Lectures and Courses
Plays, Riots, Revolutions: A history of the role of Irish literature in the Irish Rebellion (Professor James Byrne) —week four
In one of his last poems, W. B. Yeats, looking back on his life, asks “Did that play of mine send out / Certain men the English shot?” On the brink of death, he realized that Irish literature may have paved the bloody road to rebellion in 1916. This five-lecture series will take Yeats at his word and investigate the role literature – principally Irish drama – played in fomenting the spirit of Irish nationalism that resulted in the Irish rebellion of 1916. Examining the early poetry of W. B. Yeats and the plays of W. B. Yeats, J. M. Synge and Sean O’Casey, we will look at how this literature crafted (and critiqued) an Irish cultural nationalism that demanded physical realization through violence and ultimately sacrifice.
This course meets each Friday from 5 September through 3 October, from noon until 1:20.
Registration is required: go here
Plays, Riots, Revolutions: A history of the role of Irish literature in the Irish Rebellion (Professor James Byrne) —week five
In one of his last poems, W. B. Yeats, looking back on his life, asks “Did that play of mine send out / Certain men the English shot?” On the brink of death, he realized that Irish literature may have paved the bloody road to rebellion in 1916. This five-lecture series will take Yeats at his word and investigate the role literature – principally Irish drama – played in fomenting the spirit of Irish nationalism that resulted in the Irish rebellion of 1916. Examining the early poetry of W. B. Yeats and the plays of W. B. Yeats, J. M. Synge and Sean O’Casey, we will look at how this literature crafted (and critiqued) an Irish cultural nationalism that demanded physical realization through violence and ultimately sacrifice.
This course meets each Friday from 5 September through 3 October, from noon until 1:20.
Registration is required: go here
Human Learning & Memory: An Introduction (Professor Kathy Morgan)
How do people and other animals learn? Is it true that you cannot teach an old dog new tricks? What is memory, and how can we make it better? How good is eyewitness testimony? In this course, you will learn some of the fundamentals of what psychologists know about learning and memory, and we will strive to answer some of these questions along the way. This will be done through a combination of some "hands-on" activities, in-class demonstrations, and lectures. We will practice what we learn about learning and remembering on one another, as well as on some guest animals that visit our class. Finally and weather-permitting, we will travel on a weekend to a nearby animal rescue to practice some of what we have been learning about the applied uses of training.
This course will meet Tuesdays from 7 October to 18 November, but not on 14 October.
Registration is required: go here
Medieval Cathedrals as Architectural Marvels: How Did They Stand Up? Did They Fall Down? If so, Why and When? (Professor Evelyn Staudinger)
Few are surprised by modern society’s obsession with constructing the “tallest building in the world.” This lecture will show that a similar competitive spirit drove builders and patrons in the Medieval World, while exploring the questions “Why?” and “How?” Without computers, structural engineers, or an array of specialized machinery and materials, what led 12th -and 13th -century Master Masons to produce architectural wonders using a plumb bob, compass, level, square, and rule? (N.b. Modern technology and the intersection of Art and Science will play a role in this lecture via a hands-on activity elucidating why Gothic Cathedrals, on rare occasions, fell down!)
This lecture is free, but registration is required: go here
Plays, Riots, Revolutions: A history of the role of Irish literature in the Irish Rebellion (Professor James Byrne) —week three
In one of his last poems, W. B. Yeats, looking back on his life, asks “Did that play of mine send out / Certain men the English shot?” On the brink of death, he realized that Irish literature may have paved the bloody road to rebellion in 1916. This five-lecture series will take Yeats at his word and investigate the role literature – principally Irish drama – played in fomenting the spirit of Irish nationalism that resulted in the Irish rebellion of 1916. Examining the early poetry of W. B. Yeats and the plays of W. B. Yeats, J. M. Synge and Sean O’Casey, we will look at how this literature crafted (and critiqued) an Irish cultural nationalism that demanded physical realization through violence and ultimately sacrifice.
This course meets each Friday from 5 September through 3 October, from noon until 1:20.
Registration is required: go here
Line Work: Trajectories and Connections in Open Space (Professor Kelly Goff)
Wheaton College professor and visual artist Kelly Goff will discuss his recent public sculptures, tracing their development by drawing metaphorical lines to his childhood in the Caribbean. He will connect dots across the globe through projects developed in the Amazon, the Himalayas, and even a remote island in the Indian Ocean. As a professor teaching the practice of public art, Goff will offer reflections on the discipline and the possibilities of public art broadly.
This lecture is free, but registration is required: go here
Plays, Riots, Revolutions: A history of the role of Irish literature in the Irish Rebellion (Professor James Byrne) -week two
In one of his last poems, W. B. Yeats, looking back on his life, asks “Did that play of mine send out / Certain men the English shot?” On the brink of death, he realized that Irish literature may have paved the bloody road to rebellion in 1916. This five-lecture series will take Yeats at his word and investigate the role literature – principally Irish drama – played in fomenting the spirit of Irish nationalism that resulted in the Irish rebellion of 1916. Examining the early poetry of W. B. Yeats and the plays of W. B. Yeats, J. M. Synge and Sean O’Casey, we will look at how this literature crafted (and critiqued) an Irish cultural nationalism that demanded physical realization through violence and ultimately sacrifice.
This course meets each Friday from 5 September through 3 October, from noon until 1:20.
Registration is required: go here
Lecture: Song 'Adaptations' and the Globalization of Pop in France, 1960-1970
Professor Kirk Anderson will discuss the dialogue between French and Anglo-Saxon popular music in the 1960s.
Course: Glitter and Be Gay: Operetta in America
With Professor Ann Sears. This course will meet on March 7, 14, 21, 28 and April 4, 11.
PAST EVENT: Gershin “Rhapody in Blue”: Celebrating the Centennial Year of a Masterpiece
Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue: Celebrating the Centennial Year of a Masterpiece.”