Spring 2022 Catalog
Course Dates: March 10, 11, 17, 18, 24, 25, 31; April 1, 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, 22, and Off-Friday offerings in April and May
Spring Registration: February 24 - March 17, 2022
Course Enrollment Confirmation: First Come – First Served
Registration
Click on any of the titles below to see expanded information.
There is a print button on the bottom of the page and also a link to the PDF Course Index Table. All Thursday courses will be held via Zoom; all Friday courses will be held in person on campus. Off-Friday courses will be held in person at their individual locations.
Go here to access the complete catalog in ProClass. Once there, choose Spring 2022 from the “Select Semester” drop-down and hit the “Search” button. Registration will go live on February 24th at 9:00 a.m. Log in to register for courses.
zoom courses
THURSDAY, Period 1
9:00 a.m. until 10:30 a.m.
Thursday, First Period: 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
March 10, 17, 24, 31; April 7, 14, 21
Description: The course will take an in-depth look at the masters of photography, the lives they led, the methods they used, and how they shaped the visions and styles of other photographers. Edward Weston, Ansel Adams, Irving Penn, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Robert Frank are just a few who fall into this category. But what about the scores of other well-known photographers whose lives were guided by their predecessors? Students will examine the artistic, technological, and personal influences on these photographers, how their work changed photography, and its impact on other media.
Presenter: Gary Miller (LLI) is a veteran photojournalist, writer, filmmaker, and live television director with more than 40 years of experience working for clients such as Time, Newsweek, Children’s Television Workshop, Fortune 500 companies, museums, and galleries. He has taught freelance photography at The New School for Social Research and is the author of a book on the subject.
Producer: Gary Miller
Thursday, First Period: 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
March 10, 17, 24, 31; April 7, 14, 21
Description: Robert Frost is one of the giants of American poetry. In this course, students will look at the latest biographical accounts of his life and work, dispelling the myth that portrays him as the kindly New England poet laureate. Instead, the course will take a fresh look at the brilliance and depth of his poetry in view of who he really was.
Presenter: Richard McKeon, STM, is rector of the Episcopal Church of the Messiah in Rhinebeck. He graduated from Middlebury College in 1977 and Yale Divinity School in 1985. His graduate thesis was on the architecture of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. He loves reading and architecture, and serves on the board of Friends of Clermont. He is passionate about the preservation of the beauty of the Hudson Valley and loves reinterpreting literature in the context of contemporary culture.
Producer: Margaret Moran
Thursday, First Period: 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
March 10, 17, 24, 31; April 7, 14, 21
Description: This class will explore the concept of the timeless goddess across world cultures, examining her powerful role in human history, art, music, and literature, dating from the Paleolithic era to the current marginalization of the divine feminine in the West. Students will learn about the once-revered crone goddess who is making a comeback. Patriarchal culture presents a limited perspective on spirituality and religion that influences everyone in profound ways. Whatever one’s belief system or gender, this class will encourage students to envision an awakened world where elder women (and all women) are honored, respected change-makers.
Class Limit: 22
Presenter: P. M. Vincenza Dante, MS, MSW, is a mental health consultant and educator with a lifelong interest in cross-cultural spiritual traditions. She is a presenter for Vassar College’s LLI on the timeless goddess throughout human history. She posits that gender roles and treatment of women are determined by a community’s traditional celebration or suppression of the divine feminine.
Producer: Fern Fleckman
zoom courses
THURSDAY, Period 2
11:00 a.m. until 12:30 p.m.
Thursday, Second Period: 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
March 10, 17, 24, 31; April 7, 14, 21
Description: International events and related domestic concerns will be discussed, including the American response to the Depression, immigration, and isolationism; the German response to the Treaty of Versailles, unemployment, and the threat of Communism; the Soviet adaptation to rapid industrialization, minority resettlements, and centralization of power. The outsized influence of FDR, Hitler, and Stalin highlight the dynamic between powerful leaders and other historical forces during this 10-year period, which helped shape our modern world.
