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Sessions: 1Class Date(s): 05-22-2024 to 05-22-2024Day(s) of the week: WednesdayTime: 09:30 AM-11:00 AM Central TimeInstructor: Daryl Davis, MusicianTerm: OELocation: Zoom - Washington Metro OasisThis singer/songwriter icon introduced the Caribbean music known as Calypso to the U.S. and went on to become an ardent activist for Civil Rights. From the front line of music fame to the front line of marches and protests, Belafonte was an intense entertainer and leader. We will explore some of the many interesting facets of this complex man, who died at... read more
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Sessions: 1Class Date(s): 05-23-2024 to 05-23-2024Day(s) of the week: ThursdayTime: 09:30 AM-11:00 AM Central TimeInstructor: Steven Gimbel, Professor of Philosophy, Gettysburg CollegeTerm: OELocation: Zoom - Washington Metro OasisHumans are conscious beings--at least after our morning coffee. But what is the source of this consciousness? It seems like it has to be the brain, the mind, and/or the soul. It is only in the 20th century that the concepts of mind, brain, and soul were completely differentiated. What do we mean by these ideas? How to they relate to one another? Should we... read more
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Sessions: 1Class Date(s): 05-28-2024 to 05-28-2024Day(s) of the week: TuesdayTime: 12:00 PM-01:30 PM Central TimeInstructor: Bonita Billman, Art History LecturerTerm: OELocation: Zoom - Washington Metro OasisMary Cassatt is noted as the only American woman within the French Impressionist circle in Paris. From a wealthy Pennsylvania family, she nevertheless carved out a professional career for herself as an artist, defying social conventions of the time. This lecture will put Cassatt in the framework among the Impressionists and their group exhibitions. It will... read more
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Sessions: 1Class Date(s): 06-03-2024 to 06-03-2024Day(s) of the week: MondayTime: 12:00 PM-01:30 PM Central TimeInstructor: Denver Brunsman, Associate Chair, Department of History, George Washington UniversityTerm: OELocation: Zoom - Washington Metro OasisAs we head into the fall election, Denver Brunsman of George Washington University will discuss the history of the Electoral College. Agreed to in the last days of the Constitutional Convention, the Electoral College persists to this day as a relic of 18th-century political thought and compromise. Why did the framers of the Constitution create such a... read more
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Sessions: 1Class Date(s): 06-04-2024 to 06-04-2024Day(s) of the week: TuesdayTime: 09:30 AM-11:00 AM Central TimeInstructor: Richard Bell, Professor of History, University of MarylandTerm: OELocation: Zoom - Washington Metro OasisSeen through American eyes, the Revolution marks a triumphant moment. Through British eyes, it looked quite different. To the King, the war for independence was an affront, a temper tantrum by an ungrateful colonial rabble. But, as historian Richard Bell explains, beyond the palace and Parliament, British responses to the war were anything but monolithic.... read more
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Sessions: 1Class Date(s): 06-06-2024 to 06-06-2024Day(s) of the week: ThursdayTime: 12:00 PM-01:30 PM Central TimeInstructor: Ambassador (ret.) Eric S. RubinTerm: OELocation: Zoom - Washington Metro OasisThe United States is facing the most serious set of foreign policy challenges since the end of the Cold War more than 30 years ago. At the same time, we are heading into a presidential election that will have major impact on the direction of our foreign policy. The choices that must be made will likely affect our country for the next several decades at... read more
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Sessions: 1Class Date(s): 06-10-2024 to 06-10-2024Day(s) of the week: MondayTime: 12:00 PM-01:30 PM Central TimeInstructor: Barbara Paulson, Travel SpecialistTerm: OELocation: Zoom - Washington Metro OasisSee the first submarine to sink an enemy ship (in 1864!), tour the fields and taste the product from a 128-acre tea plantation, learn to speak a few words in Gullah (the black Creole dialect still spoken in communities along the southern coast), see the work of a 21st century wrought iron worker whose artistry is in the Smithsonian, and visit the French... read more
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Sessions: 1Class Date(s): 06-12-2024 to 06-12-2024Day(s) of the week: WednesdayTime: 09:30 AM-11:00 AM Central TimeInstructor: Owen Ullmann, Journalist and AuthorTerm: OELocation: Zoom - Washington Metro OasisVoters weigh a president’s economic stewardship every four years--usually rewarding incumbents and their party during good economic times and punishing them during bad times. Yet, presidents have less influence on the economic cycle while in office than the public realizes. They often are beneficiaries or victims of the marketplace, Federal Reserve... read more
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Sessions: 1Class Date(s): 06-12-2024 to 06-12-2024Day(s) of the week: WednesdayTime: 12:00 PM-01:30 PM Central TimeInstructor: Dan Sherman, PhDTerm: OELocation: Zoom - Washington Metro OasisWagner’s Ring Cycle is often seen as a long, dull tale set in a world of German mythology. The Ring has always had its devoted followers (the instructor included) who find it a fascinating work telling a profoundly moving human story. This class will provide information needed to appreciate the Ring, including its sources, its use of interrelated musical... read more
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Sessions: 1Class Date(s): 06-20-2024 to 06-20-2024Day(s) of the week: ThursdayTime: 09:30 AM-11:00 AM Central TimeInstructor: Steven Gimbel, Professor of Philosophy, Gettysburg CollegeTerm: OELocation: Zoom - Washington Metro OasisThe classical Greeks defined human beings as rational animals, but are we really? It turns out that our brains are actually wired in many circumstances to believe irrational ideas, to draw unsupported conclusions and believe them. We will examine a number of these cognitive biases and logical fallacies and consider ways to avoid... read more
