Current and Upcoming Terms

Spring 2025-Registration is Open!

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Behind the Berlin Wall
Presented by Molly Knight
Tuesdays, 2 – 4pm
January 21 – February 25
*Updated course to mark the 35^th anniversary of its fall.

To mark the 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, this course will examine the history and culture of East Germany from 1945 until its official reunification with the West in 1990. We will discuss East German politics, entertainment, and everyday life, from the surveillance methods of the secret police to the peaceful revolution that brought down the Wall. We will also discuss the ways in which East Germany has influenced contemporary German culture. How is this country which no longer exists remembered in the present day — and how do its former residents make sense of their identity in a reunified Germany?

“LLL Passport” Eligible. More information to come.

Molly Knight received her BA in English from Clemson University and her Ph.D. in German Studies from Duke University. She has published articles on the work of Swiss author Christian Kracht, and masculinity and violence in contemporary German film. Her specialties include gender studies, contemporary literature, film, and East German history and culture. Professor Knight previously taught Fairy Tales from the Grimms to Disney and Beyond in 2021 and Behind the Berlin Wall in 2019 for the Lifelong Learning Program.

 

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Negotiating “Paradise”: Bali Beyond the Tourist Image
Presented by Elizabeth Clendenning
Wednesdays, 1:30 – 3:30pm
January 22 – February 26

Stunning beaches, mystical mountains, and remote jungle temples: images of Bali have long been an invitation to the exotic. Yet, the story of Bali beyond the images is even more complicated and fascinating. This course considers the inseparable intersections between Balinese Hindu religion, the performing arts, visual art, history and politics, ecological sustainability, alongside the construction of the island’s dominant economic force, the tourist industry. We examine how different economic and cultural stakeholders have crafted and portrayed “Bali” the brand, and how this image-building process has alternatively helped threaten, preserve, and created opportunities for innovation. Class lectures will be enhanced by live demonstrations of Balinese music and dance.

“LLL Passport” Eligible. More information to come.

Book Recommendation: No homework or reading is ever required for any Lifelong Learning class.  However, the instructor may recommend books or reading to enhance your class experience.  Some books may be purchased locally at Bookmarks https://www.bookmarksnc.org/lifelong-learning . Contact our office at lifeloenglearning@wfu.edu for the discount code.

Dibia, I. Wayan and Rucina Ballinger. Balinese Dance, Drama & Music: A Beginner’s Guide to the Performing Arts of Bali. (Tuttle Publishing, 2023)

Eiseman, Fred B. Bali, Sekala and Niskala. (Tuttle Publishing, 2011)

Vickers, Adrian. Bali: A Paradise Created. (Tuttle Publishing, 2012)

Elizabeth A. Clendinning is Associate Professor of Music at Wake Forest University. She directs the university’s Balinese gamelan ensemble, Gamelan Giri Murti, which is open to both students and community members. Her research focuses on Balinese performing arts, material culture, transcultural pedagogy, and cultural and environmental sustainability. She is author of American Gamelan and the Ethnomusicological Imagination (University of Illinois Press, 2020) and co-author (with Henry Spiller) of Focus: Gamelan Music of Indonesia, 3rd edition (Routledge, 2022).

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Greek Mythology– class at capacity. Email lifelonglearning@wfu.edu to be added to the waiting list.

Presented by Michael Sloan
Thursdays, 9:45 – 11:45am
February 6 (skip Feb 20) – March 20

This course will cover foundational myths (stories) that comprise much of what we call “Greek Mythology”. In these myths, we will look at the major characters, mortal and immortal, plot-lines, and themes of these stories. These myths span the time from Homer (800 BC) to the tragedians (400 BC).

