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Course Descriptions - Fall 2007COURSESAcademy courses are divided into the following categories: Social Sciences, Science & Medicine, and Fine Arts & Humanities. The Divertimenti are shorter, less serious, or more craft oriented offerings. A printer friendly version of this page is available. HOW CULTURE SHAPES NATIONS Learn how culture can affect a nation’s development for better or worse. We’ll examine what success means in this context and, through dramatic contemporary case studies, determine whether there is an emerging cultural model that can lead to a better world for our children. We’ll tackle the question of which cultural values and religions are most conducive to social justice and prosperity and take a look at the factors that trigger cultural change. We’ll see what happens when culture and politics collide in such countries as China and Russia and why economic progress moves at a snail’s pace in Latin America. You’ll come away with a better understanding of the importance of culture to a nation’s success and the role of good public policy in shaping a nation’s economic and political future. Required reading: Lawrence E. Harrison, The Central Liberal Truth: How Politics Can Change a Culture and Save It from Itself (Oxford Univ. Press, 2006) (Buy from Amazon). More good reading: Lawrence Harrison and Samuel P. Huntington, Culture Matters (Basic Books, 2000) (Buy from Amazon). Moderator: Ralph Plimpton was a manager and vice president of human resources with ARCO and Amoco until the early 1980s, when he founded an outplacement consulting firm serving employees of corporate clients in seventeen mountain states. He believes the “central liberal truth” that politics and policy can and do change cultures, often for the better. GREAT DECISIONS IN AMERICA’S CURRENT FOREIGN POLICY FILLED Developed by the Foreign Policy Association in 1954, the Great Decisions Discussion Program is the longest-running and largest grassroots world affairs educational program of its kind. It brings millions of Americans together to discover, discuss, and formulate their opinions on vital foreign policy issues. This year’s featured topics: the Middle East, climate change, Mexico, migration, South Africa, war crimes, Central Asia, and children's rights. Required reading: Great Decisions Briefing Book, which places the issues in historical context and provides background, current policies, and alternative policy options. Photographs, maps, charts, and editorial cartoons illustrate the text. Discussion questions, annotated reading suggestions, and additional resources, including websites, are provided. Facilitator: Vee Sabel is a confirmed foreign policy junkie and world traveler. She is a skilled facilitator who loves to hear the opinions of others and gain new perspective on issues. WHO GOT IT RIGHT? WHO GOT IT WRONG? FILLED Why has Botswana prospered with few resources while neighboring Zimbabwe, despite so many, has fallen into decline in southern Africa’s post-colonial world? In search of answers, we’ll take a multi-faceted approach that embraces popular fiction, media, research, and personal experience. We’ll take a close look at the psychology of leadership and its impact on history, economics, and culture and discover how the vividness of the African experience gives us a lens through which to view and evaluate other examples of societal progress, including our own. Required reading: Alexander McCall Smith, The Kalahari Typing School for Men (First Anchor Books, 2002) (Buy from Amazon), a short novel that specifically addresses gender and culture issues in modern Botswana. Also recommended: Geoff Hill, The Battle for Zimbabwe: The Final Countdown (Zebra Press, 2003) (Buy from Amazon). Facilitators: Two Africaphiles join forces to see what can be leaned from these two disparate countries. Sheila Porter has an undergraduate degree in fine art with a minor in African art history, as well as a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, which she has practiced for thirty years. Retired from a career in the US Social Security Administration, Paula Kauffman was tapped for a month’s-long assignment in Namibia, where she helped the government set up a social insurance program. SHERMAN’S MARCH TO THE SEA Hero or terrorist? Union General William Tecumseh Sherman is celebrated in the North as the leader who brought an early end to America’s bloody Civil War but hated in the South as the man who took the horrors of war into the very heart of the Confederacy. After destroying Atlanta, Sherman cut all links to his sources of supply and led his army of 70,000 tough, battle-hardened men on a daring march across Georgia, while living off the land and destroying everything of value to the enemy in his path. We will discuss the background to the war, Sherman’s victories as a vital factor in Lincoln's reelection, the role of women in the war, new technologies, and the important actors on both sides, including