Classes, Fall 2013
Art
Creative Acrylic Painting
Learn to paint with acrylic and/or improve your current technique. All levels welcome. Bring to first class - 2 medium bristle brushes, tubes of blue (any blue) and white acrylic paint and a small canvas. Complete supply list to be distributed and discussed at first class.
Instructor: Arlene Rouse
Drawing and Painting Humans in Their Surroundings
Art is the visual language of culture and society…the beauty of the world…in this course, participants will study human anatomy and will explore their preferred medium. Emphasis is on the joy of creative expression.
Instructor: Glenwood Lawrence
Museum Walks and Talks (Docent Led Guided Tours)
- Lewis Hine, International Center of Photography
- Arts of the Islamic World, Metropolitan Museum of Art
- The Armory Show at 100, NY Historical Society
Coordinator: Linda Silverman
Bridge
Social Bridge
For those with knowledge of bridge, come and enjoy supervised play in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.
Instructor: Ira Barnett
Drama
Actor's Workshop
The glorious drama of ancient Greece to the theater of today, we cover monologues, acting and singing techniques, preparing you to either act or speak in public with confidence. There will be a lot of interaction with fellow students. It's about having fun and acquiring enhanced talents. We culminate with a May performance.
Instructor: Esther Jaffe
Directing for the Theatre: The Essentials
The essentials of Stage Directing will examine the preparations of a production book, working with designers and stage management, casting, working with actors, blocking, etc. etc. The course will include practical work as participants try their hand at staging chosen scenes
Instructor: John Farrell
Drama Fun
The depression era of the 1930s is considered the start of the “Golden Age of American Animation.” In the period before TV, laughs came from the radio, screwball comedy movies or the output of cartoon studios. This course will combine art, media history, and entertainment. We will review the creative artistry of Ub Iwerks (Never heard of him? He changed his Dutch name from Ubbe Ert Ewwerks and co-created Mickey Mouse), Dave Fleisher (Betty Boop, Popeye), Walt Disney and others.
Instructor: Bernard Schwartz
Film
The Films of Alfred Hitchcock
Thrill to the Films of the Master of Suspense – Alfred Hitchcock. Each week we will view on TV, a masterpiece of fine actors and actresses in a stimulating Hitchcock drama. The period – 1953-1963. Rebecca, Vertigo, Psycho, The Birds, Rear Window and more.
Instructor: Sol Makon
Hollywood's America
We will view feature films reflecting American political, economic and social life.
Instructor: Dr. Rosalie Reich
Short Films by Kenneth Axen
- Biking From Vietnam to Cambodia
- Mongoliz, India
- Burning Man
Foreign Language
Beginning Spanish
A course for people who have never learned Spanish. We use music and audio lingual techniques. No grammar will be taught. Conversational skills only.
Instructor: Joyce Provenzale
Hebrew, Upper Intermediate
Emphasis will be on everyday conversation, magazines and Hebrew newspapers.
Instructor: Miriam Goldhaber
Spanish Intermediate and Beyond
Come and join us for practice in reading, listening, speaking and writing Spanish. We emphasize current events and everyday adventures and experiences.
Instructor: Edward Drayton
Health
Conquering Anxiety, Depression, Fatigue and Arthritis Without Drugs
Do you know why people with hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) must avoid sugar and how this condition leads to anxiety, and even panic attacks? We will deal with the most common cause of biochemical imbalances and how to achieve health (energy plus tranquility without pain).
Instructor: Joel Levitt
Holistic Approaches to Healing
Designed to enlighten and empower the student to take charge of his/her health related decision making – non-toxic modalities will be explored that can improve the quality of life.
Hand out materials will be provided.
Instructor: Dr. Jerome Charyn
A Joyful Journey to Miles of Smiles
Learn the right way to manage anger, fear and sadness. Practice PEP (Positive Energy Power) Aerobics. Safe and simple self- help strategies, that positively energize your brain and body, will empower you to survive and thrive in a 24/7 stress filled world.
Instructor: Edith Namm
Mindfullness - A Place to Be
Take a moment to slow down, breath, and simply be. You will notice a rich world of thoughts, feelings, and sensory experiences that will keep your mind, brain, and body supple and your heart soft. Learn to listen to yourself by meditating, moving, using words and by being mindful. Bring your sense of curiosity and come play on a path of self-discovery.
