TOPICS OFFERED FOR SPRING
2020
Classes
start January 2nd and end April 30th.
Holiday periods are adapted to
by individual class
voting.
1.
(AIM)
ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE IN MEDICINE
Artificial
Intelligence can clearly assist in providing better and less
costly medical
treatment. This will relieve physicians of complex data
analysis functions and
free them to provide more attention to psychological and
“human” aspects of
medical care. Now, a patient may be subjected to
many-dimensional data collection
in the course of routine examinations. Properly programmed
computers can
analyze the results of such tests and suggest possible
diagnoses and even
treatments better than even the smartest of humans. Some
doctors are beginning
to accept this, including the author of our common reading.
Presentations
might include: the data complexity of modern medicine; how
“deep learning” can
process diagnostic test results better than humans; examples
of test
interpretations performed by machine, e.g., DNA, chest X-ray
images, etc.
Common Reading: Deep Medicine: How Artificial Intelligence Can Make Healthcare Human Again, by Eric Topol (Basic, March 2019)
2.
(AMR) THE
SOUL OF
AMERICA
In an effort to understand the
present moment in
American politics and life, this S/DG will look back at
critical times in our
history when hope overcame division and fear.
What were those times when presidents and citizens came
together to
defeat the forces of anger, intolerance and extremism? What can we learn
from our past and give
direction and optimism for our future?
In the book, The Soul of America: The
Battle for Our
Better Angels,
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham shows us how what
Abraham Lincoln
called “the better angels of our nature” have repeatedly won
the day. Seven
lengthy chapters describe some of America’s dark moments,
with a heavy emphasis
of what the President did (and didn’t do) in these moments
of crisis. The
chapters included: Jackson, Lincoln, Appomattox, the KKK,
Reconstruction, Teddy
Roosevelt, women’s suffrage, the Depression, Huey Long, the
New Deal,
Lindbergh, America First, McCarthyism, modern media, George
Wallace, MLK, LBJ.
Each of these dramatic hours in our national life has been
shaped by the
contest to lead the country to look forward rather than
back, to assert hope
over fear.
Members’
research can
include a more in-depth look at the Presidents and the courage
of various
influential citizen activists like Alice Paul, John Lewis,
First Lady Eleanor
Roosevelt, and the times surrounding the events. We can learn
from our past and
be encouraged with the knowledge that we have come through
times of fear with a
resilient spirit that is still with us today.
Common Reading: The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels by Jon Meacham (May 2018)
3.
(ANT) ANTARCTICA
We are going to study Antarctica,
the southernmost
continent in the world. Did you know that Antarctica is the
coldest, driest,
windiest, highest, emptiest, and most isolated continent on
earth? What is it
like to live on Antarctica (yes,
some people do)? What
is there to study
about a big hunk of ice?
LOTS!
Our S/DG will delve into a variety
of categories
including geography, geology, climatology, zoology,
ornithology, oceanography,
the fishing and whaling industry, exploration, history,
economics, politics,
and maybe a few others. So,
there is
probably something for almost everyone.
The following is a list of possible
presentation
topics:
1. The
formation of
Antarctica, its physical environment, climate, poles, the Ozone
Hole, and the effects
of global warming
2. The
surrounding ocean, its
actions and properties, and its islands
3. The flora
including algae,
lichens, and mosses and also the fauna including penguins and
other birds,
seals, whales, and even insects
4. The ice
including bergs,
shelves, and the ice cap
5. The ocean
food chain
starting with phytoplankton, zooplankton, and krill
6. 19th Century
Explorers and 20th Century
Explorers
7. Scientific
theories and
discoveries, current scientific research and Scientific
Research Stations
8. Industry:
historical,
current, and potential
9. Politics,
economics, and
international treaties and conferences
Common Reading: Antarctica: An Intimate Portrait of a Mysterious Continent by Gabrielle Walker (January 2013)
4.
(BOS) RISE
AND
FALL OF BOSTON
Boston
was founded by the English Puritans, who set the cultural tone
of the northern
tier of the United States through much of our history.