Joseph E. Johnston and Nathan Bedford Forrest. Dr. John Slocumb, who combines a vast knowledge of medicine with an interest in the Civil War, will lecture on medicine during the war. Recommended reading: Geoffrey C. Ward with Ric Burns and Ken Burns, The Civil War (Alfred A. Knopf, 1990) (Buy from Amazon). Instructor: Bob Mendes traveled the world as a petroleum engineer before retiring to Colorado. The history of the American Civil War ranks high among his varied interests. HISTORY OF THE MODERN MIDDLE EAST FILLED! We’ll discuss an analysis of the political and social disruptions of the modern Middle East: the Ottoman and Egyptian reforms of the nineteenth century, the challenge of Western imperialism, the creation of nation-states, the influence of petroleum, the Iranian Revolution, and the Gulf War. We begin with a survey of the empires in the region following the rise of Islam in the seventh century. We’ll see how patterns of post-Ottoman history in the Middle East have been shaped, in part, by responses to externally imposed conditions that were ill-suited to the needs of the region's inhabitants. A course syllabus is shown at the bottom of these course descriptions. Required reading: William L. Cleveland, A History of the Modern Middle East, 3d ed. (Westview Press, 2001), paperback (Buy from Amazon). Also recommended: Donald Quataert, The Ottoman Empire (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2000) (Buy from Amazon). Facilitator: Retired attorney and administrator with the US Dept. of Education, Irwin Kirk has taught history at Colorado Mountain College and facilitates lifelong learning courses in history in Denver and Jacksonville, Florida. MACHIAVELLI IN HELL CANCELLED Sebastian de Grazia presents a very readable, yet balanced, view of Niccolò Machiavelli, the great Florentine thinker. We will look at him, as does the book, in the context of the Renaissance and at his thoughts on power, leadership, and statecraft. It will be up to us to draw examples from present times and employ his principles in understanding them. Required reading: Sebastian de Grazia, Machiavelli in Hell (Vintage, 1994) (Buy from Amazon). Recommended: The Prince, The Discourses (Buy from Amazon), and his play The Mandrake Root, Machiavelli. Facilitator: John Rupainis is a retired clinical social worker with a lifelong interest in the humanities. He has taught adult classes on Montaigne, Lincoln and the Civil War, and Aristotle’s ethics. His long-standing interest in history and philosophy keeps him coming back to facilitate classes in these subjects: “There is,” he explains, “always something new to learn about them.” THE DILEMMA OF IMMIGRATION No issue has gripped America in 2007 like immigration. Who should be allowed to enter American society and in what numbers are hotly debated questions. Tom Tancredo, Dick Lamm, Samuel Huntington, and others suggest that today’s immigrants differ materially from those of the past and should thus be repulsed. Immigration proponents maintain that the current wave of immigration is consistent with past patterns and is of great economic value to America now and in the future. Is America ready to turn its back on its 250-year history as a nation of immigrants? Can we afford to absorb all the new entrants, authorized and unauthorized? Can we afford to turn them away? We’ll review the history of American immigration and immigration laws past and present. We’ll also compare relative rates of assimilation and changing attitudes toward immigrants. Finally, we’ll look at the economic impact of immigration and weigh its costs and benefits. Recommended reading: Most books on this subject are out of date. In lieu of a book, numerous readings and a list of recommended websites will be distributed at the first meeting. Facilitator: Jim Kneser, a student of economics and public policy, leads this lively investigation into one of today’s hottest topics. JUSTICE ON A TIGHTROPE How can we be sure that justice will be served in our courts of law? By looking closely at five sensational and controversial cases, we’ll examine the safeguards offered by a Constitution constantly open to interpretation. We’ll focus on censorship and Charlie Chaplin before reopening the trial of Bruno Hauptmann, who many believe was wrongly executed for the alleged kidnapping and death of the Lindbergh baby. We’ll turn next to the Leopold-Loeb murder case, commonly called the crime of the century, in which both defendants were represented at trial by Clarence Darrow, one of the foremost advocates the law has known. We’ll also discuss aspects of the Sacco-Vanzetti case and the trial of the Rosenbergs, convicted spies who were executed during the turbulent McCarthy era. No required text Instructor: Ted Borrillo is a retired attorney with an abiding interest in the criminal justice system. He was Chief Deputy District Attorney in Denver, taught criminal procedure and constitutional law at the DU Law School, and was a defense counsel in