ML32. HISTORY OF SLAVERY AND RACIAL DISCRIMINATION

Please join Attorney J. Dwight Yoder for a review of the legal and historical context of slavery and racial discrimination in the United States. Often referred to as America’s “original sin,” the kidnapping of Africans, who were then taken to the U.S. colonies where they were enslaved and treated as property, represents one of the most tragic and inhumane parts of our country’s history. Even after slavery was abolished following the Civil War, discrimination, organized violence and systemic oppression against African-Americans continued. Learning about the history of slavery and discrimination in the United States is critical for understanding and being able to address the challenges facing our country today.

ML31. A CRITICAL HISTORY OF AMERICAN JOURNALISM: REAL NEWS, FAKE NEWS, AND TWEETS

This extensive course will encourage you to engage in critical thinking as we consider the inventions, events, and people that have shaped and influenced American journalism from colonial times to the internet. The impact of technical, economic, political, and cultural developments will be considered as we examine what “freedom of the press” and “the truth” have meant in American society from the Age of Jefferson to the Age of President Trump.

ML33. THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION

The Constitution is one of the great creations of civilized society, but there are many misconceptions and much ambiguity. We hear about the Constitution every day, but much of what we hear are partisan arguments based on court opinions rather than the actual words in the document. This session will focus on the words in the Constitution, with some attention to its structure and court interpretations. We won’t make any new discoveries, but we will find some things that are often overlooked, and we will gain a better understanding of how politicians and lawyers often say inconsistent things about our Constitution.

ML23. SHORT STORY MASTERPIECES

This will be an entertaining and compelling collection of stories by four established masters and two living writers: Leo Tolstoy’s “After the Ball”; Anton Chekhov’s “A Trifle From Real Life”; William Faulkner’s “Pantaloon in Black”; Ernest Hemingway’s “The Killers”; Ron Rash’s “Back of Beyond”; and Lionel Shriver’s “Exchange Rates.”

ML31. A CRITICAL HISTORY OF AMERICAN JOURNALISM: REAL NEWS, FAKE NEWS, AND TWEETS

This extensive course will encourage you to engage in critical thinking as we consider the inventions, events, and people that have shaped and influenced American journalism from colonial times to the internet. The impact of technical, economic, political, and cultural developments will be considered as we examine what “freedom of the press” and “the truth” have meant in American society from the Age of Jefferson to the Age of President Trump.

ML34. CONTENDING FOR KAZAKHSTAN: THE DECEMBER 1986 ALMA-ATA EVENTS AND THE COLLAPSE OF THE SOVIET UNION

This course is based on Dr. Stefany’s doctoral dissertation in history at the University of Kansas. It is the first English language study of the December 1986 Alma-Ata (“Zheltoksan”) protests, which were in response to Mikhail Gorbachev’s replacement of long-serving First Secretary of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan Dinmukhamed Kunaev with the Russian Gennadi Kolbin – and which many view as a harbinger of the collapse of the Soviet Union. The instructor will discuss the history and Russian colonization of the Kazakhs, Soviet “nationalities problem” dating from Lenin on, Stalinism, and the Khrushchev and Brezhnev periods – during which Kunaev rose to power and began putting Kazahs in positions of authority in the Kazakh Societ Socialist Republic (KSSR).

ML23. SHORT STORY MASTERPIECES

This will be an entertaining and compelling collection of stories by four established masters and two living writers: Leo Tolstoy’s “After the Ball”; Anton Chekhov’s “A Trifle From Real Life”; William Faulkner’s “Pantaloon in Black”; Ernest Hemingway’s “The Killers”; Ron Rash’s “Back of Beyond”; and Lionel Shriver’s “Exchange Rates.”

ML24. THREE POETS I LIKE TO TALK ABOUT

The instructor will share with you why he especially enjoys reading, thinking, and talking about three poets: Elizabeth Barrett Browning because of the poetry that she wrote and the love story that she lived; Alfred Lord Tennyson because his poetry so beautifully reflects our search for faith; and Robert Frost because his poetry so successfully captures thoughts and attitudes of his native New England.