TOPICS OFFERED FOR SUMMER 2020

Classes start May 1^st and end August 31^st.

Holiday periods are adapted to by individual class voting.

1. (6GL) A HISTORY OF THE WORLD IN 6 GLASSES

“There is no history of mankind, there are only many histories of various aspects of human life.” (Karl Popper, philosopher of science).

In this course, we will use the New York Times Bestseller, A History of the World in 6 Glasses, to study the story of civilization through the prism of just six drinks.

We will follow author Tom Standage as he explains:

how beer is tied to the growth of civilization in the Fertile Crescent around 3000 B.C.E;
how wine was ancient Greece's main export and was connected to the spread of Greek culture through Greece's wide-ranging seaborne trade;
how spirits such as brandy and rum were central to the Age of Exploration, to colonialism, and to the slave trade;
how, when coffee was imported from the Arab world to Europe, coffee houses became centers of intellectual exchange which ultimately fostered the growth of the Age of Reason and the spread of revolution;
how the extreme popularity of tea in Britain dictated so much of British foreign policy in the 19^th Century;
and, finally, how carbonated drinks came to dominance starting in the early 20^th Century, leading to (among other things) Coca-Cola's becoming the leading symbol of globalization in today's world.

Possible research/presentation topics for this S/DG might include: more detailed research into or discussion of any of the six drinks discussed in our book; the significance of other drinks not discussed in the book, possibly including important drinks in other geographical and cultural traditions; the nutritional significance of any of the drinks discussed in the book; the role and effect of beer in modern times; the role of alcohol in early and/or modern societies; drinks which were once popular but failed to endure.

Common Reading: A History of the World in 6 Glasses, by Tom Standage (May 2006)

2. (ADD) THE RISE OF ADDICTIVE TECHNOLOGY AND THE BUSINESS OF KEEPING US HOOKED

Welcome to the age of behavioral addiction—an age in which half of the American population is addicted to at least one behavior. We obsess over our emails, Instagram likes, and Facebook feeds; we binge on TV episodes and YouTube videos; we work longer hours each year; and we spend an average of three hours each day using our smartphones. Half of us would rather suffer a broken bone than a broken phone, and Millennial kids spend so much time in front of screens that they struggle to interact with real, live humans.

In this revolutionary book, Adam Alter, a professor of psychology and marketing at NYU, tracks the rise of behavioral addiction, and explains why so many of today's products are irresistible. Though these miraculous products melt the miles that separate people across the globe, their extraordinary and sometimes damaging magnetism is no accident. The companies that design these products tweak them over time until they become almost impossible to resist.

By reverse engineering behavioral addiction, Alter explains how we can harness addictive products for the good—to improve how we communicate with each other, spend and save our money, and set boundaries between work and play—and how we can mitigate their most damaging effects on our well-being, and the health and happiness of our children. Presentations: Could be on the addictive technologies such as Facebook, Google, Twitter, the Internet itself, dating sites, impacts on the mental and physical impacts on children, the dark Web and its dangers.

Common Reading: Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked, by Adam Alter (March 2018)

3. (BDY) THE BODY: A GUIDE FOR OCCUPANTS

Bill Bryson, bestselling author of A Short History of Nearly Everything, takes us on a head-to-toe tour of the marvel that is the human body. As addictive as it is comprehensive, this is Bryson at his very best, a must-read owner's manual for everybody--named a best book of the year by the Washington Post.

Bill Bryson once again proves himself to be an incomparable companion as he guides us through the human body--how it functions, its remarkable ability to heal itself, and (unfortunately) the ways it can fail. Full of extraordinary facts (your body made a million red blood cells since you started reading this) and irresistible Brysonesque anecdotes, The Body will lead you to a deeper understanding of the miracle that is life in general and you in particular. As Bill Bryson writes, "We pass our existence within this wobble of flesh and yet take it almost entirely for granted." The Body will cure that indifference with generous doses of wondrous, compulsively readable facts and information.