Presenter: Tom Walker, MS, is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and served in three Navy squadrons as a pilot and legal officer. He has taught at Bard LLI, Vassar LLI, and Dutchess County Community College. He recently retired as a senior counselor in the New York State Division of Veteran Affairs.
Producer: Emily Michael
Thursday, Second Period: 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
March 10, 17, 24, 31; April 7, 14, 21
Description: This course will survey the human figure in art from prehistoric times to today. The art will include paintings, sculptures, and other media from Europe, Asia, Africa, and pre-Columbian America.
Class Limit: 25
Presenter: Jose Moreno-Lacalle, MA, taught AP Art History for seven years at the Lenox School, a private school in Manhattan. On several occasions he took his Art History students on trips to Europe. He also taught history courses covering Europe, Asia, Africa, and Pre-Columbian America. He later worked for Sotheby’s, the auction house, for 16 years.
Producer: Dorothy Baran
Thursday, Second Period: 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
March 10, 17, 24, 31; April 7, 14, 21
Description: This course explores how racism has been used to fuel the rise of the New Right. The presenters look at how and why our country has reached the current political crisis that is disrupting and threatening core democratic institutions, with race and racism as a defining feature and central thread.
As a precursor to these presentations, course registrants are encouraged to attend a special evening program with US Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD) on March 9 at 7:00 p.m. presented by Bard LLI and Oblong Books on Zoom. An invitation to all LLI members will be sent before the event.
Link to register for the special program.
March 10: Why This Course? Let’s Talk
Discussion Moderators: Laura Brown, Barbara Danish, Martha Honey
March 17: The Long Southern Strategy: Groundwork for the New Right
Presenter: Angie Maxwell
March 24: Toward a More Perfect Union? The Promise and Challenge of Barack Obama
Presenter: George Shulman
March 31: The Country Comes Apart: Trump and Post-Trump
Presenter: Joseph E. Lowndes
April 7: The Past is Prologue: The 1920s Ku Klux Klan, the 1930s American Fascists, and Their Echos Today
Presenter: Linda Gordon
April 14: The Power of Conservative Media: Shaping and Strengthening Far-Right Political Activism
Presenters: Jody Avirgan and Nicole R. Hemmer
April 21: Rigged: Manipulating the Vote
Presenters: Timothy E. Smith, David Daley, and Melanye T. Price
Presenters: see ProClass for individual biographies
Producers: Barbara Danish, Laura Brown, Martha Honey
zoom courses
thursday, Period 3
1:00 p.m. until 2:30 p.m.
Thursday: 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
March 10, 17, 24, 31; April 7, 14, 21
Description: Opera was political from its inception. Its messaging changed over time as the rulers and philosophers of the European Renaissance were challenged by the emerging ideas and ideals of the Enlightenment. This new Opera as Politics course will return to beginnings and explore how opera, one of the most enduring art forms of Western culture, reflected and challenged the institutions of church and state, and helped develop the modern world.
Presenter: Chuck Mishaan, MA, (LLI) has been presenting courses at Bard LLI for many years, including this popular Opera as Politics series, the Leonard Bernstein Centenary Lectures, and recently, The Roaring 20s. His commentary on the intersection of politics and the arts continues with this course.
Producer: Chuck Mishaan
VACCINATION POLICY FOR IN-PERSON COURSES
The Bard College COVID-19 Response Team currently requires all visitors to campus, including LLI members, to be fully vaccinated with a booster.
Please note: If current trends continue, Bard will transition to a mask-friendly campus on March 1. Masks will be allowed but not required in campus facilities that LLI regularly uses. Presenters may ask their class members to wear masks in the classroom, if desired.
Valid proof of full vaccination is one of the following:
- CDC-COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card(s) showing proof of vaccination and booster shot; or
- Digital New York State Excelsior Pass and the CDC-COVID-19 card showing booster shot; or
- Digital New York State Excelsior Pass Plus which records both vaccinations and the booster shot.
