Presidents' College Spring Courses

January 13, 2023

Submitted By: Max Strubel

Ready, set, register! Presidents’ College Spring 2023 enrollment is open!

Learn about the mysteries of space exploration, artificial intelligence, and effects of music on our brains. Discuss the latest on political violence in the U.S. and Ukraine, and why climate change is making water our most threatened resource. Celebrate the golden age of baseball, and explore Los Angeles in Film. Variety reviewer Frank Rizzo will also unpack the historical censorship controversy behind award-winning, Jewish-themed play Indecent, which is currently stirring up controversy in the Florida courts; hear the lecture, and experience the performance at Playhouse on Park. And much more…

Alumni, Greater Hartford residents, and the campus community are all invited to lectures and mini-courses like these, held by the Presidents’ College, the lifelong learning arm of the University of Hartford. The program offers non-credit courses for adults curious to learn more, taught by University faculty and distinguished guest lecturers, with course fees charged on a per-event basis.

Special programs this spring include a read-in for Black History Month – organized by Harrison Libraries and the Office for Diversity, Equity, and Community Engagement – and a Latin American Music course featuring three master musicians with UHart ties who will teach us the history of their traditions, all while bringing their melodies and rhythms to life. Our Brief History of Beer course winds up the season, complete with a tasting to usher in summer.

The full list of courses and lectures are listed below with links to register, and our printable PC Spring Courses 2023 offers course descriptions and the full schedule overview.

ARTS

Los Angeles in Film, Michael Walsh, Mon., Jan. 30, Feb. 6, 13, 20, 3 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Register

‘Indecent’ Talk about Paula Vogel’s Indecent (2015), Frank Rizzo, Tue., Feb. 7, 12:30 p.m. – 2 p.m. Register

‘Indecent’ Lecture and Matinee, Frank Rizzo, Sun., Feb. 12, 2 p.m. Register

American Pop Artists, Richard Voigt, Thurs., March 9, 16, 23, 30, 2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Register

Creativity and Collaboration, Michael Torke, Pascal Rioult, Stephen Pier, Wed., April 5, 5 p.m. – 6:20 p.m., Sat., April 15, 2 p.m. Register

Latin American Music, José Ramos Santana, Gonzalo Cortes, Lorena Garay, Wed., April 12, 19, 26, 3 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Register

Melody Lingers On: A Short History of Tunes, From Beethoven to the Beatles, Steve Metcalf, Tues., May 2, 3:30 p.m. – 5 p.m. Register

CURRENT EVENTS

CT Legislative Preview: John Dankosky in conversation with CT Mirror Journalist Mark Pazniokas, Tues., Jan. 24, 7 p.m. – 8:15 p.m. Register

Ukraine: Human Rights, Authoritarianism, and “Trying to Avoid World War Three”, Chris Doyle, Tues., Feb. 21, April 18, and May 9, 5:30 p.m. – 7 p.m. Register

Has the Fever Broken?: American Political Violence in 2023, Robert Churchill, Tues., April 11, 12:45 p.m. – 2 p.m. Register

INTERDISCIPLINARY CONCOCTIONS

Music for the Mind: What Happens to Our Brains on Music?, Dee Hansen and Andrew Koob, Wed., March 1, 8, 22, 3 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Register

An Inquiry Into Being and Time: Via Mayan Timekeeping, Genevieve Deleon, Wed., March 1, noon – 2 p.m. Register

The Psychology of Speed Puzzling, Elizabeth (E.B.) Caron, Tuesday, April 4, 3:30 p.m. – 5 p.m. Register

Morality 101: "They" Believe What?, Elizabeth Vozzola, Fri., April 21, 2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Register

HISTORY

Night Boat to New York: Steamboats on the Connecticut River, 1815-1931, Erik Hesselberg, Fri., Jan. 27, 2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Register

A “Read-In” for Black History Month, Markeysha Davis, Thur., Feb. 16, 4 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Register

Civil War Veterans and Civil War Memory, Paul A. Cimbala, Tues., March 14, 21, 28, 2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Register

A Brief History of Beer, Erik Ofgang and Stephen Gencarella, Thur., May 4, 11, 4–5:30 p.m., Thur., May 18, 4 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Register

LITERATURE AND WRITING

American Expatriates: Hemingway, Baldwin, Plath, Nels Highberg, Thur., Jan. 19, 26, Feb. 2, 2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Register

Worlds on Worlds: Excursions into Elizabethan Poetry and Beyond, Humphrey Tonkin, Mon., April 3, 10, 17, 2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Register

SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

Exploring Space: The Webb Telescope, Space Tourism, and New Missions to the Moon, Paul Slobach, Tue., Jan. 17, 24, 31, 1:30 p.m. – 3 p.m. Register

Artificial Intelligence in the Cybersecurity Field, Yudi Dong, Mon., March 20, 2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Register

Healthy Waters: Our Planet’s Most Threatened Resource, Mike Magee, Fri., May 19, 2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Register

SPORTS

How Black and Latino Players Inspired Baseball’s Golden Age: 1947-1974, Walter Harrison, Wed., Feb. 1, 8, 15, 7 p.m. – 8:15 p.m. Register

Faculty and staff are eligible to take one Presidents' College lecture for free every semester, or to receive a one-session discount ($20) for a longer course. Contact Louise Melanson at melanson@hartford.edu or 860 768 4495.