History & Culture   

America has been defined by maps, investing knowledge with meaning by translating information into visual forms. Maps capture what people know, what they thought they knew, what they hoped for, and what they feared. Maps offer unrivaled windows into five centuries of our past. We will have lectures, discussion, and three trips to the Osher Map Library to see original maps illustrated in the course textbook by Susan Schulten, A History of America in 100 Maps (2018). Repeat in-person course. Format includes lecture and discussion.

SUGGESTED MATERIALS: Magnifying glass

REQUIRED BOOK: A History of America in 100 Maps, Susan Schulten, 13:9780226458618 (cloth)

This course on Japanese women’s lives investigates the historical diversity in the operations of gender in social and cultural life through an interdisciplinary approach drawing on anthropological and historical studies as well as popular cultures. Everyone in this course is required to read the assigned article (usually 20 pages) before coming to the class. This is not a lecture course, but a discussion-based course. New in-person course. Format includes lecture, discussion, and film.

The 19th century was the foundation of the modern world. From industrialization to women’s liberation, to political ideas that shaped our thinking today, the arts, and the political revolutions, it all began more than two hundred years ago. Come along on a journey to the roots of the 21st century. Repeat in-person course. Format includes lecture.

Explore the history and culture of Maine. Several non-political topics will be examined in a fashion that emphasizes hands-on experiences and off-campus activities. At least one class session will be devoted to exploring several fascinating online databases pertaining to Maine history and culture. Several classes will feature guest experts and/or artists. Several classes will be scheduled for local museums and historical societies. Students will independently explore a topic of their choice and report to the class. Repeat in-person course. Format includes hands-on learning, field trips, lecture, and discussion.

Enjoy six narrated walks through Portland’s historic neighborhoods exploring the city’s history, architecture, and people since Europeans arrived. Discuss historic structures, immigrant populations, and locally and regionally famous architects, and view their works. The longest walk will be two miles in two hours. The greatest elevation change will be between Congress Street and the waterfront. All walks will be on pavement, with side trips into two grassy cemeteries. Wheelchair accessible. Rain or shine. Instructor will contact students about the meeting place prior to each class. Repeat in-person course. Format includes movement.

SUGGESTED BOOK: Portland, A Short History, Allan Levinsky, ISBN 9781933212432

In 1899 the City of Deering became part of Portland. Originally a suburb of Portland, it was created as a town in 1871 from what was originally a part of Westbrook. It contained several prominent villages including Deering Center, Deering Highlands and Stroudwater. In this series of six walking tours off the Portland peninsula, we will explore the history of these neighborhoods and learn about some of their interesting residents. Repeat in-person course. Format includes lecture, discussion, and movement.

What defines a revolution and how do radical ideas take root? Framed by Fareed Zakaria’s recent book, Age of Revolutions, this course explores the historical and cultural DNA of the movements that built our modern Western world. Through a combination of lecture, film, and lively discussion, we will trace how revolutionary ideas emerged in the Netherlands and migrated to England and the United States and beyond. We will consider how these legacies are reflected globally today. No prerequisites or required readings — just curiosity about the forces that redefine nations. New in-person course. Format includes lecture, discussion, and film.

Journey into the vibrant world of early 20th century art and witness the birth of abstraction. This transformative period reshaped the cultural landscape, from the bold colors of Fauvism, the fractured forms of Cubism, to the dreamlike realms of Surrealism. Each session focuses on the movements’ leading artists including Matisse, Kandinsky, Picasso, Mondrian, Duchamp, and Dali. We will explore their aesthetic goals and the social and cultural currents that influenced them.

This course is a history class with a laugh track. We will analyze the significant periods and players of the 20th and 21st Centuries against their historic context and legacy, using humor as the platform. We will discuss how comedy was shaped by and responsive to American society, and how comedians influenced and shaped American life. We will cover Silent Films, Vaudeville, Radio, Screwball and Romantic Comedies, Comedy Teams, and the Golden Age of Television. We will study how America laughed in each generation, and how the change in American character and persona shaped how they laughed and what (and whom) they laughed at.