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Sessions: 1Class Date(s): 06-25-2024 to 06-25-2024Day(s) of the week: TuesdayTime: 09:30 AM-11:00 AM Central TimeInstructor: David B Lindauer, Lt. Colonel (Ret.), US Army Signal CorpsTerm: OELocation: Zoom - Washington Metro OasisRarely in modern military history has any unit identified so strongly with its commander as did Patton’s Third Army in the final campaigns of World War II. We will take a look at the Third Army, its commander, and its notable campaigns from the breakout from Normandy until it crossed Germany and entered Czechoslovakia. Along the way, we’ll discuss some... read more
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Sessions: 1Class Date(s): 07-02-2024 to 07-02-2024Day(s) of the week: TuesdayTime: 09:30 AM-11:00 AM Central TimeInstructor: Richard Bell, Professor of History, University of MarylandTerm: OELocation: Zoom - Washington Metro OasisWhen Tom Paine, the author of Common Sense, died in June 1809 only a dozen people came to his funeral. This program examines Paine’s meteoric rise to celebrity status during the American Revolution and his equally dramatic fall from grace in the decades afterwards. Once lionized as our most relatable and revolutionary founding father, Tom Paine died a... read more
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Sessions: 1Class Date(s): 07-09-2024 to 07-09-2024Day(s) of the week: TuesdayTime: 09:30 AM-11:00 AM Central TimeInstructor: Guillermo Warley, Electronics EngineerTerm: OELocation: Zoom - Washington Metro OasisExamining three major challenges our planet is facing: air pollution, water supply and climate change. Definitions, background, causes and predictions for the future, with a discussion of the potential role of engineering solutions at the institutional/educational level and the industry/commercial... read more
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Sessions: 1Class Date(s): 07-15-2024 to 07-15-2024Day(s) of the week: MondayTime: 12:00 PM-01:00 PM Central TimeInstructor: Patricia Maclay, Board Member, The American Friends of LafayetteTerm: OELocation: Zoom - Washington Metro OasisIn August 1824, the Marquis de Lafayette, a Frenchman and the last surviving major general of the American Revolution, triumphantly returned to the country he loved. Over the next year, Lafayette covered over 6000 miles by carriage, stagecoach, canal barge, and steamboat, traveling to all 24 exiting states and “Washington City.” This presentation will... read more
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Sessions: 1Class Date(s): 07-16-2024 to 07-16-2024Day(s) of the week: TuesdayTime: 09:30 AM-11:00 AM Central TimeInstructor: Guillermo Warley, Electronics EngineerTerm: OELocation: Zoom - Washington Metro OasisExamining four technologies that have great potential to play a major role in solving, mitigating or reversing earth’s big challenges: water desalination, carbon capture utilization and storage, and batteries for EV’s and grid energy storage. A discussion of the potential help that the rapidly evolving field of artificial intelligence can... read more
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Sessions: 1Class Date(s): 07-16-2024 to 07-16-2024Day(s) of the week: TuesdayTime: 12:00 PM-01:15 PM Central TimeInstructor: Brian Rose, Professor (ret.), Department of Communication and Media Studies, Fordham UniversityTerm: OELocation: Zoom - Washington Metro OasisThe movies and dancing are a partnership born in heaven. From its very beginnings, the new medium of motion pictures turned toward dance as one of the best ways to showcase its unique ability to make movement come alive. And through the decades, it’s been dancing on the big screen that has provided some of the most ecstatic moments in film... read more
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Sessions: 1Class Date(s): 07-17-2024 to 07-17-2024Day(s) of the week: WednesdayTime: 09:30 AM-11:00 AM Central TimeInstructor: Dan Sherman, PhDTerm: OELocation: Zoom - Washington Metro OasisBorn into the Russian aristocracy, Sergei Rachmaninoff quickly showed gifts as a composer and as a pianist. He went on to a spectacular international career, often performing his own works, including piano concertos that are frequently performed today. This class will review Rachmaninoff’s life and career, demonstrating the range and richness of his work... read more
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Sessions: 1Class Date(s): 07-18-2024 to 07-18-2024Day(s) of the week: ThursdayTime: 09:30 AM-11:00 AM Central TimeInstructor: Steven Gimbel, Professor of Philosophy, Gettysburg CollegeTerm: OELocation: Zoom - Washington Metro OasisMachines can think...or can they? We know computers can calculate, and we know that for us to calculate we must think, but surely it does not then follow that computers must have thoughts. But could they? What would it mean for a machine to think? How would we know if a machine was actually thinking or just making it look as if it... read more
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Sessions: 1Class Date(s): 07-30-2024 to 07-30-2024Day(s) of the week: TuesdayTime: 09:30 AM-11:00 AM Central TimeInstructor: Richard Bell, Professor of History, University of MarylandTerm: OELocation: Zoom - Washington Metro OasisThe Transatlantic Slave Trade was the largest forced migration in human history. In all, more than 12 million African men, women, and children were kidnapped, enslaved and made to board European ships destined for the New World. However, this talk turns this history inside out, examining the huge varieties of African resistance to this 400-year-long... read more
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Sessions: 1Class Date(s): 08-01-2024 to 08-01-2024Day(s) of the week: ThursdayTime: 12:00 PM-01:30 PM Central TimeInstructor: Judy Scott Feldman, Ph.D., Art Historian/National Mall CoalitionTerm: OELocation: Zoom - Washington Metro OasisThe Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, with one of the greatest collections of Western (European) art in the world, is impossible to appreciate in one visit, or even two or three. In this two-part virtual tour, we’ll skip effortlessly from gallery to gallery to highlight some of the masterpieces of painting and sculpture in the Met. Moving... read more