private practice. MICROLENDINGCANCELLED Microfinance is one of those small ideas with enormous implications. What began in Bangladesh almost forty years ago with loans of less than $5 each to a group of women entrepreneurs has grown to a multibillion dollar institution spread across several continents and serving over 65 million of the world’s poor. The program appears to have been wildly successful and has earned its founder, Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize. Like most innovations, microfinance has its skeptics. Can lenders truly lend without investigation or collateral and achieve low default rates? Is there no limit to small entrepreneurial opportunities in the less developed world? Can microfinance escape free riders? Will the concept of microfinance work in other cultures and in countries like the United States that are more economically advanced? We will examine the foundations and practices that appear to be succeeding in the microfinance model, as well as the challenges raised by skeptics. Required reading before the first class meeting: Muhammad Yunus, Banker to the Poor: Micro-lending and the Battle against World Poverty (Public Affairs, 2003), paperback (Buy from Amazon). Facilitator: After a career in financial management, Jim Kneser has turned his attention to teaching adults about the workings of complex economic principles in the real world. MORE CITIES & REGIONS OF DESTINY We’ve signed up a group of colorful speakers who are sure to open your eyes and heart to little-known places and peoples and give you a new perspective on our shrinking world. Bill Korstad, a software entrepreneur who has traveled extensively in Eastern Europe on business and USAID economic development assignments, will introduce us to ordinary working people of the Balkans, now coping with the aftermath of a forty-year communist regime. Next, we’ll explore ancient Thebes and its modern-day successor, the Egyptian city of Luxor, with Jonna Castle, whose three-year residence there prepared her to share sights and insights rarely seen by tourists. We’ll travel to Havana, where we’ll explore its art, architecture, and complex history with Susan Mammel, an experienced travel guide who has visited Cuba five times on licenses from the Treasury Department. From there, we’ll discover Ethiopia with native-born Yohannes Mengistu, who’ll introduce the wonders of this little-known country’s geography and civilization. With Jim and Amy Hecht, who describe themselves as “travelers with a purpose,” we’ll visit Kathmandu, where we’ll focus on the struggle of Nepalis to improve their economy, build a modern infrastructure, and institute better health care. Landscape architect Jill Kurth will take us on a personal tour of Inca history and culture that showcases the urban capital of Cuzco, Sacred Valley sites, and Machu Picchu. Then, for something completely different, we’ll trace the role played by nineteenth-century Paris in the innovative art of the French Impressionists as we stroll the city’s boulevards and savor its nightlife with David Wallack. Our tour ends as anthropologist Jane Day helps us “read” the timeless and sophisticated paintings left by our Ice Age ancestors 50,000 years ago on cave walls in southwestern France and northwestern Spain. Good companion books: Robert D. Kaplan, Balkan Ghosts: A Journey through History (Picador, reprint ed. 2005); and Cristina Garcia, Dreaming in Cuban (Ballantine, reprint ed., 1993). Coordinators: Nancy Collins, Lynn Luhnow, and Bebe Telles—all passionate sightseers of the imagination—have cooked up this rich menu of enthusiastic experts. SCIENCE & MEDICINEEVOLUTION & INTELLIGENT DESIGN, Part 1 This is the first of a two-part course that examines the ongoing controversy between Evolution and Intelligent Design. This term we’ll focus on the science and examine the various scientific specialties that have produced a massive library of facts and observations in support of the fundamental role Darwin assigned to natural selection. Why has Darwin been so difficult to understand and accept? Within just ten years after he published The Origin of Species, he had convinced the thinking public that evolution had occurred, but his theory of natural selection didn’t gain acceptance until scientific facts caught up with the theory in the 1940s, and even now it is often misunderstood and misapplied. We will consider the various factors that affect natural selection, including time, extinction, environmental fit, competition, mimicry, co-evolution, population size, and isolation. We’ll also take up such larger questions as “altruistic” behavior, sexual selection, group behavior, the impact of climate change, predator-prey interactions, the role of disease on evolution, the evolution of bacteria and development of antibiotics, human evolution, and molecular clocks. Required reading: Kenneth Kardong, Introduction to Biological Evolution, 2d ed. (McGraw-Hill, 2007) (Buy from Amazon). Also recommended: read or download