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 course will trace the history of immigration in the United States and its interaction with race as the growing population of the country became less Protestant and more diverse. Beginning with the Know- Nothing Party of the mid-19th century, the advent of Nativism, fostered by 19th century racial theory, the lecture will detail how these ideas continue to impact on current American politics.

This course will trace the humble beginnings of the internet from a technology useful only to scientists and the military to everyday users. We will trace the stunningly lucrative years and show how this once niche scientific tool has exploded into something utterly indispensable. We will explore the beginnings of web browsing to the explosion of Facebook and one particularly useful tool…the smartphone!

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.

Now more than ever the history of the Holocaust and other acts of genocide cannot be ignored. Through her published memoir Your Name Is Renee by Oxford University Press, Ruth Hartz will present her experiences as a hidden child in Nazi-Occupied France. While she will talk about the horrors of the Holocaust and their perpetrators, the instructor will also talk about the goodness of the Righteous Gentiles, ordinary people who were transformed into rescuers.