At the first in-person class/event you attend this spring, your documentation will be checked and your vaccination status will be updated as below:
- Members who attended a Fall 2021 in-person class/event will be given a second sticker for the LLI name tag indicating full vaccination/booster compliance; or
- Members who did not attend in-person classes/events in Fall 2021 will be given new name tags with appropriate verification stickers. Please bring your lanyard if available. New members will be given new lanyards with their name tags.
Remember to wear your LLI name tag to show full vaccination verification at all LLI in-person classes/events.
on-campus courses
FRIDAY, Period 1
8:30 a.m. until 9:50 a.m.
The course F1B will be offered as a hybrid course, with the material presented both live on the Bard campus, and as a simultaneous Zoom meeting (F1BZ).
Friday: 8:30 a.m. – 9:50 a.m.
March 11, 18, 25; April 1, 8, 15, 22
Description: Claude Debussy (1862-1918) was one of the most original composers. Intellectually brilliant yet self-educated (he never went to school until he entered the Paris Conservatory at age 10), he created his own world of sound that challenged traditions on all sides. This course will introduce the composer, his music, and his milieu. Individual works will be placed in their cultural context, with two sessions each devoted to Debussy’s piano music, his vocal music, and his orchestral music. Some sessions will involve live performances.
Presenter: Raymond Erickson, PhD, has given seven previous Bard LLI courses, all but one dealing with Bach. He is professor emeritus of music, Queens College and the Graduate Center, CUNY, and has also taught at Rutgers and The Juilliard School. He earned his PhD in the history of music at Yale and is a widely traveled keyboard performer. He is on the Bard College Conservatory of Music faculty: chamber music, harpsichord, and piano.
Producer: Cathy Reinis
Friday: 8:30 a.m. – 9:50 a.m.
March 11, 18, 25; April 1, 8, 15, 22
Description: The Roaring 20s saw the production of some of the greatest and most important literature of the 20th Century. Writers of the decade set a high standard of imagination and achievement in poetry, fiction, and drama. Although the cornucopia of outstanding work is more than one semester could address, this course will offer a survey, with select in-depth explorations, of the literary legacy of the decade. The astonishing list of notables students might examine includes T. S. Eliot, James Joyce, Edith Wharton, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Virginia Woolf, Langston Hughes, Eugene O’Neill, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, and Gertrude Stein.
Class limit: 26
Presenter: Chuck Mishaan, MA, (LLI) has been presenting courses at Bard LLI for many years, including his popular Opera as Politics series, the Leonard Bernstein Centenary Lectures, and recently, The Roaring 20s. His commentary on the intersection of politics and the arts continues with this course.
Producer: Chuck Mishaan
Friday: 8:30 a.m. – 9:50 a.m.
March 11, 18, 25; April 1, 8, 15, 22
The course F1B will be offered as a hybrid course, with the material presented both live on the Bard campus, and as a Zoom meeting. To register for the Zoom meeting, enroll in this course (F1BZ). You may not enroll in both versions.
Description: The Roaring 20s saw the production of some of the greatest and most important literature of the 20th Century. Writers of the decade set a high standard of imagination and achievement in poetry, fiction, and drama. Although the cornucopia of outstanding work is more than one semester could address, this course will offer a survey, with select in-depth explorations, of the literary legacy of the decade. The astonishing list of notables students might examine includes T. S. Eliot, James Joyce, Edith Wharton, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Virginia Woolf, Langston Hughes, Eugene O’Neill, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, and Gertrude Stein.
Class limit: none for Zoom attendance
Presenter: Chuck Mishaan, MA, (LLI) has been presenting courses at Bard LLI for many years, including his popular Opera as Politics series, the Leonard Bernstein Centenary Lectures, and recently, The Roaring 20s. His commentary on the intersection of politics and the arts continues with this course.
Producer: Chuck Mishaan
Remember to wear your LLI name tag to show full vaccination verification at all LLI in-person classes/events.
on-campus courses
FRIDAY, Period 2
10:10 a.m. until 11:30 a.m.
