Lancaster Region

A tree (maybe) falls in the forest. If you’re not really standing nearby in the forest at the time, the existential question becomes ‘Did the fallen tree make a sound?’ We will discuss the anatomy and function of our complex auditory system, the pathways from ear to brain, and its ability to connect reality with consciousness.

A century ago global developments introduced rural Lancaster residents to a world beyond their typical agrarian enclaves. Those enlarged vistas created opportunities to give and receive in unprecedented ways in the last 100 years through MCC. Join a story time and mingle your stories with archival stories spanning a century.

Each week the instructor will choose four wonderful songs from the Great American Songbook to discuss. We will listen to each song by one singer, learn about the songwriter and the background behind the song, learn about the singer, and then listen to another incredible interpretation of the same song by another great singer, and then learn about that singer. 24 celebrations of amazing music.

In the year 1200, Europe was on the move - hundreds of thousands were involved in religious pilgrimages or the military equivalent - the Crusades. How, when, and where did this culture of journeying begin? How did pilgrimage affect every aspect of life in Europe, especially architecture, art, and our own religious practices? From the fourth-century nun Egeria traveling to the Holy Land on her own to the thousands of medieval pilgrims walking the roads to Rome and Compostela, there are many wonderful travel tales and a rich visual legacy.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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).