• The birth of the gods (Hesiod and Hymns to gods)
• Trojan War 
• Odyssey
• Aeschylus
• Sophocles
• Euripides

Michael C. Sloan, Phd, Professor and Department Chair, Classics
Professor Sloan currently holds the F.M. Kirby Family Faculty Fellowship at Wake Forest University. He graduated from Baylor University with a double major in Classics and Economics.  He then received a Masters in Classical Literature and another Masters in Theology before receiving his PhD in Classics at St Andrews University in Scotland.  He has published widely in his field, including articles on authors such as Aristotle, Augustine, Cicero, Homer, Horace, Erasmus, Euripides, Orosius and others. His first two books were on Sedulius Scottus, a poet and scholar in the age of Charlemagne. He is currently editing a book, which is a survey of Greek and Latin literature, for the ALNTS series.  Wake Forest has awarded Dr. Sloan the Kenyon Family Faculty Fellowship for his excellence in teaching and scholarship, and he has also won the “Reid-Doyle Excellence in Teaching Award”, as well as the Teaching and Learning Collaborative “Innovative Teaching Award”. Dr. Sloan is an active advocate for the Humanities and Liberal Arts, publishing opinion pieces in both local and international news journals.  He has been interviewed and quoted in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and other international media outlets for his expertise in classical literature and higher education.

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Reexamining the First World War
Presented by Chuck Thomas
Wednesdays, 2 – 4pm
March 5 (skip March 12) – April 16
* Updated course

This course will examine the broader implications of the First World War, a conflict that has been called the defining event of the twentieth century. Its combat and political realities—stalemated trench warfare and a botched peace leading to an even greater catastrophe twenty years later—are reasonably familiar to adult learners. Its wider impact, however, warrants further study. Centuries-old dynasties collapsed in Central and Eastern Europe. France and Britain managed to escape overt political revolution, but nevertheless underwent fundamental changes in terms of gender relationships, labor/business relations, and the position of colonies and dominions within their respective empires. Intellectuals, artists, and common folk alike came to question basic prewar assumptions concerning progress and patriotism. Not all the changes wrought by the war were immediately visible but in time the collective effects of the conflict between 1914 and 1918 came to be seen by many historians as the watershed between the “long nineteenth century” and the modern world.

Note from Professor Thomas:

In 2015 and 2018 I taught LLL courses on World War I. What is being offered in the current course will include material that we covered earlier, but each of the six sessions will also include a section specifically devoted to “What have I/we learned recently?” This tweaking, which would literally be a reexamining of World War I for you and me, might or might not warrant enrolling in the new course, but please accept my thanks for past experiences in either case.

Chuck Thomas is a professor of history with (just) over forty years of teaching experience at Georgia Southern University, at the United States Naval War College, and, most recently, at Wake Forest. He combines a general interest in modern American and European military history with a specialization in Germany’s and Austria’s roles in the two World Wars. He has taught a wide variety of students, ranging from undergraduates through military and naval officers, to enrollees in Wake Forest’ Lifelong Learning program. A native of Georgia (the state, not the nation), he speaks fluent eighteenth-century military German with a Southern accent and has found his second home in Austria.

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Nepal’s Place in the World: A Holistic View
Presented by Steve Folmar
Mondays, 1 – 3pm
March 31 – May 5

Nepal is often romanticized as the “roof of the world” where mountain climbers summit the tallest peaks in the world, including Sagarmatha (aka Everest), where the Buddha was born, and where the vast majority of people lead a simple, Hindu, agrarian life. But it is far more real and complex. When taken as a whole, it is ever more fascinating the deeper one goes into its cultures. Join me as we explore Nepal in six sessions, covering its geography and history, its emphasis on family and friends, how society is structured by caste, gender and other principles, the livelihoods people pursue and how work is organized, its pluralistic health and medical systems and its diverse religious beliefs and practices. Learn about life of the Nepalese up close, including the sacred and the mundane, the traditional and the modern, and the joys and challenges.

“LLL Passport” Eligible. More information to come.

Book Recommendation: 

Like other Lifelong Learning classes, there are no required readings for this course. Because of the breadth of the course, there is no single book that addresses all the topics covered. However, there are a number of good resources that can supplement what you get from the lectures. Some can be found here. I will recommend others as we progress through the course

Some books may be purchased locally at Bookmarks https://www.bookmarksnc.org/lifelong-learning . Contact our office at lifeloenglearning@wfu.edu for the discount code.

