Showing up to write isn’t half the battle – it is the battle. This class will help you develop writing habits that will boost your confidence, help you find your "voice," and keep your writing process in motion.
In this season of repentance, join Noah Bickart to explore how Rabbinic literature deals with the process, procedure and principles of repentance. We will see that the sages of the Talmud and its commentaries grappled with surprisingly contemporary questions like: How does one ask one’s fellow human being for forgiveness?
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.
Warlight, Michael Ondaatje’s first novel in seven years, opens as the apparent dark story of two teenagers left on their own in post-World War II London. The plot morphs with the discovery of the secret life of the teens’ mother as a wartime spy.
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.
The treaties signed at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 changed everything about Europe and ushered in a twenty-year interlude of promise and tumult. Victors and defeated alike suffered loss, of complacency, of confidence, of certainty.Innovation abounded, in technology, in borders, in gender relations, in class relations, and in cultural expr
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.
Showing up to write isn’t half the battle – it is the battle. This class will help you develop writing habits that will boost your confidence, help you find your "voice," and keep your writing process in motion.
The American Local Community: Its Role and Its Challenges
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.
Storytelling has been an integral part of Jewish life, from the tales that make up the Hebrew Bible to those about contemporary Jewish experiences. This class will examine how Jews have used the story to organize and understand the world and their place within it.
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.
American Giving: The History of Philanthropy in the United States
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.
In this course, we will explore painting with watercolor on location at Case Western Reserve University’s Squire Valleevue and Valley Ridge Farms. This is an ideal venue for painting outdoors using direct observation of the natural light, shadows and ever-changing atmosphere. The changing season brings new colors of autumn to our palettes.
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.
Over the course of our studies students will be exposed to the sights and sounds of the original Hebrew letters appearing in the Bible. Students will have multiple opportunities to absorb the content using various activities, games and manipulatives.
Euripides, the most ‘modern’ of the ancient Greek playwrights, examines human flaws as well as noble actions, and regularly challenges the assumptions of his audience. In this course, we will read and discuss four of his plays that confront various societal norms: Alcestis, which examines selfishness vs.
In life, Lenny Bernstein was larger than life: conductor, composer, teacher, social activist, celebrity, and family man (albeit troubled by personal demons and doubts). Now that celebrations marking his 100th birthday have ended, what of his legacy remains?
Over the course of our studies students will be exposed to the sights and sounds of the original Hebrew letters appearing in the Bible. Students will have multiple opportunities to absorb the content using various activities, games and manipulatives.
This course offers a guided reading of Homer’s great epic poem, The Iliad. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in analysis and discussion of various aspects of the poem, including style, historical context, and the poem’s significance within the literary canon.
This course draws on Gershom Scholem’s dazzling and groundbreaking work, Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism, to explain the deep influence that mystical thinking had on shaping some of Jewish liturgy’s key prayers. Study with Rabbi Joel Chazin, who served as chaplain and director of religious services at Montefiore.
Wilkie Collins created the very first detective to appear in a novel-length mystery, Sergeant Cuff in The Moonstone (1868). Cuff is called to an English country house to investigate the disappearance of a sacred diamond. Charles Dickens began a rival tale with the Mystery of Edwin Drood (1870).
In Our Defense by Caroline Kennedy and Ellen Alderman is a primer about the Bill of Rights. Each chapter focuses on one of the first ten amendments of the United States Constitution, using an actual case to study the issues surrounding that amendment.
Explore the life and historical setting of the man whose very name is synonymous with creativity, curiosity and inventive genius.
Every civilization deals with the health and welfare of the community. Reproductive rights are just one part of that large issue.
Several hundred men and women in the entertainment industry were blacklisted during the 1940s and 1950s in one of the saddest and most complex episodes of America’s cultural history. How and why did it start? Victor Navasky has interviewed hundreds of participants on both sides of the issue and has captured the painful history of the period.
Delve into the reality and psyche of the brave women who tempted both fate and the ire of King Henry VIII for the title of Queen. Read how history has painted Henry and the Queens; then view them thru 21st century eyes. Did some “fail” in the end because they wanted more than the Tudor life? Were they trying to break out of a mold?