If you’d like to learn more about how the body works but don’t want to read textbooks on human anatomy and physiology, this is the book for you. We are the product of three billion years of evolutionary refinement, a biological machine of unimagined complexity, and yet most of us can’t even identify where the spleen is, or what it does.

If this book doesn’t pique your interest in how your body works, then nothing probably will. Bryson takes the reader through each body system, describing the anatomy and physiology of each, but also providing historical information, expert interviews, and biographical details on the pioneers of medical discovery. Bryson, as usual, writes in an informative and entertaining way, presenting information in clever ways (for example, when he states that a portion of your cerebral cortex the size of a grain of sand can hold 1.2 billion copies of this book.) The book is filled with calculations and analogies like this to help the reader better understand the information.

Presentations can cover issues such as the impact of various foods on the body, how medical treatment fixes many endemic diseases, the work on extending life, replacing failing body parts with artificial parts or even growing a new part in the lab or body. The coordinator will point you to many other possibilities.

Common Reading: The Body: A Guide for Occupants, by Bill Bryson (October 2019)

4. (BRN) THE BROWNS AND CALIFORNIA HISTORY

This S/DG will study the history of California and its impact on the nation, from the Gold Rush to Silicon Valley--told through the lens of the Brown family dynasty that led the state for nearly a quarter century. The focus will be on Pat Brown, the father who presided over California during an era of unmatched expansion and Jerry Brown, the son who became the youngest governor in modern times--and then returned three decades later as the oldest.

The S/DG common reading is The Browns of California, a narrative history that spans four generations, from August Schuckman, the Prussian immigrant who crossed the Plains in 1852 and settled on a northern California ranch, to his great-grandson Jerry Brown, who reclaimed the family homestead one hundred forty years later. Through the prism of their lives, we will gain an essential understanding of California and an appreciation of its importance.

Possible presentation topics: California Gold Rush, political dynasties, California politics, Proposition 13, development of California university systems, growth of Southern California, etc.

Common Reading: The Browns of California: The Family Dynasty that Transformed a State and Shaped a Nation, by Miriam Pawel (October 2019)

5. (COL) COLLAPSE: HOW SOCIETIES CHOOSE TO FAIL OR SUCCEED

In his Pulitzer Prize–winning bestseller Guns, Germs, and Steel geographer and author Jared Diamond laid out a grand view of the organic roots of human civilizations in flora, fauna, climate and geology. That vision takes on apocalyptic overtones in this fascinating comparative study of societies that have, sometimes fatally, undermined their own ecological foundations. Diamond is a brilliant expositor of everything from anthropology to zoology, providing a lucid background of scientific lore to support a stimulating, incisive historical account of these many declines and falls. Readers will find his book an enthralling, and disturbing, reminder of the indissoluble links that bind humans to nature.

With our author we will examine selected storied examples of human economic and social collapse, and even extinction, including Easter Island, classical Mayan civilization and the Greenland Norse.

Presentation topics include updating and expanding on patterns of population growth, over-farming, over-grazing and over-hunting, often abetted by drought, cold, rigid social mores and warfare. Presentations could cover Brazil’s deforestation, erosion and starvation prompted by the disappearance of plant and animal food sources. In addition, we will have many opportunities for research, share findings, and discussing how sensitive our human civilization is to an ever-shrinking natural world. Fires in Australia and California support presentations on expansion of cities and humans into many areas resulting in ecological damage and possible ways of minimizing the damage to habitat and animals.

Common Reading: Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, by Jared Diamond (December 2004)

6. (DVI) DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

If wife beating was made illegal in all states by 1920, why are 10 million cases of abuse to women and men occurring every year? In America, domestic violence accounts for 15 percent of all violent crime, and yet it remains locked in silence…a private crime that’s “just a family thing”. Most cases of abuse are not reported and yet the statistics surrounding domestic violence are astounding. They show up in increased homeless numbers, resulting murders, and social services work with children. This S/DG will use the book NO VISIBLE BRUISES as the basis for exploring this topic to look at the issues involved and what is currently being done…or what can be done about this situation.

