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Sessions: 1Class Date(s): 05-07-2024 to 05-07-2024Day(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 Constitution is a much beloved document, a charter that many Americans regard with pride, reverence, and awe. Yet, over the past half-century, several historians have argued that many of its innocuous-sounding articles offered a dramatic giveaway to slaveholders. This program will help you determine where the truth lies. We’ll follow the framers of... read more -
Sessions: 1Class Date(s): 05-07-2024 to 05-07-2024Day(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 OasisFor more than seven decades, Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks made America laugh—either through their remarkable solo careers or their legendary partnership. Whether together or apart, they were giants of American comedy, who basically conquered every field they entered, whether television, movies, Broadway, or records. This presentation will examine their... read more -
Sessions: 1Class Date(s): 05-09-2024 to 05-09-2024Day(s) of the week: ThursdayTime: 12:00 PM-01:30 PM Central TimeInstructor: Dan Sherman, PhDTerm: OELocation: Zoom - Washington Metro OasisFor more than 50 years, Julliard-trained composer Peter Schickele assumed the mantle of P.D.Q. Bach, a forgotten and musically incompetent son of the great Johann Sebastian Bach. Both onstage and on many records, Schickele created wonderful parodies of classical music. The jokes Schickele created drew widely on classical music and satirized musicology... read more -
Sessions: 1Class Date(s): 05-14-2024 to 05-14-2024Day(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 OasisWith all of the recent WWII presentations that focused on various campaigns in Europe, we sometimes lose track of an equally hard-fought war in Asia. For nearly four years British and Indian forces fought a very arduous campaign in southeast Asia, not only against the Japanese but against hunger, disease, jungle conditions, mountains, and monsoons. And they... read more
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Sessions: 1Class Date(s): 05-14-2024 to 05-14-2024Day(s) of the week: TuesdayTime: 12:00 PM-01:30 PM Central TimeInstructor: Gary A. Rendsburg, Distinguished Professor, Jewish Studies, Rutgers UniversityTerm: OELocation: Zoom - Washington Metro OasisLearn the story of the groundbreaking discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947, including the explorations of the caves and the excavations at Qumran, and the progress of scholarly work in the subsequent 75 years. We also will look at the key documents themselves, with an eye to uncovering the salient features of the Essene community which produced these... read more
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Sessions: 1Class Date(s): 05-15-2024 to 05-15-2024Day(s) of the week: WednesdayTime: 09:30 AM-11:00 AM Central TimeInstructor: Julie Kurzava, Faculty, Loyola UniversityTerm: OELocation: Zoom - Washington Metro OasisThere is no doubt that Irving Berlin’s life and career is the quintessential immigrant story. Arriving from a foreign land as a small child with nothing, he channeled his talent, ambition and hard work to become the standard bearer of American culture. Come hear a great story, as Julie Kurzava shares the history and music of Irving Berlin’s... read more
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Sessions: 1Class Date(s): 05-15-2024 to 05-15-2024Day(s) of the week: WednesdayTime: 12:00 PM-01:30 PM Central TimeInstructor: Joan Hart, Art History Instructor, Museum One, Inc.Term: OELocation: Zoom - Washington Metro OasisThis program is based on a recent exhibition at the Baltimore Museum of Art called "Making Her Mark, A History of Women Artists from 1400-1800". Discover some of the leading woman artists of their time, who have been overlooked until recently from the Italian Renaissance to the Dutch Golden Age to the Rococo... read more
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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