Wednesday May 6 to Jul 15 ( 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM )
Coordinator: Steve Breuer
Co-coordinator: Dick Israel
Monday May 4 to Aug 3 ( 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM )
Coordinator: Fariba Ghaffari
Co-coordinator: Judith Munoz
Monday May 4 to Aug 3 ( 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM )
Coordinator: Denise Neumark-Reimer
Co-coordinator: Jane Nadler
Abstract Expressionism was a revolution in the history of
art, especially modern art. Abstract
Expressionism was the first major art movement that evolved out of
the American experience. Previously, the
art world was centered in Europe, and American artists followed and adapted the trends that crossed the ocean. With the rise of Totalitarianism in the
1930’s and the beginning of WWII, American artists felt emboldened to transcend
European influence, and to develop a movement that reflected their
own nation, experience and emotions.
This evolution thrust America for the first time in history to the
forefront of the arts, where the American life experience became the
ground for new artistic expression. Because many of the Abstract Expressionist artists were refugees from Europe, they brought with them the history of modernism and reformed it into something new when they joined up with the art community of New York.
This SDG will follow the birth of Abstract Expressionism
from the art background of European refugee's to the “Wall Street Crash” and the formation of the “WPA Federal Arts Project,” which led to the birth of "The New York School". The New York School included painters, poets, musicians and sculptors who bonded together to form a community in the face of societal hardship. During the mid-1940’s, Abstract Expressionism
found a second home in San Francisco, and “The San Francisco School” was
formed. Both of these schools, perhaps
better known as collectives, rocked the artistic world, and art has never looked back. The American worlds of music, sculpture and poetry were also influenced by the changing times and embraced the Abstract Expressionist Movement, creating a cultural shift that we are still seeing today.
Everything about the process of painting, music, sculpture and poetry changed! Paint could now be dripped, thrown,
poured, stained or carved into. Music could be atonal, rhythmic or neither. Sculpture need not be figurative or representational; and poetry could express the dissonance of human life. So, the rules could change with the intention of the artist. Expression was valued over
perfection, vitality was more meaningful than finish, fluctuation was more interesting than repose. The unknown was the subject, and the individual was the gateway to this unknown, inner world.
Tuesday May 5 to Aug 4 ( 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM )
Coordinator: Jim Kohn
Co-coordinator: Barry Mc Grath
Is Irish history a special taste? Not of general interest to PLATO
members? Our vote is “No.” It’s an object lesson in the creation of a
people’s independence. The oppression of
the Irish by Britain lasted 750 years.
Beaten down, essentially dispossessed in their own country, treated as
savages and infidels, they finally rebelled, managed to free themselves from
the English and asserted control of their own destiny in 1919. Without significant weaponry or foreign
assistance, they relied on skilled leadership and commitment.
The two principal leaders of that rebellion
were Michael Collins ("Big Fellow") and Eamon de Valera ("Long Fellow").
They came from different backgrounds, had different life experiences and very different skill sets, but
both came to believe that only violence could free Ireland from English
rule. And they prevailed where others
had failed.
Despite their alliance to gain that independence, rather than settle in to enjoy it, Collins and de Valera led their respective followers into a brutal civil war, with consequences (including the "Troubles" in Northern Ireland) which have lasted until today. When the civil war ended, Collins was dead
and de Valera was the political leader.
And he remained the principal Irish political leader into the 1950’s. And the legacy of the rebellion and civil war
led to the more recent “Troubles” in Northern Ireland.
This is a
fascinating story of how the Irish fought for independence, how the English
yoke was finally thrown off, the civil war, the creation and operation of the
Irish Free State, de Valera’s career as its political leader and the military,
social and political aspects of all of them. We will start with a summary of
what English rule meant, the failed rebellions of 1798, 1803 and 1916 and the
19th century movements to assert Irish political participation,
cultural pride and land reform. We will
then move to the events leading to the successful rebellion, civil war and the creation of a nation.
Many myths have grown up around
these events. Among our tasks are to try to separate the myths from the
realities, to take an objective view of the events themselves, to honestly
appraise both Collins and de Valera, to see how the events of almost 100 years
ago still galvanize emotions and to see how their respective attitudes and
actions still play out today. These
events raise questions about whether the rebels were justified in forsaking
peaceful methods to achieve independence in favor or violence, whether the
violence of the civil war was justified, and to what extent the egos of the
leaders influenced their actions.