Steve Folmar is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Wake Forest University, where he teaches courses on the People and Cultures of South Asia, Medical Anthropology and Myth, Ritual and Symbolism. His research on Nepal began in 1979 as a doctoral student at Case Western Reserve University and extends to this day.  He has led a dozen trips to Nepal to educate Wake Forest and other students about the realities of culture in Nepal. He has published 18 articles and book chapters on numerous aspects of Nepali culture.

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Undying Orpheus: Legends and Origins
Presented by Andrew Ettin
Wednesdays, (4-6pm first class only), remaining classes 2 – 4pm
April 23 – May 28

The legends of Orpheus have excited the imagination of creative artists and philosophers from the Greeks and Romans to our time. Orpheus the musician enchanting woodland creatures with his voice and lyre, Orpheus the devoted lover descending to the Underworld to resurrect his beloved bride Eurydice, Orpheus the visionary inspiration for the mystical Orphic Hymns, Orpheus the victim of the Maenads of Dionysius: each of these has been the subject of great and compelling works of art. We will trace the origins and main threads of the Orpheus myth through the centuries in literary texts, stage works, and films. Works discussed will include poetry of Virgil, Ovid, Milton, Rilke and Margaret Atwood; operas by Monteverdi, Charpentier, Gluck, Offenbach, Harrison Birtwistle, and Matthew AuCoin, along with stage works by Sarah Ruhl and Anaïs Mitchell (Hadestown); ballets by Balanchine and Pina Bausch; and films of Cocteau and Marcel Camus (Black Orpheus).

Andrew Vogel Ettin, Ph.D. is Professor Emeritus of English at Wake Forest University; Visiting Assistant Professor of Religion and Philosophy at High Point University; formerly Part-Time Professor in the Department for the Study of Religions at WFU and assistant professor of English at Cornell University.  Dr. Ettin has taught courses on 16^th and 17^th century English literature, notably John Milton, American Jewish literature, the Holocaust, rabbinic and contemporary Judaism, mysticism and spirituality in the School of Divinity and the Department for the Study of Religion.  He is active in interfaith and political activities and received the university’s Schoonmaker Award for Community Service.  He is also the rabbi of Temple Israel in Salisbury, N.C.

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Fall 2024- Registration closed.

Rise and Fall of Ancient Rome *class complete
Presented by Michael Sloan
Tuesdays, 11:30am – 1:30pm
Sept 10 – Oct 15, 2024

This course will cover the rise and fall of Rome, from settlement (ca 1000 BC) to collapse (ca 410 AD). Broken into six lectures, we will survey the major people and events that shaped the various cultural and political changes over roughly 1400 years of Rome’s participation in the ancient Mediterranean world. While there are a number of fine works of historical synthesis available to expert and lay readers (Gibbons’ famous Rise and Fall, R. Syme’s Roman Revolution,or the shorter and recent survey by Mary Beard: SPQR),  Primary sources (literature, historians, and other documentary evidence from that period itself along with material/archaeological findings) will be used to guide the survey and follow a path of events driven by a unique thread of characters.

Michael C. Sloan, Phd, Professor and Department Chair, Classics
Professor Sloan currently holds the F.M. Kirby Family Faculty Fellowship at Wake Forest University. He graduated from Baylor University with a double major in Classics and Economics.  He then received a Masters in Classical Literature and another Masters in Theology before receiving his PhD in Classics at St Andrews University in Scotland.  He has published widely in his field, including articles on authors such as Aristotle, Augustine, Cicero, Homer, Horace, Erasmus, Euripides, Orosius and others. His first two books were on Sedulius Scottus, a poet and scholar in the age of Charlemagne. He is currently editing a book, which is a survey of Greek and Latin literature, for the ALNTS series.  Wake Forest has awarded Dr. Sloan the Kenyon Family Faculty Fellowship for his excellence in teaching and scholarship, and he has also won the “Reid-Doyle Excellence in Teaching Award”, as well as the Teaching and Learning Collaborative “Innovative Teaching Award”. Dr. Sloan is an active advocate for the Humanities and Liberal Arts, publishing opinion pieces in both local and international news journals.  He has been interviewed and quoted in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and other international media outlets for his expertise in classical literature and higher education.