Presentations and discussions could investigate how the U.S. compares world-wide and with other developed countries; what local assistance is available; why police find responding to domestic calls to be problematic; what professional sports have been doing to assist players and families with this issue; and how this impacts the police and legal system.

Common Reading: No Visible Bruises: What We Don’t Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us, by Rachel Louise Snyder (May 2019)

7. (HAI) LIFE 3.0: BEING HUMAN IN THE AGE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

In this authoritative and eye-opening book, Max Tegmark describes and illuminates the recent, path-breaking advances in Artificial Intelligence and how it is poised to overtake human intelligence. How will AI affect crime, war, justice, jobs, society and our very sense of being human? The rise of AI has the potential to transform our future more than any other technology—and there’s nobody better qualified or situated to explore that future than Max Tegmark, an MIT professor who’s helped mainstream research on how to keep AI beneficial.

What sort of future do you want? This book empowers you to join what may be the most important conversation of our time. It doesn’t shy away from the full range of viewpoints or from the most controversial issues—from superintelligence to meaning, consciousness and the ultimate physical limits on life in the cosmos.

Presentations can cover how can we grow our prosperity through automation without leaving people lacking income or purpose? Should we have a minimum income to cover those losing their jobs due to AI? What career advice should we give today’s kids? How can we make future AI systems more robust, so that they do what we want without crashing, malfunctioning or getting hacked? Should we fear an arms race in lethal autonomous weapons? Will machines eventually outsmart us at all tasks, replacing humans on the job market and perhaps altogether? Will driverless cars save lives, but eliminate taxis and Uber? Will AI help life flourish like never before or give us more power than we can handle?

Common Reading: Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence by Max Tegmark (July 2018)

8. (HEA) HEALTHY EATING AND LIVING

In his latest book, The Blue Zones Solutions, Dan Buettner reveals how to transform your health using smart eating and lifestyle habits gleaned from new research on the diets, eating habits, and lifestyle practices of the communities he's identified as "Blue Zones"—those places with the world's longest-lived, and thus healthiest, people, including locations such as Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Costa Rica's Nicoya Peninsula; Ikaria, Greece; and Loma Linda, California.

In this book, readers can be inspired by the specific stories of the people, foods, and routines of our healthy elders; understand the role community, family, and naturally healthy habits can play in improving our diet and health; and learn the exact foods— including the 50 superfoods of longevity and dozens of recipes adapted for Western tastes and markets—that offer delicious ways to eat your way to optimum health. Throughout the book are lifestyle recommendations, checklists, and stories to help you create your own personal Blue Zones solution.

Locally, Beach Cities Health District succeeded in being the top finalist among 55 communities vying to become the next Blue Zone in a joint venture with HealthWays and a team of experts to work on a pilot program to make the next Blue Zone on earth through healthy community initiatives.

Possible presentation topics are: Is the Government Food Pyramid Still Relevant? Blue Zone Restaurants in the South Bay; Benefits from Whole-Food Plant-Based Diet; Benefits of Intermittent Fasting; Cancer Caused by Dairy Products; Diets Tailored for Seniors; How Diet Affects Your Microbiome’s Health; Are Any of the Popular Diets Healthy?

Common Reading: The Blue Zones Solution: Eating and Living Like the World’s Healthiest People, by Dan Buettner (April 2015)

9. (HSS) ALFRED HITCHCOCK - SHORT STORIES

Do you enjoy good old-fashioned mystery stories? Do you like stories that leave the ending up to the reader? These questions will be answered in this class. Alfred Hitchcock, the Master of Suspense, has chosen spine tingling tales of murder most foul, taken from the annals of his mystery magazine.