Instructor: Peggy Horwitz
Nutritional Enlightment
We will discuss ways to eat less, explore antioxidants and food labeling. We will focus on eye disease as well as allergies and sinus infection, examine 10 urban food legends and consider the latest advice on eggs.
Instructor: Helen Reiss
History
America's Post World War II Decades
The course will take an up close look at the significant events and changing trends which define America's post WW II decades from the 40s to 00s.
Instructor: Walter F. Higgins
Old Folk Magick for Everyday Living
Learn old folk magic tricks to help you with problems - money, love, friends, family, work, and social contacts. Learn when and how to burn candles – colors, timing, and moon fazes. Learn to empower yourself to be everything you can be and have fun while doing it. You will empower your wish, and help it manifest.
Instructor: Kathleen Serao
Brooklyn History and Nostalgia
How did the Brooklyn's neighborhoods and streets get their names? The Brooklyn Dodgers; Coney Island and Brighton Beach; The trolleys and trains of early Brooklyn.
Instructor: Ron Schweiger, the official "Brooklyn Borough Historian"
Chronicling New York - Stories of a People
New Yorkers have long been driven to write about their city, its fascinating history and diverse culture. We will explore the works of New York's writers.
Instructor: Dr. Jerome Charyn
DeGaulle: France in World War II
It is about General DeGaulle in World War II. He was responsible for France getting a noble status after its defeat by the Germans.
Instructor: Howard Seigel
Museum of the American Ganster - Organized Crime Figures and the Mob
Speaker: Lorcan Otway
The Noir Forties
It is about the de-mobilization of U.S. forces after WW II and carries on to the Korean War.
Instructor: Howard Seigel
Significant Presidential Elections in History
We will continue examining the history of important presidential elections including their political and economic backgrounds, the candidates, the campaigns and election results and consequences. This term will concentrate on FDR's successful campaign for a third term in 1940 and its momentous impact on foreign policy.
Instructor: Stephen Appell
Humanities
Affirmative Action: History and Present Status
Affirmative action is seen as a controversial policy. Learn what gave rise to the need for it historically and learn its present legal status.
Instructor: Joy Schulman
Challenge to the Faithful: The New Atheism
Speaker: Dr. Charles LaCerra
The Family
This course will provide an opportunity to look at something familiar (The Family) in a new way. Several perspectives on families, the relationship between family (household) structure and economic, political and cultural change.
Instructor: Dr. Susan B. Prager
Humor and Culture
Speaker: Joseph Dorinson
Married Women Who Love Women
The discovery. To tell or not to tell. The reality of marriage.
Speaker: Carren Strock
Old Folk Magick for Everyday Living
Learn old folk magic tricks to help you with problems - money, love, friends, family, work, and social contacts. Learn when and how to burn candles – colors, timing, and moon fazes. Learn to empower yourself to be everything you can be and have fun while doing it. You will empower your wish, and help it manifest.
Instructor: Kathleen Serao
Teaching Tolerance
People don't always get along. How to differentiate between intolerance and a difference in opinion.
Instructor: Joyce Provenzale
University of Success
Look back, accept the challenge of success. Transfer thoughts, take risks. Do not put off things. How to get honey instead of bee stings. How to live with tension and enjoy the best things in life; how to prevent your success from turning into ashes.
Instructor: Vincent Blazewicz
What is Your Future??
I will present Tarot cards and give an analysis of the symbols of the cards and proceed with a future reading of individual members.
Instructor: Bernard Schwartz
Literature
Animal Farm
George Orwell's satirical novel, Animal Farm, shows farm animals revolting against their drunken decadent owner and setting up a democratic community free from human abuse and domination, only to see it become a totalitarian state. The animals exchanged one tyrant for another.
Instructor: Leo Gerber
Cervantes's Don Quixote, Part II
Continued study of the motives and values of Cervantes's hero: Influences of part one on part two; major changes in Don Quixote's thinking; humor, ambiguity, self-consciousness, and mortality. The novelistic modernity of Cervantes’s novel and its influence on the way writers view the conception of the novel as a whole.
Instructor: Dominick Finello
The Nineteenth Century british Novel, Part II
Passionate love that leads to frenzy and death, dissection of a corrupt society, the primitive east (Europe) versus modern technology. The nineteenth century novel explores a wide range of human experience and the effects on individuals and society. We will read: Vanity Fair, Jane Eyre, The Ordeal of Richard Feverel and Dracula.
