Osher Lifelong Learning
Institute at Brandeis (BOLLI)

Hum4-S09

We often speak of the universal appeal and timelessness of good literature.  We reread or see new productions of classical Greek dramas or Biblical tales.  Many presentations are true to the original; some are reset in modern times, and others are freely adapted.  This course will examine how different authors working from the same material come up with their own unique visions.  We will consider the Electra story and how it was treated first by the Greek tragedians and then by Eugene O’Neill and Jean Paul Sartre.  We will compare the Oedipus story as told by Sophocles and retold by Rita Dove (a former poet laureate).  We will examine the story of Cain and Abel and how John Steinbeck transformed it in East of Eden (film version), and how Archibald MacLeish recast the story of Job in J.B.  Who knows, perhaps we will come away with new insights. The course is appropriate for everyone. Volunteer reports encouraged but not required.

(R) Electra, Sophocles or Electra, Euripides

(R) Mourning Becomes Electra, Eugene O'Neill

(R) The Flies, Jean Paul Sartre

(R) Oedipus the King, Sophocles

(R) The Darker Face of the Earth, Rita Dove

(R) J.B., Archibald MacLeish

2 hours

Not Necessary

Miriam graduated from Brandeis where she majored in comparative literature.  She taught literature and writing in high school and then teacher preparation at Boston University. At BOLLI she previously taught an art history course, “Painting in the United States.”

The SGL is open to contact by phone at 617-731-0931. before 5 or after 7 or by email at mgoldman@bu.edu

Wr2-S09

People may write in any genre including memoir, fiction, essays, plays, humor, poetry, newspaper writing, writing for children, adolescents or events such as birthdays or graduations etcetera.  Members of the group and leader will make helpful suggestions for improving, perhaps publishing or sharing writings with family and friends.  Creative writing can help with living out lives being therapeutic and having less side effects than medications.  Topics will be suggested but not assigned.  Handouts will help and will be provided. Volunteers will read their writings in class. Books will be loaned by the Instructor or libraries.

No textbook-my handouts and books I loan or you get from the library.

Variable as some individuals write a lot, others less, a few just like to listen most of the time.

Not Necessary, some use computers, some type, a few are hand written.

Ruth Harriet Jacobs, a Brandeis University Ph.D. was a professor for 14 years at Boston University, then chair of the sociology department at Clark University.  Now she is a continuing research scholar at Wellesley College Center for Women.  She is the author of nine books including Be an Outrageous Older Woman and A.B.C.’s for Seniors, many published poems, plays, articles, and a newspaper columnist.  She has won awards for her writing and has taught writing in many venues. Her memoir is Women Who Touched My Life.

The SGL is open to contact by phone 781-237-1793 daytime or early evening.

Lit2-S09

They will all be stories by authors of the western hemisphere, including Faulkner, Proulx, Poe, Crane, Ellison, Hawthorne, Cather, Munro, Marques and others.

1 ½  - 2 hours

Desirable

Harriet and Richard are respectively a retired Early Childhood Education Administrator, and a retired psychiatrist.  We both maintain a deepening active addiction to the short story and its interpretation by the individual reader.

The SGLs are open to contact by phone at 617-527-6850 best from 6 to 8 p.m.

Comp2-S09

Have you been dragged, kicking and screaming into the digital age, intimidated by the apparent complexity of digital cameras and editing software?

The goal of this course is to demystify the process of digital photography and provide study group members with the background to produce high quality digital images.  The course will cover the entire process of digital workflow, starting with the taking of the picture, through the downloading and editing of images, and concluding with the sharing of images.  It will review both the technical foundation of digital imaging and the practical tools required to achieve high quality images.  Attendance at all sessions is essential.

Study group members will be involved in the critical evaluation of images projected in the PowerPoint presentations as well as images of their own.  In addition, study group members will be strongly encouraged to download and utilize simple editing software at home.  However, this is not a “hands-on” course in the sense that no computer work will be performed during class time.

Prerequisites include (1) basic familiarity with computers, including file management and (2) previous experience with either film or digital picture taking.  Curiosity and courage will also help. 

(R) Your camera owner’s manual

The suggested reading list (S) reflects: (a) desire to learn more than basics and (b) comfort level with technology.  Copies will be available for browsing and borrowing for the first few weeks of the course.

1-2 hours

Required. The optimal application of digital photography requires the use of a computer to store, edit and share images.  Group members are therefore strongly advised to practice what they learn in class on their home computers and use simple editing software.

I’ve always been fascinated by images.  I began taking pictures seriously in my twenties and was able to do my own darkroom work with the black-and-white images of that era.  With the introduction of color photography, I was compelled to send my pictures to commercial labs for processing. 

