Fall Classes: Spoiled for Choice
by Deborah Lanser
Introduction
As you’ll see when the fall catalog lands in your inbox on Wednesday. August 26, you will have a difficult time choosing which classes to take. Those who are interested in medicine, well-being, and fitness will have a wide variety of options. Bard faculty members will share their research in math and science, while others will describe their visionary programs for the college. You can take a deep dive into poetry, essays, or satirical, dark, and desperate stories. Some classes will provide perspective on American and Viennese history or on current events. Classes on the visual arts will be held on Zoom or with field trips. For cinemaphiles, there are classes on film noir and satirical films. Then there are the options that display the breadth of LLI’s offerings, with such topics as AI, Bach, nonlocal consciousness, dance, estimation skills, and end-of-life planning. And you can savor Caribbean food or toast the end of your week by sharing wine with other oenophiles.
Zoom courses will start on Thursday, September 10, and run through Thursday, October 15. Most in-person classes will be held on campus on Friday, September 11, and run through Friday, October 16, while a few will be offered on other days and locations. Preregistration takes place on Wednesday, September 2, and registration starts on Thursday, September 3. Mark your calendar.
Here’s a foretaste of what will be on offer. And thanks to Chair Mary McClellan and the Curriculum Committee for providing us with so many varied and appealing possibilities.
Health and Well-Being
Healthcare today is being transformed by innovative treatments, surgical advances, and recent discoveries in the science of nutrition, breathing, and caregiving. In Medicine in Motion: Exploring the Breakthroughs Behind Modern Healthcare, specialists from Northern Dutchess Hospital will provide an inside look at the people, ideas, and breakthroughs that are changing medicine.
In Healthy Aging: Part One, the first of a two-semester course, Ray Yip will describe the scientific evidence supporting various strategies to ensure adequate physical and cognitive reserve as we age. His goal will be to promote action, not just provide information. The second semester, which will be presented in the spring, will focus on the role of diet and nutrition.
Roberta Schiff will share How Not to Age, the practical, life-extending strategies described in Dr. Michael Greger’s bestseller of that name. Using those strategies, participants can create their own set of clear, actionable steps to kick-start a positive approach to aging gracefully and feeling their best.
Creating a Legacy
To honor your life, take responsibility for your death, and leave a conscientious legacy for your loved ones, Ruven Liebhaber will assist participants in Planning Your Destiny: A Well-Supported and Orderly Exit. The discussion will include choosing suitable healthcare and financial proxies, organizing personal obligations and effects, and thinking about end-of-life options.
Film
Film noir may be the quintessential American genre, but its dark heart was born in the shadows of post-WWI Berlin. Join Chuck Mishaan in viewing Film Noir: from Berlin to the Big Sleep and how the trauma of a fractured Europe redefined the American screen.
In The Art of Dissent: Satire in Literature and Cinema, Peter Scheckner explains that satire is a form of cultural and political criticism. He will pair short essays and stories with feature films that mock authority, expose hypocrisy, and reveal the absurdity and lethality of power.
Gaining Perspective on Our Times
Join Laura Brown and Barbara Danish in reading Essays for Our Time as tools to navigate an understanding of who we are, what we don’t know, and how to live in our time. A deep reading of works by James Baldwin, George Orwell, Virginia Woolf, and others will prompt discovery, conversation, questions, and reflection.
Is war the best way to manage Iran’s threat to its Persian Gulf neighbors, Israel, and the United States? That’s the question Mark Lytle will address in Oil, Arms, Empire and War on Iran. He will review the implications concerning Iran’s location between rival empires in Russia and the Middle East, the region’s vast oil resources, and an arms race in which Iran seeks nuclear weapons.
The Visual Arts
In a career that spanned more than six decades, Norman Rockwell created some of the most iconic images of American life. But, as Skip Doyle asks, was he an idealist, humorist, or social activist? Those questions will be considered in Will the Real Norman Rockwell Please Stand Up!
Madeleine Segall-Marx will offer Listening to the Enemy: An Artist-Guided Tour. Her thought-provoking installation comprises visual artworks that are derived from 25 global war accounts by individuals labeled “the enemy.” Her art provides an immersive journey that invites reflection on conflict, perspective, and our shared humanity.
The human figure has been depicted in a variety of ways around the world and over the centuries. José Moreno-Lacalle’s class The Human Figure in World Art will explore that history with images from Europe, the Middle East, Africa, South Africa, and India.
Math and Science
Bard Masters of Math and Science from different disciplines will share their research on various topics. Some of the planned titles include “How to Prevent the Next Pandemic Pathogen,” “Jumping Julia Puzzles and Graph Theory,” and “Breathing Water and Drinking Air: Environmental Connections and Human Health in the Hudson Valley.”
Are you interested in learning how to guess the number of jellybeans in a jar? If yes, try Around and About: The Art of Everyday Estimation, in which Beth Goldberg demonstrates how to have fun while gaining practice making and refining estimates and strengthening quantitative reasoning skills. No advanced math is needed.
