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The Art of Silence: America’s First Golden Age of Film
Frontlines of a New World Order: The Russo-Ukraine War and the Revolutions It is Causing
Frontlines of a New World Order: The Russo-Ukraine War and the Revolutions It is Causing
- Dates: Monday Dec 1, 8, 15, & 22 from
- Time: 1pm - 2pm ET
- In this series we’ll explore the origins of silent film and its transformation into the “studio system,” from early experiments in New York City to Hollywood’s rise. We’ll trace the wonder of the “primitives” and their first moving pictures through the emergence of shorts and feature films with notables like D.W. Griffith, Theda Bara, the Keystone Kops, and Rin Tin Tin. Together we’ll also savor the artistry of silent cinema at its 1920s peak—celebrating stars such as Charlie Chaplin, Clara Bow, and Rudolph Valentino—and discover how their films delighted audiences even as they pushed the cultural “envelope” on matters of race, ethnicity, gender, and class, something Hollywood films would do for the next 100 years and more.
Frontlines of a New World Order: The Russo-Ukraine War and the Revolutions It is Causing
Frontlines of a New World Order: The Russo-Ukraine War and the Revolutions It is Causing
Frontlines of a New World Order: The Russo-Ukraine War and the Revolutions It is Causing
- Dates: Thursdays, Nov. 6, 13 & 20 and Dec, 4
- Time: 10:30-Noon ET
- This course explores the ongoing Russo-Ukraine War based on the revolutions it is ALREADY causing in the worlds of military technology, strategy, geo-politics, alliance systems, demographics, and the future of empires. We will give special focus to Ukraine’s military advances and the problems they pose for Russia, China, and the US. The war has also shaken the NATO alliance, China’s threat to Taiwan, Russia’s hold on former Soviet Republics, and called into question the US’s global leadership position. We don’t know yet who will win the war – but the world itself is already showing how different it will be. Come and see.
Prime Ministers and Princes: The Hanover Dynasty, 1714 - 1837
Roots of the Middle Kingdom: Ancient China from Myth to Empire
Roots of the Middle Kingdom: Ancient China from Myth to Empire
- Dates: Fridays, Nov. 7, 14, 21 & 28
- Time: 10:30-Noon ET
- This set of four lectures examines one of the most dynamic eras in British history, when the monarchy transitioned to rule by the German house of Hanover in 1714. Central to this era was rise of a prime minister to at first rival and then overtake the power of the monarch. Key figures such as Robert Walpole, King George I, William Pitt, the scandal -ridden royal couple of George IV and Queen Caroline and pretenders to the throne such as Bonnie Prince Charlie populated this colorful and consequential time, one marked by parliamentary innovation, commercial and industrial revolutions, and the rise of the first global British Empire.
Roots of the Middle Kingdom: Ancient China from Myth to Empire
Roots of the Middle Kingdom: Ancient China from Myth to Empire
Roots of the Middle Kingdom: Ancient China from Myth to Empire
- Dates: Thursdays & 1 Friday, Nov. 6, 13, 20 & 28
- Time: 1:00-2:30 PM ET
- This four-lecture course will trace the formation and evolution of Chinese civilization from its legendary and archaeological origins to its first great imperial age. From the mythic Xia and Shang dynasties, we will explore the rise of early bronze-age kingship and religious authority. The Zhou dynasty showcased the development of the Mandate of Heaven, the feudal order, and the intellectual flourishing that came with thinkers like Confucius and Laozi. We will conclude by exploring the unification achieved by the Qin, which stabilized imperial government, expanded the Silk Road, and created a lasting imperial model that would define Chinese political and cultural identity for two millennia.