Blocked? Bored? Want outside the box? Learn how contemporary writers in genres from poetry and theater to mystery novels and memoirs draw inspiration from experimentation. A continuation of the Elements of Creative Writing seminars, this workshop is open to all writers at all levels, whether or not they have taken the previous classes.
Calendar
5:45 – 7:45 pm
2 – 4 pm
In this class, musical questions you have always wanted to ask will be answered. A witty textbook and entertaining exercises will guide us from basic concepts to more complex elements of music, including the instruments of standard ensembles like the string quartet and the symphony orchestra. This class is designed for music enthusiasts rather than musicologists.
5:45 – 7:45 pm
This seminar investigates how Europe’s “age of exploration” spurred new examinations of the human condition.
10 am – Noon
Jack Benny created the situation comedy and put radio on the map, creating a legacy of timeless humor that still delights audiences today. In this seminar, we take a closer look at Benny’s special brand of radio comedy and how he was able to sustain this excellence for decades. We will also explore his crucial supporting cast, including Phil Harris, Eddie Anderson, and Mel Blanc.
1 – 3 pm
We will examine the rich variety of vocal music that flourished in early modern Europe, from the choral masterpieces of Renaissance Catholicism to the passionate arias of Baroque opera.
10 am – Noon
Fakes, frauds, and falsifications of artifacts and documents have been the bane of curators, collectors, art lovers, and dealers for millennia. So why should anthropologists study fakes? Fakes offer an ever-changing portrait of human desires and greed by providing a glimpse into the cultural values and perceptions of their makers and prospective consumers.
1 – 3 pm
This course examines the intriguing photographs of the first extensively photographed American president. It traces the portraits of cameramen such as Matthew Brady, Alexander Gardner, Alexander Hesler, and Samuel Alschuler. We will investigate their photographs in relation to Lincoln’s enigmatic face and body as well as his biography and political career.
1 – 3 pm
In the world of William Blake’s poetry and art, Innocence is a state through which we pass and to which we can return.
5:45 – 7:45 pm
Must short stories be tragic and humorless to be moving? You, too, can learn to write funny and your readers will thank you for it. This seminar includes assigned readings, in and out of class writing exercises, and discussion.
Julie Benesh holds a Ph.D. and an M.F.A. and has had a short story anthologized in Bestial Noise: A Tin House Reader.
2 – 4 pm
This course is “Music 101” for the novice listener and a great vocabulary refresher for the inveterate concertgoer. The three “B’s” —Bach, Beethoven and Brahms—will play prominent roles, as will Haydn and Mozart, the masters who established the prototype for the classical genres we know as the symphony and the concerto.