Profit, revenge, or assassination: whatever the motive, these stories feature all the twists, turns, and terror mystery lovers long for. Meet the acrostic puzzle maker who foretells the fate of her enemies, the chess player who makes some unusual moves against his opponents, and the lifeguard who wants to save only the “worthy”. See what happens to the mother-daughter team on the prowl for rich husbands and the gangland mediator who makes sure his decisions are final … very final. The class will read the chosen selection by the presenter who will generate questions based on these stories for class discussion. So, prepare yourself for a harrowing lesson in the deadliest of crimes...and blood-curdling chills in the grand Hitchcock tradition.

Common Reading: Portraits of Murder: 47 Short Stories Chosen by the Master of Suspense, by Alfred Hitchcock (editor) (BBS Publishing Corporation; August 2005)

10. (HUM) HUMANIMAL

Evolutionary theory has long established that humans are animals: Modern Homo sapiens are primates who share an ancestor with monkeys and other great apes. Our genome is 98 percent identical to a chimpanzee’s. And yet we think of ourselves as exceptional. Are we?

In this original and entertaining tour of life on Earth, Adam Rutherford explores the profound paradox of the “human animal.” Looking for answers across the animal kingdom, he finds that many things once considered exclusively human are not: In Australia, raptors have been observed starting fires to scatter prey; in Zambia, a chimp named Julie even started a “fashion” of wearing grass in one ear. We aren’t the only species that communicates, makes tools, or has sex for reasons other than procreation. But we have developed a culture far more complex than any other we’ve observed. Why has that happened, and what does it say about us?

Humanimal is a new evolutionary history—a synthesis of the latest research on genetics, sex, migration, and much more. It reveals what unequivocally makes us animals—and also why we are truly extraordinary. Numerous topics in the book call for more detailed study and those ensure that it will be easy to develop presentations on the latest evidence from behavioral science, genetics, and paleoanthropology.

Common Reading: Humanimal: How Homo sapiens Became Nature’s Most Paradoxical Creature_A New Evolutionary History, by Adam Rutherford (March 2019)

11. (IMM) SCIENCE AND ETHICS OF IMMIGRATION

USA has largely thrived on a flow of immigrants and some call this country a nation of immigrants. There has often, as now, been resistance to newcomers as they are seen by some to be a threat to current job holders or as culturally divisive. Some favor walling out immigrants. Such attitudes are not unique to the USA. Yet, there is a significant body of evidence that immigration is often, if not usually, beneficial to the people who move, the societies into which they move, and the countries from which they move.

This S/DG will explore the arguments and data regarding the benefits and risks of accepting newcomers. Some questions that might be researched include: What rates of population change are consistent with social stability? What are the effects of admitting people of different religions? What can we learn from looking at the experiences of other countries, e.g., Germany and Sweden, that have admitted proportionately large numbers of immigrants from the Middle East? What are the benefits and drawbacks accruing to countries, e.g., Japan, that sharply restricted immigration? How much language diversity should be accepted? Did the Great Wall of China work?

Common Reading: Open Boarders: The Science and Ethics of Immigration by Bryan Caplan and illustrated by Zach Weinersmith (October 2019)

12. (MMH) MANHATTAN MAYHEM: NEW CRIME STORIES FROM MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA

From Wall Street to Harlem, the borough of Manhattan is the setting for all-new stories of mystery, murder, and suspense, presented by best-selling author Mary Higgins Clark and featuring an exclusive Jack Reacher story by Lee Child, as well as other tales from top Mystery Writers of America authors.

