Current Courses
Current Courses
Open Courses
Main Campus
Summer 2023
Malcolm Compitello
Wednesdays
10 AM – 12 PM
Jul 12 to Aug 9
Before his tragic murder at the hands of fascist rebels against Spain’s democracy in 1936, Federico García Lorca had established himself as one of Europe and the Hispanic World’s most promising young writers. His poetry brought to the explosion of avant-garde innovation of the first decades of the 20th century a grounding in the historical and cultural roots of Spanish culture. The result is a body of poetic work of great vitality and enduring quality which continues to challenge and inspire readers and critics alike. During this course we will examine Lorca’s two most well-known volumes of...
Summer 2023
Richard Poss
Wednesdays
2 PM – 4 PM
Jul 12 to Aug 9
This seminar is a critical examination of the many areas which lie near science but which are not (for the most part) science, often called “marginal science” or “pseudoscience.” We will begin by examining scientific method and discovery science, falsifiability, and the nature of truth. Then each session will be devoted to a set of practices, asking questions like: Is it science? Is it valuable? Does it offer insights not otherwise available? Does it involve fraud, pretending to be scientific when it is not? Is it founded on a fallacy? Class sessions will be a combination of lecture and...
Summer 2023
Charlotte Pearson
Tuesdays
10 AM – 12 PM
Aug 8 to Aug 29
This course will focus on the scientific field of dendrochronology (from dendron=tree and chronos=time), or tree-ring science, and what it can tell us about the past, present and future. We will explore the fascinating history of how the science was developed by a pioneering astronomer interested in solar cycles; how it works; how it has fed into other disciplines such as radiocarbon dating, art history and climatology, and how its applications have led to transformative discoveries about the past. We will look at what tree-rings can tell us about the rise and fall of civilizations, climate...
Online
Summer 2023
Laura Hollengreen
Offered Originally: Spring 2021
(4 Two-Hour Classes)
Aug 31
Saints and cult sites were central to religious practice in the Christian Middle Ages. This course examines four sites (Qalʿat Simʿān, Constantinople, Conques, and Chartres) to find evolving concepts of sanctity and forms of cultic practice in medieval sociopolitical context. When did new kinds of saints emerge? How did holy people interact with others in their societies? How does architecture spatialize perception of the sacred, and how does art focus it? Ranging from fifth-century Syria to thirteenth-century France, the buildings to be discussed include monastic and pilgrimage churches, a...
Summer 2023
Caleb Simmons
Originally Offered: Spring 2021
(10 Three-Hour Classes)
Aug 31
Images of Hinduism and Hindu deities have been integrated into our collective imagination as part of American popular culture. From the cover of Jimi Hendrix’s Axis: Bold as Love, photos of the Beatles seated alongside Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the goddess on the cover of the first issue of Gloria Steinem’s Ms. magazine, or even Ganesha on the counter of Kwik-e Mart on The Simpsons, most Americans have a vague idea about the appearance of Hindu gods and goddesses. In this course we will push beyond the layer of popular allusions to Hindu deities to take a deeper look into the mythology that...
Summer 2023
Olivia Miller
Originally Offered: Summer 2021
(5 Two-Hour Classes)
Aug 31
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610) was both a beloved and rejected painter of the Baroque era. His paintings, which often included realistic figures, theatrical lighting, and dark, obscure settings activated a deep sense of spiritual contemplation for many. Yet he was also critiqued for depicting shocking subjects and eschewing traditional painting standards. Much has been made of his dramatic biography, which includes a lengthy arrest record, a murder, and a death in exile. Throughout this course we will examine Caravaggio’s development and working methods in the context of his...
Summer 2023
Greg Sakall
Originally Offered: Fall 2021
(5 Two-Hour Classes)
Aug 31
The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to many legal and sociopolitical debates. This course will review the US Supreme Court's role in those debates. The course will start off with a review of the Court’s 2020-2021 term. We will then explore in greater detail issues including individual liberties, compulsory vaccinations, COVID regulations and religious objections to the same, and qualified immunity for law enforcement officers. Readings will focus on recent and historical Supreme Court decisions, and discussion will be encouraged. The final lecture will look ahead toward the cases and issues...
Closed Courses
Summer 2023
In Session
Pearce Paul Creasman
Tuesdays
9 AM - 11 AM
May 16 to Jun 13
This course will survey the fundamentals of ancient Egyptian religion, from the Predynastic period (ca. 4000 BC) to the end of the New Kingdom (ca. 1000 BC). Material will be covered both diachronically and synchronically. This course offers an examination of intellectual thought and religious life of ancient Egypt, with a particular focus on the major deities, religious centers, and myths.
Attend Online
- All classes will be delivered online via Zoom.
- Online - students...
Summer 2023
In Session
Benjamin Jens
Wednesdays
10 AM - 12 PM
May 17 to Jun 21
Dostoevsky’s Demons (1872) – according to Alexander Solzhenitsyn in 1970 – “are crawling across the whole world in front of our very eyes, infesting countries where they could not have been dreamed of” and “announcing their determination to shake and destroy civilization! And they may well succeed.” Often viewed as prophesying the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, Dostoevsky’s satirical novel Demons has been read as a warning for the 21st century as well, with its themes of terrorism, the role of ideology, the power of rumor and “fake news”, etc. Throughout this course, we will...