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Compiled from EIN Newsletters (2002 – 8/2003)
AFRICAN-AMERICAN RELATIONS & HISTORY
Any of the following books, individually or in a group, would make an
excellent LLI course about African-American relations and history.
An American Insurrection: James Meredith and the Battle of Oxford,
Mississippi, 1962 by William Doyle
Legal Lynching: The Death Penalty and America’s Future
by Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, et al
Sons of Mississippi: A Story of Race and Its Legacy by Paul Hendrickson
Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word by Randall Kennedy
Interracial Intimacies: Sex, Marriage, Identity and Adoption
by Randall Kennedy
To order books visit www.randomhouse.com
or call 1-800-733-3000 or 1-800-726-0600.
AMERICAN RADICALS
EIN has learned about several new books that would make a fascinating
LLI course on American Radicals. Existential America by George
Cotkin is a richly detailed account of the reception of existentialism
in America. The second, American Workers, American Unions by
Robert H. Zieger and Gilbert J. Gall is a strong and often moving account
of an important period in American working-class history and the third,
Red Feminism by Kate Weigand is a thoughtful analysis of women’s
activism in the Communist Party, USA between World War II and the mid-1950s.
These three books are available from The Johns Hopkins University Press,
1-800-537-5487 or visit www.jhupbooks.com.
Yet another book that ties into this subject is American Heretic:
Theodore Parker and Transcendentalism by Dean Grodzins. This is a
major new biography of one of the 19th century’s most influential
and controversial intellectuals. This book is available from The University
of North Carolina Press, 1-800-848-6224 or by visiting www.uncpress.unc.edu.
ART ENCYCLOPEDIA
For help in putting together ILR courses around the subject of art be
sure to visit this site - www.artcyclopedia.com.
It’s a mixture of a great art search engine by artist or title,
information about galleries worldwide and also has a very comprehensive
glossary of art-related terms.
ASTRONOMY COURSES
Astronomy courses are very popular with the British U3As (our equivalent
of lifelong learning institutes). Here’s how one group studies the
subject. They hold monthly meetings, which are centered on one major topic,
usually illustrated by a video extract. In that way they have covered
topics such as: the Moon, the Big Bang, the life cycle of stars, the possibility
of extraterrestrial life, the problems of space travel and probes to Mars.
But they also include a number of shorter presentations by members themselves.
They encourage their members to research subjects, which they can talk
to the class about because involvement and discussion is essential. The
class leader also circulates a summary of news items, which have been
taken from the Web over the previous month and these provide material
for discussion. Along with www.nasa.gov,
the course leader uses www.universetoday.com
and www.spaceflightnow.com.
Other websites include www.solarviews.com/eng/homepage.htm
and www.skyandtelescope.com.
EVERYTHING SHAKESPEARE
Thanks to the U3A newsletter “Signpost,” for this lead. Everything
you ever wanted to know about Shakespeare can be found at http://shakespeare.palomar.edu/
Disowning Knowledge: In Seven Plays of Shakespeare, Updated Version,
by Stanley Cavell has been reissued with a new essay on Macbeth. This
famous collection of essays on Shakespeare’s tragedies considers
these plays as responses to the crisis of knowledge and the emergence
of modern skepticism of the late 16th and early 17th centuries. This book
is available on line.
ISLAM IN AMERICA
EIN wishes to thank Charlie Notess, Ph.D. for the following curriculum
information. Charlie teaches a course entitled “Islam in America,”
at the Front Range Forum LLI in Fort Collins, CO. His website at http://www.greeleynet.com/~cnotess/short.htm
contains detailed information and an extensive bibliography that can help
in planning a course around this topic. If you would like to contact Charlie,
his number is 970-613-9967.
LEWIS AND CLARK CURRICULUM RESOURCES
There are many different aspects of the Lewis and Clark expedition that
would make for interesting LLI courses. Here are three new books for course
planners. The Lewis and Clark Journals, edited by Gary E. Moulton.
Lewis and Clark: Pioneering Naturalists, by Paul Russell Cutright
and Lewis and Clark Among the Indians: Bicentennial Edition, by
James P. Ronda. All three books are available from the University of Nebraska
Press at www.nebraskapress.unl.edu
or online.
