Westchester Community College, State University of New York

All classes will meet in person at the Knollwood Center Tuition is $100 for two classes with a one-time semester registration fee of $10.50
Select two classes, one at 9:30 a.m. and one at 11:00 a.m.

WEDNESDAYS January 15, 22, 29, February 5 (Makeup Day February 12)

9:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.

Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice

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

Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice was one of Nazi Germany’s favorites plays, produced over 50 times between 1933 and 1939. The Nazis saw the play as an endorsement of their virulent Antisemitism. We will examine how the theme, appearances can be deceptive, manifests itself in virtually every facet of one of Shakespeare’s great masterpieces. Prior to class, please read Shakespeare’s play, The Merchant of Venice.

Advertising and Marketing a Brand: The good, the bad, and the unsuccessful!

Leader: Minda Chipurnoi, MFA, retired graphic designer, managed the design, creation, and production of graphics for Fortune 500 companies, adjunct instructor at NYU School of Professional Studies
Advertising, marketing, and branding are all tools used to help promote a business. These elements are different but connected in purpose and tend to feed off one another. We will examine the differences between them and why not all business promotions end up being a hit. Some just miss the mark, others are poorly planned, and still others can be a victim of timing and other circumstances. In this class we will examine examples of major brands through this lens.

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), the USA’s largest world aJairs discussion program, promotes fact-based discussions and critical thinking. Using the FPA 2025 Briefing Book and associated DVD, each of the four sessions will begin with a 20-to-30-minute viewing of an FPA master class lecture on the selected topic, followed by a facilitator-led discussion. The topics for each session are: USA Foreign Policy at a Crossroads; Changing Leadership of the World Economy; USA-China Relations; and India – Between China, the West, and the Global South

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. Please allow time for the book to be shipped to you. Supplemental readings may be emailed to the class to enhance the discussion.

11:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.

Philosophical Roads to Unity

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

A similar course was offered on zoom in winter 2021. In 2020 President-elect Biden made what some called a controversial statement when he stated, “It’s time for America to unite and to heal.” After another divisive election it appears to many that the time for pursuing unity and healing is over. In this course we consider the possibility that it is not by drawing upon the classic and contemporary thinkers such as Socrates, St. Thomas Aquinas, John Stuart Mill, John Dewey, Hannah Arendt, Jean-Paul Sartre, Cass Sunstein, Bill Bishop, and Robert B. Talisse. The wisdom from these thinkers hopefully empowers us to see unity as more of a possible reality.

Great Opera Scenes in Great Movies

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

Each week we will view a movie clip containing a great scene from an opera. We will discuss why we think the movie director chose that scene to enhance the movie. We will then concentrate on the opera from which the scene came, learn about the story and listen to many of its favorite arias and ensembles. These will include: Sull’aria from Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro in The Shawshank Redemption, Opera Scenes from La Traviata in Pretty Woman, Opera Scenes from La Boheme in Moonstruck, La Mamma Morta from from Andrea Chenier in Philadelphia.

11:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Films of the Middle East

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

The Middle East is perhaps the most worrisome spot on earth. We all follow the news stories, but what’s behind the headlines? This series of four acclaimed films will tell the human stories of the people who live in the lands of the Middle East, a task peculiarly suited to cinema. From Lebanon comes The Insult (2018), a tale that exposes the ethnic roots of political dissension. Close-Up (1990), from the great Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami, uses the real-life case of a man who pretended to be a famous film director to create a fascinating study of the theater behind human behavior. From Turkey comes Three Monkeys (2008), in which an opening accident spirals into spiritual catastrophe. Finally, from Israel comes Gett (2014): Based on a true case of a woman seeking a divorce in a religious court, the film is granular, powerful, and ultimately moving.

All films will be shown with an intermission from 12:15 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. and will conclude about 1 p.m. Optional discussion to follow, concluding by 1:30 p.m.