Atheism: A Very Short Introduction
|
|
Required reading: Atheism, A Very Short Introduction, Julian Baggini.
Atheism: A Very Short Introduction sets out to dispel the myths that surround atheism and show how a life without religious belief can be positive, meaningful, and moral. |
Biblical Storytelling: A Patriarch, a King & a Prophet
|
|
Recommended reading: The Art of Biblical Narrative, Robert Alter.
Renowned critic and translator Robert Alter presents the Hebrew Bible as a cohesive literary work, one whose many authors used innovative devices such as parallelism, contrastive dialogue, and narrative tempo to tell one of the most revolutionary stories of human history: the revelation of a single god.
|
|
Recommended reading: Narrative in the Hebrew Bible, D.M. Gunn & D.N. Fewell.
After almost two centuries of historical criticism, biblical scholarship has recently taken major shifts in direction, most notably toward literary study of the Bible. Much germinal criticism has taken as its primary focus narrative texts of the Hebrew Bible (the "Old Testament"). This study provides a lucid guide to the interpretive possibilities of this movement.
|
|
Recommended reading: Reading Isaiah, Peter Quinn-Miscall.
Perfect for students, Reading Isaiah is a practical and nontechnical literary introduction to the book of Isaiah as a poem. Peter Quinn-Miscall translates much of the Hebrew text and focuses upon parallelism, figurative language, and the use of imagery.
|
|
Recommended reading: The Fifth Gospel, J.F.A. Sawyer.
With full documentation and illustrations, Sawyer gives an insight into Isaiah's influence, from the cult of the Virgin Mary and anti-Semitism to Christian feminism and liberation theology.
|
|
Recommended reading: Beauty and the Enigma, F. Landy.
This book is a collection of Landy's studies on the poetics of the Hebrew Bible. The Song of Songs is featured alongside the prophetic voices of Amos, Hosea and Isaiah, and essays on the Binding of Isaac and on the book of Ruth. Throughout, the emphasis throughout is on the subversiveness, richness and ambiguity of the text, but above all its (often enigmatic) beauty. The thread of psychoanalysis and its metaphorical technique draws together this collection from one of the Bible's most sensitive and distinctive literary critics.
|
Bridge: Advanced Intermediate Practice
|
|
Recommended reading: Play of the Hand in the 21st Century: The Diamond Series, Audrey Grant.
|
|
Recommended reading: Watson's Classic Book on The Play of the Hand at Bridge, Louis Watson.
|
|
Recommended reading: Planning the Play of a Bridge Hand, Barbara Seagram.
In this book, two of the world's best bridge teacher/authors explain how to go about making a plan as declarer, using a simple step-by-step process. Readers will learn how to decide what to do on a given deal, both in notrump contracts and suit contracts. By the end of the book, even the most inexperienced declarer will be comfortable with more advanced material, such as entry management and counting the hand. |
|
Recommended reading: 25 Bridge Conventions You Should Know, Barbara Seagram.
The authors have selected 25 basic conventions and treatments that novice players can easily assimilate into their own methods. |
Bridge: Intermediate Bidding
|
|
Recommended reading: 25 Bridge Conventions You Should Know, Barbara Seagram.
The authors have selected 25 basic conventions and treatments that novice players can easily assimilate into their own methods. |
|
Recommended reading: Watson's Classic Book on The Play of the Hand at Bridge, Louis Watson.
|
Contemporary American Short Stories: New Series
|
|
Required reading: The Best American Short Stories 2010, Richard Russo and Heidi Pitlor.
Edited by the award-winning, best-selling author Richard Russo, this year’s collection boasts a satisfying “chorus of twenty stories that are by turns playful, ironic, somber, and meditative” (Wall Street Journal). With the masterful Russo picking the best of the best, America’s oldest and best-selling story anthology is sure to be of “enduring quality” (Chicago Tribune) this year. |
Discovering the Wonders of Nature
|
|
Recommended reading: Sharing Nature with Children, Joseph Bahrat Cornell.
Describes Cornell's philosophy of outdoor education and gives instructions for playing outdoor education games that work.
|
|
Recommended reading: Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder, Richard Louv.
Richard Louv was the first to identify a phenomenon we all knew existed but couldn't quite articulate: nature-deficit disorder. His book Last Child in the Woods created a national conversation about the disconnection between children and nature, and his message has galvanized an international movement.
|
|
Recommended reading: The Nature Principle, Richard Louv.
Richard Louv makes a convincing case that through a nature-balanced existence—driven by sound economic, social, and environmental solutions—the human race can and will thrive. This timely, inspiring, and important work will give readers renewed hope while challenging them to rethink the way we live.
|
Doctors on the Edge: Will Your Doc Break the Rules for You?
|
|
Required reading: Doctors on the Edge, Fredrick R. Abrams, MD.