An insightful memoir seen from the author’s inevitable modulation through time. Oates is a sensitive time traveler; for her, memory serves a transcendental function.
Creative nonfiction covers a wide range of possibilities from memoir to sports or travel writing. Come share a slice of your life or passion for a pursuit you care about.
The story of the gene is one of the great mystery narratives of science. In this book, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Siddhartha Mukherjee, weaves together the history of genetics with his family’s history of mental illness.
This field seminar provides a close look at the plants, wildlife, and geology of Squire Valleevue Farm. On field trips into the forest and meadows we will observe and discuss habitats and their inhabitants as they transition to fall and prepare for winter. No strenuous hiking will be involved, but participants should be able to maintain an act
Creative nonfiction covers a wide range of possibilities from memoir to sports or travel writing. Come share a slice of your life or passion for a pursuit you care about.
Two of Britain’s most celebrated writers are E.M. Forster (1879-1970) and Kazuo Ishiguro (born 1954). Both Forster’s Howard’s End and Ishiguro’s Remains of the Day are considered two of twentieth century’s finest British novels.
July,1914: One hundred years of European peace, ancient empires ruled, unbridled progress - and all shattered by war on an industrial scale. World War I changed the world forever.
Explore the life and historical setting of the man whose very name is synonymous with creativity, curiosity and inventive genius.
The poet Steven Leveni claims, The saddest part of being human is not paying attention. Presence is the gift of life. Writing poetry helps focus our attention, and together we learn how to see.
Bring 12-15 copies of a poem you have written to the first class.
Miletus: situated on the Aegean coast of the Ionian world in Asia Minor, the city is credited with being the birthplace of western science and philosophy.
A unique historical perspective centering on a mineral, a rock, a spice. Prevalent today thanks to modern geology, salt was one of the world’s most sought-after commodities. A substance so valuable it served as currency, influenced trade routes and establishment of cities. Provoked and financed wars, secured empires, inspired revolutions.
Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book is a fascinating study of the leadership styles of four U.S. Presidents:Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson. Learn how each overcame personal challenges and rose to lead the nation at times of crisis in unique ways.
In the context of our challenging contemporary political situation, it is refreshing to revisit the Early American Statesmen, who launched our nation almost 259 years ago. Pulitzer Prize winning Joseph Ellis is both insightful in his examination of the leading characters in a turbulent era.
July,1914: One hundred years of European peace, ancient empires ruled, unbridled progress - and all shattered by war on an industrial scale. World War I changed the world forever.
As America has become more polarized, Haidt challenges conventional thinking about morality, politics, and religion in a way that speaks to everyone on the political spectrum.
For as long as human beings have had language, they have had myths. Mythology is our earliest form of literary expression and the foundation of all history and morality.
Book: The World of Myth, David Leeming
Using the Must CMA campaign artworks as our starting point, we’ll get familiar with thought-provoking objects in the collection.
Using the Must CMA campaign artworks as our starting point, we’ll get familiar with thought-provoking objects in the collection.
This workshop will provide a window into important times in your life: how it was to grow up in your home, to survive adolescence, what made you who you are. This journey will help you reflect on your life. Simple exercises and prompts will lead you to write to short vignettes.
For as long as human beings have had language, they have had myths. Mythology is our earliest form of literary expression and the foundation of all history and morality.
Book: The World of Myth, David Leeming
What do we need to learn individually and together to help us design our personal and collective future? This series of five independent but interlinked sessions will address this topic through different lenses.
How does it feel to age? Do the changes to our bodies and psyches come as a shock, as a challenge, or as natural processes? Join the conversation as we explore the issues of growing older as portrayed in the short stories of such writers as Saul Bellow, Joyce Carol Oates, Grace Paley, V.S. Pritchett and many others.
This course will focus on reading and discussing Alain de Botton’s book, The Architecture of Happiness. In his book, de Botton explores new ways of evaluating the built world beyond the simple dichotomies of beautiful or ugly. He asks instead, what values are embodied in design, and how can architecture help us realize our best self.
Jill Lepore has created a readable, one volume history of the United States that relates its past in the light of present concerns. Lepore recounts major events—the Revolution, Civil War, World Wars, Vietnam, September 11, and the war on terror, as well as the roles of slavery and women.