Thousands of them came
in the 1630s. They had been in conflict with the
Norman-descended aristocracy
in England for centuries, culminating in the English Civil War
in the 1640s,
which they won, leading ultimately to huge improvements in the
government
there. As a result of winning that war, they stopped coming to
the colonies,
but those here were so successful that they steadily spread
westward. Boston
became a major economic and cultural hub and politically led
the way to
independence, the “Cradle of Liberty.” They were not
particularly nice people.
Perhaps that is why they wrote the dominate history to feature
the Pilgrims who
settled further south in Plymouth, but who were just a “flash
in the pan.” The
Puritans were religiously intolerant, exiling, torturing, and
even killing
people of other religious positions. They dealt in slaves and
processed the
cotton from the South. They “stole” the technology of the
textile mills from
England in order to do so. On and on. Bostonians were an
important part of the
abolition movement and the Reconstruction after the Civil War.
But that marked
the beginning of their decline in national importance. Partly
as a result of
their Puritan background, Bostonians did not respond well to
the influx of
immigrants in the 1800s. Boston became dominated by the Roman
Catholic Church.
Some of the leading Prohibitionists were from the area. The
area has some of
the most esteemed universities and was prominent in advanced
electronic
technology until the collapse of the USSR. While undergoing a
recent
resurgence, the relative importance of Boston is no longer
what it was. This S/DG
will examine this important aspect of U.S. history with an eye
to why our
country is in the condition it is now.
Possible research/presentation
topics might include:
positive and negative aspects of Boston’s contribution to our
country’s culture
and government; contrasts to other parts of the country; why
you would like to
live in Boston, or not; etc.
Common Reading: The City-State of Boston: The Rise and Fall of an Atlantic Power, 1630-1865, by Mark Peterson (2019)
5.
(BSF) THE
VERY
BEST OF THE
BEST SCIENCE FICTION – SHORT
STORIES
For
the first time in a decade, a compilation of the very best in
science fiction,
from a world authority on the genre.
For decades,
the Year's
Best Science Fiction has been the most widely read short
science fiction
anthology of its kind. Now, after thirty-five annual
collections comes the
ultimate in science fiction anthologies. In “The Very Best
of the Best”,
legendary editor Gardner Dozois selects the finest short
stories of 2002-2017
for this landmark collection.
Presentations
can be built
on the stories and their background or use the story as a
springboard into your
presentation on some, perhaps not closely, related subject. An
example might be
a story on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and your presentation
is on the more
immediate social impact of driverless trucks. Only your
imagination limits you,
and Science Fiction is about unleashing that imagination.
Common Reading: The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of The Year's Best Science Fiction, by Gardner Dozois (February 2019)
6.
(BUD)
BUDDHISM
Mindfulness…Being
Present…Meditation. These
are common terms used to encourage
participants to see the world, including ourselves, more
clearly and to gain a
deep of sense of belonging, contentment, and happiness at a
time when
technological distraction and social division separate us
further from one
another.
This S/DG will use the book Why Buddhism Is True as the basis for exploring
this topic of
“western Buddhism” or “secular Buddhism”.
In it, the author shows how taking the idea of
meditation and its
practice seriously can improve your life by loosening the grip
of anxiety,
regret, and hatred, and deepening your appreciation of beauty
and nature.
Presentations and discussions could
include
historical perspectives on Buddhism as a religion; the other
types of Buddhism
practiced; other proponents and practitioners of meditation;
medical views on
the value of meditation; types of meditation; and local
sources.
Common Reading: Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment, by Robert Wright (August 2017)
7. (CRK)
CORK
DORK
Professional journalist and amateur
drinker Bianca
Bosker didn’t know much about wine—until she discovered an
alternate universe
where taste reigns supreme, a world of elite sommeliers who
dedicate their
lives to the pursuit of flavor. Astounded by their fervor
and seemingly
superhuman sensory powers, she set out to uncover what drove
their obsession,
and whether she, too, could become a “cork dork.”
With boundless curiosity, humor, and
a healthy dose
of skepticism, our author takes the reader inside underground
tasting groups,
exclusive New York City restaurants, California mass-market
wine factories, and
even a neuroscientist’s fMRI machine as she attempts to answer
the most nagging
question of all: What’s the big deal about wine? What she
learns will change
the way you drink wine—and, perhaps, the way you live—forever.
