1.    (ADR)    THE  ADRIATIC

Common Reading:  The Adriatic: A Concert of Civilizations at the End of the Modern Age, by Robert D. Kaplan (April 12, 2022)

In this insightful travelogue, the author, a geopolitical expert and bestselling author, turns his perceptive eye to a region that for centuries has been a meeting point of cultures, trade, and ideas. He undertakes a journey around the Adriatic Sea, through Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, and Greece, to reveal that far more is happening in the region than most news stories let on. Often overlooked, the Adriatic is in fact at the center of the most significant challenges of our time, including the rise of populist politics, the refugee crisis, and battles over the control of energy resources. And it is once again becoming a global trading hub that will determine Europe’s relationship with the rest of the world as China and Russia compete for dominance in its ports. 

2.     (AMM)     AMERICAN MADE

Common Reading:  American Made, What Happens to People When Work Disappears, by Farah Stockman (October 2021)

This report by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Farah Stockman on the closing of a ball bearing factory in Indiana recounts, along with issues of labor and trade, effects on the lives of three of the workers – Wally Hall, John Feltner, and Shannon Mulcahy – who lost their jobs. It shows what they lost with the job and how they coped with the aftermath. It highlights the cultural divide in this country between high school and college-educated people, especially isolation of the highly educated. It describes the disruptions of family instability and run-ins with the law. It stresses the importance of work, even as manufacturing jobs leave for low-wage places, or are automated away, leaving mostly jobs in the service economy available to laid-off workers. It illustrates the shared, and differing, attitudes toward work and work experiences of men and women, whites and blacks, as well as their political attitudes.

The many topics covered in the book, including unions, chasing low-wage labor, work skills, automation, unemployment, UBI (Universal Basic Income), work guarantees, class division based on education, race and sex discrimination, family stability, the justice system, can be used for presentations.

3.     (ART)     50  WOMEN  ARTISTS  YOU  SHOULD  KNOW

Common Reading:  50 Women Artists You Should Know, by Christiane Weidemann, Petra Larass, Melanie Klier (Paperback, November 2017)

Why does it seem that history has ignored so many women artists? This S/DG will focus on 50 women artists many of whom are unfamiliar. The common reading includes artists from early Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi to Impressionist Mary Cassatt, to modern icons such as Frida Kahlo, Georgia O’Keeffe and Louise Bourgeois.

Possible topics:

• Any of the 50 artists in the book;
• Female artists not mentioned in the book;
• Contributions of women artists to various art movements;
• Analysis of why so many women artists were overlooked for so long.
  

4.     (AUS)     FOUNDING  OF  AUSTRALIA 

Common Reading:  The Fatal Shore: The Epic of Australia’s Founding by Robert Hughes (paperback, February1988; 628 pages)

Problems with prison systems, providing for the poor, and dealing with the homeless are not new problems.  Eighteenth century England’s solution was to transport 160,000 men and women thousands of miles to the other side of world and out of sight. 

This S/DG will dig into the dark history of the founding and settling of Australia.  The recommended book as a basis for class discussion is The Fatal Shore: The Epic of Australia’s Founding by Robert Hughes.  By tracing the European presence in Australia from early explorations through the rise and fall of the penal colonies, the S/DG will learn about the crisis in crime and punishment in Georgian Great Britain and how Captain Cook’s initial discovery of the east coast of Australia influenced the solution.

Possible presentations for this S/DG would be to investigate additional information on how England’s settlement of the U.S. compared to its development of Australia; how have both countries dealt with their indigenous population; how have prison systems and punishment methods evolved; comparison to current immigration issues and popular beliefs about the immigrants; and how do we reconcile this act of transporting people out of view in today’s society.

INSUFFICIENT MEMBER INTEREST – WILL BE DROPPED:  

5.     (CAM)     A  HISTORY  OF  CAMPING  IN  AMERICA 

Common Reading:  Heading Out: A History of American Camping, by Terence Young (June 2017)

Camping is one of our most popular pastimes ― tens of millions of Americans go camping every year! Whether on foot, on horseback or in RVs, campers have been enjoying themselves for well more than a century, during which time camping’s appeal has shifted and evolved.