Wednesday May 6 to Jul 22 ( 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM )
Coordinator: Edward Robin
Co-coordinator: Carol Segal
A desperate young man plots the perfect crime-the murder of a pawnbroker-an unpleasant old woman no one loves and no one will mourn. Is it not just, he reasons, for a man of genius to transgress moral law if it will ultimately benefit humanity? So begins one of the greatest novels ever written, a psychological study, a terrifying murder mystery, a fascinating detective thriller infused with philosophical, religious and social commentary. Experience the themes of mid-19th Century Russia--poverty, religion, mysticism, political ferment and nihilism. From dirty backrooms and dingy bars, journey into the darkest recesses of the depraved mind and witness sin, guilt and redemption. Dostoevsky is the acknowledged master of psychological drama and this is his masterpiece. Originally serialized more than 150 years ago, it is peopled with remarkable characters and remains as fresh and current as today's news.
Wednesday May 6 to Aug 5 ( 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM )
Coordinator: Barbara Klein
Co-coordinator: Jim De Meules
Every four years our nation goes through a political paroxysm of (pick one): furious activity, anxiety, fear, or loathing. The Presidential election -- this year may be the worst ever. The nation has gone through a grueling time since the 2016 election. Now, not only must we choose our president & vice-president, 1/3 of all Senators, all members of the House of Representatives, countless governors and state legislators – we are faced with two very different philosophies of governance.
This SDG proposes to study Election 2020 in each of the three terms in 2020. While we will focus on the Presidential race, we’ll also discuss important local and national trends & issues as they emerge.
During the course of the year, we'll cover: election funding; PACs and SUPER PACs; how to win friends & votes: advertising/PR/events; endorsements & what they mean; analyses of all debates; media coverage – fair and balanced, or…; geographical differences; polls & pollsters; real issues and phony issues; friends and foes; is honesty the best policy?; how do politicians approach/avoid talking about issues, and any and all relevant news.
By this point, the Presidential field is pretty narrow. Competition for the Vice-Presidential slot is increasing. Primaries are over, and platform discussions begin. And then… conventions.
Election 2020 #3 – Fall
We will discuss how the campaigns are faring… and then, after the results are in, we’ll analyze them.
Note: Since committing to a year-long course may be difficult or impractical, persons will initially sign up for Winter Term. Those who wish to stay in the course will have priority for the nest term(s). Open spaces will be filled at registration.
Thursday May 7 to Aug 6 ( 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM )
Coordinator: Doug Green
Co-coordinator: Armen Markarian
Genre films require suspension of disbelief, and we viewers love them for that. Westerns: we are riveted as men face each other drawing six guns. Film noir: bad guys looking great in fedoras are done in by sexy dames. Musicals: we enjoy characters interrupting dialog to break into those wonderful song and dance routines. But, sometimes, the suspension of disbelief we bring to genre films lets us see and feel more than we can in “reality” films. In this SDG we will watch films that are more than simple genre, they extend the genre in ways that are touching, that are powerful.
In the western The Oxbow Incident, men in anger have to make moral choices. In True Confessions are cops and murder and corruption, but none of that is what we care about. In Seconds we wonder if we can begin a second life, and if we do, then who are we? Pennies from Heaven is a musical that dares us to accept absurdity, and to accept both death and life when neither should be. Watching The Last Wave we ask, when is a fantasy profoundly religious, and when is a fantasy too true? Join this SDG and watch these films—all available on Netflix or youtube--with your disbelief suspended as the more-than-genre films take you away.
Tuesday May 5 to Jun 16 ( 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM )
Coordinator: Anne Mellor
Co-coordinator: Jackie Jaffe
Thursday May 7 to Jun 18 ( 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM )
Coordinator: Hank Toles
Co-coordinator: Barry Mc Grath
The Donald Trump Impeachment is over, or is it? This SDG is a historical and analytical look at the process of Impeachment from its inception in the monarchies of Europe (Britain in the1300's), debate in the constitutional convention after the Revolutionary War, the Federalist Papers, the final product in the U.S. Constitution thru Donald Trump and beyond. The SDG will include all facets of Impeachment in the United States, including Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump. Finally, we will discuss if the process is effective as envisioned by the founding fathers and where it may evolve in today's highly partisan country.