LORD BYRON WEBSITE
Byron: A Comprehensive Study of His Life and Work - http://englishhistory.net/byron.html
includes a biography of the poet; a timeline of his life and work; portraits
of him, his friends and his family; selections from his works; information
on his wife, Anne Isabella Milbanke, and his lover, Lady Carolyn Lamb;
and more on this writer of the English romantic era.
NAPOLEAN SERIES
This extensive, searchable site at- http://www.napoleonseries.org/
is "dedicated to the study of Napoleon Bonaparte and the era in which
he lived. It contains a FAQ, articles written by amateurs and professionals,
texts of reference works, and book reviews. There are diplomatic documents,
maps, and battle lists. It is run by volunteers, and has information covering
such details as the Sphinx's nose and in-depth profile of specific battles,
as well as more general articles.
POETRY WEBSITES
Poetry Magazine.com is full of featured poets, samples of their work,
and archived back issues of the magazine. This is the Web access point
to "the oldest monthly devoted to verse in the English-speaking world."
Online issues list the contents and include a few of the works published
in print - http://www.poetrymagazine.org/
Poetry.com is sponsored by the International Library of Poetry. It is
by far the largest and most comprehensive poetry site on the Internet.
American in style, it offers competitions, hints on techniques, and other
resources.- http://www.poetry.com/welcome/welcome.asp.
P.O.V. SNEAK PREVIEWS
Here’s a chance for your LLI to take part in an exciting educational
program that involves your members, your local community and the media.
Interested LLIs can organize and host a SNEAK PREVIEW SCREENING &
DISCUSSION of select P.O.V. award-winning, independent films prior to
their national airing on PBS. This program is offered at no cost to all
LLIs by P.O.V. For further information, please contact Eliza Licht at
P.O.V. at elicht@pov.org - or by phone
–
212-989-8121 x 316.
READ, DISCUSS, TRAVEL
The Encore Center at North Carolina State University offers each of its
members an exciting variety of program options. Among these are separate
courses that survey the literary culture of North Carolina as well as
other states in the region. A selected state’s literary survey runs
an hour and a half one day a week for six weeks each fall. A successful
extension of these literary courses features a post-holiday study tour
of the state being studied; top priority in registering for each tour
goes to Encore members who took the respective course.
Studying North Carolina’s rich literary heritage in retirement
inspired these students and their faculty to look farther afield. The
resulting courses about other states and the subsequent tours have combined
to make a story all their own. Read, discuss, travel. Come home and read
some more. Then go again. While one of the aims of these state literary
courses and tours has been to encourage a program of reading for individual
members, Encore’s peers across the country could enjoy a similar
experience by embracing this model. If you are interested in more information
about the Encore program, please contact Tricia Inlow, Interim Director,
Encore Center for Lifelong Enrichment at (919) 515-8971 or by email at
encpi@mckimmon.mck.ncsu.edu.
And don’t forget…Elderhostel can design the travel
component of this course and save your LLI a lot of time and work!
REVOLUTIONARY WAR
For LLI History courses pertaining to the Revolutionary War, two new books
have just come out. The first, The Valley Forge Winter: Civilians
and Soldiers in War, by Wayne Bodle, does an excellent job of turning
myth into history, legend into lived experience. The second book, Sweet
Land of Liberty: The Ordeal of the American Revolution in Northampton
county, Pennsylvania, by Francis S. Fox, explores the question of
the morality of the American Revolution from the perspective of the Northampton
residents. Both books are available on line.
ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON WEB SITE
This site presents bibliographies of works by and about Robert Louis Stevenson,
the author known for The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,
Treasure Island, and other novels and stories. Includes links to
full text of works by Stevenson, bibliographies of derivative works and
biographic material, images, links to related sites, and other information
about the author. "In the Footsteps" features books about geographical
locations (such as Edinburgh, Scotland) associated with Stevenson. http://wwwesterni.unibg.it/siti_esterni/rls/rls.htm
STATE HUMANITIES COUNCILS
There are Humanities Councils in every state just waiting to send scholars
and historians to your LLI with educationally oriented special events,
thanks to grants the Councils have awarded to the presenters. To find
the Council in your state go to the national website of state councils
at http://www.neh.gov/whoweare/statecouncils.html
UNITED STATES & GLOBAL POLITICS
For LLI courses dealing with the United States and global politics, here
are some new books that might be useful.