Jill Lepore has created a readable, one-volume history of the United States that relates its past in the light of present concerns. Lepore recounts major events—the Revolution, Civil War, World Wars, Vietnam, September 11, and the war on terror, as well as the roles of slavery and women.
In Hope Edelman’s Motherless Daughters, she writes about mothers who are absent, either literally or figuratively. Both Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse and William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying explore this theme. We will read and discuss these novels, using Edelman’s book as a basis for our conversations.
Genesis: The cosmos are created, and first families are formed. Alanna Cooper, Director, Jewish Studies at CWRU-Siegal | Exodus: Through unlikely miracles, Egypt's slaves claim self-determination. Brian Amkraut, Executive Director, CWRU-Siegal | Leviticus: An exploration of the mysterious rites and rituals of temple life.
Genesis: The cosmos are created, and first families are formed. Alanna Cooper, Director, Jewish Studies at CWRU-Siegal | Exodus: Through unlikely miracles, Egypt's slaves claim self-determination. Brian Amkraut, Executive Director, CWRU-Siegal | Leviticus: An exploration of the mysterious rites and rituals of temple life.
Early research on the Holocaust largely overlooked the role of gender in determining how Jewish women survived or perished. The same omission was true in the study of how ordinary German women experienced and participated in the Holocaust.
While Jewish life in America has been, by most measures, a great success story, the so-called New World nevertheless has offered its share of difficulties. From the earliest days or organized Jewish settlement in the Americas to the challenges of the 21st century, Jews have confronted variations on the theme of an age-old hatred.
Writing in the voice of a persona offers a special creative opportunity to adopt the personality, history, diction and obsessions of someone (or something!) other than yourself.
The Opium Wars (1839-1860) between the Chinese Empire and Great Britain were fought as a result of what amounted to a state sanctioned illicit narcotics trade.
Joshua: The Israelites' heroic new leader ushers them into the Land. Jeremy Bruce, Principal, Stark High School at Fuchs Mizrachi | Judges: Powerful arbiters and warriors guide the people in times of war and peace.
Joshua: The Israelites' heroic new leader ushers them into the Land. Jeremy Bruce, Principal, Stark High School at Fuchs Mizrachi | Judges: Powerful arbiters and warriors guide the people in times of war and peace.
If asked what instruments were played in European “classical” or “art” music, most people would think of the piano, the voice, and instruments used in the orchestra such as the violin, the oboe, or the trombone. Fewer would list the vielle, the shawm, the theorbo, or the sackbut, and yet all of these featured in music of their own times.
Isaiah: Prophesizes exile and redemption for the ten tribes of the northern kingdom. Noah Bickart, Visiting Assistant Professor, John Carroll University. | Jeremiah: Rebukes his people for depravity and idolatry, and issues warnings of their destruction.
Isaiah: Prophesizes exile and redemption for the ten tribes of the northern kingdom. Noah Bickart, Visiting Assistant Professor, John Carroll University. | Jeremiah: Rebukes his people for depravity and idolatry, and issues warnings of their destruction.
Song of Songs: sensuous poetry, which captures the many dimensions of love. Amalia Haas, Rabbinic Candidate, Yeshivat Maharat | Ruth: a story of friendship and loyalty, which humanizes the needs of vulnerable outsiders. Dahna Baskin, Instructor, CWRU-Siegal | Lamentations: a mournful elegy of human fragility and loss.
Song of Songs: sensuous poetry, which captures the many dimensions of love. Amalia Haas, Rabbinic Candidate, Yeshivat Maharat | Ruth: a story of friendship and loyalty, which humanizes the needs of vulnerable outsiders. Dahna Baskin, Instructor, CWRU-Siegal | Lamentations: a mournful elegy of human fragility and loss.
Psalms: among the Bible's most well-known verses, these 150 poems put words to feelings of thanksgiving, joy, and lament. Eddie Sukol, Rabbi, The Shul | Proverbs: wit and wisdom in the form of one-line advice to the young and old.
Psalms: among the Bible's most well-known verses, these 150 poems put words to feelings of thanksgiving, joy, and lament. Eddie Sukol, Rabbi, The Shul | Proverbs: wit and wisdom in the form of one-line advice to the young and old.