free at: www.nationalacademies.org/evolution/ Instructor: Paleobotanist and retired Southern Illinois University professor Larry Matten has a passionate interest in making the theory of evolution accessible to a wide public. HUMAN BEHAVIOR & NEUROBIOLOGY The nineteenth-century satirist Ambrose Bierce defined the brain as “an apparatus with which we think we think.” And, indeed, although humans possess the only organ in the world capable of trying to dissect its own function, most of us have little understanding about our bodies, much less our nervous system and brain. The science of neurobiology is constantly advancing as newer investigative methods like functional MRI and PET scans provide new insights. Yet, major misunderstandings continue to lurk behind ongoing controversies over behavioral genetics. In this course, we’ll take a wide-ranging look at the anatomy and physiology of the nervous system, the hormones used by the brain, ideas on evolution and behavioral genetics, and ethology (animal behavior) to try to reach an understanding of the very complex factors inherent in human behavior. If you ever wanted to know what really makes you tick, this is the course for you. Highly recommended reading: Michael S. Gazzaniga, The Ethical Brain (Dana Press, 2005) (Buy from Amazon). Another good book: Steven Pinker, The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature (Penguin, 2003), paperback (Buy from Amazon). Instructor: Bennie Bub is a South African neurosurgeon board certified in three different specialties on three continents. After immigrating to the US in 1976, Bub practiced in Denver as an anesthesiologist for more than twenty years before founding a successful database company, from which he has retired to indulge his love of music, travel, and reading. BIOMEDICAL ETHICS FILLED! Did you follow the Terry Schiavo media circus? Have you wondered about the wisdom of transplanting a baboon heart into a human newborn with a fatal heart malformation? Should conjoined (“Siamese”) twins be separated when only one will survive? Is physician-assisted suicide acceptable public policy? This course will confront these issues in sessions that will examine actual medical cases and legal decisions. Among the topics we’ll discuss will be ethical theories, the purpose of institutional ethics committees, decisions to withdraw life support, the ethics and economics of organ transplantation, and privacy and truthfulness in doctor-patient relationships. Here’s your chance to gain the medical, legal, and ethical foundation to help make difficult personal choices. Required reading: Albert R. Jonsen, Mark Siegler, and William J. Winslade, Clinical Ethics, 6th ed. (McGraw-Hill, 2006). Instructor: As a physician specializing in obstetrics and gynecology since 1959, Fred Abrams faced many ethical questions. His interest in biomedical ethics led him to found the first community-hospital based center for the study and teaching of bioethics at Rose Medical Center in 1983, and he is currently adjunct professor of ethics at Iliff School of Theology. Last year, he received the AMA Award for Professionalism and Leadership in Medical Ethics and published Doctors on the Edge: Will Your Doctor Break the Rules for You? FINE ARTS & HUMANITIESMASTERPIECES OF EUROPEAN ART, Part 2 Ever wonder why others linger before a work of art, apparently mesmerized by something that escapes you entirely? More than a catalog of images, artists, dates, and background information, this is the second part of a three-part course designed to give you the tools you need to look at paintings, sculpture, and architecture with greater understanding and pleasure. Professor William Kloss’s DVD presentations focus on ways to get inside an artwork and savor it to the fullest. We’ll start with Botticelli, Mantegna, and Bellini at the entrance of the Italian High Renaissance, where we’ll linger over works by Leonardo, Raphael, and Michelangelo before moving on to Germany and the Netherlands to explore northern Renaissance masterworks by Dürer, Grünewald, and Bruegel. We’ll return to Italy for a look at mannerism and the late work of Michelangelo and end with a flourish with the masters of the baroque: Annibale Carracci, Bernini, and Rubens. Recommended reading: H. W. Janson and Anthony Janson, A Basic History of Western Art, 7th ed. (Prentice Hall, 2005) (Buy from Amazon)—the essential reference. Facilitator: Laura Pardee has long been fascinated by European painting, sculpture, and architecture. Her firsthand experience will add a personal dimension to your virtual tour with art historian William Kloss. Fred Pardee enjoys providing technical support to Laura’s richly illustrated course. The couple returned in May 2007 from a month in Italy, Croatia, and Switzerland, where they saw many works by artists we’ll be studying. PUBLIC ART IN YOUR BACKYARD Whether you love it or hate it, public art has become part of your visual landscape. We’ve rounded-up a stellar group of artists, arts