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 Mere Existence is a celebration of our true human nature and a call to embrace that human nature for the sake of those with whom we share the planet. This Mere Existence attempts to: remind us that we are highly evolved beings capable of empathy and reciprocal altruism, and naturally endowed by our creator with inalienable human rights; motivate people to join worldwide efforts to restore those rights to all of our sisters and brothers, and provide nonviolent strategies for restoring human rights to their central place in human existence. People of all spiritualties are welcome to join the conversation.

One hundred years ago, the U.S. embarked on one of the wildest decades in its history: the “Roaring Twenties.” Buoyed by a booming economy, American society pushed the boundaries of freedom, morality, and artistic expression. This program highlights the most famous fads and foibles of this colorful era, from crossword puzzles to bathtub gin. We’ll also look at some of the defining personalities of the 1920s – among them, Al Capone and Charles Lindbergh; Babe Ruth and Mickey Mouse; and finally, the hapless Herbert Hoover, presiding over the stock market crash that ended the party in 1929.

“It is difficult/to get the news from poems/yet die miserably every day/for lack/ of what is found there.” William Carlos Williams, Asphodel, That Greeny Flower After participants share past experiences with poetry, we will engage poems that delight and evoke a sense of well-being, even laughter. Then we will read aloud and respond to poems on the pandemic, climate change, and systemic racism. We will tune in to voices of resistance and cries for justice and empowerment in poems written by poets of color, immigrants, refugees, and other marginalized persons. We will savor poems that nourish our souls, offer hope, evoke joy, and inspire loving action.

You will receive information on all the health benefits of these mighty vegetables. These are two vegetables that should be eaten at least 5 times per week. The instructor will share a number of recipes using broccoli and/or cauliflower.

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.