Courses – Fall 2025 / Old Courses


The courses listed below were offered in previous semesters.

Click on any title to view the related course page.


SOCRATES AND THE PROBLEM OF PHILOSOPHY

Coordinators: Sandy Kessler, Steve Allen

What role should philosophy play in our public and private lives? In our class, we will consider this question by examining the character and ideas of Socrates as they appear in the writings of Plato, Aristophanes, Nietzsche and contemporary authors.

STAR-CROSSED LOVERS

Coordinators: Mary Beth Yakoubian, Peter Dichter

Romeo and Juliet is set amid the longstanding feud between two of Verona’s most powerful families. Both sides are enraged when Romeo, of the Montagues, and Juliet, of the Capulets, fall in love.

SYMPOSIUM

Coordinators: Sheryl Harawitz, Mary Ann Donnelly, Donna Ramer

Each day, we have between 50,000 and 70,000 thoughts, many of which drive our daily routines and needs.But there are those moments when a seemingly random thought sparks an idea that fuels the synapses and becomes a link in a chain of ideas that ignites significant change.

THE GREAT GATSBY

Coordinators: Lynnel Garabedian, Sandy Kessler

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, written a century ago, has long since been revered as an American classic.

THE NEAR EAST

Coordinators: Ann Goerdt, Bob Gottfried, Ellen Gottfried

Search for a map of the Near, or Middle East and you will not find a consistent set of countries. In this course, we discuss the countries that are geographically east of the Mediterranean Sea, thus eliminating the countries of North Africa.

THE NOBEL PRIZES

Coordinators: Laura Lopez, Marion Schultheis

Since 1901 the prestigious and lucrative Nobel Prize has been awarded in Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Economics, Literature, and Peace.

THE SCARLET LETTER

Coordinators: Patricia Geehr, Arlene Curinga, Susan Keohane

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) American novelist and short story writer was born into an established old New England family.

THE TWILIGHT ZONE

Coordinators: Tamara Weinberg, Marian Friedmann

The Twilight Zone was a successful TV series created by Rod Serling in which characters dealt with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described as entering “The Twilight Zone.”

THEATER TALKBACK

Coordinators: Yona Rogosin, Mary Ann Donnelly

This noontime discussion will meet in a relaxed environment to talk about experimental/avant-garde theater and offerings that we have seen recently and in the past, and to share reviews, upcoming shows to see – both experimental and traditional – and tips on how to get discount tickets. Film clips will also be shown.

TOCQUEVILLE'S DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA

Coordinators: Sandy Kessler, Ellie Schaffer

Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America (1835;1840) is considered one of the greatest commentaries ever written on American life.