administrators, historians, and critics for a unique in-depth look at art that’s moved outside the museum to become part of our everyday lives. Kendall Peterson of the Denver Office of Cultural Affairs gives us a crash course in “Public Art 101,” and Colleen Fanning, program manager for DIA, discusses the installations there. Rudi Cerri, Denver’s public art project coordinator, takes us on a walking tour of art at the Web Building, Convention Center, and Performing Arts Center, including the Ellie Caukins Opera House. Sculptor and DU professor Lawrence Argent provides an artist’s-eye-view of public art, including the making of the popular Blue Bear. Next comes a walking tour of the “Avenue of the Arts” with Marie Adams, Denver Art Museum master teacher, who focuses on Civic Center and architecture as public art—the Michael Graves library and DAM buildings designed by Gio Ponti and Daniel Libeskind. We’ll find out about getting public buy-ins for projects from Dave Yust, painter and CSU professor, who talks about Colorado pieces by internationally known artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Valley Curtain and the proposed Over the River. Rocky Mountain News art critic Mary Voelz Chandler ties everything up for us in her talk, “Public Art: Why Should We Care?” Good background reading: Michael Kammen, Visual Shock: A History of Art Controversies in American Culture (Knopf, 2006) (Buy from Amazon). Coordinators: Longtime art enthusiast Joanne Mendes has recently retired from a career spent organizing programs in art and art history in London and at the Denver Art Museum, for which she developed and coordinated adult courses and lecture series for over a decade. After thirty years as senior editor and head of publications at the Denver Art Museum, Marlene Chambers has escaped to the Academy, where she indulges her lifelong interest in the humanities. OVERCOMING HURDLES TO ARTISTIC GENIUS Creativity is a unique capability in the arts. Is it always a disaster when it intersects with mental, physical, or emotional disability? We’ll begin by exploring the nature of creativity and the effects of physical disability on paintings by Monet, Goya, Renoir, and Klee. Next we’ll be taking a look at the characteristics of the art produced by victims of mental illness and at the effect of alcohol on the life and work of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas and iconic American impressionist Jackson Pollock. We’ll also consider the struggle against disability waged by such creative geniuses as writer and lexicographer Dr. Samuel Johnson and composers Robert Schumann, Hugo Wolf, and Beethoven. Finally, we’ll focus on the life and art of Vincent van Gogh, whose battle with depression has made his name a household word. No required reading. Lecturer: A dedicated and experienced scholar and lecturer in the arts and sciences, Henry Claman is a partly retired professor of medicine at the CU Medical School, where he directs the new Medical Humanities Program. TUNING UP FOR THE OPERA As every opera lover knows, you’ll enjoy attending a performance more if you study the music ahead of time and let it seep into your soul. You’ll be well prepared for the curtain to rise on the Opera Colorado season after this course as we will have plenty of time to explore both of their fall offerings. Opera Colorado will provide thorough introductions to Verdi’s popular tale of doomed love and redemption, La Traviata and Donizetti’s witty comedy of greed and misadventure, Don Pasquale. After each two-hour presentation, you’ll have a chance to view the operas in their entirety in carefully selected video productions and even follow along with the librettos. Additional operas and opera-related presentations will also be included. Course moderator Richard Timberlake, devoted opera buff, will add his perspective. Presenter: Leigh Holman, director of education & outreach for Opera Colorado, sang professionally with various regional companies and toured with the National Opera Company before completing a doctorate of musical arts at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Moderator: Retired CPA Richard Timberlake has been broadening his opera database since age sixteen, when he attended his first opera. He continues to indulge his interest in classical music and opera by facilitating this course. MAHLER: HIS LIFE & MUSIC, Part 3 Music critic Harold Schonberg has called Mahler “a prophet for an age riddled with doubts and anxieties.” And, indeed, understanding Mahler’s angst-ridden life is essential to understanding his complex music. Freud himself counseled Mahler, who remained tormented by his love/hate relationship with his wife, the notorious Alma. We’ll unravel Mahler’s personality in more detail than he would certainly have liked as we explore its expression in music that brought the Romantic period to an end and launched the modern world of more complicated tonalities. If you’re ready to move beyond Mozart and Beethoven, the study