Tuesday May 5 to Aug 4 ( 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM )
Coordinator: Victor Weingarten
Co-coordinator: Joyce Campbell
The “Hacking Darwin” SDG is a
groundbreaking exploration of the many ways genetic-engineering is shaking
the very core foundations of our lives — sex, war, love, and death.
At the dawn of the genetics revolution,
our DNA is
becoming as readable, writable, and hackable as part of our information
technology. But as humanity starts retooling our own genetic code, the choices
we make today will be the difference between realizing breathtaking
advances in human well-being and descending into a dangerous and potentially
deadly genetic arms race that could destroy humanity. Some think that the genetic arms race is possibly as
dangerous for our existence as the nuclear and climate change threats.
Enter the laboratories where scientists are turning science fiction into reality. Look towards a future where our deepest beliefs, morals, religions, and politics are challenged like never before and the very essence of what it means to be human is at play. When we can engineer our future children, massively extend our lifespans, build life from scratch, and recreate the plant and animal world, should we?
If you are concerned about the future of our species then Hacking Darwin is a “must
take” SDG for you.
Tuesday Jun 23 to Aug 4 ( 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM )
Coordinator: David Eandi
Co-coordinator: Barbara Clegg
Mysticism (from the Greek word muo [to shut or close the lips or eyes]) is not a religion or a
philosophy; it has no connection to the occult; it is not mysterious. Its fount is the raw material of all
religions and the inspiration of philosophy and poetry, a consciousness of
something beyond the external world of material phenomena. In the words of
Evelyn Underhill: “In mysticism the will
is united with the emotions in an impassioned desire to transcend the
sense-world in order that the self may be joined by love in the one eternal and
ultimate Object of love; whose existence is intuitively perceived by the soul
[the cosmic or transcendent sense].”
In its pure form mysticism is the search for absolutes, union with the
Absolute, and the abolition of individuality.
In this s/dg we will compare and contrast the various forms of mysticism,
from the Hindus to psychedelic drug trips, and examine the question of its
logic. There will not be a core book. The
readings will be assembled in a packet of photocopied documents.
Wednesday May 6 to Jun 17 ( 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM )
Coordinator: David Roloff
Co-coordinator: Sheila Mc Coy
Thursday May 7 to Jul 16 ( 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM )
Coordinator: Ann Beisch
Co-coordinator: Nancy Bott
OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES - A Life in War, Law and Ideas by Stephen Budiansky
Oliver
Wendell Holmes, a Boston Brahmin, a thrice wounded civil war veteran with the
military mustache, the image of a hero from central casting, and that is before
you consider his incredible accomplishments as a scholar, a judge and a Supreme
Court Justice for over three decades. Our core book is OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES -
A Life in War, Law and Ideas by Stephen Budiansky.
We
will look at his pioneering early legal scholarship in the study and
understanding of the common law, evolving and not staid, to meet the changing
needs of society.
In his passionate dissents such as the case of Abrams v. United
States, we will study Holmes’ groundwork for the modern
constitutional protection of freedom of speech. And a year later, writing for
the Supreme Court’s majority in Missouri v. Holland, we will consider Holmes introduction
of the concept of a living Constitution. He writes that this Constitution
should be properly interpreted “in the light of our whole experience, and not
merely in that of what was said a hundred years ago.”
Our core book will provide an interesting road-map as it drawing on many previously unpublished letters and records, and
offers a full portrait of this pivotal American figure, whose zest for life,
wit, and intellect left a profound legacy in law and Constitutional
rights. He was also an inspiring example
of how to lead a meaningful life in a world of uncertainty and upheaval.
Tuesday Jun 23 to Aug 4 ( 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM )
Coordinator: Toni Delliquadri
Co-coordinator: Lee Molho
A pre-eminent black public intellectual of his generation, Ta-Nehisi Coates testified before Congress in June, 2019 on the case for Reparations for blacks of ex-slaves in the United States. It was the first such hearing on the subject in over 20years.
During the Obama administration, Coates wrote a series of articles for The Atlantic, examining the issues and events of the period from his own intimate and revealing perspective of the haunting shadow of our nation's persistent and unreconciled racial history.
