COURSES – FALL 2026 / Old Courses / ERAS IN AMERICAN HISTORY
Coordinators: Joy Sabella, Bob Gottfried
This course will explore the eras in American history that are distinct periods characterized by unique social, political, economic, and cultural developments.
This semester, we will focus on the impact of immigration on the U.S. by exploring four distinct periods of major migrations: Colonial (1600s– 1820), Old Immigration (1820–1889), New Immigration (1880 –1920), and Modern Immigration (1965–present).
B WEEK / THURSDAY / 1:00 – 2:30 PM / AUDITORIUM / RECORDED
| Eras in American History | ||
| Date | Presenter | Title |
| Feb 12 | Lincoln’s Birthday | No Classes |
| Feb 26 | Bob Gottfried | Jewish |
| Mar 12 | Laraine Mancusa | Ellis Island |
| Mar 26 | Ann Marie Gussman | Italians |
| Apr 09 | Sandy Frank and Glen Johnson | Germans |
| Apr 30 | Susannah Blum | Dutch |
| May 14 | Laura Lopez | Philipinos |
Other Classes:
- BEETHOVEN: THE LATE YEARS
- POWER OF PLAY
- BALZAC: PÈRE GORIOT
- CHAIR MEDITATION
- BOOK CLUB: CREATIVE NONFICTION
- EMOTIONAL DICHOTOMIES WITHIN
- EARTH: GEOGRAPHY
- TIME: THE WONDER OF IT
- FEDERALIST PAPERS: AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONALISM
- MORAL TALES FOR OUR TIMES
- THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV
- TIMELESS WRITINGS: THE CANTERBURY TALES
- GREAT DIRECTORS, PRODUCERS, ACTORS
- ORAL INTERPRETATION OF POETRY
- GREAT EXPECTATIONS
- CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
- WOMEN LEADERS
- ART AND PRACTICE OF ARCHITECTURE
- SMARTPHONE PHOTOGRAPHY
- THE TWILIGHT ZONE
- WORLD OF RELIGION
- OLD TESTAMENT AS LITERATURE AND IN THE ARTS
- HEALTH AND MEDICINE
- SHAKESPEARE: HAMLET
- POWER: THE GLORY OF IT
- JAZZ: YESTERDAY AND TODAY
- IT CAN’T HAPPEN HERE, CAN IT?
- FLAWED GREATNESS OF THOMAS JEFFERSON
- HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY
- PORTRAIT OF A LADY
- STAR-CROSSED LOVERS
- ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: A BRAVE NEW WORLD?
- WOMEN SPIES
- DAISY MILLER & WASHINGTON SQUARE
- BEETHOVEN: THE MIDDLE YEARS
- ALL THE KINGS MEN
- JAZZ AT NOON
- WORLD OF THEATRE
- WONDERFUL BOOKS OUT LOUD: SLOUCHING TOWARDS BETHLEHEM
- THE SCARLET LETTER
- THE GREAT GATSBY
- TOCQUEVILLE'S DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA
- MEXICO: SOUTH OF OUR BORDER
- HISTORY OF MEDICINE
- HARLEM RENAISSANCE
- CONSTRUCTION: BEYOND BRICKS AND MORTAR
- ACTING WORKSHOP I
- THEATER TALKBACK
- BOOK CHATS
- ADVENTURES IN DINING
- SE HABLA ESPAÑOL
- FOOD: BEYOND JUST CALORIES
- TONI MORRISON: THE LEGEND
- INVISIBLE MAN BY RALPH ELLISON
- SIXTIES
- ELIZABETH GASKELL
- WEEK IN PARIS
- CLASSICAL MUSIC
- CREATIVE WORKSHOP
- MUSIC OF THE HEART
- EMILY DICKINSON CIRCLE
- SYMPOSIUM
- NYC AND ITS ENVIRONS: PEOPLE, PLACES, THINGS
- RUSSIAN GEOGRAPHY
- WATER
- FOLK MUSIC AND MELLOW ROCK
- CONTEMPORARY BRITISH CULTURE
- AUSTRALIA – THE LAND DOWN UNDER
- HUCKLEBERRY FINN
- AGING
- FASCINATING ISLANDS
- BLACK WOMENS VOICES
- THE NOBEL PRIZES
- READING EDITH WHARTON
- WOMEN IN GREEK DRAMA
- THE NEAR EAST
- HISTORY OF GERMANY
- A PASSAGE TO INDIA
- INDIE FILMS
- SLAVERY'S ROLE IN U.S. CAPITALISTIST DEVELOPMENT
- RISE AND FALL OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE
- READING THE RABBIS
- RACE RELATIONS IN AMERICAN POLITICAL THOUGHT
- MYTHOLOGY
- LITERARY HEROINES
- HOWARDS END
- HOUSE OF MIRTH
- FABULOUS FIFTIES
- COMEDY CENTRAL
- READING BLACK LIVES
- BORDERS AND BOUNDARIES
- MOZARTS WOMEN
- ANTISEMITISM: PAST, PRESENT, FACTS, MYTHS
- AFRICAN CONTINENT
- PRESENTERS SHOWCASE
- INVENTIONS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
- ACTING CLASS
- FOREIGN AFFAIRS
- LAW & ORDER
- POINT OF VIEW
- ARTISTS AND THEIR WORK
- MODERN OPERA
- MOVERS & SHAKERS
- SOCRATES AND THE PROBLEM OF PHILOSOPHY
- FASCINATING NONFICTION
- GREAT CONVERSATIONS
- GREAT PLAYS
- SHAKESPEARE: CYMBELINE