**
Named A Best Book by NPR,
Fortune, Smithsonian
** “Thrilling . . . [told] with
gonzo élan . . .
the Kitchen
Confidential of
the wine world...”
New York Times
Presentation
topics:
Common Reading: Cork Dork: A Wine-Fueled Adventure Among the Obsessive Sommeliers, Big Bottle Hunters, and Rogue Scientists Who Taught Me to Live for Taste, by Bianca Bosker (March 2017)
8. (CYB) DEFENDING
OUR COUNTRY, OUR
COMPANIES AND OURSELVES
IN THE
AGE OF CYBER THREATS
We hear stories about cyber-attacks
taking down banks
and hospitals, demands for ransom in untraceable
cryptocurrency, and the
vulnerability of our power grid. Hearing stories like this,
most Americans
think the news is bleak, defense is futile and major
cyber-attacks from Russia,
China or North Korea are inevitable. But there is reason for
optimism.
Not so long ago, the technology did
not exist for
companies to robustly defend themselves from cyber-criminals
and attacks from
hostile countries. Over
the past 10
years, there has been encouraging news from the cyber realm.
Many U.S.
corporations have learned to defend themselves from cyber
criminals and hackers
from within our own country or abroad. There are dozens of
tools that companies
can use to minimize their digital risks and defend themselves
in cyberspace.
Government agencies, on the other
hand, are poorly
defended, and this is true at the city, county, state and
national level. Many
utilities, such as power and gas companies, are also
vulnerable targets for
hackers. Even
more troubling is the
inadequate protection of our military systems, including jet
fighters, warships
and missiles. Increasingly, we are gaining the defensive
technologies we need,
but we are not taking cyber security seriously enough to
commit the manpower
and dollars to its implementation.
Possible
presentation topics include the following: malware, data
breaches, recent
advances in cyber security, infrastructure vulnerabilities,
cyber warfare,
cyber espionage, government oversight, dangers of cloud
computing, personal
computer vulnerabilities and protection, quantum computing,
and “internet of
things.”
Common Reading: The Fifth Domain: Defending Our Country, Our Companies and Ourselves in the Age of Cyber Threats, by Richard Clarke July 2019)
9. (ELD)
ELDERHOOD
For years “old” has been defined as
beginning between
the ages of sixty and seventy.
That
means most people alive today will spend more years in
elderhood than in
childhood and many will be elders for forty years or more. One
hindrance to
society’s fuller understanding of aging is that people rarely
understand the
process of aging until they reach old age themselves.
Therefore, myths and
assumptions about the elderly and aging are common.
The current growth of the population
ages 65 and
older, driven in large by the baby boom generation, is
unprecedented in U.S.
history and gives rise to an anti-ageing market growing
rapidly in today’s
world. New technologies have initiated the growth of new
anti-ageing treatments
and products, which is propelling the anti-ageing products,
service and devices
market growth.
Louise Aronson, geriatrician,
educator and professor
of medicine writes: “People look at geriatrics and old age as
the thing that
happens before you die. No.
It lasts
decades and has all these stages and substages and most of
them are quite
wonderful for most people.”
This S/DG will examine the facts and
the myths about
aging. Using the
book, Elderhood:
Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life, by
Dr. Louise
Aronson (part memoir, history and social critique) as a
springboard,
presentations by members will present research on the various
trending aspects
of the aging population, critique our healthcare system in its
treatment of the
elderly, challenges and opportunities available to elders.
This in-depth
exploration can result in gaining more scientific insight,
philosophical wisdom
and wise counsel for a journey and destination we all share.
Common Reading: Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life, by Dr. Louise Aronson (June 2019)
10. (ENG)
NEW
ENERGY ABUNDANCE
Only a few short years ago, we faced
$5 per gallon
rising gasoline prices and the prospect of a slow collapse of
the world
economy. In less than a decade, the energy world has turned
upside down, from
scarcity to abundance. The United States appears to be the
principle
beneficiary of this technology-driven shift which was brought
to fruition “just
in time” to forestall the effects of “peak oil” for a few
decades and to enable
the shift to green energy.
