COURSES – SPRING 2026 / Old Courses

The courses listed below in alphabetical order were offered in previous semesters.

Click on any title to view the related course page.

CREATIVE WORKSHOP

Coordinators: Mary Ann Donnelly, Beth Callender

Whether you think of yourself as creative or not, these interactive classes will help unlock abilities you may not have known you had.

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

Coordinators: Sheryl Harawitz, Patricia Geehr, Andrea Irvine, Ellie Schaffer

In this study group, we shall plunge headlong into the dark labyrinthine corridors of the human soul as laid bare by Fyodor Dostoevsky in Crime and Punishment.

DAISY MILLER & WASHINGTON SQUARE

Coordinators: Patricia Geehr, Susan Keohane

Henry James was a 19th century American writer, a major figure in the history of the novel, and a master craftsman in the development of his recurring themes.

Our home is a solid planet, which can be studied from a wide variety of perspectives (e.g. ecology, geology, archaeology, history of the planet, evolution, art, poetry, and music), which will be different each semester.

ELIZABETH GASKELL

Coordinators: Arlene Curinga, Patricia Geehr, Susan Keohane

An English novelist, biographer, and short-story writer, Elizabeth Gaskell’s novels offer a detailed portrait of society, particularly the very poor.

EMILY DICKINSON CIRCLE

Coordinators: Martha Drezin, Mary Ann Donnelly, Sheryl Harawitz, Joyce West

Would you like to spend time digging into the poems of Emily Dickinson?

EMOTIONAL DICHOTOMIES WITHIN

Coordinators: Elaine Martin, Donna Ramer

In this course, we’ll break down the dualities that live within each of us and better understand how we effectively harness and live with conflicting feelings, emotions, and values, which is a lifelong balancing act.

FABULOUS FIFTIES

Coordinators: Michael Wellner, Ellen Gottfried, Bob Gottfried

It’s safe to say that every single one of us at Quest remembers the Fifties pretty clearly. If there is any single word that describes that decade it’s transformative.

FASCINATING ISLANDS

Coordinators: Stephen Baker, Pete Weis

In this course we will explore some fascinating islands. These are widely scattered throughout the world in oceans, seas, lakes, and rivers as well as scattered in time with references from antiquity to the future.

FASCINATING NONFICTION

Coordinators: Harriet Finkelstein, Bob Reiss, Ruth Ward

At each session the presenter will tell you about a book you always wanted to read or about a book you never heard of but will be glad that you now have.

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