Category: Courses

There is, perhaps, no other culture that has enthralled the Western world for the past two millennia more than Ancient Greece. Considered the founding culture of Western civilization, Classical Greece is the basis of many movies, moral lessons and even modern governments. Yet Greece, for all its influence, is often over simplified or mis-portrayed. We take a deep dive into the true history of Ancient Greece, from their crawl out of the Dark Ages, their famous unity and struggle against the Persians and, eventually, their infamous collapse to infighting.

• From the Ashes: The Bronze Age Collapse and the creation of Greece
• Sparta and Athens: Origins of the two greatest Greek city-states
• The Persian War: Greece against half the known world
• The Peloponnesian War: The war between Athens and Sparta that tore Greece apart
• Age of Hegemony: The forgotten, violent 70 years after the Greek Golden Age
• The Rise of Macedon: The end of Greek Independence

Join us to explore the possibilities of this delightful medium.   We will develop a vocabulary of marks, techniques and colors. For all levels; comfort and confidence with drawing is not required. A syllabus is provided, however, this course is fluid and will be modified when needed. We encourage exploring books or resources about watercolors. Students who have some watercolor materials at home should bring them to the first class.

• Paints and brushes and paper—what do you really need?
• Basic techniques—review of color theory
• Negative space—painting and glazing
• Creating transparencies and layers
• Making figures
• Experimental techniques—salt, plastic wrap, watercolor powder

For many years, we believed the most dangerous and discredited forms of racism, nativism and militant nationalism were safely contained, dungeoned in some sub-basement of our national life. Now they are out in the open again, demanding legitimacy and leaving troubling questions in their wake:

• How far back into our history do their roots extend?
• What connects them?
• Who has kept them alive?
• Why did they reemerge in their current form?
• When did they first work their way into our political mainstream?

We look for answers by tracing a journey of ideas that began in 19^th century America and galvanized in the 1990’s by the violence of Ruby Ridge and Oklahoma City. Along the way, we seek insights from the following: histories of American jurisprudence, political extremism, labor and race relations, religious life, economic and agricultural policy, veterans’ affairs, the flood of money into politics and the role of outside groups such as the NRA.

“Clear presentation of class”…

On his keyboard, Dr. Joe plays the music on the piano of this great American icon and explores George Gershwin’s career as a musician and composer, including his collaboration with his lyricist brother, Ira.  We follow  the development of his many creative hits, such as Rhapsody in Blue, An American in Paris and his opus magnum, Porgy and Bess.

“Liked Joe sharing his knowledge and playing the great songs”
…