French Roots of North America

French Roots of North America

Attend In Person OR Online Why is French the most-commonly taught language in the United States after Spanish? Why are Americans so interested in things French? This course suggests that answers may be found in the long and fascinating saga of the French in North...
Greek Philosophy: Foundation of Western Thought

Greek Philosophy: Foundation of Western Thought

Attend In Person OR Online About 2600 years ago, an “Intellectual Revolution” shifted Greek thinking from mythic world descriptions to observational ones. The first group of thinkers in this new era lived in eastern Greece and started new directions in...
The Long Life of Sherlock Holmes

The Long Life of Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes never actually uttered the words, “Elementary, my dear Watson!” but this and other iconic traces of the detective have lasted for over a century. There have been more than 60 film adaptations of Holmes, including versions in which he is...
Technological Wonders of Classical Antiquity

Technological Wonders of Classical Antiquity

Attend In Person OR Online! See Below for full details about our new Hybrid courses This course explores the people, processes and places that fostered the technological and artistic creativity of potters, sculptors, and temple builders in ancient Greece. Our topics...
Deserts, Plants, and People

Deserts, Plants, and People

Attend In Person OR Online! See Below for full details about our new Hybrid courses Arid and semiarid environments, commonly known as “deserts,” make up about one-third of the earth’s land surface and are home to more than one billion people. We will...
Creating the World of East Asian Buddhism

Creating the World of East Asian Buddhism

Attend In Person OR Online! See Below for full details about our new Hybrid courses The Hangzhou region has long been one of China’s most important cultural hubs and has had a wide-ranging impact on Chinese culture and Buddhism throughout East Asia. It came to...
Leonard Bernstein’s Musical Worlds

Leonard Bernstein’s Musical Worlds

Attend In Person OR Online! See Below for full details about our new Hybrid courses Leonard Bernstein embraced a remarkable range of roles in his career, including composer, conductor, pianist, educator, multimedia pioneer, and engaged citizen. This course presents...
1917 and the Background of the Great War

1917 and the Background of the Great War

Attend In Person OR Online! See Below for full details about our new Hybrid courses This course centers on the recent, brilliant film 1917 as a touchstone for discussing the literature, film, music, and painting of World War I. Sam Mendez’s movie was nominated for ten...
Knowing the Universe: History and Philosophy of Astronomy

Knowing the Universe: History and Philosophy of Astronomy

Attend In Person OR Online! See Below for full details about our new Hybrid courses This course will cover the history of the oldest field of science, from prehistory and the ancient Greeks to research on the earliest instants of our 14-billion-year-old universe. We...
The Biology of Cooperation

The Biology of Cooperation

Attend In Person OR Online! See Below for full details about our new Hybrid courses Birds do it. Bees do it. Microbes do it, and people do it. Throughout nature organisms cooperate with each other. Humans have always been deeply attracted to the idea of...
The Golden Age of Science Fiction

The Golden Age of Science Fiction

Attend In Person OR Online! See Below for full details about our new Hybrid courses In this course we will dive into classic works of science fiction, from the origins of the genre in the works of Jules Verne and H. G. Wells to the “golden age” masters Clarke,...
Theories of Twentieth-Century Architecture and Urbanism

Theories of Twentieth-Century Architecture and Urbanism

Attend In Person OR Online! See Below for full details about our new Hybrid courses This course surveys twentieth-century architectural and urban theory by focusing on key themes and modalities of design practice that inform its purpose and philosophies. Modern...
Four by Austen

Four by Austen

Attend In Person OR Online! See Below for full details about our new Hybrid courses We will study four Jane Austen novels and the reasons for their perennial appeal. Austen combines the patterns of romance—where the principal couple surmounts obstacles separating them...
Jesus, the Bible, and the Invention of Christianity

Jesus, the Bible, and the Invention of Christianity

Attend In Person OR Online! See Below for full details about our new Hybrid courses The Christian religion is inextricably bound up with contemporary culture in America and around the globe. Yet, even after centuries of scholarly inquiry, numerous questions regarding...
LECTURE – Our Future in a Warming, Water-Stressed World

LECTURE – Our Future in a Warming, Water-Stressed World

Lecture Event – Attend In Person OR Online Population growth and climate change present an immense challenge: How will we feed the Earth’s population, estimated to be 10+ billion by 2050? Farmers currently use 80 percent of available water, but cities and...