Friday: 10:10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
March 11, 18, 25; April 1, 8, 15, 22
Description: In How We Die, author Sherwin Nuland argues that no matter the “cause of death,” what kills a person is the body’s failure to deliver oxygen to the tissues, most importantly, the brain. While this is undoubtedly true, some diseases present direct impediments to the delivery of oxygen to the tissues, and this class will examine several of those. The course will begin with an introduction to respiration, followed by sessions on asphyxiation, neonatal respiratory distress syndrome, acute respiratory distress syndrome, emphysema, sodium nitrate and carbon monoxide poisoning, and sickle-cell anemia. No previous background in science is required.
Class Limit: 75
Presenter: John Ferguson, ScB, PhD, (LLI) is Professor Emeritus, Biology Program, division of Science, Mathematics, Computing at Bard College This is his 5th time teaching at LLI.
Producer: Leslie Weinstock
Friday: 10:10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
March 11, 18, 25; April 1, 8, 15, 22
Description: From the moment the Mayflower arrived in Massachusetts Bay in 1620, the Native Americans and English colonists developed a relationship based on trade, custom, and distrust. King Philip’s War, also known as Metacom’s War or the First Indian War, took place between 1675-1676 in Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, and later spread to Maine and New Hampshire. King Philip’s War is considered the bloodiest war per capita in American history. This course will examine the history leading to the war, and the relationship between Native Americans and White society since.
Class Limit: 26
Presenter: Robert Beaury, MS, (LLI) is a retired social studies teacher from Germantown Central School and former adjunct at Columbia Greene Community College.
Producer: Emily Michael
Friday: 10:10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
March 11, 18, 25; April 1, 8, 22 This will be a six-week course.
Description: Students in this class read one poem each week (including poems by Elizabeth Bishop, Toi Derricotte, Philip Larkin, Li-Young Lee, and Natasha Trethewey) using noticing and other strategies to delay the cultural (or perhaps human) need for instant interpretation, and to allow participants to go more deeply into a poem’s complexity. In-class writing responding to the poem extends this exploration. (This is not a writing class.) Participants form a community of readers who share insight and experience and develop a simple but profound way to approach poems together.
Class Limit: 15
Presenters: Barbara Danish, PhD, (LLI) was director of the Writing Center at New York University, taught at Pratt Institute, and currently works at Family of Woodstock.
Laura Brown, MFA, (LLI) has worked in publishing for more than 40 years and is a former president of Oxford University Press.
Producer: Barbara Danish
Friday: 10:10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
March 11, 18, 25; April 1, 8, 22 This will be a six-week course.
Description: Musical Theater 2 will pick up after the golden age of Broadway and continue to the present. Emphasis will still be on issues of diversity in the world of musical theater in shows such as Rent, Hamilton, and Allegiance. Since the course will be in person, students might do some singing as they examine the memorable shows of the last 50 years.
Class Limit: 75
Presenter: Nancy Theeman, PhD,has had a lifelong career in music that includes performance and teaching. She is a pianist and singer who has performed in the United States and abroad. She has chaired music programs at schools in Westchester County and has directed numerous musicals there. She has conducted community choirs and for 30 years she ran Touring Talent, a program in which high school students go to local senior residences to share their talents.
Producer: Linda Legendre
on-campus courses
FRIDAY, Period 3
11:50 a.m. until 1:20 p.m.
Friday: 11:50 a.m. – 1:20 p.m.
March 11, 18, 25; April 1, 8, 15, 22
Description: Artist Kim Bach, founder of Hudson’s Verdigris Tea store, will introduce students to the most consumed beverage in the world. Explore the exotic lands and cultures of Japan, India, China, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Vietnam, and Indonesia through their cultivation of fine teas. Discover how the geography and climate where a tea is grown contribute to its unique character. Weekly topics will include tea history, cultivation, and processing, as well as exploration, sampling, and tastings of several teas from each region. Each session will include cupping techniques—the standard way to sample and analyze teas professionally.