By way of our recommended text, we’ll head out into nature and explore the history of camping in the United States. While camping began as an impulse among city-dwellers to seek temporary retreat from their exhausting everyday surroundings, it soon became a form of recreation so popular that an industry grew up around it to provide an endless supply of ever-lighter and more convenient gear. Let’s gather ‘round the (virtual) campfire to swap a few campground tales of our own.

Possible presentations could include:

• National Park campgrounds
• The development and evolution of a “big-business” camper company, e.g., Blue Bird, Air Stream, Winnebago, or Coleman
• The van-lifestyle phenomenon recently covered in the book and movie, “Nomadland”
• The rise and popularity of REI
• The Boy Scouts (BSA) and/or Girl Scouts (GSA) movements in the U.S.
• The history of racial discrimination at National Park campgrounds prior to WWII
• Women pioneers in camping

6.     (COM)    COMEDY  MOVIES 

Potential Text:  The 50 Funniest Movies of All Time: A Critic’s Ranking,  by Kathryn Bernheimer (June 2000)

From Buster Keaton to Diane Keaton, from Monty Python to The Full Monty, from Animal Crackers to Animal House, from Billy Wilder to Gene Wilder, we will cover the full range of film comedy. Each member of the S/DG will choose a movie to share, give a presentation on the film, and provide discussion questions.

Other Sources: Top 100 comedies on Rotten Tomatoes, or IMDb, or AFI, or any other potential website.

INSUFFICIENT MEMBER INTEREST – WILL BE DROPPED:

7.     (DIS)       WALT  DISNEY 

Common Reading:  Walt Disney: The

Triumph of the American Imagination by Neal Gabler (October 2007, paperback; 912 pages)

Walt Disney was a visionary and perfectionist who transformed cartoons into an art form and then revolutionized the entertainment industry by building an empire that combined film, television, music, book publishing, and theme parks. Our text for this S/DG is the biography Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination which paints Disney as a restless artist who had some very ambitious plans to experiment with utopian ideas as he envisioned his Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. Unfortunately, Disney’s dreams for EPCOT were diluted after his untimely death in 1966.

Possible presentation topics include: any of the classic animated features from Snow White to Frozen; the many innovations that the Walt Disney Studios developed; any of the favorite Disney TV programs from way back; a comparison of Disney’s vision for EPCOT versus what was eventually built at Walt Disney World in Florida; or a study of why some people are driven to always try something new rather than repeat the formula for their past successes.

8.     (ECN)     THIS  WEEK  IN  THE  ECONOMIST   

Common Reading:   Current issues of The Economist.

The British weekly publication The Economist is known for its informative and thought-provoking reporting on political and economic developments around the world. In this S/DG, we will discuss several articles selected from the current issue as catalysts for informed and lively discussion on the burning topics of our time. Leadership will rotate and all articles selected are easily accessed online. Given the many worldwide problems this course will help to give you a deeper look than just a brief sound bite from somebody reading off a teleprompter.

INSUFFICIENT MEMBER INTEREST – WILL BE DROPPED:

9.     (HKG)     INDELIBLE CITY:  DISPOSSESSION AND DEFIANCE IN HONG KONG

Common Reading:  Indelible nce in Hong Kong  by Louisa Lim (April 2022)

The story of Hong Kong has long been dominated by competing myths: to Britain, a “barren rock” with no appreciable history; to China, a part of Chinese soil from time immemorial, at last returned to the ancestral fold. For decades, Hong Kong’s history was simply not taught, especially to Hong Kongers, obscuring its origins as a place of refuge and rebellion. When protests erupted in 2019 and were met with escalating suppression from Beijing, Louisa Lim—raised in Hong Kong as a half-Chinese, half-English child, and now a reporter who has covered the region for nearly two decades—realized that she was uniquely positioned to unearth the city’s untold stories.

Lim’s deeply researched and personal account casts startling new light on key moments: the British takeover in 1842, the negotiations over the 1997 return to China, and the future Beijing seeks to impose. Indelible City features guerrilla calligraphers, amateur historians and archaeologists, and others who aim to put Hong Kongers at the center of their own story. Wending through it all is the King of Kowloon, whose iconic street art both embodied and inspired the identity of Hong Kong—a site of disappearance and reappearance, power and powerlessness, loss and reclamation.

