Course Descriptions

H-01

Masters of Light: Secrets of Great Filmakers
The view from the shoulders of great filmmakers is 111 years of bewildering achievement. We’ll study oustanding works of cinemea, while learning the crafts of camera acting, screenwriting, directing, editing, and cinematography. Students will use inspirations from screen giants to create their own original movies. Please note: the movies we’ll study are superb but challenging, and making movies is not for weenies. You have to love it enough to sweat the work.

Heather McMahon, Noora Niskanen & Rick Seyford

H-02

“Just Don’t Bring One Home”: Examing the Past, Present, and Future of Race Relations in America
An African American woman and a European American man come together to teach a straight up course on race! We will address the real issues surrounding race relations in a culture that often pretends they do not exist. While most situations require you to “check your prejudices at the door,” we invite you to bring them all with you as we discover the historic, contemporary, and personal aspects of race relations. We will participate in activities, watch movies, read articles, hear guest speakers, and examine current events as we navigate the racial labyrinth that is America.

Lisa Bratton & Matt Forester

H-03

Foreign Policy: The Paradox of the American Giant
In this course we will consider the paradoxical and evolving nature of U.S. Foreign Policy. Our goals will be to trace the development of American and global diplomatic history, develop foreign policy as diplomats, and as a culminating activity hold a global summit considering some of the pressing issues of our time. Our course will consider a variety of topics including national security, humanitarian aid, environmental concerns, trade policy, and the geopolitical balance of power. Throughout the course, we will participate in simulations, field trips, be visited by guest speakers, hold debates, watch films, and stimulate curiosity of the foreign policy process.

Ed Motley & Jeff MacGuinness

H-04

Digging on the Shoulders of Giants
History is recorded in many ways. Small things so often forgotten, plain and ordinary, can give us clues to the past. This course will explore some aspects of the science of archaeology. It will include hands on digging, so come prepared to work hard and get dirty. Our guides will be historical archaeology giants James Deetz, Bill Kelso, and Ivor Noel Hume.

John Bland & Michele Riley

H-05

Beyond Barney: Learning and Unlearning About Ourselves and Others
“I love you... you love me....” But what have we really learned about “family,” about ourselves, and about groups of people other than our own? Where and when did we learn these “facts,” and most importantly, is any of it true? Together we will explore messages presented in film, television, music, cultural icons, advertisements, fashions, public policy, and other forms of media about age, race, gender, sex, and family, unlocking our perceptions about society’s labels, while investigating the accuracy of these observations. Our study will include the issue of when, where, and how we learned and unlearned information about ourselves and others (and giant purple dinosaurs).

Crystal Colter & Harvey Stone

H-06

Life-to-Life: Discovering the Giant Within
Join us on a journalistic and historical journey around the world and into the lives of people, families, communities, and cultures, to discover an appreciation of the common essentials of the human experience and collective perspectives. From casual conversations to the evening news we receive, filter, digest, and communicate the events of our lives. By standing in solidarity with all of the giants of the past, and shoulder-to-shoulder with the giants of the present, we will define, qualify, broaden, and enrich our own communities and cultures. From newspapers and the Web to poetry, film and video to painting, oral histories and personal testimony to documentary, we will explore how we value our lives and what we alow to touch the human heart.

Barry Gabay & Kandise Humphrey

H-07

Post-Mortem: In the Tomb of Giants
For all of written history, humans have been fascinated about what happens once we have shed this mortal coil. The Egyptians went to great heights to build monuments to the mummified remains of their leaders. The Foree islanders were consumed with the idea of eating the bodies of their deceased. Modern Americans are fired up to send their loved ones’ remains into space. We bury, burn, autopsy, dissect, devour, investigate, market, donate, transplant, and even farm human remains. The spirits of the once-lived invade our dreams, conversations, prayers, and bodies and form our fears, saints, gods, demons, and hopes. This course will take a historical, cultural, and archeological perspective in examining how we entomb our remains, how different cultures believe in an after life and spiritual continuance, and in unearthing the many lives of the cadaver. Every body tells a story; what will be yours?

