Spring 2025 Semester Week 4

For Full Course Descriptions Click Here
For Course Calendar Click Here 


Here's a brief summary of the courses this week:

TUESDAY, MAY 6
10:30-11:45am Makers of History XXV, with Manny Weidhorn
1:00-2:15pm Poetry for Pleasure in the Spring, with Barry Wallenstein
2:45-4:00pm Film Discussion #4 of the “Greatest Films Ever Made” – Citizen Kane, with Beth Pessen

WEDNESDAY, MAY 7
10:30-11:45am Writing Creatively, with Bonnie Max 
1:00-2:15pm What Honest People Can Learn from Grifters and Con Artists, with Tom Rich
2:45-4:00pm The Art of the Vintage Jewish Postcard, with Hy Mariampolski  

THURSDAY, MAY 8
10:30-11:45am Law in the Headlines: Exploring Current Legal Controversies, with Leora Harpaz
1:00-2:15pm Politics 2025, with Larry Geneen
2:45-4:00pm J.D. Salinger: Two of His Nine Stories, with Karen Valen  

Here are the full course descriptions of this week’s classes:

WEDNESDAY, MAY 7
What Honest People Can Learn from Grifters and Con Artists, with Tom Rich
1:00-2:45pm
There are many psychics out there. Some are phonies, often just after client money. But some have a range of practical skills, actually seeing into their clients’ lives and desires. Tom will dive into the research on this intriguing topic. He has been a qualitative researcher for nearly three decades.

The Art of the Vintage Jewish Postcard, Hy Mariampolski
2:45-4:00pm
Picture postcards illustrated by Jewish topics and themes are quite thorough in representing all of the features and details of the Jewish experience from the late 19th century through the 20th century. They add depth and context to our understanding of the rise of Zionism, the settlement of Israel, the growth of the Jewish community in 19th and early 20th century Palestine until its evolution as the State of Israel in 1948. Picture postcards illustrate customs with precise ethnographic detail, showing the status of worldwide Jewish communities, and how they changed as a result of immigration, growing antisemitism and the Nazi campaign of genocide. They often served as instruments, not only as documentary evidence, of insults and hatred. These postcards can be aspirational and idealistic, featuring the most innovative forms of artistic expression in their eras. Simultaneously, they can be mundane and prosaic, unselfconsciously showing the pain and ambivalence of Jewish life, promoting synagogues, markets, schools, bungalow colonies, Kosher delicatessens, Yiddish theaters and summer camps. Postcards were the medium through which Jews spoke. Hy will show a number of postcards, telling their stories. Author, Qualitative Research, now a retired researcher, Hy is a dealer of vintage postcards.

THURSDAY, MAY 8
J.D. Salinger: Two of His Nine Stories, with Karen Valen 
2:45-4:00pm
The stories in this collection introduced J.D. Salinger to American readers in 1953.  These stories from one of the great literary voices of the twentieth century have been called “witty, urbane, and frequently affecting.”  In this class we will discuss two of the stories: “Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut” and “Down at the Dinghy.” The pdfs for each story are below.  Karen is a former high school English teacher who was not permitted to teach Salinger’s works to the impressionable teenagers in her classes back in the 1960s. BA, MA English, Carnegie Mellon University.
“Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut”: pp. 10-17
https://pdfcorner.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Nine-Stories-Pdf.pdf
 
“Down at the Dinghy”: pp. 32-37
https://pdfcorner.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Nine-Stories-Pdf.pdf
 
CONTINUING CLASSES

TUESDAY, MAY 6
Makers of History XXV, with Manny Weidhorn
10:30-11:45am
Manny will discuss Winston Churchill, from highly controversial character to savior of Western civilization and then back to controversial as an alleged reactionary on race. He will also compare and contrast Churchill and Hitler. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a giant, whose stature keeps on rising as democracy in the U.S. seems to be waning.  Manny will discuss FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt, who ranks among the greatest First Ladies, on May 13. In his classes, Manny looks at the broader context of what these famous figures meant in their time and ours, recounting their history and impact with analysis and humor. Professor Emeritus of English, Yeshiva Univ, he has published a dozen books and 100+ essays on historical figures, cultural history, and the relationship between religion and science. 