Presentation topics:

• Expand on an aspect of Hong Kong history
• Compare protests in Hong Kong to those in other countries
• Chinese news coverage of recent events in Hong Kong
• Use of languages in Hong Kong

10.   (HMC)     HOW  MINDS  CHANGE

Common Reading:  How Minds Change:  The Surprising Science of Belief, Opinion, and Persuasion, by David McRaney (350 pages, June 2022)

What made a prominent conspiracy-theorist YouTuber finally see that 9/11 was not a hoax? How do voter opinions shift from neutral to resolute? Can widespread social change only take place when a generation dies out? Our common reading is a book about the science, and the experience, of transformation.

When self-delusion expert and psychology nerd David McRaney began a book about how to change someone’s mind in one conversation, he never expected to change his own. But then a diehard 9/11 Truther’s conversion blew up his theories - inspiring him to ask not just how to persuade, but why we believe, from the eye of the beholder. Delving into the latest research of psychologists and neuroscientists, our common reading explores the limits of reasoning, the power of groupthink, and the effects of deep canvassing. Told with McRaney’s trademark sense of humor, compassion, and scientific curiosity, it’s an eye-opening journey among cult members, conspiracy theorists, and political activists, from Westboro Baptist Church picketers to LGBTQ campaigners in California - that ultimately challenges us to question our own motives and beliefs. In an age of dangerous conspiratorial thinking, can we rise to the occasion with empathy?

Possible presentations can explore the secrets of successful con men, the power of cults, and what makes some people more resistant to change.

11.    (HOC)    HISTORY  OF  COMEDY

Common Reading: The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy, by Kliph Nesteroff (November 2015)

In this S/DG we will discuss the history of 100 years of American comedy, studying real-life characters, forgotten stars, mainstream heroes and counterculture iconoclasts. We will discuss the way comedians have reflected, shaped, and changed American culture. Starting with the vaudeville circuit at the turn of the last century, continuing with Mafia-run supper clubs that replaced speakeasies after Prohibition ended and replaced vaudeville impresarios as the comedian's primary employer. In the 1950s, the late-night talk show brought stand-up to a wide public, while Lenny Bruce, Mort Sahl, and Jonathan Winters attacked conformity and staged a comedy rebellion in coffeehouses. Presentation topics could include comedy's part in the Civil Rights movement and the social upheaval of the late 1960s, the first comedy clubs of the 1970s, the cocaine-fueled comedy boom of the 1980s, or the new era of media-driven celebrity in the twenty-first century, as well as any comedian of your choosing.

12.   (INE)       THE  INEVITABLE

Common Reading:  The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future, by Kevin Kelly (June 2017, paperback)

Much of what will happen in the next thirty years is inevitable, driven by technological trends already in motion. Kevin Kelly provides an optimistic road map for the future, showing how the coming changes in our lives—from virtual reality in the home to an on-demand economy to artificial intelligence embedded in everything we manufacture—can be understood as the result of a few long-term, accelerating forces. Kelly both describes these deep trends—interacting, cognifying, flowing, screening, accessing, sharing, filtering, remixing, tracking, and questioning—and demonstrates how they overlap. These larger forces will completely revolutionize the way we buy, work, learn, and communicate with each other.

Possible presentations: How the scientific method has evolved and continues to do so; how the breakthrough of the world wide web is more about what people do with it; how The Whole Earth Catalog continues to be a thing.

13.   (MND)     THE  FUTURE  OF  THE  MIND

Common Reading:  The Future of the Mind: The Scientific Quest to Understand, Enhance, and Empower the Mind, by Michio Kaku (February 2015, paperback)

This course will focus on the scientific quest to understand, enhance and empower the mind.  The secrets of the living brain are now being revealed, thanks to computers and a battery of high brain scans.  In the last couple of decades what was once solely the province of science fiction has become a startling reality.  Technologies considered impossible, such as recording memories, communicating telepathically, videotaping our dreams, and performing telekinesis, have now been demonstrated in the laboratory.

The Future of the Mind provides an authoritative compelling look at the research being done around the world – all based on the latest advancements in neuroscience and physics.  Perhaps one day we will have a ‘smart pill’ that can enhance our cognition; be able to upload our brains to a computer, neuron for neuron; send thoughts and emotions on a ‘brain net’; and control computers and robots with our minds.