Class Limit: 26
Presenter: Kim Bach, MA, was director of exhibitions and programming at the San Francisco Public Library and a teacher in media arts and humanities at Long Island University, where she received her master’s degree. Besides a family connection to the tea business, Bach attended classes at the Specialty Tea Institute. Since 2006, when she opened Verdigris Tea in Hudson, she has presented more than 30 tea classes and lectures.
Producer: Emily Michael
Friday: 11:50 a.m. – 1:20 p.m.
March 11, 18, 25; April 1, 8, 22 This will be a six-week course.
Description: Grammy Award–winning composer Joan Tower presents a series of classes that focus on different musical themes (such as 19th century piano music, vocal music of lieder composers, percussion music, and the music of living composers) that are performed by the Conservatory and college music students. These performances are followed by a question-and-answer period with LLI members.
Class Limit: 75
Presenter: Joan Tower (LLI) has received several recent awards including Musical America Worldwide’s 2020 Composer of the Year; induction into the Classical Music Hall of Fame (2019); and the Golden Baton 2019, the highest honor conferred by the League of American Orchestras. The complete collection of Joan Tower compositions has been archived by the Library of Congress.
Producer: Susan Hinkle
Friday: 11:50 a.m. – 1:20 p.m.
March 11, 18, 25; April 1, 8, 22 This will be a six-week course.
Description: This will be a fusion dance class including jazz, modern, social dance, and world dance movements. Every week, students will participate in a set warm-up that will prepare them to explore a different decade or style of dance. This class builds strength, flexibility, and stamina while improving balance and cognitive skills. Students of all levels are welcome.
Class Limit: 20
Presenter: Mary Rotella, BFA, has performed on Broadway, on national tours, and in many regional productions. She has directed and choreographed productions in the United States and abroad, and continues to work professionally. Her teaching experience includes various styles and levels of dance.
Producer: Eleanor Wieder
Friday: 11:50 a.m. – 1:20 p.m.
March 11, 18, 25; April 1, 8, 22 This will be a six-week course.
Description: Tai chi is a blood-freshening, moving meditation and slow-motion martial art. It promotes longevity and increases cognition, strength, confidence, balance, and flexibility. These gentle, stress-lowering exercises allow the chi (life force) to follow the blood in the body rather than stagnate. With tai chi we help ourselves heal from the inside out. Note: The presenter asks that participants wear an N-95 mask.
Class Limit: 20
Presenter: Annie Labarge (LLI) is a poet and painter who has taught art at the high school and college level. She studied tai chi with Joe Mansfield, Margaret Cheo, and Michael Porter. She is currently teaching in HealthAlliance Hospital’s oncology support program. Her background includes all three sets of yang style long-form tai chi.
Producer: Linda Legendre
on-campus courses
FRIDAY, Period 4
1:40 p.m. until 3:10 p.m.
Friday: 1:40 p.m. – 3:10 p.m.
March 11, 18, 25; April 1, 8, 22 This will be a six-week course.
Description: Learn dance fundamentals using safe and accessible movements including BrainDance, warm-up and basic techniques, and creative expression This class provides a fun opportunity for community building and improving strength and balance.
Class Limit: 15
Presenter: Judith Nelson, MFA, (LLI) has spent more than 35 years teaching dance as a full-time professor at Auburn University, Missouri State University, and Carlton College. A dancer with Jose Limón Company and David Gordon Pick Up Company, she has toured the United States and Europe as a solo artist and in musical theater. She leads professional development workshops for dance educators. Nelson has conducted workshops at the 92nd Street Y, the Mark Morris Dance Center, and in New York City public schools. She is a senior faculty member at Mark Morris Dance Center in Brooklyn.
Producer: Leslie Weinstock
Friday: 1:40 p.m. – 3:10 p.m.
March 11, 18, 25; April 1, 8, 15, 22
Description: Students will taste a group of related wines each week, with a discussion of all aspects of wine production, factors affecting quality and yield, climate, weather, grape selection, vinification, aging, and natural methods. Commentary on this, with each week’s list of wines for the tasting part (organic), will be included. Students will have descriptions and opinions of the wines, and, finally, a rating of the wines.
