Courses for Winter-Spring 2010
Please select "Register For Courses" on the left to register.
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The class will continue under the format established during the last two TLC terms. Discussion will focus on a variety of domestic and foreign policy issues. No doubt this will include an update on healthcare legislation, the economy, and the continuing American military commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan. As always, there will be time to look at new issues of national concern as they develop. Registrants can count on suggested readings from print and Internet sources. No class on February 15. Instructor: James Boorsch See this instructors bio | ||||
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We examine the role and personality of our nation’s chief executive as shown in films made in the last eighty years. Registrants will see and discuss movies about the presidency that range from the serious to the humorous and the satirical. What do these films tell us about both the institution itself and the character of those who have held this office? Look forward to seeing among others, such cinema favorites as Fail Safe, Dr Strangelove, Seven Days in May, and State of the Union. Bill Suter will assist Larry Rand in presenting the course. Instructor: Laurance Rand See this instructors bio | ||||
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We will do a complete reading of this classic with sampling of scholarly opinions and plenty of time for classroom discussion. This play will be one of the main stage productions this summer by Shakespeare & Company in nearby Lenox. Registrants should bring to the first class an annotated edition of the play which is available in paperback from Bantam, Pelican, or Penguin. Instructor: William DeVoti See this instructors bio | ||||
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This course will use 20/20 hindsight to examine some significant mistakes by statesmen, generals, military planners, engineers, and even the American electorate. We will discuss such major mistakes as: King George III and his ministers forcing the North American Colonies into rebellion; General Longstreet's second assault at Gettysburg; the Gallipoli Campaign in WW I; President Harding and the Teapot Dome; the Three Mile Island accident; the structural failure of the Kansas City Hyatt Regency; and the five Arab nations' attack on Israel in the Six Day War. Instructor: Thomas Key | ||||
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We begin with the painting and sculpture of the new Republic (Benjamin West, Gilbert Stuart) then look at genre painting of everyday life and the dawning celebration of our dramatic landscape by the Hudson River School (Cole, Church, Kensett). We will move west with the scientific explorations and the development of our western culture (Bierstadt, Bingham, Remington). Artists such as Brady and Homer reflect the upheaval of the Civil War era. The following years of prosperity are expressed in the work of Eakins and Homer. Impressionism and the American renaissance are in full swing (Sargent, Cassatt, Hassam), during the latter part of the century. Instructor: Deborah Tait | ||||
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We will look at the economy of the thirteen original colonies during the revolutionary war years and see how Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations had a powerful effect on our young country. Later the opposing viewpoints of Jefferson and Hamilton are crucial in building a viable economic system. In the years 1800 to 1900 the United States economy grew to become the strongest in the world. After World War II, we accepted the challenge of rebuilding the shattered economies in Europe and Asia. Now we are faced with globalization and free trade. How we deal with these problems will determine much of our future role in the world. Instructor: Jerry Simonson | ||||
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Join us in a relaxed atmosphere as we read through several wonderful plays. This spring we will be reading Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”, along with plays by Noel Coward, Eugene O’Neill, and others. Instructor: Marcia Friedman See this instructors bio | ||||
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This course will advance the theory that poetry, though composed in the context of “mother, home, and native place”, is designed to express, in whole or in part, the profound essence of the human condition. Contrary to Auden, this course will assert and perhaps demonstrate that significant poetry will touch the common core of the human and transcend its origins in its cultural and national components, its ethnic and gender affiliations, as well as the personal identity of the poet. In a word, Wallace Stevens is better than Robert Service. Scholarly research provided by Dinie Simonson. Instructor: John O'Malley See this instructors bio | ||||
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Your host again welcomes you to the rare, the exotic, and the excellent in this semester’s opera program. Two “Opera Gala” sessions will feature a large number of favorite artists. Four programs will be devoted to less –known but no less interesting operas. The last 2 programs will be outstanding reissues from the Met including Verdi’s “Othello” with Jon Vickers and Renata Scotto. Instructor: Robert Julien See this instructors bio | ||||
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The course will deal with eight U.S. foreign policy problems such as U.S.-China security relations, global crime, Russia and its neighbors, and the Persian Gulf. Registrants may purchase (approximately $20) the required syllabus at the first session of the class or by contacting the instructor (860.824.2683) after January 15. A summary of the class’ conclusions will be sent to the Secretary of State for her information and edification. Instructor: John Leich See this instructors bio | ||||
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The term “perennial philosophy” refers to the common philosophy that underlies all major religions, and rests on a common experience to which the great teachers of the various traditions refer. A Sufi proponent defines it thus “There is one religion, the unswerving progress in the right direction towards the ideal, which fulfills the life purpose of every soul”. This course will consider a few of the central concepts of the perennial philosophy: the nature of God, the nature of man, good and evil; and salvation. The primary text will be Aldous Huxley’s The Perennial Philosophy (available at amazon.com). Stories and texts from many traditions will be included. There will be NO class on February 11. Instructor: Lyn Mattoon See this instructors bio |