Dr. Michio Kaku takes us on a grand tour of what the future might hold from a physicist’s perspective.  He provides a solid sense of how the brain functions and explains how groundbreaking technologies will change our daily lives.  Hey new theory of ‘consciousness’ and applies it to provide fresh insight into mental illness, artificial intelligence and alien consciousness.

Dr. Kaku shares a deep understanding of modern science with a keen perception for future developments.  The Future of the Mind is an extraordinary exploration of the frontiers of neuroscience. The Future of the Mind was a #1 New York Times Bestseller written for a layman who wants to have a better understanding of the scientific exploration of the human mind.

Possible presentation topics include memories, enhancing our intelligence, dreams, and the artificial mind – robots.

INSUFFICIENT MEMBER INTEREST – WILL BE DROPPED:

14.   (MUH)     MUHAMMAD:  THE  WORLD-CHANGER

Common Reading:  Muhammad, the World-Changer: Intimate Portrait by Mohamad Jebara, John Pirkis, et al (November 2021)

A six-year-old cries in his mother’s arms as she draws her last breaths to urge him: “Muhammad, be a world-changer!” The boy, suddenly orphaned in a tribal society that fears any change, must overcome enormous obstacles to unleash his own potential and inspire others to do the same.  Muhammad emerges as an unrelenting man on a mission. Jewish and Christian mentors inspire him; and the enslaved individuals he helps liberate, propel his movement.

This book is very simplified and modernized. Jebara has a very storytelling manner, and it keeps you captivated. The author made trips to the same places where facts from this book took place centuries ago. I recommend this book to anyone who not only wants to learn about Muhammad, but for anyone looking to grab a good captivating book to enjoy!

“If you’re looking for a depiction of Muhammad receiving visitations from angels or having direct talks with the Divine Master, you’re going to walk away from this text very disappointed. Instead, Muhammad, the World-Changer reads kind of like a Muslim version of How to Win Friends and Influence People.”  --Zachary Houle

A Library Journal commentator said that Jebara had to fuse together contradictory accounts, and so “got things wrong.” What is the consensus on social media or even from a practicing Muslim, if they believe he did?

Possible topics:

• Who is Mohamad Jebara, the author?
• How did Muhammad change the world?
• Jebara is an artist himself, what does he say about drawing a picture of Muhammad? Are there any current images of the Prophet Muhammad?

15.   (NAL)     NATIVE  AMERICAN  LITERATURE

Common Readings:  TBD

Over the last few trimesters, an S/DG has been offered in the style of a Literary Salon by focusing on a selection of the works of one author.  For this trimester, the Literary Salon will sample works from various writers associated with Contemporary Native American Literature instead of just one author’s body of work. 

By comparing writings (both fiction and non-fiction) from a sample of authors from different tribal nations, the members will be asked to consider these readings in their social, historical, and cultural contexts. Themes that can be explored in the works and topics for presentations may include:

• The long-term effects of colonialism and ongoing colonization
• Indigenous conceptions of and relations to land 
• The half-breed/mixed-blood trope
• Gender relations and complementarity in Native societies 
• Native sovereignty and political rights 
• Appropriation of Native cultures

The selection of authors and works will include novels, short stories, essays, and poetry.  Sample potential offerings are listed below.  These and others will be discussed and selected at the pre-meeting. 

Possible Novels:

Louise Erdrich, The Roundhouse; Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony; N. Scott Momaday, House Made of Dawn; Tommy Orange, There, There; Cherie Dimaline, the Marrow Thieves

Possible Poetry:

When the Light of the World was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through, A Norton Anthology, Edited by Joy Harjo

Possible Essays:

Here First: Autobiographical Essays by Native American Authors, Arnold Krupat and Brian Swann, Editors

16.   (NBW)    HOW  NOT  TO   BE  WRONG 

Common Reading:  How Not to be Wrong - The Power of Mathematical  Thinking, by Jordan Ellenberg (May 2014)

Most people’s view of math is very wrong. This may be because many of us were taught by people who didn’t like math and weren’t very good at it. Paraphrasing one reviewer of our Common Reading; “With math as with anything else, there’s smart, and then there’s street smart. This book will help you be both. Fans of Freakonomics and The Signal and the Noise will love Ellenberg’s surprising stories, snappy writing, and brilliant lessons in numerical savvy. How Not to Be Wrong is sharp, funny, and right.” We recently had an S/DG based on a book by Ellenberg and it was sharp, funny, and right. He is a mathematician with a sense of humor and how to have fun. Math is not drudgery; it is a way of thinking that leads to living better in an increasingly complicated world.