There will be a $20 fee and participants are asked to bring two wine glasses each.
Class Limit: 26
Presenter: Paul McLaughlin, PhD, (LLI) began tasting wines in 1972 when he was stationed in Germany with the US Army. He continues to enjoy a great variety of wines from all over the world. His PhD in organic chemistry has helped him understand the natural and artificial processes that affect the quality of wine.
Producer: Paul McLaughlin
Friday: 1:40 p.m. – 3:10 p.m.
March 11, 18, 25; April 1, 8, 22 This will be a six-week course.
Description: Argentina has always been a dream. It was a dream for the Spanish searching for plunder in the 16th century, and remained a dream until 19th- and 20th-century immigrants went searching for a new beginning. At the turn of the 20th century, its potential rivaled that of the United States. Yet Argentina is a country that always seems to make the wrong choices, its dreams rarely fulfilled. The reasons for this are fascinating. To the sounds of the tango, this class will immerse itself in an alternative America: that of Argentina as a shattered dream.
Class Limit: 20
Presenter: Steven Bassin (LLI) has taught at The New School for Social Research, the School of Visual Arts, New York University, and Vassar LLI. He has taught at Bard LLI annually since 2014. Bassin is an attorney and a retired member of The Director’s Guild of America. He has always been fascinated with “the dream versus the reality” of Argentina, and has traveled there twice to study its people, history, and culture.
Producers: Margaret Shuhala, Fern Fleckman
OFF-FRIDAY in-person
APRIL AND MAY DATES
Mondays from 10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Mondays, April 25; May 2, 9, 16, 23
Description: Join Vicki Hoener and Robin Berger for this unique LLI hiking class. Laura Connor, an environmental educator at Minnewaska State Park Preserve in Gardiner, New York, will guide students on different trails. The hikes are scheduled for five Mondays from the end of April through May. Most of the trails are on old, well-maintained carriage roads. Students should wear appropriate clothing and footwear, and bring snacks and water. This class is scheduled outside typical LLI Spring dates to avoid snowy or icy conditions on the trails. Please visit https://parks.ny.gov/parks/minnewaska/details.aspx for information.
Class Limit: 25
Presenters: Vicki Hoener (LLI) and Robin Berger (LLI) taught for many years at Chancellor Livingston Elementary School in Rhinebeck. Now that they are retired, they are spending their time hiking across the Hudson Valley.
Producer: Margaret Moran
Wednesday, April 20 – 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Wednesday, April 20
Description: Students are asked to prepare a 15-minute oral or multimedia presentation on Walt Whitman, Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Burroughs, John Muir, or a nature writer of their choice. This can be a reading of a poem or essay, or some insight into the biography or philosophy of the author. Presentation . The afternoon session consists of a walking tour of Slabsides cabin at the John Burroughs Nature Sanctuary. Participants must be comfortable walking one-half mile on a carriage road and standing for 30 minutes during a tour of the unheated cabin. Bring beverages, snacks, and lunch. The meeting place addresses will be provided by email.
Class Limit: 8
Presenter: Skip Doyle is a licensed, professional outdoor guide.
Producer: Dorothy Baran
Credits
Curriculum Team
Linda Legendre, Chair
Irene Esposito, Secretary
Dorothy Baran
Anne Brueckner
Barbara Danish
Fern Fleckman
Ellen Foreman
Carmela Gersbeck
Susan Hinkle
Mary McClellan
Emily Michael
Gary Miller
Chuck Mishaan
Margaret Moran
Cathy Reinis
Margaret Shuhala
Bill Tuel
Leslie Weinstock
Eleanor Wieder
Catalog Team
Bill Tuel, Chair
Susan Christoffersen
Deborah Lanser
Deborah Schwartz
Margaret Shuhala
Tim Sullivan
Betsy Tuel
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