Registration for Spring 2013 is Open!
NEW!! Due to its popularity WE HAVE SCHEDULED A SECOND class for March 20-April 17: “National Security 2″. Seats are available only for this class.
FULL-The Changing Nature of Nat’l Security with Doug Simon (Jan. 30-Feb. 27)-FULL
FULL-America in the Progressive Era-FULL
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.
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 spring course registrations and course descriptions are available.
Drew Mini S2013 Registration Form (.doc)
Drew Mini S2013 Registration Form (.pdf)
Drew Mini S2013 Registration Form (online)
Spring 2013 Drew Mini-course Offerings
FULL-The Musical Comedies of Rodgers and Hammerstein-FULL
Instructor: Frank Occhiogrosso
Five Tuesdays: Jan. 29, Feb. 5, 12, 19, 26; 1:30 – 3:30 PM
An introduction to the great musical comedies of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, with illustration from film productions. Altogether they wrote eleven shows but the primary emphasis of this course will be on five acknowledged masterpieces: Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, and The Sound of Music.
Frank Occhiogrosso is Drew University’s foremost Shakespeare scholar but his other great love is for the American musical theater. He had done several courses for us in each area and they usually sell out.
NEW!! Due to high demand, 2nd class offering!
The Changing Nature of National Security #2
Instructor: Douglas Simon
Five Wednesdays: March 20, 27; April 3, 10, 17; 10 AM – 12 N
FULL-The Changing Nature of National Security-FULL
Instructor: Douglas Simon
Five Wednesdays: Jan. 30; Feb. 6, 13, 20, 27; 1:30 – 3:30 PM
This course will explore the shifting nature of national security for the United States. The topics include are:
1: Defining National Security in the Age of Terrorism and Cyberspace.
2: A Permanent State of War? The Propensity to Military Intervention. Why? Costs? Problems?
3: The Changing Instruments of War: Drones, Cyber-war and Other Technology? How Big a Military Do We Need? What Should Be Our Configuration of Forces?
4: The Exploding Intelligence Community: Costs and Dangers. Organizations covered include CIA, NSA, DIA, NRA, Homeland Security
5: A Discussion of Present and Future Threats to National Security. Instability on the Indian Sub-Continent, Iran and the Nuclear Threat, North Korea, China, and Russia.
Douglas Simon, Professor of Political Science Emeritus at Drew, is one of our most popular lecturers. His lectures are always sold-out.
FULL-Love, Passion, Heartbreak: The Operas of Giacomo Puccini-FULL
Instructor: Robert Butts
Five Thursdays: Jan. 31; Feb.7, 14, 21, 28; 1:30 – 3:30 PM
Italian opera from 1885-1920 is often referred to as Verismo. The stories are filled with passion, love, power and loss. Several composers contributed beloved masterpieces during the period – including Verdi, Mascagni, Leoncavallo and Cilia. But it was the operas of Giacomo Puccini that captured and broke the hearts of the opera world.
Puccini’s characters are unforgettable, his melodies expressing the hopes and fears, the ecstasy and pain of the human heart. Explore the operas of Italy’s last operatic genius and his contemporaries with video excerpts from beloved classics such as La Boheme, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, Turandot, I Pagliacci 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.
Full-Five Weeks in Philadelphia-FULL
Instructor: Barbara Tomlinson
Five Mondays: March 18; April 1, 8, 15, 22; 1:30 – 3:30 PM (No class on March 25)
This course offers: 1( a virtual tour of a museum no one knows about, 2( a museum most people don’t understand, and 3( a museum that has just recently remade itself in the most astonishing fashion.
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts was the first organization in the country designed to promote the arts. Housed at the end of the 19th century in a splendid Victorian Gothic building, it fell into obscurity as other museums became more glamorous. A new director has dusted it off, shaken it up, and restored much of the original excitement.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is a puzzle to many. Aside from an exhibition space for traveling shows, just what is it trying to be? Come learn how its origins in the 1876 Centennial have shaped its character.
The Barnes was always a special case. Its new incarnation is as exciting as its original conception. Come visit the spectacular new “old” Barnes Foundation.
Barbara Tomlinson was the Course Coordinator of the humanities
component of Kean University’s General Education Program before
retirement. She is a regular lecturer in this program and her courses are
usually sold out.
FULL-America in the Progressive Era 1900-1920-FULL
Instructor: J. Perry Leavell
Five Tuesdays: March 19; April 9, 16, 23, 30; 1:30 – 3:30 PM
Note: No Classes on March 26 and April 2
For two decades at the beginning of the 20th century, Americans engaged in a series of reform efforts that transformed the nation. We will explore the causes, meaning and consequences of what they called “progressivism.” We will also explore how this series of reform movements differed from the New Deal and the Great Society that followed later in the century.
J. Perry Leavell is emeritus professor of History at Drew and an outstanding lecturer and scholar. He gave a course in our first term in the Fall 1992 and this will be his thirteenth minicourse.
The Gnostic Gospels
Instructor: William Stroker
Five Wednesdays: March 20, 27; April 3, 10, 17; 1:30 – 3:30 PM
The gnostic gospels have received much public attention in recent years, due to references in some popular novels and films. They contain different understandings of Jesus and his teachings from those found in the New Testament.
The gnostic movement in Christianity was suppressed as heresy by the part of the early church which became dominant and for 1500 years was “known” only by writings of its opponents. However the gnostic gospels came to light in findings in the late 19th and 20th centuries.
The course will explore the nature of the gnostic movement and its history, as well as the content of some of the gospels, such as The Gospel of Mary Magdalene, the Gospel of Thomas, and the Gospel of Judas. It is historically oriented, with no emphasis on who might have had the more accurate understanding, and is an updated revision of a similar one offered three years ago.
William Stroker is emeritus professor of Religion at Drew. He has taught several previous minicourses on the history of Judaism and Christianity an d they have been among our most popular.
Further information regarding these courses, reading materials, availability and registration for Fall 2012 can be viewed at the following site: drewminicourses.org