Possible topics for research and presentation might include: pros and cons of various voting systems; how to react to a pandemic, how we might react to aging, etc.

INSUFFICIENT MEMBER INTEREST – WILL BE DROPPED: 

17.   (OPT)     IMAGINABLE,  AN  OPTIMISTIC  LOOK  FORWARD

Common Reading:  Imaginable:  How to See the Future Coming and Feel Ready for  Anything, by Jane McGonigal (March 22, 2022; 432 pages)

Many of us were surprised by some of the events of the last few years, but the Institute of the Future predicted a lot of them, including the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the intensity of wildfires.  Jane McGonigal, the author of our common reading, is a future forecaster and game designer who teaches us to envision the future before it arrives - and then gives us the tools to help shape the world we want to live in.  She wants us to train our minds to look into the future and make these predictions ourselves; she feels we will be more able to handle events if the mind has already experienced them virtually.

In Imaginable, Jane McGonigal draws on the latest scientific research in psychology and neuroscience to show us how to train our minds to think the unthinkable and imagine the unimaginable. She invites us to play with the provocative thought experiments and future simulations she’s designed exclusively for this book, with the goal to:

• Build our collective imagination so that we can dive into the future and envision, in surprising detail, what our lives will look like ten years from now
• Develop the courage and vision to solve problems creatively
• Take actions and make decisions that will help shape the future we desire
• Access “urgent optimism,” an unstoppable force within each of us that activates our sense of agency.

Imaginable teaches us to be fearless, resilient, and bold in realizing a world with possibilities we cannot yet imagine.  The book is filled with games, scenarios and simulations to assist us, through preparation, in creating a less stressful future.

Presentations could include expanding on one of the scenarios presented in the book, or on creating your own.  One could also imagine their own ten-year plan, as described above.

INSUFFICIENT MEMBER INTEREST – WILL BE DROPPED: 

18.   (OWI)      THE  ORIGINS  OF  WEALTH  AND  INEQUALITY

Common Reading:  The Journey of Humanity: The Origins of Wealth and Inequality, by Oded Galor (March 2022)

In a captivating journey from the dawn of human existence to the present, world-renowned economist and thinker Oded Galor offers an intriguing solution to two of humanity’s great mysteries.

Why are humans the only species to have escaped - only very recently - the subsistence trap, allowing us to enjoy a standard of living that vastly exceeds all others? And why have we progressed so unequally around the world, resulting in the great disparities between nations that exist today? Immense in scope and packed with astounding connections, Galor's gripping narrative explains how technology, population size, and adaptation led to a stunning “phase change” in the human story a mere two hundred years ago. But by tracing that same journey back in time and peeling away the layers of influence - colonialism, political institutions, societal structure, culture - he arrives also at an explanation of inequality's ultimate causes: those ancestral populations that enjoyed fruitful geographical characteristics and rich diversity were set on the path to prosperity, while those that lacked it were disadvantaged in ways still echoed today.

As we face ecological crisis across the globe, The Journey of Humanity is a book of urgent truths and enduring relevance, with lessons that are both hopeful and profound: gender equality, investment in education, and balancing diversity with social cohesion are the keys not only to our species’ thriving, but to its survival.

There are many topics for presentations; some of them might be: a detailed look at Korea and how its halves differ, pick a country and consider how his thesis holds up or fails in the country selected, compare the U.S. and India, the impact of immigration on a modern economy, etc.

19.   (POL)     POLITICAL  CARTOONS  THROUGHOUT  HISTORY

Common Reading:  The Art of Controversy: Political Cartoons and Their Enduring  Power, by Victor S. Navasky (April 2013)

This S/DG will discuss the history of political cartoons and their awesome power to enrage, provoke, and amuse. And their artists’ encounters with censorship, threats, incarceration, and even murder for their art. And how these cartoons captured the zeitgeist throughout history and shaped it as well. And the true power of one of our most enduringly vital forms of artistic expression.

