering the Hebrew alphabet and learning to read in Hebrew. This class exposes students to the sights and sounds of the original Biblical Hebrew as it appears in both the Torah and the Hebrew prayers.
How did the Cold War era change the eerie inner landscape of the intelligence agent in our fiction? Has the spy become just one more variation on the antihero? How does he or she navigate times of greater moral ambiguity and cynicism?
Although often seen simply as a form of traditional Japanese dress, one essentially unchanged for centuries, the kimono might better be viewed as an evolving fashion statement exerting influence on haute-couture across the world for centuries.
Conversational Hebrew allows students to reach their goal of communicating in Israel's native language as well as enjoy Hebrew Literature, songs, drama and film, read Israeli newspapers and view Israeli television.
Conversational Hebrew allows students to reach their goal of communicating in Israel's native language as well as enjoy Hebrew Literature, songs, drama and film, read Israeli newspapers and view Israeli television.
Conversational Hebrew allows students to reach their goal of communicating in Israel's native language as well as enjoy Hebrew Literature, songs, drama and film, read Israeli newspapers and view Israeli television.
Modeled on a course taught by James Alan McPherson at the Iowa Writers Workshop, this class will look at works of modern literature through one specific lens: love. In his Nobel Prize Banquet Speech, William Faulkner claimed that the only thing worth writing about is the human heart in conflict with itself.
Join Cathy Lesser Mansfield, of the Consortium for the Research and Study of Holocaust and the Law (CRSHL), to discuss films that relate to law and the Holocaust including Judgment at Nuremberg, Denial and The Woman in Gold. If you have not seen these films, please watch them prior to class.
Due to demand, Siegal is offering this additional section of this course.
This four-week series will focus on the dissent opinions authored by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg during the quarter-century she sat on the U.S. Supreme Court. We will review the facts of the case and prior Supreme Court cases with some connected legal precedent.
Join Assaf Boker as he guides you through the history, archeology, religions, and sites of Jerusalem. Beginning with life in Jerusalem during the time of the Temple, visit the Southern Wall archaeological excavations where you will gain a better understanding of Jewish life 2000 years ago. Then travel to Mt.
In honor of the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, this course is a timely tribute to the contribution women artists have made to great music.
The ancient Athenians repulsed the Achaemenid Persian Empire in 490 and again in 480 BCE, at the famous battles of Marathon, Salamis, and Plataea. The Persian Wars had tremendous impacts on all aspects of Athenian society, including architecture and art.
Join Steven Windmueller for a look at American Jewish behavior in reaction to our country in crisis.
Abraham Lincoln’s tenure as U.S. president coincided almost exactly with the duration of the Civil War (1861-1865). During the course of his presidency, Lincoln’s articulation of the Northern cause evolved. His tone and his emphasis changed with changing circumstances.
A full understanding of American culture requires looking at the role doctrinal and personal religious belief has played in our politics from the time of the Pilgrims through the events of June, 2020. This course will trace some of the major elements of religion and politics in American culture.
In 1921, Edith Wharton was the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in Literature. Her nearly forty-year writing career spanned not only decades but also written genres, as she wrote everything from interior design manuals to first-hand accounts from the front in World War I.
When the character of the confident American, who believes himself at home everywhere, travels to the Old World, what he or she experiences reaches beyond the easy pleasures of museum and cafe. Over six weeks, we will explore the depiction of the American abroad in novels by Mark Twain, Henry James, F.
“I practice a faith that's been long abandoned/Ain't no altars on this long and lonesome road” (Bob Dylan, "Ain't Talkin'”, 2006)
One way that humans understand themselves is to consider themselves in contrast to some counter entity -- an “other” -- against which the self can be understood. This “other,” though perhaps based on knowledge of a real person or people, is always shaped by the self’s projected fears and desires.
In light of recent national and international developments, anti-fascism is indeed a timely theme. To gain insight we will explore three brilliant, if chilling, works. Although the focus will be on the literature, some time will be devoted to identifying possible analogies and dis-analogies to today’s world.