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Deacon Stories: The History of Wake Forest University **class complete
Presented by Tanya Zanish-Belcher
& Rebecca Petersen May
Thursdays, 1pm – 3pm
Sept 12 (skip Oct 3) – Oct 24, 2024

Wake Forest University was founded in the town of Wake Forest in 1834, by the Baptist State Convention. Join us as we explore the university’s rich history, beginning on the Original Campus as part of the plantation economy, to its move to Winston-Salem in the 1950s. Relying on the rich collections of Special Collections & Archives at Z. Smith Reynolds Library, this course will focus on major themes in WFU history, as well as the people and personalities who have made it such a unique place. This course will be co-taught by Rebecca Petersen May (Public Services Archivist) and Tanya Zanish-Belcher (Director, Special Collections & Archives)/ZSR Library

Tanya Zanish-Belcher is the Director of Special Collections & Archives (SCA) at the Z. Smith Reynolds Library at Wake Forest University. She oversees the administration of SCA and its collections and staff, in addition to representing SCA to donors, the WFU campus, the Winston-Salem community, and other members of the public. Tanya received her Masters in Historical and Archival Administration from Wright State University and a B.A. in History from Ohio Wesleyan University.

Rebecca Petersen May is the Public Services Archivist in Special Collections & Archives at the Z. Smith Reynolds Library at Wake Forest University. In her work, she provides research assistance for the University Archives, Personal Collections & Manuscripts, and the NC Baptist Historical Collection. Rebecca received her Masters in Library and Information Sciences from UNCG, and a BA from the George Washington University with a major in American Studies and a minor in Art History. 

Some suggested readings: No homework or reading is ever required for any Lifelong Learning class.  However, the instructor may recommend books or reading to enhance your class experience. 

The History of Wake Forest Book Collection (online)

Thine Ancient Days, by Jenny Puckett  (click title of book for link to purchase)

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Renaissance Venice between East and West *class completed
Presented by Monique O’Connell
Wednesdays, 10am – noon
Oct 9 – Nov 13, 2024

The city Venice is famous as a meeting point for multiple cultures: European, Byzantine, Arab, and Ottoman. This course explores Venice’s relationships with its neighbors to the East and to the West in the Renaissance era. We will trace Venice’s involvement in commerce and crusade, following the city’s fortunes as it builds its own Mediterranean empire and defends it against new challengers. We will learn about the spies, renegades, engineers, missionaries, mercenaries and merchants that crisscrossed Venetian borders and discover how these multiple influences contributed to the construction of Venice’s unique urban and political form. The last session of the class (Nov. 13) will be an optional field trip to the North Carolina Museum of Art to view the visiting exhibition “Venice and the Ottoman Empire.” Participants will need to arrange their own transportation for the field trip; carpooling is encouraged. There may be an admission charge to the exhibition. This class is designed as an introduction for those who are new to Venetian history and will add to the knowledge of those who have already taken other Lifelong Learning courses about Venice.

Monique O’Connell is Professor of History at Wake Forest University and holds the James P. Barefield Endowed Faculty Fellowship, which recognizes excellence in interdisciplinary teaching, scholarship, and student mentorship.  Her scholarship focuses on the history of Renaissance Venice and its empire, and she has written books and articles on the Venetian governors of Venice’s maritime state, Venetian politics, and on the history of the Mediterranean as a space of dynamic interchange. She teaches undergraduate courses at Wake Forest on medieval and early modern European history and has previously offered Lifelong Learning classes on “Machiavelli’s World: Art Science and Power in the Italian Renaissance” (2016) and “Health, Disease and Society in the Age of the Black Death” with Dr. Sharon DeWitte (2017).

