Celtic Spirituality
Instructor: Phil Maxson
Dates and Times: Mondays, September 28 - October 12,
10 – 11:15 a.m.
Location: Online Zoom Course
Maximum Enrollment: 75 | Course Fee: $25
This is a class that discusses the history, culture and religion of the Celtic people. It starts off describing exactly who the Celtic people are and where they came from and how their features of spirituality were adapted into the Celtic Christian Church. Then, we will discuss the rise of the ancient Celtic Christian Church and Celtic monasticism which includes the main Celtic saints: Saint Patrick, Saint Brigid and Saint Columba of Iona. We will then describe the decline of that church and where it stands today. Along the way we will discuss the history of Scotland, Ireland, Wales and Britain, including the influence of the Roman Empire on Britain.
For the Love of Tea
Instructors: Diana Rast and Seetha Subramanian
Dates and Times: Mondays, September 14 – October 12,
2– 4 p.m.
Location: Online Zoom Course
Maximum Enrollment: 40 | Course Fee: $25
Are you a tea drinker? Would you like to learn more about your favorite brew? You are invited to join us as we explore the fascinating world of tea and tea drinking customs in an armchair journey around the globe. Bring along your favorite teacup (or mug) and sample the different teas brought to you from far-away lands.
Italian Baroque Art
Instructor: Michael Worley
Dates and Times: Tuesdays and Thursdays,
September 29 – December 3, (No class November 3 & 26)
1 – 2 p.m.
Location: Online Zoom Course
Maximum Enrollment: 40 | Course Fee: $25
This course covers 17th century Italian art, with a focus on Rome, and the evolution of the Baroque style, which begins as a reaction against Mannerism. In the Carracci Academy in Bologna, the emphasis was on looking at nature, as well as Greco-Roman masterpieces and High Renaissance masters. There will be one unit on architecture and another on sculpture. Caravaggio began a parallel movement of intense naturalism, which had a great number of followers. We will continue with High Baroque and awesome examples of ceiling decoration. There was also an undercurrent of “philosopher-painters” who selected unusual historical and religious themes, scenes of witchcraft, and stoic philosophers contemplating the human condition. Finally, if time allows, we will cover landscape, genre painting and still-life. The Zoom format is still experimental and the goals of the original course may have to be altered.
Opening the Doors of Architecture
Instructor: Marcia Freyman
Dates and Times: Wednesdays, October 14 – November 18,
2 – 3:30 p.m.
Location: Online Zoom Course
Maximum Enrollment: 40 | Course Fee: $25
This class will look at the history and functions of architecture throughout the world. Included in our study will be the psychological effects of various structures that we experience in our daily lives. We will also examine the materials and sites used by different ages and cultures.
Renaissance Art and Architecture in Florence, Italy
Instructor: Lisa Smith
Dates and Times: Tuesdays, October 13 – November 17,
3 – 5 p.m.
Location: Online Zoom Course
Maximum Enrollment: 100 | Course Fee: $25
This class explores the unique partnership that occurred in Renaissance Florence between artists, patrons, and the community at large. We will examine Florentine art commissioned by the guilds, the monastic community, private patrons, as well as the art commissioned by the ducal courts of Urbino and Mantua, and will discuss the major artistic currents that swept across Italy from the fourteenth through the sixteenth centuries. In addition to considering key themes such as the revival of antiquity, religious devotion, and artistic style, we will survey significant works by artists and architects including Giotto, Donatello, Raphael, Leonardo, Botticelli, Alberti, Michelangelo, and many others.