Of Paradise and Power: America and Europe in the New World Order,
by Robert Kagan. A provocative and thoughtful essay for everyone concerned
about the future of Trans-Atlantic relations.
Warrior Politics: Why Leadership Requires a Pagan Ethos, by Robert
d. Kaplan. A profound and timely meditation on 21st-century global politics
and America’s place in it.
Being America: Liberty, Commerce and Violence in an American World,
by Jedediah Purdy. A thoughtful and compelling commentary on America’s
difficult relationship with a changing world.
A History of the United States, Second Edition, by Philip Jenkins.
This highly readable introductory guide provides a lucid and authoritative
account of the course of American history, discussing political, social,
economic and cultural developments, including the examination of relationships
between territorial expansion and political history.
Marching on Washington: The Forging of an American Political Tradition,
by Lucy G. Barber. This book traces the formative history of this mode
of protest and explores the politics of space in the capital and the contested
nature of citizenship. All these books are available on line.
URBAN STUDIES
The study of cities, in many different ways, can be a fascinating topic.
EIN has come across two recent books that could be used as the foundation
for a new LLI course. The first, Harlem between Heaven and Hell,
by Monique M. Taylor, is a hard-hitting look at race, class and black
gentrification in this emblematic community. The second book, Down
and Out: The Life and Death of Minneapolis’s Skid Row, with
photographs by Edwin C. Hirschoff and essays by Joseph Hart, is an elegiac
look at the demise of Minneapolis’s skid row, known as the Gateway
District: once a lively area of dozens of bars, flophouses, pawnshops,
burlesque houses, charity missions and office buildings aged past their
prime. Both can be found in bookstores, on the Internet, or by calling
the University of Minnesota Press at 773-568-1550.
WILLA CATHER
Three new books that might serve as the foundation of a course on this
American writer have recently come across my desk. The first, The
Professor’s House, by Willa Cather is the scholarly edition
that incorporates into its textual analysis findings from a recently discovered
and significantly reworked draft of the novel. The second, Willa Cather
Remembered, edited by Sharon Hoover, comprises reminiscences of the
author written between the 1920s and the 1980s by people ranging from
close friends to journalistic observers and acquaintances. The last book,
Memorial Fictions: Willa Cather and the First World War, by Steven
Trout, offers a major reassessment of Willa Cather’s career and
artistic achievements, provides information on popular culture during
and immediately after the Great War, and demonstrates the importance of
literature as a cultural forum for addressing issues and ideas fundamental
to American culture. All three are available from the University of Nebraska
Press, at www.nebraskapress.unl.edu,
or by calling 1-800-755-1105.
WOMEN IN WORLD WAR II
These two books could serve as the foundation of a new LLI course on women
in World War II. Writing the Siege of Leningrad: Women’s Diaries,
Memoirs and Documentary Prose, by Cynthia Simmons & Nina Perlina
is an honest, heroic and heartbreaking account of women’s lives
and emotions during the nearly 900 days of blockade and bombardment.
Exile & Identity: Polish Women in the Soviet Union During World
War II, by Katherine R. Jolluck tells the story about the hundreds
of thousands of Polish women who were forcibly transported deep into the
USSR as prisoners after the annexation of eastern Poland.
WOMEN’S STUDIES COURSES
Several new books have been published that deal with different aspects
of Women’s Studies.
Women and Guerrilla Movements: Nicaragua, El Salvador, Chiapas, Cuba,
by Karen Kampwirth
Compromised Positions: Prostitution, Public health, and Gender Politics
in Revolutionary Mexico City, by Katherine Elaine Bliss
Right-Wing Women in Chile: Feminine Power and the Struggle Against
Allende, 1964-1973, by Margaret Power
Mary Wollstonecraft and the Feminist Imagination, by Barbara
Taylor
Being Good: Women’s Moral Values in Early America, by Martha
Saxton
Global Woman: Nannies, Maids and Sex Workers in the New Economy,
by Barbara Ehrenreich
Writing Women’s History Since the Renaissance, by Mary
Spongberg
Doves of War: Four Women of Spain by Paul Preston
All these books are available on-line.
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