Book Recommendation: No homework or reading is ever required for any Lifelong Learning class.  However, the instructor may recommend books or reading to enhance your class experience.  Some books may be purchased locally at Bookmarks https://www.bookmarksnc.org/lifelong-learning . Contact our office at lifeloenglearning@wfu.edu for the discount code.

Dennis Romano, Venice: The Remarkable History of the Lagoon City (Oxford 2024).

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The 2024 U.S. Elections– *class complete
Presented by John Dinan
Fridays, 1^st class only 12:30pm-2pm & remaining 1:30pm – 4pm
Oct 11 – Nov 8, 2024- note: 5-week course with irregular schedule.

This class analyzes U.S. elections, focusing especially on the 2024 elections, with the intent of analyzing processes, patterns, and outcomes for presidential, congressional, and state elections.  We will focus in part on the 2024 presidential election and analyze the electoral college system and various aspects of presidential campaigns.  We will also discuss elections for Congress and for governor, state legislatures, and other state offices.  Among other things, we will discuss the redistricting processes used to draw congressional and state legislative districts, as well as the mechanisms for voting, including voting by mail, early voting, and voter ID requirements.  We will also discuss why certain candidates are successful, addressing the role of money, voter turnout, and campaigning.

John Dinan is professor and chair of the department of politics and international affairs at Wake Forest University.  He regularly teaches courses on Elections, Congress, and State Politics.  He is the author of several books analyzing state politics and state constitutions.

Book recommendations: No homework or reading is ever required for any Lifelong Learning class.  However, the instructor may recommend books or reading to enhance your class experience.  Some books may be purchased locally at Bookmarks https://www.bookmarksnc.org/lifelong-learning . Contact our office at lifeloenglearning@wfu.edu for the discount code.

Stephen J. Wayne, The Road to the White House 2024: The Politics of Presidential Elections (Rowman & Littlefield, 2023)
Matthew J. Streb, Rethinking American Electoral Democracy, 3^rd ed. (Routledge, 2015)
Nolan McCarty, Polarization: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford University Press, 2019

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Conspiracy Theories in American Political Discourse: 2.0-*class complete.
Presented by Jarrod Atchison
Tuesdays, 10am – noon
Oct 22 – Nov 26, 2024

Throughout the history of American political discourse, rhetors have used conspiracy theories to achieve political gains. In Part One of this class, we investigated how conspiracy theories argue, circulate, and persuade. In Part Two, we will turn our attention to strategies to try to address conspiracy discourse. Throughout our time together, you will be exposed to a variety of conspiracy theories that have impacted the political and personal lives of Americans. Our goal is that by the end of our time together, you see the important role that conspiracy theories have played in American history and feel comfortable identifying, researching, and arguing against conspiracy discourse. 

Note: no prerequisite to have taken Conspiracy Theories Part #1 to enjoy this class. Former and new students welcome!

Dr. R. Jarrod Atchison serves as the John Kevin Medica Director of Debate and as a Professor of Communication. Dr. Atchison researches and teaches in the areas of argumentation, rhetorical theory & criticism, and American public address. He is currently serving as the President of the American Forensic Association. Dr. Atchison has published three books, A War of Words: The Rhetorical Leadership of Jefferson Davis (2017, University of Alabama Press),Milestones: Defining Lists of Wake Forest Debate, 1835-2022 with Dr. Allan Louden (2022, Library Partners Press), We Are Not One People: Secession and Separatism in American Politics Since 1776 with Dr. Michael J. Lee (2022, Oxford University Press).