In Lee Child's “The Picture of the Lonely Diner,” legendary drifter Jack Reacher interrupts a curious stand-off in the shadow of the Flatiron Building. In Jeffery Deaver’s “The Baker of Bleecker Street,” an Italian immigrant becomes ensnared in WWII espionage. And in “The Five-Dollar Dress,” Mary Higgins Clark unearths the contents of a mysterious hope chest found in an apartment on Union Square. With additional stories from T. Jefferson Parker, S. J. Rozan, Nancy Pickard, Ben H. Winters, Brendan DuBois, Persia Walker, Jon L. Breen, N. J. Ayres, Angela Zeman, Thomas H. Cook, Judith Kelman, Margaret Maron, Justin Scott, and Julie Hyzy, Manhattan Mayhem is teeming with red herrings, likely suspects, and thoroughly satisfying mysteries.

Common Reading: Manhattan Mayhem: New Crime Stories from Mystery Writers of America, edited by Mary Higgins Clark (2015)

13. (MOR) TONI MORRISON

Toni Morrison was a novelist, essayist, editor, teacher, and professor emeritus at Princeton University. In 1977 she won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Song of Solomon, and in 1988 she won the Pulitzer Prize and American Book Award for Beloved. She was the first African-American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993. President Obama presented Morrison with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012. Morrison passed away on August 5, 2019.

Margaret Atwood said this about Beloved - “Indeed, Ms. Morrison’s versatility and technical and emotional range appear to know no bounds. If there were any doubts about her stature as a pre-eminent American novelist, of her own or any other generation, Beloved will put them to rest. In three words or less, it’s a hair- raiser.”

Presentation topics could discuss any one of Morrison’s books, could compare her books, or review her life outside of her writings.

Common Reading: The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations, by Toni Morrison (February 2019)

14. (MUS) THE SCIENCE AND CULTURE OF MUSICALTASTE

Everyone loves music. But what is it that makes music so universally beloved and have such a powerful effect on us?

In our common reading, Dr. Nolan Gasser - a composer, pianist, and musicologist, and the chief architect of Pandora Radio’s Music Genome Project - breaks down what musical taste is, where it comes from, and what our favorite songs say about us. This book has a companion study website: whyyoulikeit.com.

Dr. Gasser delves into the science, psychology, and sociology that explains why humans love music so much, how our brains process music, and why you may love Queen but your best friend loves Kiss. He sheds light on why babies can clap along to rhythmic patterns and reveals the reason behind why different cultures around the globe identify the same kinds of music as happy, sad, or scary. Using easy-to-follow notated musical scores, Dr. Gasser teaches music fans how to become engaged listeners and provides them with the tools to enhance their musical preferences. He takes readers under the hood of their favorite genres - pop, rock, jazz, hip hop, electronica, world music, and classical - and covers songs from Taylor Swift to Led Zeppelin to Kendrick Lamar to Bill Evans to Beethoven, and through their work, Dr. Gasser introduces the musical concepts behind why you hum along, tap your foot, and feel deeply. Why You Like It will teach you how to follow the musical discourse happening within a song and thereby empower your musical taste, so you will never hear music the same way again.

Possible presentations might address why we continue to listen to the music of our youth rather than that of our children, cultural differences that impact our musical taste, or examples of music that pleases (or displeases) us.

Common Reading: Why You Like It: The Science and Culture of Musical Taste by Nolan Gasser (April 2019)

15. (PIH) BRAVE COMPANIONS: PORTRAITS IN HISTORY

Do you love both history and short stories and essays? This is the class for you.

Pulitzer prize winner David McCullough, an author popular with Omniloreans, provides tales of people whose great vision and daring inspire us and also illuminate the human condition. Covering persons both familiar (Teddy Roosevelt, Harriett Beecher Stowe, Charles & Anne Lindbergh) and less so, this collection of essays, biographical studies, and speeches will keep us intrigued and spur stimulating class discussion. Pieces on the Brooklyn Bridge, the Panama Canal, Cassion’s Disease, the early days of aviation and more add further historical flavor.

Join us to gain a new appreciation for places, events and people that make up our fascinating past.

Presentations: As with our short story classes, each class member will cover an excerpt from the book, fleshing it out with further research on the subject to provide more details and context.