Mexicans celebrate a remarkable diversity of peoples, music, food, festivals, and historical traditions, expressed through fiestas that bring communities together across the calendar year. In this course, we will explore Mexico City as a cultural and historical crossroads shaped by centuries of continuity and change. We will trace the legacies of Indigenous civilizations, the transformations of Spanish colonial rule, the struggles for independence and revolution, and the emergence of modern democratic politics, culminating in the 2024 election of Mexico’s first woman president. We will see how culture, power, and celebration remain deeply intertwined in the life of this extraordinary city.

A low-angle, black and white shot of a modern building with many horizontal lines against a sky with wispy clouds. From sleek new industrial materials to innovations in housing, mid-20th-century designers faced the challenge of shaping an aesthetic that reflected the ideals of post-World War II America. In this course, we will explore the optimism that defined the relationship between design and lifestyle during this period, particularly through the emergence of open living spaces in architecture. We will examine the influence of the Case Study Program and the work of leading designers, including Charles and Ray Eames, John Lautner, Eero Saarinen, E. Fay Jones, and Donald Wexler, while considering these developments within the broader context of rapid social and cultural change.

The American Experiment began with the Declaration of Independence and led to the creation of the federal judiciary, one of the country’s greatest experiments. In this course, we will trace the evolution of the courts from their English roots to their formal establishment in the Constitution. We will explore how the Supreme Court, lacking the power of the purse or military, derives its authority from its ability to connect with the people of the US and protect democracy. We will examine creation of the federal judiciary and the power of the Marshall Court, the Court’s evolution through the New Deal, the Vinson Court, the Warren Court’s “Rights Revolution,” and the role of today’s US Supreme Court.

In this course, we will step inside the fascinating world of kit homes and explore their history and cultural impact across North America, especially during their peak from 1905 to 1945. We will learn how to identify these mail-order houses and understand their cultural impact. We will dig into the industry’s rise and decline, industrial developments of kit homes, and their connections to race and gender in the early 20th century. By examining both the kit home industry and the people who lived in them, we will uncover why they remain an important part of the architectural and cultural landscape.

In this course, we will examine the dramatic circumstances that gave rise to the Beat Generation in the 1940s. Together, we will examine three famous Beat works: Howl and Other Poems by Allen Ginsberg, On the Road by Jack Kerouac, and Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs. We will focus on historical events involving Beat writers, important passages of Beat literature, and the literary movement that spawned the 1960s counterculture.

This course examines royal succession through acclaimed British films that explore power not as ceremony, but as moral and political crisis. We will trace the monarchy’s evolution from personal rule to institutional authority, beginning with the Plantagenet struggles in Becket (1964) and The Lion in Winter (1968). We will then examine the moral costs of kingship and the performance of national leadership through two Shakespeare adaptations: Chimes at Midnight (1965) and Henry V (1989). The course will conclude with the Tudor rupture: A Man for All Seasons (1966) and the consolidation of legitimacy Elizabeth (1998).

Route 66 is as much an idea as it is a place. Since its creation in 1926, America’s most famous highway has evolved from a 2,400-mile transportation corridor into a powerful symbol of nostalgia, travel, and the American road. Today, it functions as a kind of pilgrimage route, marked by neon signs, roadside attractions, and preserved motels, cafés, and gas stations. In this course, we will explore the history, cultural meaning, and enduring appeal of Route 66. Together, we will examine its origins, rise and decline, late-20th century revival, the role of nostalgia and car culture, preservation efforts, and the possible futures of this iconic highway.

We often only notice the global supply chain when it breaks. Yet, for millennia, the movement of goods has been the silent engine of civilization. In this course, we will track the evolution of trade from an executive’s perspective. From the sunken treasures of Bronze Age merchant ships to the high-tech intermodal systems of today, we will explore the vessels that carried the world’s wealth and the complex networks that keep our modern shelves stocked.