The advent of digital photography re-ignited my passion for picture taking by allowing me to regain control of the final image through the “digital darkroom.”  I’ve been using digital cameras for the past seven years, doing my own editing and printing.  I’ve taken several formal courses in digital photography and have three exhibits scheduled within the next year.

Perhaps it is no accident that images have been important in my professional work.  As a cardiologist, I specialized in echocardiography, i.e. ultrasound-generated images of the heart.

The SGL is open to contact by email at albertandbonnie@yahoo.com

YOGA1-S09

This is a yoga class designed mainly for beginners and accommodates all abilities.  It includes exercises for stretching, strengthening, balancing, and breathing.  Each class begins with centering, followed by a warm-up.  Then a routine follows with postures carried out in standing, sitting or lying.  The class ends with some restful poses and relaxation.

After careers in Physical Therapy, Early Childhood Education, and Psychiatric Social Work, Sandi decided to devote herself to teaching yoga after years of dabbling in it.  She considers yoga the magic bullet and encourages everyone to give it a try.

The SGL is open to contact by phone at 617-964-6740 or email at sandilevy@comcast.net

Mu3-S09

This course will explore how Jewish music helped shape and express Jewish identities in America. Do you want to know about, and understand the varieties of Jewish music here in America?  This course will be a survey of American Jewish music from the colonial period through the present, highlighting individual contributions and general trends of music. This course will emphasize understanding the music through the lens of an American-Jewish context. We will discuss how an amazing array of musical styles represented expressions of Jewishness-- from Bloch to Bernstein, Gershwin to Isaacson, Rosenblatt to Carlebach, Ellstein to Statman, from Zeisler to Ziegfeld to Zorn. We will examine the relationships of socio-historical changes to the musical styles from the Golden Age of Cantors, Yiddish songs, musicals, synagogue repertoire, klezmer revival, to today’s Jewish hip hop. We will learn about the transformations in the musical roles women have played in both synagogue and in popular culture. Members don’t have to be able to read music, and there are no prerequisites. Members will be asked to do a few hours of reading each week, and come prepared to discuss the subject in the next class. During class, members will hear samples and discuss the music.  Some members may volunteer to give presentations during class, on topics approved by the SGL. Access to a CD player and computer is critical to taking the class.  The BOLLI eBoard, Email, and the Internet will be used to distribute information and class materials.

(R) CD copy of Bloch’s Sacred Service, CHANDOS Classics 10288X with Berkman, Zemel Choir, London Symphony and Geoffrey Simon.

Up to 2 hours of reading a week. Some selected listening will be suggested.

Required. Access to a CD player or computer is critical to taking the class.  Email attachments and the Internet will be used to distribute readings.  Members may be able to play their CDs on a computer instead of a CD player. You will need to be able to read Adobe Acrobat PDF files.

Judith S. Pinnolis is the RIS Humanities Librarian at Brandeis University. She is creator and editor of the The Jewish Music WebCenter at http://www.jmwc.org Pinnolis has published many book reviews, and articles in several works on Jewish music, including Encyclopedia Judaica (2006); Women and Music in America Since 1900: An Encyclopedia (2002); and Reader's Guide to Judaism (2000). Pinnolis is Chair-Elect of the Chapters Council of the Association of College and Research Libraries, and is Past-President of the ACRL New England Chapter.  She has also served ten years as the national Chair of the Jewish Music Roundtable of the Music Library Association.

The SGL is open to contact by phone at 617-527-2798, evenings, or email at pinnolis@brandeis.edu

Lit3-S09

Although this course can stand by itself, open to all members without prior experience, it also continues the series of courses I have given on (auto)biographies. This time we will focus on biographies that daughters have written about their fathers, some on well-known fathers, and some by well known daughters. The focus of discussion will be on the relationship between father and daughter, as it emerges in the writings. We shall read both entire books and some excerpts of books and a few short stories. The study group leader regards herself as a catalyst, initiating lively discussions through providing a structure and asking (hopefully) intriguing questions regarding the characters, their relationships and the contexts in which they live. I do not foresee class presentations. The most important requirement is to keep up with the readings.

(R) Susan Cheever. Home Before Dark. A biographical Memoir of John Cheever by his daughter. 1984. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0395352975

I try to keep to 100 pages per week, sometimes a little more and often less. Perhaps 4 or 5 hours of reading.

Desirable.  I tend to send e-mail messages to class members, but other ways can be found.