This S/DG will examine the economic,
technical,
geopolitical impacts of the deployment of hydraulic fracturing
or fracking oil
and gas recovery and how it is providing the time necessary
for development of
low carbon energy sources.
Common Reading:
Windfall – How
the New Energy
Abundance Upends Global Politics and Strengthens America’s
Power, by Meghan L.
O’Sullivan
(September 12, 2017)
Supplemental
Reading: Fracking 101: A Beginner's Guide to Hydraulic
Fracturing, by Eric
George (April 19, 2016)
11.
(EUR)
EUROPE: A
HISTORY, PART 2
How did Europe evolve from the last
Ice Age to the
European Union? British historian Norman Davies' scholarly,
insightful and
witty paperback outlines the process while untangling the
complexities of
European history. Not just a history of states, the book takes
into account all
the in-betweens, minority peoples, and the nations without
statehood. The book
is a holistic history for those who wish to have a good
grounding in European
history or want to refresh their memories about common culture
and political
heritage. The first half of the book, from Pre-history to
about 1450 A.D.,
is being covered during the Fall 2019 term.
During the Spring 2020 trimester,
we will cover
the period from the Renaissance and the Reformation
(1450-1670) to the modern
period (1945-1991). It is not necessary to have attended the
fall sessions to
be a member in the spring. Warning: the common
reading is quite
demanding; we will be reading and discussing over 500 pages of
material.
Common Reading: Europe: A History, by Norman Davies (January 1998)
12.
(GEN) 21ST
CENTURY GENETICS
After
billions of years of random DNA copying errors, a single-cell
organism evolved
into homo sapiens. Now, however, the principles of Darwinian
evolution are
themselves changing. From this point on, the changes no longer
rely on
randomness and natural selection.
Genetics
is already being used to determine if a couple’s genes may
cause a genetic
disease found in their ethnic group. This information
allows the couple
to decide if adoption is the best path. In the very near
future, it will be
possible to fertilize several eggs in vitro and select the one
with the “best”
DNA--though how one defines “best” is far from clear. In the
slightly longer
future, it will be possible to eliminate genetic diseases
through gene
therapy.
While
eliminating catastrophic genetic diseases should pose minimal
objections, there
are still many more questions about gene therapy.
The
selected book discusses in layman terms our current genetic
knowledge,
engineering abilities, ethical questions and the effect that
engineering may
have on medicine, sex, love and death. It fluctuates between
exuberance in what
can be done and concerns in what may unintentionally be done.
Possible
topics can be anything related to genetic engineering, genetic
diseases,
decoding DNA methods, AI’s use, ethics and social impact.
Common Reading: Hacking Darwin: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Humanity by Jamie Metzl (April 2019)
13. (INF)
THE INFIDEL
AND THE PROFESSOR
The story of the greatest of all
philosophical
friendships―and how it influenced modern thought. David Hume
is widely
regarded as the most important philosopher ever to write in
English, but during
his lifetime he was attacked as “the Great Infidel” for his
skeptical religious
views and deemed unfit to teach the young. In contrast, Adam
Smith was a
revered professor of moral philosophy, and is now often hailed
as the founding
father of capitalism. Remarkably, the two were best friends
for most of their
adult lives, sharing what Dennis Rasmussen calls the greatest
of all
philosophical friendships. The
Infidel and the Professor is the first book to tell
the fascinating
story of the friendship of these towering Enlightenment
thinkers―and how
it influenced their world-changing ideas.
The book follows Hume and Smith’s
relationship from
their first meeting in 1749 until Hume’s death in 1776. It
describes how they
commented on each other’s writings, supported each other’s
careers and literary
ambitions, and advised each other on personal matters, most
notably after
Hume’s quarrel with Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The book reveals
that Smith’s
private religious views were considerably closer to Hume’s
public ones than is
usually believed. It also shows that Hume contributed more to
economics―and Smith contributed more to philosophy―than is
generally recognized.
