Mini-Courses at Madison Public Library

Registration for Summer 2013 Opens June 3rd
Classes begin July 3rd

Note: We cannot accept registrations before June 3rd!

This program of non-credit short courses is jointly sponsored by Drew University’s Caspersen School of Graduate Studies and the Friends of the Madison Public Library. These courses are intended to be suitable for the general public, with no prerequisites. However, they are taught at a level consistent with Drew University’s outstanding academic reputation. There are no examinations, grades, or required reading. Prices are $85 for one class and $65 for each additional class.

Spring, fall, and summer term mini-courses are given at the Madison Public Library. Occasionally Summer term mini-courses are held on Drew’s campus in Madison, New Jersey. 2013 summer course descriptions follow and registration forms will be available June 3.

Drew Minicourse Summer Registration (.doc)
Drew Minicourse Summer Registration (.pdf)
Drew Minicourse Summer Registration (online)

Summer 2013 Drew Mini-course Offerings

No registrations will be accepted before June 3rd!

Great Film Scores III

Instructor: Robert Butts
Five Wednesdays: July 3, 10, 17, 24, 31; Aug 1* - 1:30 – 3:30 PM

Robert Butts continues his review of film music with his third mini-course on this fascinating subject. He believes that the film score was the most significant musical innovation of the twentieth century. Inspired by the Romantic ideal of program music and opera’s use of the orchestra to create mood and emotional context, composers developed a musical language that has only recently come to be recognized for its role as part of the film itself, but also for its musical values and ideas.

Music has been an integral part of the success of films from the beginning. Composers have incorporated elements from all forms of music to add to the film’s ambiance, emotion, and drama as well as developing character and plot. This course discusses some of history’s most memorable and effective film scores, highlighted by excerpts from the films. Included are scores by Bernard Herrmann, John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, Maurice Jarre,.Miklos Rosza, James Horner, John Corigliano and others.

Dr. Robert W. Butts is a widely noted conductor, composer and teacher whose lectures on music history have been a mainstay of the minicourse program for many years.

*make-up session if needed.

The Art of Medieval Europe

Instructor: Alison Poe
Five Tuesdays: July 9, 16, 23, 30; Aug. 6, 13* - 1:30 – 3:30 PM

This course is about the art and architecture of Western Europe, from the dawn of the Middle Ages in the 5th century to their twilight in the early 16th century. We’ll look at gem-studded brooches made for Gothic warriors; painted books made for King Charlemagne; the Leaning Tower of Pisa; the great castle-cathedral complex of Durham, England; the towering Gothic churches of France and their stained-glass windows; and many other masterpieces of the medieval era.

For those students who took Prof. Poe’s 2008 course, some of the material will be the same, but much of it will be new. As a special, optional, feature, Prof. Poe will lead a tour of the Cloisters Museum in New York after the end of the course. There will be a small additional fee for this. Arrangements for the tour will be made during the course.

Alison Poe is one of our most popular lecturers on art and she has an enthusiastic following. She has taught at Rutgers, Drew and Fairfield Universities. She specializes in early European art, having taught several minicourses on Greek and Roman art as well as the art of the Middle Ages.