This course will explore the causal forces and events which have shaped the tumultuous history of China during the last century and through to today. It begins with the Revolution of 1911, which ended the failed imperial rule and established a Chinese republic, and which was followed by the rise of the Chinese Communist Party. The course will cover the decades-long civil war that ensued between the Communist and Nationalist parties and which ultimately led in 1949 to the establishment of the Communist Peoples Republic of China on…

These three poets have roots in Anglo-American poetry of the early 20th century and the often agonizing politics of their time. Some poems reach out to national and international issues, and others reflect the poets’ personal values and concerns. We’ll look at both aspects of their work, not as a comprehensive study but as examples of the scope and intensity of their total output. For Yeats: nature and commitment to one woman, and Irish nationalism. For Auden: his tribute to Yeats and other moral positions. For Eliot: a…

This course is a research seminar offered in partnership with the Mass General Postdoc Association (MGPA) Science Communications Committee. Each week, two research fellows (MDs or PhDs) at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School will deliver a presentation on their ongoing research. Informative talks will be followed by interactive Q&A sessions with class participants. The far-ranging topics will cover different fields in medical research, including neuroscience, oncology, cardiology, and epidemiology. No prior scientific knowledge is expected from course participants, and no weekly preparation is required. The…

It has been 50 years since the Morgan v. Hennigan decision and the subsequent order issued by U. S. District Court Judge W. Arthur Garrity mandating the desegregation of the Boston Public Schools. Now is an appropriate time for reflection on this momentous decision and its impact on Boston. This seminar will focus on the history of public education in Boston, the history of the School Committee, the impact and reactions to various court decisions, and the status of the Boston school system today, all with particular attention…

Rembrandt, Frans Hals, and other Dutch artists have been receiving attention recently for exhibitions and reinterpretations of their artwork. This seminar explores aspects of current research in art history, from the “Rembrandt Year” of 2019 to the present, including rediscoveries of Rembrandt paintings and drawings, connections between Frans Hals and Rembrandt, and other topics. The major Frans Hals exhibition of 2023-2024 will be covered in this course, along with the work of lesser known artists including David Bailly, Hans Bol, and Jacques Vrel. The current exhibition at the…

This seminar will honor the life and work of Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574), who founded the discipline of art history. Vasari was a knowledgeable artist in classics, emblems, and mythography and a significant figure in art history. An accomplished painter, architect, art collector, and historical writer in sixteenth-century Tuscany, he was celebrated for his invaluable contributions to the art world through his art theory and artistic achievements. This seminar will delve into Vasari's artistic innovations that continue to inspire and captivate art enthusiasts today. It will also examine Vasari's…

Through the centuries, the destiny of nations and of millions of human beings has been in the hands of men and women with ambition, determination and power. In the past it was up to historians, through arduous research, to discover the personalities of these individuals and to understand what influenced them, how they thought, and what motivated them to act as they did. It is only after the end of World War II that interviews have made world leaders more accessible to us in our own time. Oriana…

The Master and Margarita, written "for the drawer" during the period of high Stalinism (between 1928 and Bulgakov's death in 1940), created a sensation when it was first published over a quarter-century after its completion. The novel has remained a popular favorite and is now considered a masterpiece of Russian 20th century literature. The multi- layered, complex work – an amalgam of a rollicking satire of devil-infested Communist Moscow, the tender love story of a persecuted writer and his beloved, and a decidedly non-canonical retelling of the Gospel…

Frederick the Great was not just a capable ruler and significant world leader, but also a very skilled flutist and composer. In his passion for music, he assembled a body of talent that made his orchestra the envy of any other monarch. The concentration of genius among the composers at his court was unrivaled at the time. As Crown Prince in 1732, eight years before ascending the throne, Frederick founded his court orchestra, drawing in the best of the young talent at the time. He envied the Dresden…

Alexander Hamilton left us with two important messages when he took over as our first Secretary of the Treasury under George Washington: 1) No country that cannot issue and sell its own debt can survive as a country, and 2) It is very important to involve the moneyed interests of a nation in the country’s health and well-being through the buying of bonds. If the rich do not care, the country will not survive. We have taken Hamilton’s advice, some would say to extremes. We approach this fall’s…