Possible Presentations: Smith's “invisible hand,” Hume's
“is-ought problem,”
free markets, free trade, political economy.
Common Reading: The Infidel and the Professor: David Hume, Adam Smith, and the Friendship That Shaped Modern Thought by Dennis C. Rasmussen (Princeton; September 2017)
14. (ISS) IRISH
SHORT STORIES
Ireland
has always been a
nation of story-tellers. Tall stories, simple stories,
stories of mystery,
love, violence and wonder are all part of Irish
conversation. What
began as both entertainment and
communication through the spoken word, grew into a literary
form no other
country can match. The stories give great insight to Irish
history and culture,
and show how the people adapted to hard times and the
repressive power of the
church.
Stories in
this collection
were selected by William Trevor who some describe as the
finest short-story
writer in the English language. Included
are stories written by Frank O’Connor, James Joyce, Oscar
Wilde, Edna O’Brien
and many more. They
range from 17th
century folk tales to modern short stories.
In this
S/DG, we will not
only read and discuss the stories, we will get to know
Ireland, her culture and
her people.
Suggested
presentation
topics: Biographies of the authors, events in Irish history,
traditions,
religion, music and language.
Common Reading: The Oxford Book of Irish Short Stories, edited by William Trevor (1989)
15. (LAA) LA
ARCHITECTURE
Architecture has generally
been a succession
of distinct styles. This changed in the nineteenth and early
twentieth
centuries when revivals became the style. Near the middle of
the twentieth
century a growing distaste for this condition resulted in a
dramatic shift in
theory and slowly in practice, and we will be examining this
as seen in Los
Angeles.
This is a survey of the built
environment and
building styles preserved in the Los Angeles area. Individual
presentations can
include reports on single buildings with the members’
critiques. The group can
decide on trips to specific sites or schedule some LA
Conservancy walking tours
of key architectural sites.
Possible presentation topics:
LA’s tall
buildings – technology and motivation; LA’s favorite
architectural styles –
1900 to 1945 – Art Deco, Beaux Arts, Craftsman; LA’s historic
core; fantasy
architecture; angeleno modern/international modern architects
– Rudolph
Schindler and Richard Neutra; Art & Architecture
magazine’s Case Study Program
of experimental houses; Eames, Soriano, Ellwood, Koenig – the
steel and glass
architects; the Wright tradition of organic architecture in
LA; Historic
Preservation Overlay Zones – pros, cons, how they get formed,
and the 20 HPOZs
in LA; architecture of LA museums; architecture of LA bridges
and freeways; architecture
of LA religious structures; architecture of LA libraries;
architecture of
performing arts spaces in LA – the movie palaces, the Music
Center, Disney
Hall, and the other 30+ designated theater historic-cultural
monuments.
Common Reading: An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles, by Robert Winter, David Gebhard, et al. (Fully Revised 6th Edition; December 2018; paperback)
Other Resources:
Landmark L.A:
Historic-Cultural
Landmarks of Los Angeles,
edited by Jeffrey Herr, City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs
Department, Angel
City Press, 2002
L A Lost & Found
– An Architectural
History of Los Angles
by Sam Hall Kaplan, 1987, Crown Publishers, Inc.
Los Angeles: The
Architecture of Four
Ecologies by Reyner
Banham, The Penguin Press, 1971, reprinted 1978
Higher: A Historic
Race to the Sky and
the Making of a City,
by Neal Bascomb (NY, Doubleday, 2003; $18.20 amazon.com)
Los
Angeles Conservancy – http://www.laconservancy.org/;
213-623-2489; non-profit organization working to recognize,
preserve and
revitalize LA County historic architectural and cultural
resources; conducts
Saturday walking tours of 13 areas.
16. (LSD) HOW
TO CHANGE
YOUR MIND
In the 1960s, as a handful of
scientific evangelists
such as Timothy Leary were researching how psychedelics might
be used in the
treatment of illness, they inadvertently catalyzed a powerful
backlash against
their cause.
However, today, a recreational drug
called ketamine
is now being used to treat depression – with FDA approval! Can
magic mushrooms
be used medically for the “betterment of well people”? How
about marijuana,
ecstasy, LSD, and other psychedelics?