Common Reading: Brave Companions: Portraits in History, by David McCullough (November 1992)

16. (PTF) PERMISSION TO FEEL

This S/DG can give us hope at a time when things are especially challenging. We can all make this paradigm shift - feelings matter and we are all better off giving ourselves and those around us "permission to feel"... In the framework of this approach, the first three skills— Recognizing, Understanding, and Labeling— help us to accurately identify and decode what we and others are feeling. Then, the two remaining skills— Expressing and Regulating— tell us how we can manage those emotions to achieve desired outcomes— our ultimate goal.

The text is an excellent book, offering important information for people of all ages and a clear system for putting the information into use. There are plenty of scientific data and real-world examples to emphasize the causes and effects of emotions as well as the method presented. Presentations can be based on recent advances in emotional intelligence and an evidence-based approach to social and emotional learning. Examples are (1) dementia , (2) beneficial effects of sympathy, (3) road to resilience, (4) emotional intelligence testing, (5) how emotions are made, (6) gender differences, (7) communication of emotion, (8) benefits of controlled breathing, (9) stress reduction, (10) mindful breathing, (11) nature of procrastination.

Common Reading: Permission to Feel: Unlocking the Power of Emotions to Help Our Kids, Ourselves, and Our Society Thrive, by Marc Brackett, PhD (September 2019)

[Go to https://www.marcbrackett.com/ for further information.]

17. (QUW) SOMETHING DEEPLY HIDDEN: QUANTUM WORLDS AND THE EMERGENCE OF SPACETIME

This S/DG will study a new book whose main theme is that it is the task of physics to try to say what fundamentally exists and how it behaves, and that Quantum Mechanics as presented in physics textbooks (and in the minds of most physicists) fails to do that even though it is incredibly good as a tool for making predictions of the results of experiments, i.e., interpreting what the quantum equations “mean” is not settled. This point was made by Einstein and Schrodinger (two of the main inventors of QM) but ignored by most of the physics community with a few exceptions. Our text mostly sides with the views of one of those exceptions - Everett's so called “many worlds interpretation”. He shows how it proposes to do the task of physics and answers some bad objections to it. He mentions some good objections involving understanding probability that he thinks can be answered but this is much more controversial. He also shows how the Everett account may hold promise for dealing with the problem of constructing a quantum theory of gravity. But this is even more controversial. The book offers both the weakness and strength of being written without equations (the language of science).

Topics for presentations range from Quantum Mechanics and its other interpretations to Relativity and the interesting scientists who contributed to our understanding of the world.

While the book was written for non-scientific (general) audiences, a background in some field of science is helpful as is a prior passing familiarity with the subject. If that's a concern, looking at the Prologue and first few pages of the book on Amazon (or at the library) may be useful.

Common Reading: Something Deeply Hidden: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime, by Sean Carroll (September 2019)

18. (RAN) FOOLED BY RANDOMNESS

Fooled by Randomness is the word-of-mouth sensation that will change the way you think about business and the world. Nassim Nicholas Taleb–veteran trader, renowned risk expert, polymathic scholar, erudite raconteur, and New York Times bestselling author of The Black Swan–has written a modern classic that turns on its head what we believe about luck and skill.

This book is about luck–or more precisely, about how we perceive and deal with luck in life and business. Set against the backdrop of the most conspicuous forum in which luck is mistaken for skill–the world of trading–Fooled by Randomness provides captivating insight into one of the least understood factors in all our lives. Writing in an entertaining narrative style, the author tackles major intellectual issues related to the underestimation of the influence of happenstance on our lives.

The book is populated with an array of characters, some of whom have grasped, in their own way, the significance of chance: the baseball legend Yogi Berra; the philosopher of knowledge Karl Popper; the ancient world’s wisest man, Solon; the modern financier George Soros; and the Greek voyager Odysseus. We also meet the fictional Nero, who seems to understand the role of randomness in his professional life but falls victim to his own superstitious foolishness.