Instructor: Lilia Melani
Philip Roth: Unmasked and Masked
Philip Roth wrote two autobiographies (The Facts and Patrimony) and 29 novels. We will examine how his life informs his fiction and how reality is transformed in his novels and short stories by a master storyteller with an extraordinary imagination. We will read The Facts, Patrimony, Goodbye Columbus, and The Ghost Writer.
Instructor: Joan Ostracher
* Prize Winning Novels, XXIV
We will read and discuss four more prize winning novels and one classic novel. How It All Began by Penelope Lively, The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka, Serena by Ron Rash, The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje, and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Limited Enrollment / Pre-Registration
The Short Story: American and International
Like any art form, the short story holds a key to the life of its time and the life reflected therein. There are within this shared universe, reverberations of the complexities of both life and fiction.
Instructor: Dr. Rosalie Reich
What is a Poem?
A poem is identifiable by its literary and musical elements. Metaphor and alliteration are common in many poems.
Instructor: Prof. Aaron Streiter
Mathematics and Science
Reading The New York Science Times
Great things are happening in the world of science today. Read and bring the Tuesday, NY Times Science Section to class for our informative discussion about the latest breakthroughs.
Instructor: Dr. Leslie Jacobson
Worlds Where Triangles Exist, But Triangles Don't
Non-Euclidean geometry.
Speaker: Fred Friedland
Money Management
Estate Planning for the Lay Person
Topics to be covered are: estate and gift taxation, gift giving, marital tax planning and use of trusts.
Instructor: Howard B. Solomon, Esq.
Income Investing
Investing during a low interest environment.
Instructor: Richard Lieberfarb
Music
Kurt Weill and the Threepenny Opera
"The shark has pretty teeth dear, and he shows them pearly white." Can you read those words without hearing the melody in your mind's ear? How about these words? "Oh it's a long, long time from May to December and the days grow short as you reach September." What those melodies have in common is the genius of Kurt Weill, whose short 50 years spanned the Berlin of "Cabaret" and the Broadway of Danny Kaye, Walter Houston and Allan J. Lerner. This course will review Weill’s life and compositions, with particular emphasis on "The Threepenny Opera," a strong social satire 300 years in the making and as contemporary as tomorrow's newspaper.
Instructor: Gene Reiser
Music You are All My Joy - The Pleasures of Listening to Music
We will continue to explore the special rewards of listening to music by our favorite composers.
Instructor: Richard Cahn
Opera and People Who Make Music
Lectures from the Founder/Curator of the Enrico Caruso Museum will feature programs on Puccini, Caruso, Gershwin, Verdi, Pavarotti and Lorenzo DaPonte (Librettist for Mozart).
Instructor: Aldo Mancusi
Jewish Music Through the Ages
From ancient Israel to modern composed art music.
Speaker: Shirley Ranz
Physical Fitness
Yoge and Body Movement Awareness
This course will consist of a series of postures and breathing exercises combined with relaxation techniques and exercises. Dress comfortably.
Instructor: Cynthia Arenson
Poetry and Writing
What is a Poem?
A poem is identifiable by its literary and musical elements. Metaphor and alliteration are common in many poems.
Instructor: Prof. Aaron Streiter
Losing and Finding Ourselves Through Words
Just who are you? Identity, along with its disguises and complexities, has been, and is, a priceless inspiration for creative writers. Come explore it and, hopefully, increase your understanding and appreciation of why?
Instructor: Louise Jaffe
What to Know About Writing a Book
Speaker: Carren Strock
Special Lectures
Slide Show and Short Films by Kenneth Axen
- Biking From Vietnam to Cambodia
- Mongoliz, India
- Burning Man
Humor and Culture
Speaker: Joseph Dorinson
Challenge to the Faithful: The New Atheism
Speaker: Dr. Charles LaCerra
Family Genealogy: The Beginning
Speaker: Michael Marcus
Urban Wildlife
Speaker: Steve Nanz
Jewish Music Through the Ages: From Ancient Israel to Modern Composed Art Music
Speaker: Shirley Ranz
Married Women Who Love Women
The discovery. To tell or not to tell. The reality of marriage.
Speaker: Carren Strock
Museum of the American Ganster: Organized Crime Figures and the Mob
Speaker: Lorcan Otway