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Resignations and Resistance: Two Classic Italian Novels
in Translation– *class in session
Presented by Tom Phillips
Thursdays, 10am – 11:45am
Oct 24 (skip Nov 28) –Dec 12, 2024- Note: 7-class course

Written in near simultaneity, published a mere twenty-two years apart, Giuseppe Lampedusa’s The Leopard and Ignazio Silone’s Bread and Wine could not be more distinct.  Yet both are quintessential narratives of the Italian people.  Through the character of Prince Fabrizio, for whom the dusty winds of change threaten his ancestral way of life, Lampedusa crafts an elegy of Sicilian nobility amid the Risorgimento of the early 1860s.  Silone’s protagonist, the would-be anarchist Pietro Spina (“Peter of the thorns”), agitates to undermine fascism in 1930s Rome, only to face exile to the Abruzzi (wedged into the lives of the rural poor) disguised as a priest.  Both novels are counted among the very best that Italy has produced.  Both novels are quietly dramatic and laced with humor.  Both novels explore the competing strains of resignation and resistance to profound change in the world.

We will examine these works of literary art in the context of Italian political and social history, including a look at the novel as genre.  Class members will also screen Visconti ‘s luminous film adaptation of The Leopard.   We will read these medium length novels in their entirety (both are compelling, and fairly quick reads). 

Any edition of either book is fine. No homework or reading is ever required for any Lifelong Learning class.  However, the instructor may recommend books or reading to enhance your class experience.  Some books may be purchased locally at Bookmarks https://www.bookmarksnc.org/lifelong-learning . Contact our office at lifeloenglearning@wfu.edu for the discount code.

Tom Phillips taught and administered at Wake Forest for over forty years. He holds degrees in English from Wake Forest and UNC-Chapel Hill.  He taught courses in areas of interest including the British and continental novel, novel to film, and ethics in literature.   Among other good fortunes he was privileged to teach six semesters and one summer at the Wake Forest overseas houses and related programs.  And most recently taught the Lifelong Learning course, Mayhem and Magic: The Soviet Masterpiece, The Master and Margarita.            

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Summer 2024 Term-Completed

Carolina In My Mind
The Music of North Carolina– Class Completed

What does North Carolina sound like? This course explores the music of North Carolina, primarily focusing on the blues, jazz, folk, bluegrass, country, and other popular music of the twentieth century. From the iconic guitar-picking of the Piedmont blues to the funky grooves of the Kinston musicians who helped shape James Brown’s sound, we will discuss this music in the context of race, gender, and other social issues. We will explore how North Carolina has shaped the sound of several of the most iconic musicians of the twentieth century, including Etta Baker, John Coltrane, Earl Scruggs, Nina Simone, James Taylor, and Link Wray, and discover how their legacy lives on in the music of contemporary artists from Rhiannon Giddens to Rapsody to Watchhouse.
* Class was previously offered in Spring 2021 via Zoom.

                                  

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Sweet, Savory and Smelly, Oh My!
The Science of Eating-Class Completed

All living things share a fundamental need: getting the necessary nutrients and energy for their bodies to function, grow, and stay healthy. For many, this means searching for and consuming food. In humans, food not only fulfills this vital function but also brings pleasure by activating our senses of taste, smell, and chemesthesis. In this course, we will explore how these senses detect substances in food and how factors like aging and the Covid-19 virus can impact this ability. We will also discuss their role in creating flavors. Additionally, we will delve into what happens to food in the digestive system, covering topics such as gastric bypass surgery, the gut microbiome, and how certain drugs may help with weight loss by imitating natural digestive hormones.

Be prepared to watch and participate in some hands-on demonstrations.  Are Jelly Beans more smell than taste?  What about Limburger cheese?  How are different smells processed by the brain?

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Everything You Ever Wanted to Know
About Pride & Prejudice- Class Completed

We will examine Jane Austen’s beloved novel Pride & Prejudice, its precursors, literary adaptations and modernizations, and film versions as well as survey scholarship on all of the above. We will dissect Austen’s brilliant and funny sentences, and we will seek to understand the various ways this classic has been reinterpreted in different eras and cultures and its continuing popularity and relevance today.