Poetry for Pleasure in the Spring, with Barry Wallenstein
1:00-2:15pm
These lectures with discussion will involve close readings of poems – classic, modern, and contemporary. Our aim is to listen to the sound poems make. What makes a successful language performance? We will discuss these works’ emotional truth, unity of expression, and attention-holding, pleasure-providing use of language. Barry is the author of 12 collections of poetry, most recently It’s About Time, as well as Time on the Move and Tony’s Blues (bilingual French and English). 

Click here for the poetry book for the semester 

The poems for this week: 

• To Winter by Claude McKay, p. 41

• The Penitent by Edna St. Vincent Millay, p. 68

• Waiting for the Light & For Once, Then, Something by Alicia Ostriker (guest poet), pp. 76-77

• Enigmatic Cat & Late March by Richard Schiffman (guest poet), p. 83

• Psalm by Paul Celan, p. 66

• Notes From the Delivery Room by Linda Pastan, p. 63

• Advertisement For The Waldorf Astoria & The Blues by Langston Hughes, pp. 28-29

Film Discussions of the “Greatest Films Ever Made,” with Beth Pessen
2:45-4:00pm
Every ten years, the British Film Institute magazine Sight and Sound conducts its celebrated worldwide poll, asking more than 1,600 film people (critics, academics, writers, etc.) their choices for the “greatest films ever made.” The NY Times reported on the results of the latest poll (2022) recently and showed the top 100 winners. Each session in this course will be led by a different teacher. 
Citizen Kane (S&S #3). Newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane is taken from his mother as a boy and made the ward of a rich industrialist. As a result, every well-meaning, tyrannical or self-destructive move he makes for the rest of his life appears in some way to be a reaction to that deeply wounding event. Director Orson Welles, starring Orson Welles, Joseph Cotton, 1941. May 6 session led by Beth Pessen.  We ask that attendees watch each week’s movie in advance – even if you saw it previously. You’ll find the experience very worthwhile, and you’ll be able to participate more fully in the discussion.
 
WEDNESDAY, MAY 7
Writing Creatively, with Bonnie Max (3 sessions)
10:30-11:45am
This course provides us with an opportunity to explore our thoughts and feelings. Bonnie gives us some open-ended prompts that offer room for interpretation. They may be questions, incomplete sentences, quotations, lists or images. We jot down whatever comes to mind for us. Then we share our work by reading aloud and listening to each other. There is no judgment or criticism. Everyone is welcome. No previous writing experience is needed. Currently Bonnie is teaching at the Asian University for Women (AUW). 
 
THURSDAY, MAY 8
Law in the Headlines: Exploring Current Legal Controversies, with Leora Harpaz 
10:30-11:45am
Continuing with her discussion of the cases raising issues under the First Amendment Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses, Leora will discuss what is likely to be the most important current case. It involves the effort of a Catholic school to become the first religious charter school in the US If the school’s effort is successful, it will significantly weaken the separation of church and state that the Establishment Clause was intended to create. She will also review two cases before the Supreme Court that raise the issue of what standards the plaintiffs must satisfy to prevail in cases asserting claims under two different federal statutes outlawing discrimination, one in employment and the other in the education of children with disabilities. She welcomes your suggestions for other subjects you’d like to hear about. Please email Judy (judy@langerqual.com) if you would like to make suggestions for topics you would like covered in upcoming classes.  

Politics 2025, with Larry Geneen 
1:00-2:15pm
Larry will discuss some of the latest moves to change the presidency and the US. Firing national security adviser Mike Waltz is the first major shakeup of his administration; he has been replaced with the already-busy Marco Rubio, Secretary of State. Are more changes going to follow? Larry will examine accusations of conflicts of interest, that Trump’s policies are designed to benefit him, his family, and Cabinet members financially. On the Democratic side, Kamala Harris gave her first public speech criticizing the administration, and Senator Dick Durbin has announced he will not run again. On the local level, Larry looks at New York State’s Gov. Kathy Hochul, at NYC’s embattled Mayor Eric Adams’s decision to run as an independent rather than as a Democrat, and several new candidates who have emerged. As always, Larry encourages interactive discussions and welcomes your suggestions of topics to cover; write to judy@langerqual.com.  
    

So much to think about, get involved with and enjoy! We look forward to seeing you at our great sessions.