History & Culture

The ominous date of 1984! The title of George Orwell’s classic novel is where we begin this introduction to Art in our contemporary world. Although art production is more accessible than ever, it remains far enough removed from our everyday experience that it continues to confuse and infuriate. Even to the point of questioning it being art at all. This course is intended for everyone, including those new to art as we embark on a lively exploration of the puzzling, yet surprisingly relevant arts of our time. Instructor: Tamora Martin-Kowalski.

This course focuses on how to use Excel and other tools to effectively analyze your family tree, identifying potential issues that require more research and/or helping solve “brick walls” that currently exist. You will be taught how to use a wide variety of supplemental tools (such as census, land, tax, surnames, and DNA records) and how to extract data out of your existing family tree to provide a baseline for analysis and data mining techniques. Templates will be provided for some areas of analysis and directions provided in other areas to teach you how to build your own analytic tools, regardless of the use case. 

(This course will be offered online via Canvas and Zoom. Course information, including a meeting link and login information, will be emailed to registrants within 1 week of the course start date.)

Are you just starting to explore your family history? Or do you have some genealogy experience, but need some new ideas to jump start your research? This course offers everything you need to know to start discovering your family’s story. You will start gathering information at home, and then expand your search to learn about the records that reveal your ancestors’ lives, and where to find them, both in repositories and online. Along the way, you will learn about the research process, keeping your discoveries organized and documented, collaborating with fellow researchers, and expanding your genealogy expertise.

(This course will be offered online via Canvas and Zoom. Course information, including a meeting link and login information, will be emailed to registrants within 1 week of the course start date.)

Galleries and museums often create a calm and relaxing atmosphere to view art, but beneath the surface lurks a shadowy underworld. Famous artworks have sold for hundreds of millions of dollars, creating a massive demand in the black market for forgeries and stolen pieces. Looted art is also a contentious issue in the market as institutions struggle to identify illegally obtained works and grapple with the morally ambiguous circumstances by which it may have come into their ownership. In this class you will explore the sinister side to art, including thefts, forgeries, and vandalism of famous works. Instructor: Kara LaRose.

Have you ever wondered to whom you might be related? The explosion of Direct to Consumer DNA test kits has opened the door to discovering your genetic makeup, your ancient origins and potential family relationships. Genetic Genealogy has emerged as an important tool for genealogists and family historians. This course will teach you about DNA, what tests are available, how to use your DNA results to find family and how to use it in your genealogical research.

(This course will be offered online via Canvas and Zoom. Course information, including a meeting link and login information, will be emailed to registrants within 1 week of the course start date.)

Mankind has been engaged in both warfare and artmaking for thousands of years - but how are they related? From the Roman war machine to the Iraq War, artists have used paintings, sculptures, photography, and other media to depict battle history, spread propaganda about rulers and conquests, and even express outrage about the effects of war on soldiers and those left behind. This course will explore how artists have been inspired by the hardships and tragedies of war, tracing their methods from thousands of years ago to the present day and examining why some of their works are still controversial. Artists to be discussed include Jacques-Louis David, Francisco Goya, Pablo Picasso, Lee Miller, Käthe Kollwitz, Anselm Kiefer, Shirin Neshat, and Banksy. Instructor: Kara LaRose.

(This course will be offered online via Zoom. Course information, including a meeting link and login information, will be emailed to registrants within one week of the course start date.)

In this course, you will explore the life and writing of the Bronte sisters, especially Charlotte and Emily Bronte. You will begin by examining life in Yorkshire, England in the 1800’s: considering local legends that gave rise to their novels, as well as the notorious hardships of life in their hometown of Haworth. Discuss the conventions of Gothic fiction and consider how its themes were suited to life as the Brontes knew it. Using the novels Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, examine how the Brontes utilized and adapted Gothic conventions in their storytelling. Instructor: Ann Stephenson.