COURSE DESCRIPTIONS  – FALL 2010

1. Jim McDonnell – The Literature of Northern Ireland, 1966-1998 jmcdonne@carleton.edu

The biggest event in the . . . → Read More: Course Descriptions, Fall 2010]]> Here is our new curriculum director, Jim McDonnell, at the annual membership meeting on May 2, introducing his own course as well as the rest of the 13 faculty members.

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS  – FALL 2010

1. Jim McDonnell – The Literature of Northern Ireland, 1966-1998 jmcdonne@carleton.edu

The biggest event in the Irish Republic in 1966 was the celebration of the 50^th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising, while in Northern Ireland discontent was rising among the Catholic population, whose peaceful civil rights protests led to 30 years of terrible civil war between those who wanted it to remain British and those who believed it could be liberated from “British occupation” by means of military action. “The Troubles” were essentially resolved by the “Good Friday Agreement” of 1998 whereby the IRA agreed to abandon the use of violence to achieve its objective of a united Ireland.

In literature the main event of 1966 was the publication of Seamus Heaney’s first volume of poetry (Death of a Naturalist). Heaney’s instant fame was the first sign that in the midst of tribal and sectarian violence an extraordinary burst of creativity was occurring in Northern Ireland in poetry, fiction and drama. We will read a selection of that literature: poetry by Heaney and Derek Mahon; fiction including Seamus Deane’s Reading in the Dark; and – Translations, the finest play of Brian Friel, Ireland’s most celebrated living playwright.

Jim McDonnell retired from Carleton College in 2007 after teaching there for 38 years in the English Department. He started as a specialist in Victorian literature, but in the past twenty years his interests have changed to Irish Literature and Shakespeare. He was born of Irish parents in London, but his earliest memories are of being a child in the West of Ireland, where he lived from ages 2 to 10. He has returned many times to Ireland including four times as director of the Carleton Ireland program, and three times as leader of adult groups.

2. Marie Gery – In Translation — works of Isabel Allende voglgery1@msn.com

The class will read and share Allende’s  PAULA, which is written as a letter to Isabel’s dying daughter.  Since Paula is comatose, the purpose of this letter is to give her back her memory.  So PAULA becomes a memoir as stories from Allende’s life take over.  While PAULA is not Allende’s first book, it opens up THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS, which was also written as a letter, this time to her dying grandfather, assuring him that she would remember all of the stories he told.  By the time this letter reached 500 pages, Isabel’s mother pronounced it a book.

We will also view and discuss the 1993 movie of THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS, directed by Bille August,  starring Jeremy Irons, Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, Winona Ryder, Vanessa Redgrave, and Antonio Banderas. Marie promises that the class will get a taste of magical realism.

Still erect and breathing, Marie Gery continues to read voraciously and write on a regular basis.  Allende is a favorite when it comes to a “read.”

3. & 4. Hartley Clark – Insecurity and Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan clark@carleton.edu

 While American troops leave Iraq, and that country struggles to regain its footing, acts and threats of violence against the U.S. and its allies persist from Iran and Afghanistan, and other countries of opportunity, like Pakistan and Yemen, from which some attacks are launched. The cultural traditions of the region favor leaving the countries alone, and President Obama has announced his intent to begin removing American troops from Afghanistan. But, the countries will continue to harbor a new nuclear weapons program and sanctuaries for the leadership and training of terrorists to haunt the capitals of the West and “infidel” Muslim governments in the Middle and Far East. Understanding of the problem will be pursued by the class through study of (1) recent terrorist attacks and the level of nuclear threat; (2) regional social and political traditions and (3) the forms of influence that can be exerted upon problem countries, such as diplomacy, activities of international organizations, peace forces, economic aid, boycotts and embargos, intelligence gathering, training and advising of local forces, use of pilotless aircraft, and limited intervention with ground, sea, and air forces. Reading recommendations will be mailed to persons who register for the class.

Hartley Clark, Ph.D., Prof. Emeritus of International Relations, Carleton College. Prof. Clark has taught nine courses at CVEC, including “Oil and Middle Eastern International Relations,” “The Arab-Israeli Conflict,” and “The War In Iraq.”

5.  Walt Stromseth – The Vice Squad: Vanity, Anger, Envy, Greed, Lust, Gluttony, Sloth stroms@stolaf.edu

We will examine the negative role and current relevance of these "vices" in our personal and collective life as Americans. We will focus on the extent to which our engagement in American society invites these "vices" as well as the difficulty of developing their opposing "virtues" in our present culture. As traits of character that find expression in personal attitudes and social interactions, these persistent vices were called "the seven deadly sins" in the early Christian era. In our more secular age they remain pervasive "evils" that disrupt the well-being of persons and peoples.

Walt Stromseth, Ph.D. A retired professor, he taught in both the Departments of Philosophy and Religion at St. Olaf College. He developed a late interest in ethical approaches, both Western and non-Western, that emphasize the virtues or personal character in the conduct of moral life.

6. Gary Wagenbach – The Cannon River: A Watershed Perspective, Past, Present, and Future   gwagenba@kmwb.net

How can we leave the Cannon River system and its watershed in good shape for our grandchildren and their grandchildren?  We need to experience, learn, and understand more deeply in order to love and care for the land and its rivers.  This course explores the rivers in our area, the roles they have played in deeper and contemporary history, selected water quality issues, and a vision for the future.  Scientific and historical perspectives will provide guidance.  Three field trips are anticipated.