of Mahler is a good next step. This is the third in a series of three courses devoted to exploring Mahler’s symphonies and song cycles in depth, but you need not have attended either of the earlier classes to enjoy this one thoroughly. Recommended reading: Jonathan Carr, Mahler: A Biography (Overlook Press, 1997) (Buy from Amazon). Presenter: A retired economist with a passion for Western high art music, Jim Kneser has facilitated courses on both Mozart and Beethoven for the Academy. He says that the study of Mahler’s life and music is one of the most interesting musical explorations he has ever undertaken. THE MUSIC & LIVES OF GREAT COMPOSERS Travel with maestro Robin McNeil through three centuries of great music, from the late Renaissance to the Romantic age. This encore performance of a popular course features entirely different musical adventures with giants like Vivaldi, Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert, as well as lesser-known greats who sometimes get overlooked in the crowd. We’ll take a look at how life events colored the music of these composers, and we’ll spend some time discussing just how "Romantic” music differs from classical and how it arose through Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, and E.T.A. Hoffmann. We’ll end our journey with music from Liszt, Berlioz, Chopin, Brahms, and Gouvy. No required reading Instructor: Retired professor of piano, musicologist, author of book and concert reviews, and executive director of the Denver Philharmonic Orchestra, Robin McNeil dislikes retirement and loves to teach. DARWIN’S VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY Find out what it was like to live in the decades before Darwin unleashed his theory of evolution, when each scientific breakthrough brought a tsunami of information to the static world of the British elite. It was a time of great social upheaval when thousands were jobless in the midst of prosperity and educated people of conscience argued passionately about Biblical truth, duty vs. conscience, and the ethical treatment of the poor at home and primitive peoples overseas. Ship out with the young Captain Robert Fitzroy and naturalist Charles Darwin in 1831 for a five-year journey aboard the HMS Beagle that would take them to unexplored territory and discoveries that eventually changed the way human beings see every aspect of the world. We’ll join them as the two men debate morality, biology, fate, and religion while forging a lifelong friendship that abruptly ended almost thirty years later when Darwin published The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. You’re sure to enjoy gaining new insight into Darwin, his society, and the Scots nobleman—hydrographer, meteorologist, and unbending Christian—who provided a brilliant foil against which to test his radical ideas. Required reading: Harry Thompson, To the Edge of the World, 3 vols. (Lawson Library Paperbacks: MacAdam Cage Publishing, 2007) (Buy from Amazon). It’s ok to skip parts of the required reading! Also recommended: Niles Eldridge, Darwin: Discovering the Tree of Life (Norton, 2005) (Buy from Amazon). Facilitator: An opinionated, unemployed geologist/hydrologist, Donna Barrow is a discriminating reader of good historical fiction who loves to explore beyond the page. LANGUAGE Language is something we simply take for granted. It is the tool that allows us to think, communicate, solve problems, and provoke emotional responses from others. Yet we almost never take the time to think about language itself and what an important part it plays in constructing our identity. This course is sure to awaken in you a surprising new awareness of the words you use everyday. After looking briefly at theories about the origin and nature of language, we’ll investigate all of the uses we have for language, both good and bad. We’ll examine the role of context and metaphor and weigh their relevance in an age in which we are constantly bombarded with words. We’ll also look at the way the languages of art, science, politics, and religion affect the ideas we choose to adopt. Required reading: Robert MacNeil and William Cran, Do You Speak American? (Doubleday, 2005) (Buy from Amazon). Also recommended: Noam Chomsky, New Horizons in the Study of Language and Mind (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2004) (Buy from Amazon). DVD: John McWhorter, The Story of Human Language (3 parts). Facilitator: Since his retirement in 1985, lifelong skeptic and group facilitator, Darwin Rolens has become a serious student of the theory and use of language, especially as it plays out in his other areas of interest: humanism, philosophy, and religion. NORSE MYTHOLOGY Find out how much of our cultural background we owe to the barbarian Norsemen who plundered the coasts of northern and western Europe during the Middle Ages. You’ll be surprised at the cultural values we owe to this unsuspected source. We’ll explore the major myths surrounding the pantheon of Norse gods and