I have been an academic teacher for the 30 years of my life, before joining BOLLI. And I think this is my 10th new course for our program. Inventing new courses has become my old age pas-time.  I received a BA from Harvard, a MSW from Simmons and 20 years later, a Ph.D. from the Heller School at Brandeis. I was a professor of social work at the Simmons School of Social Work for 30 years. My areas of teaching were courses on Developmental psychology, theories of psychotherapy, group work, theories on understanding families, etc. I am also an avid reader and books have been my cherished companions and a reader, book reviewer and author. And I was a daughter of a difficult father.

The SGL is open to contact by phone at 781 259 9729, between 4:00 p.m. and 5:40 p.m. or email at sophiefr@verizon.net

H&G6-S09

Have you ever had trouble Finding Your Way through the Medical Maze?  This ten week workshop will deal with some of the complexities of today’s medical care questions. By the time we’ve worked our way through the maze you will have a resource notebook with medical and insurance information, including your rights as a patient. We will discuss if, how, when, and why to include your family in decision making. The pros and cons of, having or, being a medical health care advocate will be explored. Health care proxies, as well as important common medical, ethical and legal issues will be reviewed. Two or three specialists in the medical care field, including BOLLI’s own, Dr. Bill Rachlin, will give presentations to help clarify the pros and cons of various medical issues you and your family are likely to face now and in the future. The overall purpose of the course will be to demystify, simplify and clarify, Finding Your Way Through The Medical Maze.

Informational pamphlets and handouts will be distributed.

1 hour or less

Desirable. Participants will be encouraged to visit various websites for additional information on the subjects being covered.

I am also a licensed marriage and family therapist who practiced on the North Shore for over 30 years. I founded and led a clinical therapists' peer group for 10 years, facilitated a parenting group, and worked as a private clinical supervisor for 15 years.

The SGL is open to contact by phone at 617-332-3176 until 9:00 pm or by email at  shellyglazier@verizon.net

H&G7-S09

Major events described include the conquests of Cyrus the Great of Persia and the wars against the Greeks waged by his successors Darius and Xerxes. Where battles are described, we will concentrate on the locations and significant players.

No prior knowledge is assumed, but an interest in ancient history will be helpful.Some progression of events occurs, but other episodes stand on their own.  Voluntary presentations will be appreciated, and I will suggest some topics and be available for assistance. . NOTE: The class will begin the second week of the semester, March 4^th, and the class will decide the date to make up the 10^th class. 

(R) Herodotus, the Histories, Penguin Classics, ISBN 0-140-44908-6, Translated by Aubrey de Selincourt, paperback.

2 hours, 50-70 pages

Desirable. Links to supplementary material on the web and email of maps, timelines.

I was an Electrical Engineering for 39 years at Hewlett-Packard, Digital, Analog Devices, Foxboro Co, GTE Government Systems, Lucent Technologies. My MSEE is from Stevens Inst. Of Technology in NJ. I gave lectures at conferences, taught new computer salesmen data acquisition and control. I also tested SONET optical communication systems.  I have a lifelong history interest. I read historical novels, then trace the author’s sources for greater understanding.

The SGL is open to contact by phone at 781-861-8185, Monday and Thursday evenings or email at michael.lindheimer@verizon.net

Mu4-S09

The objective of the course is to examine in depth the third and last of the great operatic collaborations between Mozart and his most accomplished librettist, Lorenzo Da Ponte.  The course is intended to be of value to students unfamiliar with the opera, as well as to afford a greater appreciation of the opera to students already familiar with it.  Students with no familiarity with opera may find the course a bit challenging, but should not have much difficulty if they attend the classes and do the assignments—i.e., prepare for each class by listening at home to the sections of the opera assigned for that class and by reading at home the corresponding portions of the libretto and the materials that I distribute.  The first week will be devoted to a relatively brief review of the first Mozart-Da Ponte collaboration: Marriage of Figaro.  Weeks 2 through 6 will be devoted to watching, listening to and discussing Così in its entirety.  Accordingly, the material in weeks 2 through 6 will build from session to session, and students should make every effort to attend all of these sessions.  Students will have the opportunity to prepare and present short reports on related subjects.  I will provide handouts of certain background information.

(R) A copy of the Italian libretto with English translation.  Librettos are routinely provided with CD sets but not with videos.  If you don’t have a libretto, you might want to look for a used copy of Dennis Arundell’s Universe Opera Guide, Le Nozze di Figaro and Così Fan Tutte, ISBN 0-87663-149-9, or the English National Opera’s Opera Guide No. 22, for Così alone.  Both books include background information and plot summaries in addition to the libretto and are available from on-line book-sellers at modest prices.  The Met’s librettos tend to have rather stilted English translations in my experience.