However, the most recognizable character of all remains unnamed–the lucky fool who happens to be in the right place at the right time–he embodies the “survival of the least fit.” Such individuals attract devoted followers who believe in their guru’s insights and methods. But no one can replicate what is obtained by chance.

Are we capable of distinguishing the fortunate charlatan from the genuine visionary? Must we always try to uncover nonexistent messages in random events? It may be impossible to guard ourselves against the vagaries of the goddess Fortuna, but after reading Fooled by Randomness we can be a little better prepared.

Presentation topics can include: Are we capable of distinguishing the fortunate charlatan from the genuine visionary? How to not try to uncover nonexistent messages in random events? How do randomness and analytics play a role in sport? Can we always predict the winner? How to pick a winner adviser in the stock or maybe not? While it may be impossible to guard ourselves against the vagaries of the goddess Fortuna, we will be a little better prepared. Another possibility is look at the “Madden Curse”, the idea that the winner of Super Bowl predicts the stock market for the coming year is one of those facts that is generally accepted as true. Is it?

Common Reading: Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (October 2008)

19. (SFF) WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE

2020 marks the 100th anniversary of women getting the right to vote. While we take that right for granted now, and the majority of current voters are women, it took the time, talent and energy of three generations of women, most of whom labored in the shadows, to pass the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution. Even then, few Americans could name more than a single suffragist. The centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment seems like a good chance to rectify that.

In our common reading, Susan Ware introduces us to the history of women’s suffrage by exploring the lives of nineteen activists, most of whom have long been overlooked due to race, class, or sexuality. Presentations might focus on contemporaneous events such as the relationship between suffragettes and abolitionists, examine the current state of women’s rights, such as the failure of the Equal Rights Amendment or the impact of Title 9, or introduce us to modern women who fought for women’s equality, such as Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Bella Abzug, or Gloria Steinem.

Common Reading: Why They Marched: Untold Stories of the Women Who Fought for the Right to Vote, by Susan Ware (May 2019)

20. (SNA) COLONIAL SPANISH NORTH AMERICA

In the 1500s Spain conquered the Americas creating a huge empire. The truth is that while maps showed western North America under Spanish control, that control did not extend north of southern Arizona and southern Texas with the famous California missions not being created until the mid-1700s. As time progressed Spain lost control as Spanish and Aztec people married thereby combining the Spanish and Aztec cultures into a new culture called Mexican where being related to Montezuma (last Aztec ruler) was more important than being related to Spanish royalty. By the late 1700s, Mexicans (like the English in the 13 colonies) no longer wanted to be governed by Spain and revolts lead to independence. Eventually the combination of insufficient population, ineffective Mexican governments and an aggressive US resulted in Mexico losing its northern territory.

This S/DG will cover Spanish North America (Mexico, US and Canada) from 1492 through 1898 (Spanish-American War). Possible topics are explorers/Conquistadors, California missions, Native American cultures, Wars (Indian, Mexican Independence, Texas Independence, and Mexican), and the evolution of Mexican culture (architecture, art, food).

Common Reading: América: The Epic Story of Spanish North America, 1493-1898 by Robert Goodwin (March 2019)

21. (SPY) A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE AMERICAN SPY WHO HELPED WIN WWII

You know about James Bond, 007, but do you know about the real life spy Virginia Hall?

In 1942, the Gestapo sent out an urgent transmission: “She is the most dangerous of all Allied spies. We must find and destroy her.”

They were in search of Virginia Hall, a Baltimore socialite who talked her way into Special Operations Executive, Churchill’s topnotch spy organization. Hall became the first Allied woman deployed behind enemy lines and--despite her prosthetic leg--helped to light the flame of the French Resistance, revolutionizing secret warfare as we know it.

