Tue 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM; starting 6/18/2024, ending 6/18/2024

Community Site, BHHA Meeting House

**INCLUDES A TOUR!**

This was the rallying cry for the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794, the first test of the power of the federal government under the new U.S. Constitution, when the unpopular excise tax levied against frontier farmers incited them to violent protest. The morning session is a lecture providing an overview of this insurrection and to establish historical context. The afternoon session is a site visit to the Bradford House Museum, where participants will tour the beautifully restored and appointed National Historic Landmark home of Whiskey Rebellion leader David Bradford, and the Whiskey Rebellion Education & Visitor Center, where visitors will walk through an illustrated timeline of events and period displays. Knowledgeable docents, in period attire, will provide additional insight as well as answer questions. All sites are located on South Main Street, Washington PA.

Tue 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM; starting 6/18/2024, ending 6/18/2024

Cyert Hall, Olmsted Activity Room

Your voice is your first line of defense against being mugged. Muggers will often “interview” their victims beforehand by saying or doing something intimidating. Knowing what to say is not as important as knowing how to say it. If you are soft spoken and polite, the mugger is more likely to believe that you would make an easy target. We all have within us an inner fierceness that can knock a mugger off his stride. The purpose of this course is to provide a safe place for practicing how to say “No!” in a way that maximizes our chances for driving away the mugger. 

Wed 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM; starting 6/26/2024, ending 6/26/2024

Cyert Hall, Osher Room b

The Three Umpires depicts a moment in a game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Brooklyn Dodgers in which the umpires are looking at the sky, trying to make the tough decision of whether or not to call the game because of rain. The class will go into detail about the creation of the work (including Norman Rockwell’s taking of reference photos at Ebbets Field), anomalies, controversies, and interesting facts about the painting (such as why only three umpires are depicted, the models for the three Pirates players shown in the painting, and why the Dodgers manager is smiling and the Pirates manager is frowning even though the Pirates will automatically win if the game is called because of rain). An overview of Rockwell’s other baseball paintings will also be provided. Note: this is not a class about art history or style. It is Norman Rockwell from a baseball perspective.

Tue 2:45 PM - 4:15 PM; 5 sessions; starting 7/2/2024, ending 7/30/2024

Cyert Hall, Osher Room A

Life is not a straight, obstacle-free road. We all have personal issues that we’d like to change including negative emotions such as stress, anxiety/fear, worrying, intrusive thoughts, and depressed moods, as well as problems dealing with health-issues, interpersonal relations, and troublesome personal habits. The hallmark of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is that it teaches people skills that they can implement on their own to deal with such issues. In this course, you will learn CBT skills to help you address current and future challenges. The course is not group therapy, and you will not need to disclose anything personal. Classes will be interactive, involving engaged/active learning through demonstrations and exercises, discussions, illustrative case studies, Q&A, and suggested activities to practice outside of class. And, because the instructor believes that spontaneous humor enhances learning, you will enjoy the class as well as benefit from it.

Tue 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM; 6 sessions; starting 7/2/2024, ending 8/6/2024

Cyert Hall, Osher Room A

This course explores the tumultuous marriage and literary partnership of two incredibly influential Romantic authors, Mary and Percy Bysshe Shelley. These writers pioneered several genres –Gothic horror and science fiction in Mary’s Frankenstein (1818), and political poems and visionary lyrics in Percy’s Ozymandias, Ode to the West Wind, Prometheus Unbound and The Mask of Anarchy. (1816-1820). We will ask why Frankenstein has become a feminist classic, and how the novel opened up the darker side of the Shelley’s marriage. We will also consider a fascinating modern update of Mary’s masterpiece, Poor Things (2023), with Emma Stone as a heroine based on Shelley’s Creature. This wildly imaginative film is based on both Mary’s astonishingly original first novel and Percy’s revolutionary ideas and poems.

Tue 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM; 4 sessions; starting 7/2/2024, ending 7/23/2024

Online, Zoom

We are living through a time of fracture and division, even in our families. Topics of vital importance are avoided because of the potential for hard feelings and hurt. In this class, students will learn how to set up a demilitarized zone, a space where people can share their lived experiences with the people closest to them, without judgment or argument. Students will learn how to tell their own story, coach others to create personal narratives, and create rules of engagement to facilitate communication with willing family and friends.

Wed 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM; 3 sessions; starting 7/3/2024, ending 7/17/2024

Cyert Hall, Osher Room A

India is an ancient land with a diverse and rich civilization. Understanding India requires a study of history, conquests and colonization, freedom movement, diversity, and economic complexity. Indian civilization has survived in spite of major disruptions during Muslim invasions and British occupation. India is often viewed as an over-populated, chaotic region inhabited by many races, religions, and cultures with a history of disunity, internal warfare, and continuous invasion by external forces. The nation is made up of many races: Aryans, Dravidians, Huns, Mongols, and Turks; many ethnic groups: Punjabis, Tamils, Marathas, Bengalis, Andhras; and many religious groups: Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, and Buddhists. Indian mythology, like the Ramayana and Mahabharata, and Indian philosophy set the tone of people’s outlook and are the common thread that holds them together. Freedom, democracy, and innovation define the Indian spirit, and we see the nation making progress in spite of its major problems and economic poverty.