This 7 week SDG will explore Coates' examination of the Obama years based on his own experiences, observations and his intellectual development as a black man in 21st century America. We Were Eight Years in Power , includes his essays for The Atlantic, each introduced with a personal story (mini-essays) which elucidate his thinking, his confusions and his pessimism (lately turned to guarded optimism in wake of the democratic responses to Trumpism). His themes are about man, community and national identity and his view that black progress is always met with violence and backlash; that most white Americans still cannot tolerate the idea of equity and that acknowledging the many legacies of slavery is too much to ask of Whites because it would disrupt our conception of our country and ourselves. The book's essays provoke and invite argument and discussion as to what Coates has to say and to offer for the future in a black/white divided America.
Tuesday May 5 to Jun 16 ( 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM )
Coordinator: David Roloff
In his recent book, The Road To Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America, Timothy Snyder reveals how and why liberal democracy has eroded in America and Western Europe since 2010. He asks the question, Are we losing our way and headed to "unfreedom"?
Snyder has written several books and many articles on the threats to democracy and the challenge to understand, restore, and renew the fundamental political virtues offered by liberal democratic traditions and demanded for its survival. In Road To Unfreedom , he illuminates the significant role that Putin and Russia have played, and somewhat succeeded in creating chaos in W. European governments, and confusion by dividing and polarizing the EU and the US against themselves. To win back democratic traditions, we must understand the stark choices before us....between equality and oligarchy, individuality and totality, truth and falsehood, and make our choices. Snyder offers a way forward.
In this 7 week SDG, we will explore Snyder's analysis of how Putin re-shaped Post -Soviet Russia, put into practice the fascist and nationalist ideas of several modern Russian thinkers and created disruption and confusion in leading western democracies. We will examine Snyder's commentary and his call to concerned citizens as to what to do about the unraveling of democracy and the decay in our public, political life. What are the lessons? And,... What now?
Monday May 4 to Aug 3 ( 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM )
Coordinator: Paul Markowitz
Co-coordinator: Sam Pryor
Monday May 4 to Jul 6 ( 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM )
Coordinator: Sheri Ross
Co-coordinator: Fred Goldberger
James Madison was the visionary who crafted the classical political framework of individual liberty, economic dynamism, based on a strict interpretation of the Constitution. When was the founders’ philosophy abandoned? Was it after the Civil War; or during the Woodrow Wilson Administration? This SDG is not designed to reconcile any particular problem or philosophy, but to discuss the enduring questions concerning the proper scope and intellectual competence of government. There is no better authority commenting on the current state of American Politics than George F. Will to build the case that the true classical Conservatism has always been in America’s best interest.
THE CORE BOOK IS ONLY MEANT TO BE A COMMON BASIS FROM WHICH TO START - NOT THE BOUNDARY FOR THE SDG.
Monday May 4 to Jul 20 ( 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM )
Coordinator: Bernd Givon
Co-coordinator: Mark Wellisch
Wednesday May 6 to Jul 8 ( 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM )
Coordinator: Jane Tokunow
Co-coordinator: Juanita Davis
Did you know that trees talk to each other, share nutrients with other sick trees and can warn each other of danger? They are essential to the survival of the human race, yet most Americans can only name 10 or fewer trees growing in the United States. Not an SDG in botany, but rather on the value and meaning of trees, discussion will examine the roles trees play in our lives. Topics will include how trees feature in art, literature, film, health, religion, and politics. Further, we will examine how trees influence climate, control environment, and enhance community. Beyond the role that trees play in our lives, we will also look closely at select trees to discover both the extraordinary secrets of everyday trees, as well as familiarize ourselves with the exceptional trees of the world. Optional field trips offered.
Tuesday May 5 to Jul 7 ( 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM )
Coordinator: Barbara Shuwarger
Co-coordinator: Ken Korman
An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser, published in 1925, is a complex and compassionate account of the life and death of a young antihero named Clyde Griffiths. It has often been called American's Crime and Punishment. The novel begins with Clyde’s blighted background, recounts his path to success, and culminates in his apprehension, trial, and execution for murder. Tracing the psychic and social consequences of inequality, An American Tragedy was voted into the 16th spot on the Modern Reader's Library Top 100 novels.
Based on a thinly disguised true story, this important novel is not only a biting portrait of the American dream gone sour but also a universal story about the stresses of urbanization, modernization, and alienation.
