Westchester Community College, State University of New York

All classes will meet in person at the Knollwood Center except Friday afternoon Films of the Far East which will meet in the Library Media Theater.
Select three classes, one for each time slot  9:30 a.m., 11:00 a.m., and 1:00 p.m.
Tuition is $225 for the day (for three classes) with a one-time semester registration fee of $10.50.

WEDNESDAYS

April 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, May 7
(makeup date May 14)

9:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.

Nothin’ But the Blues

Leader: Michael Shamosh, amateur blues musician and historian of American popular music

This class was previously offered Friday in fall 2024. “The Devil’s music” or one of America’s great art forms? Decide for yourself as we examine the blues from its Southern beginnings and follow it through the decades to see how the music adapted to changing times. Using audio and film, we’ll experience the great early practitioners including Robert Johnson, Son House, Leroy Carr, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Ma Rainey, and others. Digging deeper into the depths of America’s musical soul, we’ll move on to the blues shouters, guitar heroes, harmonica players, and modern urban electric blues men and women. The joint will be jumpin’ and you won’t be required to sell your soul to be a part of it all.

Museums and Libraries

Leader: Michael Molinelli is an architect who has designed churches (even the one in which he was married), schools, health care facilities, and distinctive residences throughout the country including Westchester County, where he lives with his wife and three children. He not only lectures on various topics of architecture but is a teacher, cartoonist, author, inventor, and volunteer firefighter.

What comes to mind when you think of a museum or a library? Quiet, peace, objects of beauty or interest, a place to learn. In this class as we look at famous museums and libraries, we will see they are built in a variety of shapes and styles. Despite their differences, we will see common features and better understand how the architect’s design contributes to how we experience the function of the building. Each week we will watch brief, informative Architecture Codex videos showcasing various museums and libraries. Among these are the Louvre in Paris, Guggenheim Bilboa, the Geisel Library in San Diego, and the Seattle Central Library. The videos will provide a springboard for spirited discussions.

10:45 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Coffee, Cookies, and Conversation

11:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.

Genesis from Another Perspective

Leader: Michael Malina, LLB, retired attorney, author of a commentary on the book of Genesis, student of theological texts

This class was last offered in fall 2017. Is the Garden of Eden story about original sin or a paradigm for the necessity of obedience? How did the early rabbinic sages approach aspects of the text, which did not fit their beliefs? Revisit the book of Genesis and revitalize its familiar stories by discovering interpretations offered by Jewish, Christian, and Islamic scholars. Discuss the ramifications of these diverse views for modern life. Students are asked to read chapters 1 and 2 of Creation in preparation for class discussion. Please bring a copy of the Bible to class (any translation is acceptable). Please Note: No class will be held on April 16th. There will be a makeup class May 14th.

Love and Death: Unraveling their Enigmatic Partnerships

Leader: Dwight Goodyear, PhD, SUNY Westchester Community College professor of philosophy, SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, WCC Foundation Award for Scholarship

Sigmund Freud tried to explain the dynamics of individuals, societies, and even the universe by referring to two competing drives: Eros (love) and Thanatos (death). We will explore his startling premise and the ways these drives are intimately connected in surprising, mysterious, troubling, and liberating ways. With the help of poets, philosophers, and psychologists, we will see how this connection reveals profound insights about memory, time, creativity, growth, order, beauty, society, and self-identity.

12:15 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.Lunch:
Bring your own or purchase at the Student Center

1:00 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.

J. Edgar Hoover and the Agency He Created

Leaders: Charles Farrell, Collegium board member, former high school administrator, social studies teacher, contractor/builder, lifelong history buff; and Jim Burnett, JD, LL.M, Collegium board member, retired FBI agent, and criminal justice professor

Sequel to fall 24 class: J. Edgar Hoover: The Man Who Stayed Too Long. From World
War II to the present day, the FBI has been tasked with expanding new responsibilities beyond its original concept of information gathering and professional support for local law enforcement. New responsibilities of criminal investigations, intelligence gathering, direct law enforcement, counterintelligence, and espionage-prevention work reflected a changing world. Until his death in 1972, J. Edgar Hoover was the final word in how the agency would respond to these challenges. We will examine how his values and beliefs contributed to the agency’s success and legacy. Finally, using examples of specific cases, we will examine how the FBI responds to the challenges of today. For a fuller understanding of J. Edgar Hoover, the book G-MAN J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century by Beverly Gage is highly recommended. Prerequisite not needed.

This Is Your Brain

Leader: Milton Steinberg, PhD, neuropsychology professor emeritus, interests include brain function, philosophy of mind, biological evolution, and cosmology

This course was previously offered Friday in fall 2024. Are our visual experiences illusory? Can we devise a computer that has subjective experiences? What accounts for human consciousness? Neuroscience has answers to some of these questions and hints of answers toward others. We’ll start with an overview of the brain and nervous system; explore the methods we use to determine brain function and discuss how neurons communicate so that we can better understand how drugs work. To help us understand whether it is possible to create sentient machines, we’ll discuss the mechanisms by which the brain learns and stores memory while investigating whether our memories faithfully record real events. A description of the visual system will help us understand how well our senses reflect reality. The class will conclude by asking how the brain machine can create subjective experiences—consciousness.

FRIDAYS

April 4, 11, 18, 25, May 2, 9
(makeup date May 16)

9:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.