Potential topics include: the lives of various cartoonists such as George Grosz, David Levine, Herblock, Honore Daumier, Ralph Steadman, etc., artists such as Picasso, Goya, etc., as well as political cartoons throughout history and around the world.

INSUFFICIENT MEMBER INTEREST – WILL BE DROPPED: 

20.   (PUZ)      PUZZLES

Common Reading:  The Puzzler:  One Man's Quest to Solve the Most Baffling Puzzles Ever, from Crosswords to Jigsaws to the Meaning of Life, by A. J. Jacobs

Is part of your morning routine doing The New York Times crossword puzzle or the daily Wordle?  Is there a partially completed jigsaw puzzle on your dining room table?  Have you solved the Rubik’s Cube? If so, this S/DG is for you.

What makes puzzles - jigsaws, mazes, riddles, sudokus - so satisfying? Be it the formation of new cerebral pathways, their close link to insight and humor, or their community-building properties, they’re among the fundamental elements that make us human. Convinced that puzzles have made him a better person, the author of our common reading, A.J. Jacobs, set out to determine their myriad benefits. And maybe, in the process, solve the puzzle of our very existence. Well, almost.

In our common reading, Jacobs meets the most zealous devotees, enters (sometimes with his family in tow) any puzzle competition that will have him, unpacks the history of the most popular puzzles, and aims to solve the most impossible head-scratchers, from a mutant Rubik’s Cube, to the hardest corn maze in America, to the most sadistic jigsaw. Chock-full of unforgettable adventures and original examples from around the world - including new work by Greg Pliska, one of America’s top puzzle-makers, and a hidden, super-challenging but solvable puzzle that will earn the first reader to crack it a $10,000 prize - The Puzzler will open readers’ eyes to the power of flexible thinking and concentration. Whether you’re puzzle obsessed or puzzle hesitant, you’ll walk away with real problem-solving strategies and pathways toward becoming a better thinker and decision maker—for these are certainly puzzling times.

Class members can choose to present on their favorite puzzle type – its history, how it works, what’s so special about it – or about the role of games in our culture, or anything else having to do with puzzles.

INSUFFICIENT MEMBER INTEREST – WILL BE DROPPED: 

21.   (SAC)     SEX  AND  THE  CONSTITUTION

Common Reading:  Sex and the Constitution: Sex, Religion, and Law from America's Origins to the Twenty-First Century, by Geoffrey Stone

Especially given the Supreme Court cases which are already in the pipeline for decision, there can be no doubt when this course is held one of the main issues in our society will be the role of the Constitution in defining the rights of our citizens, and especially, our women, in the areas of sexuality and abortion.

Knowing that the media cannot truly illuminate these issues fully, we will take advantage of the existence of our common book, Sex and the Constitution: Sex, Religion, and Law from America's Origins to the Twenty-First Century, written by University of Chicago Law School Professor Geoffrey Stone.

Amazon describes Professor Stone’s book as follows:

“Renowned constitutional scholar Geoffrey R. Stone traces the evolution of legal and moral codes that have attempted to legislate sexual behavior from the ancient world to America's earliest days to today's fractious political climate. Stone crafts a remarkable, even thrilling narrative in which he shows how agitators, moralists, legislators, and especially the justices of the Supreme Court have historically navigated issues as explosive and divisive as abortion, homosexuality, pornography, and contraception.”

Possible topics for presentation include: A more in depth, or an alternative, exploration of any of the topics and/or cases discussed by Stone; alternative approaches to any of the conclusions reached and/or positions taken by Stone; and any court cases which have been recently taken up or decided by the Supreme Court since Stone published his book in 2017. 

Also, it is suggested that the course focus only on the roughly 400 pages which cover the American historical period, while encouraging students who wish to do so to delve into the earlier historical times; perhaps one or more students would use their presentation to summarize one or more of those sections for the benefit of the class. 

22.   (SHK)     SHAKESPEARE:   ALL  THE  WORLD’S  A  STAGE

Reading:  TBD (Selected Plays)

The Omnilorean New Globe Theater plans a new season of study, continuing our usual pattern of reading one each of the Bard’s Histories, Comedies, and Tragedies – the three plays to be chosen during our upcoming pre-meeting.  With players standing and with a few props, we propose to do reading walk-throughs of the plays, plus short presentations on and discussion of each play. 