This S/DG will research how
psychedelic drugs are now
being used to provide relief to people who suffer from
challenging conditions
such as depression, addiction, and anxiety; it will also delve
into how these
drugs can be used by healthy people to deal with the
challenges of everyday
life.
We will explore various altered
states of
consciousness, dive deeply into the latest brain science and
the thriving
underground community of psychedelic therapists, and attempt
to separate the
truth about these mysterious drugs from the myths that have
surrounded them for
the last 50 years.
Possible topics for presentations
include: Timothy
Leary; ketamine and depression; the backlash against drugs in
the 1960’s; the
use of recreational marijuana in the U.S.; CBD oil and its
uses; the science
and treatment of addiction; the use of psychedelics in
palliative care; and
whether spirituality and transcendence can be achieved through
chemicals. Also,
a field “trip” is a possibility.
Common Reading: How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence, by Michael Pollan (May 2018)
17. (NIC) TURNING
POINTS FOR NATIONS
IN CRISIS
In a dazzling
comparative study, Diamond shows us how seven countries have
survived defining
upheavals in the recent past . . . from US Commodore Perry’s
arrival in Japan,
to the Soviet invasion of Finland, to Pinochet’s regime in
Chile. He
identifies patterns in the way that these
distinct nations recovered from calamity through a process
of painful
self-appraisal and adaptation. Looking ahead to the future,
he investigates
whether the United States, and the world, are squandering
their natural
advantages, on a path towards political conflict and
decline. Or can we still
learn from the lessons of the past?
Adding a
psychological dimension to the awe-inspiring grasp of
history, geography,
economics, and anthropology that marks all Diamond’s work, Upheaval
reveals
how both nations and individuals can become more resilient.
The result is a
book that is epic, urgent, and groundbreaking.
Possible
Presentation Topics:
Common Reading: Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis, by Jared Diamond (May 2019)
18. (NTE) NOTHING
TO
ENVY
Nothing to Envy follows the lives of six North Koreans over fifteen
years—a chaotic
period that saw the death of Kim Il-sung, the unchallenged
rise to power of his
son Kim Jong-il, and the devastation of a far-ranging famine
that killed one-fifth
of the population.
Taking us into a landscape most of
us have never
before seen, award-winning journalist Barbara Demick brings to
life what it
means to be living under the most repressive totalitarian
regime today—an
Orwellian world that is by choice not connected to the
Internet, in which radio
and television dials are welded to the one government station,
and where
displays of affection are punished; a police state where
informants are
rewarded and where an offhand remark can send a person to the
gulag for life.
Possible presentations include:
Common Reading: Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick (2010)
19. (PIO)
THE
PIONEERS: BRINGING AMERICAN
IDEALS WEST
This S/DG
will study an
important and dramatic chapter in the American story—the
settling of the
Northwest Territory, ceded by Britain to the United States after the
Revolutionary War, by
dauntless pioneers who
overcame incredible hardships to build a community based on
ideals that would
come to define our country. The frame for this is an
examination of the town of
Marietta, Georgia, on the Ohio River. Included in the Northwest Ordinance
were three
remarkable conditions: freedom of religion, free universal
education, and most
importantly, the prohibition of slavery. In 1788 the first
band of pioneers set
out from New England for the Northwest Territory under the
leadership of
Revolutionary War veteran General Rufus Putnam. They settled
in what is now
Marietta.
In our
common reading,
Pulitzer Prize–winning historian David McCullough rediscovers
this important
and dramatic chapter in the American story.
He tells the
story through five
major characters: Cutler and Putnam; Cutler’s son Ephraim; and
two other men,
one a carpenter turned architect, and the other a physician
who became a
prominent pioneer in American science.
Like so many of McCullough’s subjects, they let no
obstacle deter or
defeat them.
Presentation
topics might
include the details and compromises of the Northwest
Ordinance, events
happening in other parts of the US at the same time as those
in the book,
McCulloch’s career as an author, trade,
relations with Indians, and the
recent history of
Marietta.
