CALL-8WEEK-02 - CALL 2026 Fall 8 Week Session - Block 2 (12:45pm)

Take a fascinating journey through some of the most compelling and uniquely American aspects of history, culture, politics, religion, and society. This eight-week course explores diverse topics that have shaped the American experience, from the history of the White House and the evolution of religious belief in the United States to the struggle for LGBTQ+ rights and the powerful influence of mid-twentieth-century advertising.

Participants will examine the origins, architecture, and changing role of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, trace the development of American religious traditions and civic faith, and follow the remarkable transformation of LGBTQ+ life from the post-World War II era to the legalization of same-sex marriage. The course concludes with an exploration of how radio, magazines, and television advertising helped define consumer culture and the American dream in the decades following World War II.

Combining history, culture, politics, and social change, American Studies Potpourri offers an engaging and thought-provoking look at the people, ideas, and institutions that continue to shape the United States.

Weekly topics (subject to change):

I. 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Week One: The Ultimate in government housing... the architect;
Prototypes, construction, and history to 1945

Week Two: From Truman to Trump, dramatic changes of the last 80 years

II. Religion in America

Week Three: The spirituality of the pre-contact peoples, how the new world
affected old world religions

Week Four: Home-grown sects: Latter-day Saints, Adventists, etc.
The civic religion: Thanksgiving; In God We Trust; One nation under 
God; Christian Nationalism

III. LGBT history since World War II: “From outlaws to in-laws"

Week Five: War uproots a nation; The Lavender Scare; The Mattachine Society,
and the Daughters of Bilitis; Stonewall

Week Six: Harvey Milk, AIDS, and ... marriage?

IV. Mid-century advertising

Week Seven: Magazines and Radio, from glossy sophistication to mindless jingles

Week Eight: The perfect match, TV’s hypnosis brings post-war affluence into
your living room

Like its predecessors, this class is an eight-week, seminar-style investigation of a varied selection of short stories. This will be a discussion-centered class that thrives on student participation and active give-and-take.  Think of this class as a book club that meets in a classroom with a teacher but talks about short stories.  As such, the success of our “story club” will hinge on your participation.  I’m counting on all of you to help me keep my enthusiastic mouth shut and let you do the talking and thinking.  We will look at fundamental literary ideas of structure, setting, character, and more.  Story genres and themes are wide-ranging.  They include, of course, love, but also family, mental health, the nature of marriage, coming of age, and, naturally, artificial intelligence.   We will read one story each week, beginning each class with a discussion of the author, the story’s basics like plot, the characters, and any noteworthy literary techniques employed by the author. I will ask everyone to very briefly summarize their impressions of the story each week as we begin, focusing on one major highlight, a piece of dialogue, or a snippet of great writing that struck you as you read.  You serve yourself and the class best by giving each story your focused attention, taking notes while reading, definitely asking questions, and actively sharing opinions.  My favorite question as a teacher always was and remains, “Why?” I will ask it often, because the effort to answer that question usually yields our best insights and helps us understand and absorb the gifts of these talented writers.

Tentative story lineup for The Short Story 4.0 *

A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gillman
Enemies by Anton Chekhov
The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin
Victory Lap by George Saunders
I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison

* - Story titles for last two weeks remain open, contingent on number of repeaters in class.  If few repeaters are taking 4.0, we will look at a few favorite stories from the first three lineups of the class or even a title recommended by a current participant.

We will look at the history of the Harlem Renaissance (Great Migration, Red Summer of 1919) and the literature from that period. Authors we will read and discuss include Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Claude McKay, W. E. B. DuBois, Zora Neal Hurston, Laurence Dunbar, Nella Larsen, Wallace Thurman, James Weldon Johnson, and others. Among the subjects to be discussed: Why Harlem? Who should Black authors write for? Should Black writings be in dialect or “traditional English”? Questions of color. Women of the Harlem Renaissance. Protesting oppression. Sexuality and voyeurism. We will also look sparingly at other forms of art during this time period.

This course examines ethical, philosophical, and theological issues relating to the experience of the Holocaust and the broader human concerns of evil and suffering. Topics include the uniqueness and universality of the Holocaust as well as questions of justice.

Weekly topics (subject to change):

• Week 1-We will start by applying Kant and the Utilitarians to the dilemmas faced by survivor Kitty Hart Moxon in the documentary Return to Auschwitz (available on Youtube).
• Week 2-Primo Levi's Gray Zone
• Week 3- “What Do We Mean By Evil?” by Rollo Romig, “Explaining Hitler” by Ron Rosenbaum
• Week 4-Eichmann In Jerusalem by Hannah Arendt, Ordinary Men by Christopher Browning.
• Week 5-Dilemmas posed by the case of Kurt Gerron, director Ray Muller in his documentary The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl
• Week 6- Dilemmas posed by the film Jud Süss directed by Harlan Veit.
• Week 7-Dilemmas posed by the actions of the Allies in the face of the Holocaust (e.g., should we have bombed Auschwitz, the case of the case of the ship The St. Louis, etc.)
• Week 8-Post-Holocaust Ethics and options for preventing further genocides.

Plants have developed chemical compounds that humans have used for thousands of years for medicinal purposes. Functional clinical herbalism combines modern science-based knowledge with the wisdom of centuries-old herbal traditions.

The program is designed for budding herbal and wellness enthusiasts who are curious about how an herbalist approaches the health challenges of their clients. 

We will explore basic concepts used by herbalists, including five common conditions (fatigue, stress, acid reflux, winter colds, and autoimmune disease) and their holistic approaches, as well as plant-based preparations (teas and tinctures) and considerations for their use.

Week 1: A Holistic Approach to Healing
Week 2: Food is medicine
Week 3: Digestive Health 
Week 4: Metabolic Health
Week 5: Stress, and mental health
Week 6: Sleep
Week 7: Immunity for winter wellness
Week 8: Presentations and final words

Of all the arts, movies are the most powerful aid to empathy, and good ones make us into better people ~ Roger Ebert (1942-2013)

As in earlier iterations of this course, this is an invitation to newcomers and returnees, novices and devotees alike. Continuing in the spirit of earlier CALL course offerings, we will select and watch seven more films included in the second volume of Roger Ebert’s The Great Movies (pub. 2006). Ebert’s goal was to provide “a tour of the landmarks of the first century of cinema.”
 
In preparation for each of our weekly screenings, we’ll read the relevant short essay he wrote to illuminate his beloved choices.
 
Thus, each class will typically start with a brief introduction, followed by a viewing of the complete movie, which in turn will lead into a large-group discussion of the film and of the talking points in Ebert’s essay for that title.
 
There are many, many Great Movies included in this second volume, so we’ll devote some of our first class to deciding which of them we’ll schedule for the following sessions.

**This is an Extended-Session Class**