Behind the Scenes to the Stage! is a dynamic and immersive course designed to unravel the enchanting world of live theater production and performance. Tailored for those eager to delve into the intricacies of theatrical arts, this course offers a comprehensive exploration of the behind-the-scenes magic and hard-working people that bring a production to life at Lyric Stage Boston. One of the course highlights includes exclusive insider knowledge and behind-the-scenes looks at Lyric Stage’s upcoming production of Noises Off! by Michael Frayn. Participants will have the unique opportunity…

This seminar series will introduce participants to groundbreaking work being done in the worlds of science and medicine. A series of local scientists will share their stories and facilitate interactive discussions on a broad range of interdisciplinary research topics and their various implications. These speakers have experience in both academia and industry, some conducting basic research and others doing more translational work. Past topics have included: developing new therapeutic antibodies in cancer, finding solutions to bacterial drug resistance, explaining the science of climate change, debunking computer processing speed…

This course will be a book-by-book close reading of books 13 through 18 of the Iliad, the great epic of ancient Greece. The Iliad is the earliest work in the ancient Greek language, written down sometime around 750–730 b.c. Attributed to Homer, the Iliad was constructed by generations of bards orally retelling and commemorating in song a war fought in previous generations over the plains of Troy. The epic tells the tale of the wrath of the Greeks’ greatest warrior, Achilles, whose withdrawal from the conflict changes the…

Giacomo Puccini, who died 100 years ago this year, remains one of the most popular composers of Italian opera. While nowhere near as prolific as Rossini, Donizetti, or Verdi, five of his ten operas are always in production somewhere in the world. Puccini is the greatest master of the verismo (realism) style that sought to portray reality rather than mythology or kings and queens. Drawing from the verismo settings, Puccini’s music evokes strong emotional responses. This seminar will look at his “big three” operas – La Bohème, Tosca,…

In Toni Morrison’s third novel, Song of Solomon, she introduces us to the Dead family. It is a family living in the same city yet divided by time and misunderstanding. On one side is Macon Dead II, on the other is his sister Pilate Dead, and standing in the middle is Macon “Milkman” Dead III, the protagonist of this family saga. Growing up, Milkman is taught that his father’s way of life is the “right” way and his aunt’s way of life is “wrong.” As Milkman grows from…

The campaign is underway. And the fate of democracy is clearly part of the conversation. But just what do we the people and our leaders mean by democracy? How are we practicing it in a nation long regarded as its exemplar? Once the election is decided and the victor declares that he has a mandate to govern, what conclusions can we begin to draw from the ten-month long campaign season and on what it portends? In our discussion-focused course we will take on these questions, drawing on both…

What leads to successful and lasting performance careers for music group members? Why did the Beatles break up at the height of their career after less than ten years together, while the internationally known Guarneri String Quartet performed together successfully for over 42 years?? How important, even critical, is teamwork for any music group’s success? When do the individual’s professional and personal needs conflict with group success? When is conflict helpful to a group’s performance and when is it not? Did you know that the rock group Metallica,…

Join us to study some of the world’s key belief systems, in a fun and friendly atmosphere. This seminar will touch upon the main aspects of the six major ways of Truth, as they are known and practiced today. We will start with the three Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), where we will read about God creating the world in six days (hence our six sessions). We will then explore Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Polytheism, and Shinto, some of which have their own creation stories and all of…

In this late masterpiece, Shakespeare asks how a man and a woman guilty of horrible crimes can still attain the audience’s empathy that tragic protagonists require. Using the excellent Norton Critical Edition, we will answer this question and many others about origins, witchcraft, and the rich reception history of “Macbeth.” YouTube performances will enhance our enjoyment of “the Scottish play.”

In 1935, encouraged by his journalist spouse Dorothy Thompson, Sinclair Lewis published the dystopian novel It Can’t Happen Here—-his most popular work to date. Adolph Hitler was the “It” that Lewis had in mind, along with America’s own 1930’s populist Huey Long. But modern Europe had other authoritarians besides Hitler. Ian Kershaw, in his 2022 book Personality and Power: Builders and Destroyers of Modern Europe, traces the rise of each of them—-Lenin, Mussolini, Stalin, and Franco, as well as Hitler himself. Trump is mentioned briefly three times in…