Craig Klugman & Ingrid Furniss

ID #	Course Title	Instructor(s)
H-01	Masters of Light: Secrets of Great Filmakers The view from the shoulders of great filmmakers is 111 years of bewildering achievement. We’ll study oustanding works of cinemea, while learning the crafts of camera acting, screenwriting, directing, editing, and cinematography. Students will use inspirations from screen giants to create their own original movies. Please note: the movies we’ll study are superb but challenging, and making movies is not for weenies. You have to love it enough to sweat the work.	Heather McMahon, Noora Niskanen & Rick Seyford
H-02	“Just Don’t Bring One Home”: Examing the Past, Present, and Future of Race Relations in America An African American woman and a European American man come together to teach a straight up course on race! We will address the real issues surrounding race relations in a culture that often pretends they do not exist. While most situations require you to “check your prejudices at the door,” we invite you to bring them all with you as we discover the historic, contemporary, and personal aspects of race relations. We will participate in activities, watch movies, read articles, hear guest speakers, and examine current events as we navigate the racial labyrinth that is America.	Lisa Bratton & Matt Forester
H-03	Foreign Policy: The Paradox of the American Giant In this course we will consider the paradoxical and evolving nature of U.S. Foreign Policy. Our goals will be to trace the development of American and global diplomatic history, develop foreign policy as diplomats, and as a culminating activity hold a global summit considering some of the pressing issues of our time. Our course will consider a variety of topics including national security, humanitarian aid, environmental concerns, trade policy, and the geopolitical balance of power. Throughout the course, we will participate in simulations, field trips, be visited by guest speakers, hold debates, watch films, and stimulate curiosity of the foreign policy process.	Ed Motley & Jeff MacGuinness
H-04	Digging on the Shoulders of Giants History is recorded in many ways. Small things so often forgotten, plain and ordinary, can give us clues to the past. This course will explore some aspects of the science of archaeology. It will include hands on digging, so come prepared to work hard and get dirty. Our guides will be historical archaeology giants James Deetz, Bill Kelso, and Ivor Noel Hume.	John Bland & Michele Riley
H-05	Beyond Barney: Learning and Unlearning About Ourselves and Others “I love you... you love me....” But what have we really learned about “family,” about ourselves, and about groups of people other than our own? Where and when did we learn these “facts,” and most importantly, is any of it true? Together we will explore messages presented in film, television, music, cultural icons, advertisements, fashions, public policy, and other forms of media about age, race, gender, sex, and family, unlocking our perceptions about society’s labels, while investigating the accuracy of these observations. Our study will include the issue of when, where, and how we learned and unlearned information about ourselves and others (and giant purple dinosaurs).	Crystal Colter & Harvey Stone
H-06	Life-to-Life: Discovering the Giant Within Join us on a journalistic and historical journey around the world and into the lives of people, families, communities, and cultures, to discover an appreciation of the common essentials of the human experience and collective perspectives. From casual conversations to the evening news we receive, filter, digest, and communicate the events of our lives. By standing in solidarity with all of the giants of the past, and shoulder-to-shoulder with the giants of the present, we will define, qualify, broaden, and enrich our own communities and cultures. From newspapers and the Web to poetry, film and video to painting, oral histories and personal testimony to documentary, we will explore how we value our lives and what we alow to touch the human heart.	Barry Gabay & Kandise Humphrey
H-07	Post-Mortem: In the Tomb of Giants For all of written history, humans have been fascinated about what happens once we have shed this mortal coil. The Egyptians went to great heights to build monuments to the mummified remains of their leaders. The Foree islanders were consumed with the idea of eating the bodies of their deceased. Modern Americans are fired up to send their loved ones’ remains into space. We bury, burn, autopsy, dissect, devour, investigate, market, donate, transplant, and even farm human remains. The spirits of the once-lived invade our dreams, conversations, prayers, and bodies and form our fears, saints, gods, demons, and hopes. This course will take a historical, cultural, and archeological perspective in examining how we entomb our remains, how different cultures believe in an after life and spiritual continuance, and in unearthing the many lives of the cadaver. Every body tells a story; what will be yours?	Craig Klugman & Ingrid Furniss