discuss their connections to philosophy, folk music, and Christmas. We’ll also glance briefly at Wagner’s masterful operatic cycle, The Ring of the Nibelung, which weaves the disconnected legends into a dramatic narrative whole, before examining it in some detail in part two of this course. Part three will focus on the Nazi (mis)use of Norse legends and myths in an attempt to construct an ancestry for the theory of a master race. Required reading: H. R. Ellis Davidson, Gods and Myths of Northern Europe (Pelican/Penguin, 1964) (Buy from Amazon), also published as Gods and Myths of the Viking Age (Barnes & Noble, 1970); Padraic Colum, Nordic Gods and Heroes (Dover, 1966) (Buy from Amazon). Also recommended: M. Owen Lee, Wagner's Ring (Limelight, 1988) (Buy from Amazon). Extended bibliography will be available at the first class meeting. Instructors: Recently retired from teaching high school English, Carol Anthony is a longtime fan of J.R.R. Tolkien with a passionate interest in Norse-English-Germanic mythology and culture. Economist Jim Kneser indulges his lifelong interest in music by facilitating courses showcasing some of his favorite composers, including Wagner. THE PLAY’S THE THING FILLED Discover the fun of reading plays aloud with a group. We’ll be striking a balance between substantive dramas like Sophocles’s Antigone, Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, and Strindberg's Miss Julie and lighter fare like Noel Coward's Cavalcade and a sampling of one act plays. You’ll get a copy of the play on the day it’s scheduled to be read, and parts will be assigned at random. Seated around the table, you’ll have the option of getting into character or playing it straight. The pleasure of the experience seems to come from the playwright's skill and the fact that all participants have copies they can read—hearing problems don't interfere. A course syllabus is shown at the bottom of these course descriptions. Facilitator: Retired public school speech therapist, Laura Rubin has been leading play reading groups for six years and is looking forward to this year. FOOD FOR THOUGHTEXPERTS & ENTERTAINERS Academy member Lois Martin, founding editor and publisher of the Aurora Sun, has put together an appetizing array of experts and entertainers for this noon-hour lecture series. Pack a lunch, gather your friends, and join your fellow Academics for this weekly buffet of new ideas. You can find out more about the speakers at the Academy website, www.academyLL.org, by clicking on Courses, then Facilitator Profiles. A) Sept. 26. Joan Chase, “What Archeologists Won’t Tell” B) Oct. 3. Ed Schreiber, “Why Music Feels Good: A Scientist’s View” C) Oct. 10. Dr. Kelly Dawson, “I Was a Female Physician at Abu Ghraib” D) Oct. 17. Richard Kautt, “Whatever Happened to Grandpa?” E) Oct. 24. Rod Ourada, “Money for Dummies” F) Oct. 31. Earl Reum, “The Ten Categories of Legerdemain” G) Nov. 7. Richard C. Ireland, “The Future, Can You Handle It?” H) Nov. 14. Dr. Sue Murphy, “What Goes On in the Petri Dish” DIVERTIMENTIACADEMY OPEN HOUSE Kick-off the fall term with a party. Sip, nibble, and chat. Schmooze with facilitators and fellow Academics, and pick up any hand-outs you’ll need to get ready for your first classes. (Can’t make it? We’ll mail anything you miss.) Bring along friends and neighbors to join the fun and find out what the Academy is all about. There may still be openings in a class that strikes their fancy. A note of caution, though: Five classes filled long before the spring open house. People who expected to enroll then were disappointed. First-time prospective members are free. LEARN TO FACILITATE Facilitating is FUN! Have you enjoyed participating in the Academy? Would you like to become more involved? Here’s your chance to learn techniques to make you both a great facilitator and a better group member. This course is designed for both current and future facilitators. If you’re uncertain as to whether you’d ever like to facilitate, sign up to see what it’s like. Then you’ll be ready to say yes. If you have been a member at any time since the Academy began, the fee is only $5. What you’ll learn: How to organize an Academy class, the best ways to ask questions, how to begin a group activity, how to keep a group focused, and how to promote participation. What you’ll do: Listen to presentations, practice giving instructions, analyze and offer comments on the techniques of others, take home material for review, and receive advice from former facilitators. “I have two main reasons for facilitating. First is that I enjoy the Academy so much that I want to make a significant contribution. Secondly, facilitating gives me the nudge to study the subject in more depth than if I were just taking the class, and accordingly, I learn more.” FOOD AS MEDICINE Our most important health decisions are made each day. We each have the ability to enjoy abundant vitality throughout our lifetime by making choices and cultivating habits that promote health. One