History & Culture

Learn the history and practice of Buddhism, the fourth largest spiritual tradition in the world today. Instructor Cliff Long, a practicing Shin Buddhist with a M.A. in anthropology and archaeology, will discuss Siddhartha Gautama, who in his quest for enlightenment, became Buddha. You will trace the development of Buddhism via the Silk Road, its move to the West in the 19th Century and its growth and popularity in Europe and South America. An optional field trip to the Ekoji Temple in Fairfax, VA may be available.

In 9 A.D. a traitor from the Roman military led an army of barbarians who trapped and slaughtered three entire Roman legions in the forbidden, dark Teutoburg forest of Northern Germany. The 15,000 plus soldiers who were cut down represented a quarter of the Roman army stationed north of the Alps. It was a blow from which the first Roman emperor Augustus never recovered. In this course, you will examine the Roman occupation of Germany and study this famous battle which stopped Rome’s expansion beyond the Rhine River. How was it that an entire Roman army could have been led into such a perfect trap? Instructor: Bill McGowan.

Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Mary Cassatt, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Vincent van Gogh, and Georges Seurat are some of the most popular and beloved artists of all time. This class will explore all of these painters and more as we look at two nineteenth-century movements, Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, with which all of these artists are associated.

Examine the life and death of the Egyptian boy king, Tutankhamun, who has fascinated the world since the discovery of his almost-intact tomb in the 1920s. The tomb’s discovery is considered one of the greatest archaeological finds. You will chart his family lineage and consider the latest scientific data on who he was and how he died. You will also explore the history of the Valley of the Kings and why the boy king would have been entombed in such a remote, desolate location. You will also learn about a new museum currently being constructed in Egypt on the Giza Plateau near the pyramids, to house all the artifacts found in King Tutankhamun’s tomb, which is scheduled to open this year. Instructor: Bill McGowan.