Great Decisions Discussion Group

Leader: Bob Fischer, Collegium board member, civil engineer, retired electric utility manager, board member of the Westchester Jewish Council, discussion facilitator

The Great Decisions program of the Foreign Policy Association (FPA) promotes fact-based discussions and critical thinking. Using the FPA 2025 Briefing Book and associated video, each of the first four sessions will begin with viewing of an FPA master class video lecture on the selected topic, followed by a facilitator-led discussion. Here are the topics for each session:

1. International Cooperation on Climate Change
2. The Future of NATO and European Security 
3. AI and USA National Security
4. USA Foreign Policy in the Middle East

Sessions 5 and 6 topics will be chosen by our group.

You may purchase the 2025 Great Decisions Briefing Book (highly recommended) and companion DVD (if you like) by ordering online at www.fpa.org or calling 1 800-477-5836. Supplemental readings may be emailed to the class to enhance the discussion.

Hamlet

Leader: Andrew Bausili, retired English teacher with 21 years of experience at the Bronx High School of Science

While Hamlet is often thought of as one of Shakespeare’s masterpieces, it is a bewildering play that fails to observe any of the conventions of tragedy. The great 20th Century poet and critic, T S Eliot, went so far as to call the play an artistic failure. In this course, we will examine the play in depth. In the process, we’ll evaluate whether this play is in fact a masterpiece or just a collection of dazzling verbal fireworks with little or no substance. Students are encouraged to read the play and/or watch at least one of the film versions before the beginning of the spring semester.

10:45 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Coffee, Cookies, and Conversation

11:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.

A la Carte

Leaders: Sue Brownie, Collegium member, retired medical physicist, and native plant enthusiast; and Jim Burnett, JD, LLM, Collegium board member, retired FBI agent, and criminal justice professor

The following list of speakers is sure to enrich:

• We open our semester on April 4th with Jane Roos, professor emerita, author and lecturer on art history. Those who enjoyed her previous talk on how to look at a painting will surely enjoy this one on how to look at a sculpture.
• April 11th, Blair Hoplight, assistant professor of psychology at Dominican College, will reveal some of the newest Frontiers of Psychedelic Therapy.
• April 18th, Michael Shamosh, amateur blues musician and historian of American popular music, will discuss Three Kings and an Earl, the early masters of the
  electric guitar.
• April 25th, David Greene, retired teacher, teacher trainer, consultant, and lecturer will use Barbara Tuchman’s insights from The March of Folly (1984) to explain the pursuits of policies that are contrary to self-interest.
• May 2nd, Joseph Forte, emeritus professor of art history will discuss Marking Her Mark: An Art “Herstory” of women artists in Europe 1400-1700 who went from the convent to the family studio to rise to become independent female artists.
• May 9th, Scott Craven, lecturer at the Ossining Teacher’s Center focusing on the Hudson River Valley and co-author of the book, Croton Point Park: Westchester’s Jewel on the Hudson will tell us all about an obvious delight in our own backyard, the Hudson River Lighthouse. 

Great Singers, Great Songs

Leader: Susan Grunthal, a lifelong operagoer in the great houses from Covent Garden in her native England to the Met in New York City, instructor and lecturer in all things opera

What makes a great opera singer? What makes a treasured aria? In this course, each class will be devoted to one opera singer’s life illustrated by their most beloved arias. The singers will include: Anna Netrebko, Jonas Kaufman, Joyce Didonato, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Kiri Te Kanawa, Juan Diego Florez. Vieni e divertiti! 🎶🎶🎶🎶 

12:15 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Lunch: Bring your own or purchase at the Student Center

1:00 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.

Immigrants: We Would Get the Job Done… If You Let Us

Leader: David Greene, spent over 60 years as a student, teacher, teacher trainer, consultant, and lecturer

From the colonial period through today, there have been radical swings in immigration policy. How did we get to this point? For various reasons, we have always had a love/hate relationship with immigration…mostly HATE. To contextualize the current political debate over immigration we must go back and understand the history of U.S. immigration policy and the decisions that still guide the U.S. immigration system today. We will conclude the class by simulating a congressional debate over the 2021 immigration bills.

1:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. 

Films of the Far East

Leader: Joseph Sgammato, Collegium board member, senior adjunct faculty, SUNY Westchester Community College, departments of English and Film

The Far East was long considered a region of mystery and sinister fascination. In more recent times, these sentiments, which were essentially a hangover of Colonialism, have been modified by war and economics. Helping to transform our way of thinking about these countries has been Eastern cinema. Starting with Japanese movies, the works of Asian filmmakers began invading our shores after the war, when American audiences craved more mature content from what Hollywood—still constrained by the infamous “Code” of permissible subjects—could supply. It was a most welcome invasion! For the first time, Americans in large numbers could experience the lives of the people of the East. We could see faces behind the headlines and the bombs. We found these lives to be surprisingly like our own. Hearts break in any language; love mends them the same way in Seoul as in Chicago. Blood is red everywhere. This course will view and discuss six examples from among a plethora of visionary Asian directors: Kurosawa, Ozu, Mizoguchi, Hsiao-hsien, Bong, Park, and others. Enjoy a set of moving international experiences at Collegium this Spring! Participants can expect class to conclude by 3:30 p.m.

Save the Date 

Collegium Special Event 

 Wednesday, May 21, 2025 

10:00 a.m. 

Davis Auditorium 

Gateway Center 

Details to Follow