Common
Reading: The Pioneers: The Heroic
Story of the
Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West, by David
McCullough (May 19,
2019)
20. (SCH)
STEPHEN SCHWARTZ: GODSPELL
TO WICKED
Stephen Schwartz is among the rare
American
composer-lyricists whose Broadway musicals have inspired
passionate followings,
resulting in blockbuster hits like Wicked, Godspell,
and Pippin.
In this class we will discover how Schwartz’s beloved
musicals came to
life and learn about upcoming, exciting projects that
include stage
adaptations of The Hunchback of Notre Dame with Alan
Menken and The
Prince of Egypt.
By reading the book, of interest
will be the
abundance of behind-the-scenes stories in this Stephen
Schwartz biography that
came by way of the author’s unprecedented access to this
legendary songwriter
for interviews. She also drew from conversations with his
family members,
friends, and colleagues (librettists, composers, directors,
producers, and
actors) to render a rich portrait of this complex and gifted
artist. She rounds
out the book with photographs, Schwartz’s handwritten notes,
and highlighted
quotations.
The presentations will focus mainly
on the music of
these Broadway shows with explanations of how these tunes
relate to the
storylines and the development of the characters.
Resources could be CDs,
cast albums, or performances found on the internet. Class
discussions will rely
on questions generated from the chapters in the book.
Those wanting to know
more about Godspell,
Pippin, Children of Eden, Working, Rags, Wicked, and
The Hunchback
of Notre Dame, will discover the intentions of the
shows’ creators.
Singers, writers, fans, and anyone interested in the
development of stage and
film musicals will enjoy multiple insights from this backstage
journey, from Godspell
to Wicked, and beyond.
Common Reading: Defying Gravity: The Creative Career of Stephen Schwartz, from Godspell to Wicked, by Carol de Giere (biographer) (Applause Theatre and Cinema Books, USA, Updated edition – October 2018)
21.
(SHK) SHAKESPEARE: ALL THE
WORLD'S A
STAGE …
The Omnilorean New Globe Players
plan a fun January-April
2020 season — reading and studying 3 of Shakespeare’s
plays. Did you
know that of the 38 plays generally
credited to the Bard, almost half (18) of them are Comedies? Usually we read one
History play, one Comedy,
and one Tragedy, but sometimes we read 2 or 3 Comedies
depending on preferences
expressed at the pre-meeting in
December.
With players standing
and with a few
props and costumes, we will do reading walk-throughs and
discussions of the 3
plays to be chosen.
In this S/DG you will
learn how to
research all perspectives of Shakespeare’s works — sources of each play upon which the
Bard builds rich
characters and enhances the plots, how to play each character
“in character,”
themes, symbols, images, motifs, commentary on issues of the
day, and all
manner of rhyme and
reason. Class members
each serve on one play’s Board of Directors, responsible
for casting
roles for the repertory and leading discussions based on the
research — optionally
adding videos, music, and
costumes. For a
glimpse of how we live
the Bard in this S/DG, check out http://omnilore.org/members/Curriculum/SDGs/19c-SHK-Shakespeare
to view the Fall Shakespeare class’s website of links
to references
relevant to our plays and downloadable organizing artifacts.
There are no
prerequisites, theatrical or
otherwise. You
will find that the Bard
of Stratford-on-Avon will teach us, just as he’s taught others
for four hundred
years. With plenty for the novice as well as the veteran, it
is a foregone
conclusion members will leave
this class with a fuller understanding of the masterful story
construction, realistic
characters with depth and humanity, and the rich, evocative
language which have
earned William Shakespeare the title of greatest writer in the
English
language.
SHK will be limited to the first 24
enrollees and
will not split.
Common Reading: Selected Plays
22. (SNS) SIX DEGREES
OF SOCIAL NETWORKING
SEPARATION
Social networking sites such as
Facebook, Twitter,
and Instagram provide billions of people all around the world
with an
unprecedented ability to interact instantly with each other,
whether it is for
entertainment, news, community, social interaction, dating,
business
development, or any other activity of modern life.