crucial aspect of this is in the food we eat. However, we are bombarded by a confusing array of information: What is an omega-3 fatty acid or a trans-fat and how does it affect the body? How does high blood sugar relate to heart disease or bad vision? What are “good carbs” and “bad carbs,” and how can you adopt a diet that meets your individual needs? This class will help elucidate these mysteries by focusing on the science of how the body uses food for energy as well as the everyday choices we can make to promote long-term health and vitality. CHESS FOR ALL Give your mind a work-out. Learn the game of kings (and queens). You don’t have to know a thing about chess to have fun in this class, just an interest and willingness to learn this classical game. For beginners, there will be a weekly tutorial and review of the basic moves and strategies. Learn the algebraic notation for record keeping during a game. Recreate and follow games played by chess masters. For beginners and advanced, there will be chess problems to solve. A round robin matrix will be set up so that each person will have an opportunity to face every other player. As beginners advance, we’ll introduce variants such as speed chess and team chess. Chess boards and pieces will be provided. It is likely that this class will meet downstairs. INTERMEDIATE BRIDGE REVIEW FILLED By popular request: This class begins with a review of the most important modern bridge bidding agreements, then jumps into the two most important intermediate conventions: the Negative Double and the Transfer after partner bids notrump. In the final three classes additional instructors will sit at the tables so that timely encouragement, tips, and corrections can be given. As always, you can come with a group of four, with a partner, or as a single who will be matched up with others. It is likely that this class will meet downstairs. POTTERY DEMONSTRATION & TOUR One session demo & tour: It is magical to watch a master working his trade, and Bil Buhler’s ease with clay is mesmerizing. Join him for a tour of his co-op studio where you will learn about the different types of clay, glazes, tools, and techniques used in making pottery. Bil will prepare every stage of creating a pot so that you will be able to view and enjoy a whole week’s worth of work within two hours. You will watch him throw, modify, glaze, and fire pots. Fellow artists will demonstrate and display their varying techniques and creations. EXPRESS YOURSELF IN ART CANCELLED If you’ve always wanted to express yourself through visual art but lacked self confidence or opportunity, here’s your chance to try your hand in a noncompetitive, nonjudgmental setting. Taking a lighthearted, playful approach, Patricia Palmer will introduce simple art-making techniques and show you how to avoid common blocks to creativity and unleash your imagination. No special talent or skill is needed, only a willingness to explore and experiment. Projects include mandalas, collage, painting, color mixing, printmaking, and papier-mâché. Participants will receive a short materials list at the first meeting. YES, YOU CAN DRAW! FILLED Guaranteed: You can draw. Drawing helps us appreciate the charm, harmony, and beauty of real forms and offers a rare opportunity for originality in a world that becomes more and more conventional every day. Using the book Drawing Made Easy by David Sanmiguel (Sterling Publishing Co., 2000), you’ll explore such drawing skills as proportion, shading, and perspective. By practicing between sessions, skills will grow rapidly. Knowing that the same book and lessons will be used, previous participants are welcome to return in order to improve skills learned last spring. Bring a drawing pad, pencil, and kneaded eraser. This class will likely meet downstairs. FIELD TRIP TO THE LAB The Lab at Belmar is a new contemporary art center that bills itself as “part art museum, part public forum, wholly mackerel.” Director Adam Lerner will talk about the exhibition on view of Mexico City artist Melanie Smith. He’ll also explain the philosophy behind The Lab and discuss an approach to culture that combines serious intellectual inquiry with irony and whimsy. The Lab hosts Mixed Taste, tag team lectures on unrelated topics on Thursday evenings until August 30. Course Syllabus September 12 “Cavalcade”, Coward Course Syllabus September 12 Ch. 1 “The Rise and Expansion of Islam” Course Syllabus October 3 - Grace Church, 4905 E. Yale October 10 - Meet in the atrium of the Wellington E. Webb Municipal Building, 201 West Colfax Avenue, Denver 80202. Parking is available in the DCPA parking structure which is near where the art walk will end. October 17 - church October 24 - Meet at the west entrance of the Central Public Library. Parking is available in the Civic Cultural Center parking structure with an entrance on 12th Avenue just west of Broadway. October 31 - church November 7- church
( categories: Fall 2007 )
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