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, short presentations, 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 https://omnilore.org/members/Curriculum/SDGArchive/16a-SHK-Shakespeare to view a typical past 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.

INSUFFICIENT MEMBER INTEREST – WILL BE DROPPED:

23.   (SLT)      THE  STUDENT  LOAN  TRAP

Common Reading:  The Debt Trap: How Student Loans Became a National Catastrophe, by Josh Mitchell  (August 2021)

Far from making college affordable, the student loan system has created a college-industrial complex that has submerged multiple generations in debt. For millions, their college investment turned into a nightmare: 43 million people owe a combined $1.6 trillion in student debt, more than both credit card debt and car loans. This program began in the 1950s, evolved into a grand social experiment in the 1960s, got overtaken by greedy colleges in the 1980s and 1990s ending with Sallie Mae turning student lending into a big business. College cost was further exacerbated by politicians’ best intentions which worsened the problem. When Alice Rivlin (student loan program framework developer) was asked in 2019 how the system turned out she didn’t hesitate: “We unleashed a monster”. This S/DG will discuss this debt nightmare and other problems with higher education.

Possible S/DG topics include need for college, new financing concepts, virtual college, vocational schools and other topics concerned with higher education.

24. & 25.        (SSC & SSZ)  THE  MODERN  AMERICAN  SHORT  STORY 
[ SSC = In classroom only; SSZ = Zoom or Hybrid ]

Common Reading:  The Penguin Book of the Modern American Short Story edited by John Freeman (May 2021)

Note:  This trimester, we will be offering two distinct sections of our short stories offering, each with a different 3 letter identifier. 

• SSC will be a “Classroom Only” S/DG; that is, all classes will be held at BCHD, in either room L8 or L9. 
• SSZ will be an All-Zoom or Hybrid-Zoom S/DG, depending on the desires of class members. 

Both S/DGs will be subject to the normal scheduling restrictions on Omnilore classes; that is, they must have at least 10 people available at the same time and will be split if more than 19 members sign up.

You may request SSC and/or SSZ on your request form.  If you are willing to attend in either format, list your preferred format first and your secondary preference as a backup.

In the past fifty years, the American short story has changed dramatically. New voices, forms, and mixtures of styles have brought this unique genre a thrilling burst of energy. Our common reading, The Penguin Book of the Modern American Short Story, celebrates this avalanche of talent.  It contains a selection of the best and most representative contemporary American short fiction from 1970 to 2020, including such authors as Ursula K. LeGuin, Toni Cade Bambara, Jhumpa Lahiri, Sandra Cisneros, and Ted Chiang, hand-selected by celebrated editor and anthologist John Freeman.

S/DG members will each select one or two short stories to present to the class.  Presentations may include background on the author and the history of the story, followed by a list of discussion questions. 

INSUFFICIENT MEMBER INTEREST – WILL BE DROPPED:

26.   (VOT)     THANK  YOU  FOR  VOTING

Common Reading:  Thank You for Voting: The Maddening, Enlightening, Inspiring  Truth About Voting in America, by Erin Geiger Smith (June 2020)

Voting is a prized American right and a topic of debate from the earliest days of the country. Yet in the 2016 presidential election, about 40 percent of Americans―and half of the country’s young adults―didn’t vote. Why do so many Americans choose not to vote, and what can we do about it? 

Our proposed text contends that the problem is a lack of understanding about our electoral system and a need to make voting more accessible. Thank You for Voting is an eye-opening look at the voting process, starting with the Framers’ perspective, through the Equal Protection amendment and the Voting Rights Act, to the present and simple actions individuals can take to increase civic participation in local, state, and national elections.

This S/DG will expand our knowledge about our democracy―including women’s long fight to win the vote, attempts to suppress newly enfranchised voters' impact, state prohibitions against felons voting, charges of voter fraud and voter suppression, and other vital issues. The book explains, in a conversational tone, topics that can confuse even the most informed voters: polling, news literacy, gerrymandering and the Electoral College. We’ll also explore how age, race, and socioeconomic factors influence turnout.

Ultimately, our author offers hope, and no doubt we could all use some of that these days!

Presentation topics:

• The history of ballots and electronic voting machines
• A comparison to the voting process in a chosen foreign country
• Organizations with a mission to “get out the vote”