(S) Any of the biographies of Lorenzo Da Ponte (e.g., the 2002 biography by Sheila Hodges, ISBN 0-299-17874-9) or Da Ponte’s own memoirs, also available from on-line booksellers at modest prices.

Two hours.

Required. I like to send study topics and questions by email before each week’s class. Students who do not receive and review these questions in advance will be at a disadvantage.

I have undergraduate and graduate degrees in physics and worked as a physicist for a few years before switching to law.  I held various legal positions in private practice, with the US Government and as inside corporate counsel before retiring in 2004 as vice president and group general counsel withRaytheon in Marlborough, MA.

The SGL is open to contact by phone at 508-358-3375 or email at plradoff@yahoo.com

Lit5-S09

The first half of the twentieth century was an age of anxiety.  Most of the traditional beliefs, not only about human nature but also about the nature of the world had been undermined.  All four short novels we will read were spawned by this age of anxiety, but each offers a different perspective on the human predicament this anxiety engendered. 

(R) Demian, Hermann Hesse  

(R) Metamorphosis,  Franz Kafka    

(R) The Stranger, Albert Camus     

3 hours

Not Necessary

Lois Ziegelman, Ph.D. Brandeis’73 is a professor Emerita at Framingham State College where she taught World Literature and Drama for 31 years and a recipient of 5 fellowships from the National Endowment of the Humanities.  She has studied, taught and preformed works ranging from classical antiquity through the 20^th century. 

The SGL is open to contact by phone at 781-237-4086, evenings.

Sc3-S09

Introduction to Cryptography

No prior knowledge of cryptography is required.  However, the course will involve more than just the history of cryptographic methods, as we will learn the techniques used to create messages and to break the codes.  Class members may choose to concentrate on the absorbing history of the topic, but classroom discussion will also delve into the mathematics behind the cryptographic methods.  Some math which explains modern cryptographic methods will be used but will not detract from enjoying or understanding the course work.

 A few voluntary presentations will be made relating to personalities or topics not explored in detail in the assigned reading.  The presentations will typically be 5–10 minutes long.

 As the various coding methods were broken, their replacements improved upon the past.  Similarly, the material in this course will build from week to week, so attendance each week is recommended.

(R) “The Adventure of the Dancing Men,” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle  [available on the internet or in any Sherlock Holmes collection]

(R) “The Gold Bug,” by Edgar Allan Poe [available on the internet or in any collection of Edgar Allan Poe stories]

Lit4-S09

The first printed edition of Shakespeare’s collected plays, the Folio of 1623, was compiled and edited by his fellow actors and producers.  The Folio was entitled Mr. William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Tragedies & Histories.  Subsequent editors added the category “Romances,” giving us the four broad divisions that have become the hallmarks of Shakespeare’s dramatic canon. 

This course is intended to serve as an introduction to Shakespeare’s plays by defining the important characteristics of each of the dramatic types.  We will look at how Shakespeare both obeys the demands of the conventions of the genres, and makes creative, innovative changes.  Group discussion will be directed at attempting to discover those themes that had significance in Shakespeare’s day as well as our own.  The first day will provide an introduction to Shakespeare’s theatre, his language and his dramaturgy. Participants should read Henry IV, Part I, an example of his work in the history or chronicle play.  Then we move on to As You Like It, a culmination of his achievement in comedy.  The third reading is Hamlet, perhaps his most patterned and representative tragedy.  Finally, we conclude with The Winter’s Tale, a late Romance and a work that encapsulates his entire career.

The required reading for the course consists of the four plays indicated in the course description.  Any edition, purchased or borrowed, will serve.

2-3 hours per week

Not necessary.

My educational background is in literature and I have taught at Cornell, SUNY, MIT, and currently at Tufts. I am the founder and principal of Humanities At Work, a humanistic development program for professionals and business executives, which uses literary texts to engage participants in discussions about their work. I have offered such humanistic seminars to high ranking government officials, apparently to no avail. I have offered a number of courses at BOLLI these past five years.

The SGL is open to contact by phone at 617-332-3347 between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.

H&G8-S09

WEDNESDAY – COURSE PERIOD 3 – 1:25 p.m. – 2:50 p.m.

In 1940 Winston Churchill delivered Hitler's first defeat in the Battle of Britain and set the stage for the ultimate allied victory over Nazism.  He accomplished this feat despite the fact that many contemporaries believed that he had become irrelevant, erratic, even ridiculous, and his career was washed up.  Yet, as shall see, the years before 1940 had provided Churchill with a variety of experiences that were crucial to his success in repelling Hitler. We will examine Churchill's leadership both during the Battle of Britain and World War II as a whole to discover the keys to his leadership and greatness.