However, social media is also being
blamed for the
fact that many young people are failing to learn how to be
sociable in person
and are often actually living very lonely and isolated lives,
for helping to
keep much of the public uninformed, aggravated and divided,
and for having an unhealthy
effect on our elections and political processes.
This S/DG will research the growing
field of social
media and cover topics such as:
What is Social Networking? Who
does it . . . kids, students, seniors, business professionals,
executives,
politicians? What
are the various
websites and how do they work?
Why would
someone participate? What
are the risks
of using these sites? How
is social
media being used in the medical profession, the political
arena, and the
marketplace? Is
it for me?
In addition to these and similar
topics, presentations
could be made on individual social media sites or other
Internet sites such as
Wikipedia, Google, and YouTube.
In addition to the suggested common
reading, useful
and up to date information for our research can be derived
from the Internet
itself, in addition to newspapers and magazines. The Internet available in our
classroom will also
allow live demonstrations of various websites.
Common Reading: Connected: The Surprising
Power of Our
Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives, by
Nicholas A. Christakis
and James H. Fowler (September 2009)
23. (SOA) SONGS OF
AMERICA
Through all the years of strife and
triumph, America
has been shaped not just by our elected leaders and our formal
politics but
also by our music—by the lyrics, performers, and instrumentals
that have helped
to carry us through the dark days and to celebrate the bright
ones.
From “The Star-Spangled Banner” to
“Born in the
U.S.A.,” Pulitzer-Prize winning historian Jon Meacham and
country music legend
Tim McGraw team up to take readers on a moving and insightful
journey through
eras in American history and the songs and performers that
inspired us. Meacham
chronicles our history, exploring the stories behind the
songs, and McGraw
reflects on them as an artist and performer. Their
perspectives combine to
create a unique view of the role music has played in uniting
and shaping a
nation.
Beginning with the battle hymns of
the revolution,
and taking us through songs from the defining events of the
Civil War, the
fight for women’s suffrage, the two world wars, the Great
Depression, the civil
rights movement, the Vietnam War, and into the twenty-first
century, Meacham
and McGraw explore the songs that defined generations, and the
cultural and
political climates that produced them.
Presentations and discussions could include a review of
other songs not
included in the book; details about the protest movements or
historical period
that made the songs so significant; how the music is used for
political
purposes now; the musical industry; changes that have occurred
in the
performance of the songs.
Common Reading: Songs of America: Patriotism, Protest, and the Music that Made a Nation, by Jon Meacham and Tim McGraw (June 2019)
24. (TOT) HOW TOTALITARIANISM RECLAIMED
RUSSIA
Masha Gessen is an outspoken critic
of Vladimir Putin
and she tracks the toxic legacy of the Soviet era that
undermines the hopes for
a liberal, law-bound, democratic Russia. She tells the story
of Soviet and
post-Soviet Russia through the lives of seven individuals, who
give
first-person accounts of the everyday ordeal of surviving true
to oneself in
Russia. Like Zhanna, daughter of popular opposition politician
Boris Nemtsov
and activist in her own right, whose life demonstrates some of
the consequences
of opposing the regime, and Masha, the journalist whose life
illustrates the
perils of truth-telling.
We live the lives of Masha’s
interviewees through her
elegant prose, and come to understand how, under Putin,
authoritarianism fell
across Russia like a blanket. Russians have learned to
publicly support the
government ideology while knowing that it oppresses their very
existence. And
yet, there are still people who fight for truth, healing, and
freedom. Over and
over, they rise to attend banned protests very likely to land
them in jail (or
worse). Their stories of bravery and selflessness consistently
inspire.
For many readers, this book will
provide deep
understanding of why Russia is what it is now and why Putin
continues to be
popular. It is also a lesson on how democracy can slip away
through attacks on
the press, construction of alternate realities, propagation of
fake news,
persecution of minorities, and the shameless grabbing of
executive power.
Presentation
topics
include: Russian activists, protests and opposition leaders,
erosion of free
speech, Internet restrictions, collapse of the Soviet Union,
Yeltsin years,
Gorbachev’s reforms, Russian economy, “Czar Putin,” and
Russia’s meddling in
U.S. elections.
Common Reading: The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia by Masha Gessen (October 2017)