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Spring 2024 Term- Completed

A Personalized History of Austria- Class Completed

For a country that is roughly the size of the state of Maine, Austria has exerted a disproportionate influence in the history of Europe for more than a thousand years. This course will briefly examine Austria’s Celtic and Roman past as well as Austria’s medieval experiences. It will then look at Austria’s rise to Great Power status under the Habsburgs in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and its eventual collapse under impact of competing nationalisms in the early twentieth century. It will conclude by looking at Austria’s varied experiences over the last century, ones that included a failed republic, an authoritarian home-grown dictatorship, disappearance into the Third Reich, and more recently, a remarkable political and economic recovery. The course will rely on Professor Chuck Thomas’s fifty years of experience with Austrian history, including insights drawn from his recent experience in 2023 teaching students at Wake Forest’s Flow House in Vienna.

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Ancient Roman Civilization-Class Completed

This lecture and discussion series will introduce learners to the Romans and their intellectual culture from an interdisciplinary perspective. Using a combination of written and material evidence, you will acquire a chronological framework for analyzing Roman culture through literature, art, architecture, and especially the Roman system of values and beliefs. We will also conduct more in-depth examinations of written works (letters, historical narratives, plays, poems, speeches, and novels) and material culture (including but not limited to art and architecture) that bear witness to the political and cultural changes from Rome’s foundation through the Empire. We will begin with an exploration of the boundary between mythology and history in the foundation of Rome, and then we will look critically at the political and social factors that both gave rise to and contributed to the fall of the Roman Republic. The age of Augustus will be a major topic of reading and discussion as well, and we will examine Vergil’s Aeneid alongside Augustan-era architecture and propaganda with the goal of understanding how the Empire represented both a reinvention and a continuation of Roman identity. As we consider the changes in what it meant to be “Roman” over the centuries of the Empire, we will examine the different ways that Romans communicated, conducted business, prayed, ate, and entertained themselves and end the course by considering the question of how, why, and whether the Roman Empire ever truly fell.

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What the Buddha Taught-Class Completed

Shakyamuni Buddha introduced his basic teachings, what are often known as the 4 Noble Truths, in northern India around the middle of the 5th century BCE. These teachings constitute the core of a tradition we now know as “Buddhism,” which spread north and south to East and Southeast Asia over the centuries following Shakyamuni’s death. This course will explore the meaning and significance of these teachings that challenge (and sometimes accord with) many basic Western conceptions about the nature of the Ultimate (God), reality, the human self, the fundamental human problem, and the nature and purpose of life. Topics covered will include:

• Indian religion/culture prior to Buddhism
• The life of the Buddha
• The fundamental human problem
• The nature of reality
• Human nature and the “self”
• The Buddha’s understanding of karma
• The role of meditation
• The path to realization
• Buddhist ethics and social vision
• The Buddha’s vision of “salvation” (nirvana)

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Are We Ready for the Next Virus Plague?-Class Completed

The Covid-19 pandemic has revealed weaknesses in the US approach to an emerging viral pandemic. The goal of this course is to provide insight into the factors that negatively affected the response to Covid-19, for example, the structure and function of healthcare systems, political polarity, personal beliefs and scientific knowledge and understanding by the lay public. We will explore past viral plagues such as smallpox, yellow fever, polio, HIV, SARS and SARS Covid-2 (the cause of the Covid 19 disease); the mistakes and successes of the government/healthcare system response to Covid-19 ; and how we might prepare ourselves for the next virus plague that is sure to come. As always, no prior knowledge of the science is necessary for this course.

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Environmental Ethics and the Politics of Emotions-Class Completed

It is hard to make sense of the climate crisis. The issues are complex, and considering how little individuals can do, thinking about topics like this can quickly leave a person overwhelmed, exhausted, and disoriented. Fortunately, philosophy can help, in large part by helping us to set aside some time and space to reconnect with the “wisdom traditions” that we have always relied on to navigate times like these. This course begins with a brief primer on environmental ethics and an up-to-date briefing on the state of the climate crisis. Next, we will explore how these issues are showing up in people’s emotional lives today, with a special focus on the environmental organization “Third Act,” which aims to mobilize people over 60 in the fight against climate change. The course culminates with a symposium, where participants can share some of what they have learned, and talk with some very special guests! This course is aimed at lifelong learners with rich life experiences and a keen interest in contributing to a more sustainable world.

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