(R) My Early Life, Winston Churchill, Scribner’s

(R) Churchill and Hitler, Andrew Roberts, Phoenix

(R) Forged in War, Warren Kimball, Harper Collin

(R) Churchill: A Study in Greatness, Geoffrey Best, Oxford

2-3 hours a week

The SGL is open to contact by phone at 617- 277-7557 until 9:00 p.m. or email at marc.schwarz@comcast.net

CE1-S09

We live in a complex time with the world flattened by the immediacy of communication and commerce. What happens in one area affects us all.  Thus there is a need to stay informed in our rapidly changing world. This course is designed to inform, and discuss current news stories and provide thoughtful analysis.  In most sessions, class time will be split between world and national news. Class members will be expected to present reports and lead a class discussion on a current topic.

No text books are required. The necessary information will be gleaned from magazines such as The Economist, The New Yorker, and U.S. News and World Report as well as newspapers and the web.

The time normally spent in staying current on events.  As long as needed for a presenter in preparing their topic report.

Desirable.  This is particularly helpful for interclass communications.

I have been a teacher of children and adults for 25 years.  My undergraduate degree is from Boston University and my masters from Lesley College.  The bulk of my professional years were spent in the Newton Public Schools.  After retirement, I once again became a student, and a writer of short stories.  My increased free time fed my news junkie habit!

The SGL is open to contact by 781-449-1226 or 781-864-2393 or by email at lsockol@comcast.net

Mu5-S09

WEDNESDAY – COURSE PERIOD 3 – 1:25 p.m. – 2:50 p.m.

Remember the great melodies and lyrics of the composers we grew up with – George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Duke Ellington, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein.  Who doesn’t remember “Cheek To Cheek,” “Dancing In The Dark,” “Rhapsody In Blue,” “They Didn’t Believe Me,” “Over The Rainbow,” “I Got Rhythm,” “Chattanooga Choo Choo,” “Let’s Fall In Love,” “The Blues In The Night,” “Moon River,” “My Funny Valentine,” “They Can’t Take That Away From Me”?  The Golden Age of American popular music spanned nearly 40 years, from the late 20s to the mid 60s.  Most of us were fortunate enough to grow up with that music, but only in looking back do we fully realize how lucky we were.  That music owes so much to African-American spirituals, the Jewish Ghetto, rag time, the Cotton Club and Harlem jazz, and Tin Pan Alley.  What was its magic?  What accounts for its vitality and joy, and also its sadness?  Using snippets from You Tube, CDs, DVDs, and VCRs we will reenter that wonderful era and rediscover why that Golden Age affected us so strongly.

(R) The House that George Built, Wilfrid Sheed (Random House, 2007 Ed.).  ISBN 0812970187.

(R) They’re Playing Our Song, ISBN 0-689-10534-1, by Max Wilk (Athenum New York, 1973). Later editions: in 1986 and 1991 are in paperback and hard cover. Any edition will do.

(S) Other books include:

Easy to Remember, ISBN 1567921477, by William Zinsser (David R. Godine, Publisher, 2000 Ed.);

The American Century, Arts and Culture, 1900-1950, ISBN -0-393-04723-7, by Barbara Haskell (Norton & Co., 1999);

Ira Gershwin, by Phillip Furia, ISBN 0-19-508299-0 or 0-19-511570-8 (Pbk), Oxford University Press, 1996;

The Poets of Tin Pan Alley, by Phillip Furia, ISBN 0-19-506408-9 or 0-19-507473 (Pbk), Oxford University Press, 1990, 1992.

1-2 hours

Desirable.  Additional materials will be posted on an eBoard or will be emailed to those who have a computer, so minimal computer skill will enable easy access to these materials. Hard copies will be made available to those who do not have computer capability.

Maurie’s other life was as a chemical engineer and then a trial lawyer.  His past courses include: Psychology and The Law, Mass Hysteria in America, and The Chess Player Under The Psychoanalytic Lens. He also co-led two courses with Arnold Messing: Advice And Consent for Supreme Court Nominees, and America 50 Years After Brown v. Board of Education.

Maurie grew up in the 30s – 50s with the wonderful music of Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, Jerome Kern, Frank Loesser, and many others. He lived their music, danced it, sang it, played it, loved it, and is delighted to offer this course again.

The SGL is open to contact by phone at 617-277-7308 between 7pm until 10pm or email at stiefelm@comcast.net