It was a watershed book that inspired the creation of a number of American tragedies - Richard Wright’s Native Son (1940), Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood (1966), and Norman Mailer’s The Executioner’s Song (1979) among others. The story has also been made into an opera and a film (A Place in the Sun, 1951). We will study the film in the last session.
The book is 856 pages.
Wednesday May 6 to Jul 8 ( 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM )
Coordinator: Juanita Davis
Toni Morrison’s imaginative, vivid writing will captivate you." She is the winner of the Noble Prize,
National Book Circle Award, the National Book Foundation's Medal of
Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, the Presidential Medal of
Freedom, the PEN/ Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction. We
will delve into this treasure trove of beautiful writing.
Thursday Jun 25 to Aug 6 ( 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM )
Coordinator: Susana Schuarzberg
Co-coordinator: Toni Schuman
The ground beneath our feet may seem safe and solid but earthquakes, volcanic blasts and other hazardous natural phenomena leave no doubt that this isn't the case. The earth is a dynamic planet of shifting tectonic plates that is responsive to change, particularly when there is a dynamic climate transition. Over the past 20,000 years, the earth has undergone an astonishing transformation from frigid wasteland to the temperate world upon which our civilization has grown and thrived. The disturbing fact is that there are clear signs that human-induced climate change is awakening the slumbering giant on which we live.
The core book is delightful, easy to read and wonderfully informative.
Thursday May 7 to Aug 6 ( 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM )
Coordinator: Fred Reimer
Co-coordinator: Art Smukler
"The essays collected in "The Collected What If?" are sober extrapolations from historical fact. Even so, they're a lot of fun. They remind us of the slender threads on which our past hangs. One small break -- at Poitiers or on Long Island, at Gettysburg or in Berlin -- might have unraveled the entire tapestry of modern history." --CNN
Churchill called them ''the terrible ifs.'' He meant
those little nudges, those very slight alterations, that might have changed the
outcome of a battle, for instance, and in a snowballing process an entire
happening of history could have turned out different. Churchill's chilling “ifs”
have become the mind game of a small but cultist book genre called Alternative history, Speculative history, Counterfactual history or Hypothetical history. Some examples:
· If Socrates had died in battle during the Peloponnesian War, Christianity and Western thought as a whole could be radically different.
· What the incredible Chinese navy could have accomplished in the Atlantic and the New World had the Ming emperors not turned inwards. Might the Chinese have discovered the New World, and even prevented the horrors of the Atlantic Slave Trade?
· What if Wellington had been leading the British Armies in America, as he had been asked to, rather than worrying about Napoleon?
· If Teddy Roosevelt had defeated Woodrow Wilson in the 1912 election, would WWI have ended sooner? Effects on global geopolitics?
· One bureaucrat may have kept Germany from winning WWI by hindering their program of unrestricted submarine warfare.
These questions provide the starting points for interesting discussions of the actual historical events and their alternative outcomes. Many armchair historians have spent hours daydreaming of what might have been if some turning point in history had gone another way. The appeal of our Core Book (The Collected What If?: The World's Foremost Military Historians Imagine What Might Have Been) is that editor Robert Cowley hired professional historians to expand on these imaginative questions via an engrossing series of essays on counterfactual history. Mr. Cowley enticed historians such as David McCullough, Stephen E. Ambrose, John Lukacs, James M. McPherson, James Bradley, Caleb Carr, and John Keegan to consider and develop these speculations. The SD/G will take a look at selected historical events from the Core Book's forty-five essays.
Each historian examined a pivotal event, then presents the
intriguing ramifications had the event come out differently. Authors develop
their specific conjectures, their biases
and assumptions about the forces of history—the great man theory, randomness,
uncertainty effects, statistical probabilities, economic, religious and
sociological forces, et al.
During our sessions, these historically-oriented discussion topics will include the:
— Actual history of the event(s) considered in the essay(s)
— Persons, politics, societies, biases, religions, economics, technology, special circumstances, etc from the original history
— Historical ramifications and impacts of the original historical event
— “What-if” circumstances or incidents that could perturb the original history
— “Downstream” impacts, implications, changes, etc. of the “What-ifs”
Tired of historical events turning out the same old way? Use your imagination and creativity to explore and build on the alternatives provide by our historians.