Courses for Winter 2015
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The sessions will address various politics, strategies and weapons of WW II, starting with "FDR vs. the Noninterventionist 1938-1941". However, the first session will look at the politics, trade offs and strategies involved with creating the U.S. Constitution. Instructor: Thomas Key See this instructor's bio | ||||
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This semester's offering is tailor-made for those who like their music explained. Each program is divided in two parts. In Part I, Michael Tilson Thomas and members of the San Francisco Symphony explore the biographical, historical and musical elements which make each work they are considering significant and revolutionary. In Part II, a live full-length, high-definition concert is performed by MTT and his orchestra. Some works to be presented: Beethoven’s 3rd Symphony “Eroica”; Tchaikovsky’s 4th Symphony; Berlioz’ Symphonie Fantastique; Mahler's 1st Symphony and others. Instructor: See this instructor's bio | ||||
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No more!! This semester, we will finally get to the best of this great operatic tradition. Among the offerings: Berlioz's Les Troyens; Gounod's Faust; Ambroise Thomas' Hamlet; Bizet's Carmen; Massenet's Manon, and more surprises to be announced. Instructor: See this instructor's bio | ||||
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This past term we read about the small town Texans in Horton Foote’s plays. In the winter term we will continue our readings with another American playwright. We will meet the WASPy New Englanders of A.R. Gurney. Participants should obtain the "Collected Plays Volume Two of A. R. Gurney." Good sources for this book are Amazon.com and bookfinder.com. Used books may take at least three to four weeks to arrive so early ordering is suggested. Volume Two covers plays from 1974-1983. Instructor: Rosemary Farnsworth See this instructor's bio | ||||
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Topics chosen by the Foreign Policy Association include: Russia and the Near Abroad; Privacy in the Digital Age; Sectarianism in the Middle East; India Changes Course; U.S. Policy Toward Africa; Syria’s Refugee Crisis; Human Trafficking in the 21st Century; and Brazil’s Metamorphosis. This year our class will again include students and faculty from the Social Studies Department at Housatonic Valley Regional High School. All registrants should order the 2015 briefing book ($25) as soon as possible. Books will be shipped the third week of December and may be ordered by phone (1-800.477.5836) or online at fpa.org (click on Great Decisions and select pre-order).nnRichard Collins and Tracy Atwood, with HVRHS Social Studies Department, John Lizzi and Peter Vermilyea Instructor: Collins_&_ Atwood See this instructor's bio | ||||
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Do not worry if you last took biology in 10th grade. This series of lectures, discussions, readings and demonstrations will take the mystery out of modern biology. We will begin with the nineteenth century where most of the origins of modern biology can be found. We’ll describe the discovery of microbes by Pasteur and applications by Lister, and Koch. We will learn how Miescher discovered DNA. There were dramatic moments of discovery and we will not neglect personalities, conflicts, and lost opportunities. We will examine the biology and genetics of cells, learn how DNA translates its code into proteins, and proteins work to create and maintain the cell cells that are the basis of life. We’ll learn about bacteria and viruses, how we defend against them, and why sometimes, they win. We’ll talk about vaccines and the immune system. There will be time for discussion and if there are special topics that people would like to discuss – GMO crops, Ebola and flu viruses, neurodegenerative diseases, resistance to antibiotics, or whether we should have our genomes sequenced – we can include those topics. nnMost of the reading is easily available on-line and will include films – "The Story of Louis Pasteur" with Paul Muni, "Arrowsmith" with Ronald Colman and Helen Hayes and a novel "An Imperfect Lens" by Anne Roiphe, about a cholera epidemic in Egypt. The instructor’s recent novel "The Famine of Men," about a hypothetical virus and how it was discovered, is available online. Other texts will be provided electronically at no cost.n Instructor: Richard Kessin See this instructor's bio | ||||
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NOTE: Class will be at Noble Horizons beginning with Jan 22 class. nThe first two sessions will consider Henry V, including a full viewing of Laurence Olivier's film. Main activities during the remainder of the course will be classroom readings and discussions of The Merchant of Venice, enriched by historical background, samplings of scholarly opinions, and filmed versions. Both plays will be performed next summer by Shakespeare and Company in nearby Lenox, Massachusetts. As in the past, class members will have the opportunity to see them performed and to talk with some of the actors. Participants should bring to the first class one of the many ANNOTATED editions of the plays, which are available in paperback at the Oblong Bookstore in Millerton. It would be to the scholars' advantage to be familiar with Henry V by the first session. Instructor: William DeVoti See this instructor's bio | ||||
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It is often said that the role of the Prophet is to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable. Keeping in mind that provocative statement, we will focus on the magnificent language of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel (with special emphasis on ISAIAH). We will explore the ways that cultural conditions and historical events shaped the writing of these documents and their subsequent influence on the New Testament. Instructor: Richard Taber See this instructor's bio | ||||
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The belief in the system of life before birth, life, death, rebirth in the next body of expression is a very old one. In the 6th century B.C. Pythagoras and Pherecydes wrote of it. Plato, in 428 B.C., wrote in Book Ten of The Republic, "The living are born from the dead" and gave us a story about a prominent figure's life and his next earthly incarnation. Emerson, Thoreau and John Masefield (poet laureate of Great Britain) wrote of it. n This course will take up the questions of its possibility and if true, so what? Over one half of today's world population sees the process of reincarnation as the answer to how we get from here to a "garden of Eden" experience. Resources: Dr. Ian Stevenson, former head of Psychiatry, University of Virginia; Kahil Gibran, The Prophet; Leslie Weatherhead, The Case for Reincarnation; Selected subjects from Ralph Waldo Emerson, David Thoreau, Henry Ford, Buddhist teachings, and several other sources.n Instructor: See this instructor's bio |