AI
Artificial intelligence is transforming the way we create, communicate, and express ideas. Jean-Claude Fouéré will consider its impact on two of the most creative human activities in Discover Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Music and Writing. He will ask participants to consider the opportunities, the limitations, and the ethical questions raised by these new technologies.
History
On America’s 250th birthday, what could be more timely than a course on From Independence to Constitution: Founding a New Republic? Robert Beaury will describe the process shaped by debate, compromise, and conflict that led to the creation of the United States.
Despite the fact that the empire of Austria-Hungary was mostly peaceful and prosperous with a rich cultural life, Vienna had the highest suicide rate in Europe. Why? Shelley Weiner will offer A Nervous Splendor: Vienna 1888-1900 to consider the many factors that gave rise to significant social anxiety and provided Sigmund Freud with fertile ground for his clinical work.
Music
Ray Erickson will take two semesters to explore the Bach B Minor Mass, one of the greatest choral works ever written. The fall semester will focus on the Kyrie and Gloria movements, in the context of contemporary musical styles, the political situation in Lutheran Saxony, and the historical development of the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Mass.
Voices Together: A Hootenanny Experience will provide a wonderful way to have fun and create a sense of connection and community. Gather around a piano with Mary Theeman and other LLI members to sing folk music, gospel, show tunes, and popular songs.
The Written Word
In Cartographers of an Inner Life, Ed Ingebretsen considers six poets whose work transformed ordinary landscapes and personal histories into sites of reflection. Wallace Stevens, Robert Frost, Theodore Roethke, Mary Oliver, Joy Harjo, and Li-Young Lee shared a commitment to examining inner life and the ways individuals interpret, endure, and inhabit the world.
Both beginners and seasoned writers are welcome to join Lee Woodman in sharing their faith in the magic of language while discovering haibuns and sonnets, pantoums and villanelles. Adventures in Poetry will review the mechanics of meter, rhyme, and structure, providing participants with the fundamentals to draft their own poems during each class.
In Dust, Dreams and Desperation: Stories of the American West, David Offil invites you to explore the excitement and adventure of starting a new life by heading west. Writers like Bret Harte, Jack London, Willa Cather, and John Steinbeck described the hardships, struggles, and sometimes tragedies they encountered
As Daniel Lanzetta will discuss in The Tell-Tale Mind: Dostoevsky’s Raskolnikov and Poe’s Confessional Murders, murder can be viewed as a collapse of reason, conscience, and self-control. Both authors created stories by intensely subjective narrators, which draw the reader into the minds of killers whose accounts are both revealing and unreliable.
Dance
Judith Nelson will offer A Dance Smorgasbord, exploring the techniques, choreography, and techniques of ballet, modern dance, and musical theater dance. Participants will enjoy adapting BrainDance to each style as they focus on strength, flexibility, balance, and body awareness.
Food and Wine
DId you know that LLI has a Friday happy hour? Marc Wieder will ask Why Drink Water When You Can Drink Wine? At the end of every week, casual consumers and oenophiles can enjoy sharing opinions on four different wines while learning about their identifying characteristics. $50 fee.
As a delicious way to round out your classes, consider sampling the rich tapestry of flavors to be found in the Cuisines of the Caribbean. Thanks to Harvey Monder, members can sample the distinct culinary traditions of different islands as influenced by Spanish, Dutch, French, British, African, Indian, and Chinese culture
Innovative Bard Programs
In Inside Bard, Kornelia Tamm will introduce participants to some of the innovators shaping key programs and institutions at Bard College. Some possible topics include cultural exchange through music, critical political discourse, ongoing creative experimentation, interdisciplinary approach to studio art, art relationship to technology and global change, and the Fisher Center’s future.
Movement and Mindfulness
Kelly Garone knows that sometimes doing less and listening to more refined kinesthetic feedback can lead to optimal results. Using the techniques presented in Breaking Free of Mainstream Fitness Myths, participants may find a path to releasing habitual tension, uncovering optimal coordination, and experiencing genuine ease in the body.
Calm and Collected: Starting the Day with Movement and Mindfulness, as presented by Margaret Pierpont, will provide simple strategies for restoring equanimity throughout the week. Participants will be introduced to gentle, whole-body movement, body scans, breathing practices, and guided meditation to discover the combination that works best for them.
Lyla Yastion will help participants understand why we sometimes intuitively grasp a situation or feel someone’s “vibes.” In Living in Nonlocal Consciousness, she will explore the primal energy of the universe that connects everything and everyone through portals of physics, the human mind, the social compact, Earth’s ecosystem, and spiritual teaching.
Every year, almost 40% of adults over 70 lose their balance and sustain a fall, which could lead to serious injury. In Balance for Life: Staying Steady and Strong, Russel Charno will introduce participants to simple exercises designed to strengthen the legs and feet while supporting the body systems involved in maintaining balance.
Beginners and experienced practitioners alike may benefit from Tai Chi for Arthritis and Balance. Georgette Weir will help participants adopt a regular tai chi routine, designed to improve flexibility, increase muscle strength, decrease pain, and enhance balance.
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