She established vast spy networks throughout France, called weapons and explosives down from the skies, and became a linchpin for the Resistance. Refusing order after order to evacuate, Hall finally escaped through a death-defying hike over the Pyrenees into Spain, her cover blown. But she plunged back in, adamant that she had more lives to save, and led a victorious guerilla campaign, liberating swathes of France from the Nazis after D-Day. Hall’s is an astounding and inspiring story of heroism, spycraft, resistance, and personal triumph over shocking adversity.

This S/DG will use her amazing story as a jumping-off point to learn about the daring deeds of female spies in desperate times.

Possible Presentations:

Other female spies in WWII (Julia Child?) or during other times of war
Comparison of spycraft in different eras
How spies are recruited and trained
Female spies in fiction

Common Reading: A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II, by Sonia Purnell (April 2019)

22. (TCM) TURNER CLASSIC MOVIE ESSENTIALS

Since its inception on Turner Classic Movies in 2001, The Essentials has become the ultimate series for movie lovers.

As a result, this class will expand one's knowledge of must-see cinema and revisit landmark films that have had a lasting impact on audiences everywhere--movies such as: All Quiet on the Western Front, The Graduate, North by Northwest, Bonnie and Clyde, Gone With the Wind, Ben Hur, The Red Shoes, Rocky and many more. Using the recommended book, TCM The Essentials: 52 Must-See Movies and Why They Matter, classmates will choose one of the movies to do further research and present findings to the class. Those movies will be viewed at home by the class and discussion questions will be sent out in order to promote lively dialogue by all after each presentation. The goal of this class will be to show how the entire spectrum of classic movies, movie history and movie-making touches us all and influences how we think and live today. A plethora of must-see movies awaits you, from the golden age to the near present, defining what it means to be a classic.

Common Reading: TCM The Essentials, 52 Must-See Movies and Why They Matter by Jeremy Arnold, forward by Robert Osborne (May 2016)

23. (TRB) POLITICAL TRIBES

Humans are tribal. We need to belong to groups. In many parts of the world, the group identities that matter most – the ones people will kill and die for – are ethnic, religious, sectarian, or clan based. But because America tends to see the world in terms of nation-states engaged in great ideological battles – Capitalism versus Communism, democracy versus authoritarianism, the “Free World” versus the “Axis of Evil” – we are often spectacularly oblivious to the power of tribal politics. Time and again this blindness has undermined American foreign policy. Domestically, identity politics have seized both the American left and right in an especially dangerous, racially inflected way. Every group feels threatened: whites and blacks, Latinos and Asians, men and women, liberals and conservatives, etc. Every group feels persecuted and discriminated against. We need to rediscover a national identity that transcends our internal political tribes – one that acknowledges the reality of group differences and resolves the deep inequalities that divide us.

Possible research/presentation topics might include: What tribal affiliations do I feel? How can a multi-ethnic country like America relate to more monolithic countries like China and Russia? Can evangelicals and secularists get along? Is there any way a single tribe could dominate America? How can we make peace with other tribes without conquering them?

Common Reading: Political Tribes: Group instinct and the Fate of Nationsby Amy Chua (February 2018)

24. (USE) HIDDEN EMPIRE OF THE UNITED STATES

When asked about empires, the most common ones named are the Roman, the Ottoman, and the British Empire. Rarely is the United States listed as having an empire. However, using the suggested reading as a guide, this S/DG will look at the wide-ranging imperial adventures of the United States and consider the various territories - islands, atolls, and archipelagos – that have been governed and inhabited for better and worse by the United States. Was the acquisition of the locations done with planned colonial ambitions or by chance? Colonialism includes governing, settling/occupying, and gaining through economic exploitation. A review of our global expansion and influence in other countries can also be seen through the establishment of military bases after World War II and is also considered in the book.

Possible presentations include: additional information about personalities involved in the acquisitions; impacts when US military bases are closed; American influence in post-colonial Philippines; history of Guantanamo Bay; life in today’s Puerto Rico.

Common Reading: How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States, by Daniel Immerwahr (February 2019)