Since the 1890s, when Americans were beginning to develop their own traditions in classical music, composers have recognized the dilemma of creating the American sound. We will explore how classical musicians, and Broadway and Hollywood composers, most of them Jewish, followed parallel paths in creating sounds that reflect these lands and its people. Aaron Copland, George Gershwin, William Grant Steel, Florence Price, Alex North, Elmer Bernstein and others will be the protagonists of this lecture.

We will explore the important role of music in championing workers’ rights, supporting unions, and fighting workplace injustices. This workshop will include watching archival footage of songs sung at labor protests, reviewing song lyrics, reading short pieces — and singing! New in-person workshop. Format includes discussion, film, and hands-on learning.

We will examine the prominent effects of Supreme Court opinions on all aspects of American life including individual rights and standards for government procedure. Focus on judicial review, judicial principles of textualism, originalism, pragmatism, judicial activism vs. restraint, precedent, and procedures. Close examination of landmark cases. Emphasis on the current activities of the Supreme Court and consideration of efforts to reform the court. A substantial resource guide will be provided. Repeat in-person course. Format includes lecture and discussion.

We will explore ancient anti-Judaism, the Gospels, St. Paul and Christian fathers. We touch upon the middle ages (blood libels, the Black Death, and the pictorial record in Spain) and jump to the modern era beginning with the Dreyfus trial in France, the emergence of antisemitism the birth of Zionism, the depiction of Jews in literature (Oliver Twist, Gentlemen’s Agreement, and others), film, the stage (The Merchant of Venice), and music. Finally we will consider the normalization of antisemitism both in America and worldwide, the importance of the Hamas attack on Israel, and the new wave of antisemitic violence and failure of leadership to protect Jewish students on college campuses. Repeat in-person course. Format includes lecture, discussion, and film.

This workshop will discuss the history of the Second Amendment. In addition, we will discuss recent Supreme Court interpretations of the Second Amendment and the ongoing litigation to apply these interpretations to modern day gun regulations. The ability/inability of states to address gun violence based on recent judicial rulings will be a part of the workshop discussion.  Formats include lecture.

This will NOT be your typical movie course! Yes — you will be asked to watch a different movie each week as preparation. Yes — we will BRIEFLY discuss the movie and your reactions to it. But then we will use specific scenes or overall themes to learn about countries or events leading up to and following the movie timeline. For example, in A United Kingdom you will learn what Churchill did trying to crush independence in Botswana — and how he failed. In Disney’s Queen of Katwe,we will discuss African culture. After watching Hotel Rwanda, we will spend two classes learning what lead up to the genocide, and its impact on other countries. We will also focus on South Africa watching two movies about Nelson Mandela — Invictus and Long Road To Freedom. This course will include one foreign film with subtitles and will NOT discuss current events. Repeat hybrid course. Format includes lecture, discussion, and film.

“. . . a very simple argument: women are not equal to me; they are superior in many ways...including most ways that matter now . . . (in fact), maleness in humans is hardly necessary for the survival of the species.” Eh, what? Ideology? No. Science fiction? No. Rather, a tightly reasoned scientific argument, superbly combining evolutionary, cross species, and cross cultural materials, fully accessible to the non-specialist and leading to sensible answers to key questions regarding gender, female/male, where might things be heading? Where should things be heading? New in-person course. Format includes lecture and discussion.

REQUIRED BOOK: Women After All: Sex, Evolution, and the End of Male Supremacy, Melvin Konner, M.D. ISBN 9780393239966

World War I transformed the modern world while devastating an entire generation. This eight-week course will explore the origins, battles, political decisions, and human experiences that shaped what many hoped would be “The War to End All Wars,” from the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in 1914 to the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. Using discussion, selected film clips, and the novel To the Last Man by Jeff Shaara as our central text, we will examine shifting alliances, trench warfare, collapsing empires, and the uneasy peace that helped shape the modern age. New in-person course. Format includes lecture, discussion, and film.

SUGGESTED BOOK: To The Last Man, Jeff Shaara, ISBN 13: 9780345461346