This book exposes some of the hardest decisions to be made in a profession in which bodies are vulnerable and souls are laid bare. Doctors on the Edge is the true account of doctors who are faced with wrenching moral dilemmas, thrust upon them uninvited and unexpected. Sometimes complementary and sometimes conflicting--law, medicine, and morality intrude on the daily practice of medicine. In gripping stories that often include life-and-death decisions, doctors maneuver through ambiguities, subjectivity, and the essential principles of medical ethics. |
Freeing Your Writer's Voice
|
|
Recommended reading: If You Want to Write, Brenda Ueland.
Ueland argues that anyone can write well once the imagination is freed from self-consciousness, anxiety and fear of failure. This is a fresh and vivid approach to creative endeavors.
|
Late Imperial Russia & Russians Today
|
|
Required reading: The Birth of Democratic Culture in Late Imperial Russia: Reforms and Elections to the First Two National Legislatures, 1905-1907, Rolf Torstendahl, et al.
The various authors focus on Russian history, systems of politics, administration, modernization, agricultural systems, etc. to give a well-rounded view of Russian life.
|
Living Longer, Healthier & Happier: New Research
|
|
Recommended reading: A Time of our Own: In Celebration of Women over Sixty, Elinor Miller Greenberg & Fay Whitney.
Based on extensive interviews, research, and the authors' personal experiences, A Time of Our Own explores the opportunities available in one's "third trimester." A must-read for all women entering this exciting new chapter of life.
|
|
Recommended reading: Age Power, Ken Dychtwald, Ph.D.
In this breakthrough book, Dychtwald explains how individuals, businesses, and governments can best prepare for a new era in which the priorities of our homes and nation will be set by the needs and desires of the elderly. He surveys how each of us must make individual decisions right now to "age-proof" our lives.
|
Music FUNdamentals
|
| |
Recommended Website Perusal:
http://library.thinkquest.org/15413/theory/theory.htm?tqskip=1
|
New Challenges for Women over 60
|
|
Recommended reading: A Time of our Own: In Celebration of Women over Sixty, Elinor Miller Greenberg & Fay Whitney.
Based on extensive interviews, research, and the authors' personal experiences, A Time of Our Own explores the opportunities available in one's "third trimester." A must-read for all women entering this exciting new chapter of life.
|
|
Recommended reading: Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone, Eric Klinenberg.
|
Outfoxing the Predators
|
| |
Recommended reading: Elder Mistreatment: Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation in an Aging America, Bonnie, Richard J., and Wallace, Robert B. Editors.
(Order online through The National Academies Press, 500 Fifth St., N.W.) or down load from Committee on National Statistics link provided:
http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=10406
|
| |
Recommended Website: National Center on Elder Abuse.
http://ncea.aoa.gov
|
Religious Liberty & the Constitution
|
| |
Recommended reading: Our Fading Religious Liberties: How Government Uses Religion, Daniel Lynch.
(Will be Distributed the first day of class)
|
The Evolution of God
|
|
Recommended reading: The Evolution of God, Robert Wright.
In this sweeping, dazzling journey through history, Robert Wright unveils a discovery of crucial importance to the present moment: there is a pattern in the evolution Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and a "hidden code" in their scriptures.
|
US Presidents Through the Lens of the Electoral College
|
|
Required reading: What Kind of Nation, James F. Simon.
The bitter and protracted struggle between President Thomas Jefferson and Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall defined the basic constitutional relationship between the executive and judicial branches of government. More than one hundred fifty years later, their clashes still reverberate in constitutional debates and political battles.
|
|
Recommended reading: April 1865: The Month that Saved America, Jay Winik.
Jay Winik offers a brilliant new look at the Civil War's final days that will forever change the way we see the war's end and the nation's new beginning. Uniquely set within the larger sweep of history and filled with rich profiles of outsize figures, fresh iconoclastic scholarship, and a gripping narrative, this is a masterful account of the thirty most pivotal days in the life of the United States.
|
Write to Save Your Life: Beginning Memoir Writing
|
|
Recommended reading: Writing Your Life, Lou Willet Stanek.
We all have stories to tell -- of a rapturous first kiss, a life-altering moment of choice, or the shocking revelation of a long-guarded secret. And these stories are often as distinctive, fascinating, exciting and entertaining as those found in the memoirs and autobiographies that currently top the nation's bestseller lists. We just need to know how to tell them best.
|
|
Recommended reading: How to Write the Story of Your Life, Frank Thomas.
How to Write the Story of Your Life shows writers how to mine the depths of their experience to write an engaging and saleable memoir. Frank P. Thomas gives readers the instruction they need to write the stories of their lives, including: The five Rs essential to the completion and publishing of a life story; research, remembering, 'riting, reading and reproduction Hundreds of memory sparkers to get readers started Organizational techniques for developing a writing plan and how to work with photos and documents Memories and the author's expert guidance are all writers need to leave a legacy for generations to come.
|
.thumbnail.JPG "2006OpenHouse (15)")