This course will be interrupted because of the instructor’s travels;   thus the class will not meet on Oct. 12 & 19, but will continue until Nov. 16 to make up for those two dates.

Gary Wagenbach, the Winifred and Atherton Bean Professor of Biology, Science, Technology, and Society Emeritus, taught biology and environmental studies at Carleton for 39 years.  Gary is a leader in off-campus studies directing ecology-oriented programs in Bermuda, California, New Zealand, Australia, and Tanzania.  His on-campus courses included biology of invertebrates, parasitism and symbiosis, and courses in the Environment and Technology Studies program.  He directed Carleton’s concentration in Environment and Technology Studies for four years until retiring in 2008.  His research interests include water quality issues and threatened species of freshwater mussels.  His most recent project involves teacher training and K-12 curriculum development for a bilingual (English & Burmese) school, Lumbini Academy, located in Yangon, Myanmar.

7. Brynhild Rowberg – Northfield, History and More   bcrowberg@usfamily.net

This course is designed for lovers of Northfield who want to learn about the city’s history, see its historic houses and hear about their past inhabitants. There will be tales of the earliest settlers, personal recollections of Northfield’s Civil War veterans, as well as some of the numerous “characters” who enlivened the city’s past.  Did you know that Carleton College once had a professor who was a king, who strode about town in a flowing cape?  That a St. Olaf professor and music critic, recalled from his student days in Leipzig going to hear Brahms conduct the city orchestra?  There will be stories of some of the families important to Northfield history:  the Norths, the Ames’, the Nuttings, the Skinners, the Delancey’s.  Did you know that Delancey Street in New York’s Greenwich Village and Delancey Court in Northfield are named for the same family?  Answers and much more will be found in this course.  It will include bus tours of the city and the college campuses.

Brynhild Rowberg was born in Northfield in 1917.  She graduated from St. Olaf College, started working for the Department of State in 1941, entered the Foreign Service in 1945, worked in various cities in Italy until September, 1945 when she began work in Vienna in the Office of the Political Adviser to the Commanding General, US Forces in Austria.   She served in embassies in Prague, Athens, Saigon (commissioned as Vice Consul and Secretary in the Diplomatic Service in 1956), in the Department of State in  the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Consul in Bremen, political officer in the Office of Korean Affairs, military assistance officer in Taipei.  She retired in 1973 due to severe hearing loss, and has been resident in Northfield since 1977.

8.  Bob Scholz – Discovering Choral Masterworks II    scholzrc@charter.net

A journey through the world of choral music from the Renaissance to the present with motets and larger works for choir and orchestra.  Discussions and listening will include Bach motets, Handel’s Israel in Egypt, Mozart’s Vespers, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and pieces from the 20^th and 21^st centuries not covered in previous courses.  In addition to cultural and historical context and analysis of the music in layman’s terms, the viewpoint of the performer will be presented.  (Scholz has conducted most of the chosen works in concert.)

Robert Scholz (“Dr. Bob”) is a long-time resident of Northfield who just retired from the choral music faculty of St. Olaf College, where he directed the Chapel Choir and the Viking Chorus. He has also composed and arranged classical liturgical music and is a nationally known choir clinician. In 1995 he received the F. Melius Christiansen Award from the American Choral Directors Association for outstanding contributions to choral music.

VOC: Wednesday, 9:30-11:30

9.  Bruce Roberts – The Power of Stories to Change Our Lives – Or Not:  What We Read, Hear, and Tell Influences our Beliefs, Expectations and Well-Being.

bruroberts@gmail.com

Stories of our lives that influence our well-being tend to start bundling together in our mind during our teen years based on what we read, hear, see, think and believe. For the rest of our life, in a mostly non-conscious manner, we add to, subtract from, confirm, and deny those storied collections of our beliefs and expectations for how the world works and our predicted roles in it.  This class will include a sharing of recalled positive life-narratives and assumption about their influence on our contemporary life – and vice versa. We will explore the type, source and storytelling context of stories that validate our life. We will examine some psychological and neuroscience research on the impact of stories/narratives on our brain.  We will explore together (1) the huge benefits from responsive listening, (2) the influence of friend-networks, (3) benefits and problems from stories that confirm vs. disconfirm our beliefs, and (4) the importance of sustained, meaningful and emotionally positive engagements for sharing stories of our experience.

Bruce Roberts, Professor Emeritus of Psychology, St. Olaf College, is co-author with Howard Thorsheim, of  I Remember When: Activity Ideas to Help People Reminisce.  Forest Knolls, CA: Elder Books (2000) and Reminiscing Together: Ways to Help Us Keep Mentally fit As We Grow Older. Minneapolis, MN: CompCare.

10. Jim Walker – Outstanding Shorter Works of 19th-century Russian literature  jgw@dwmedia.com

To most people in the West, Russian 19th-century literature represents only the flowering of the great novel.  Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin, Gogol’s Dead Souls, Turgenev’s Fathers and Sons, Dostovsky’s Crime and Punishment and Brothers Karamazov, and Tolstoy’s War and Peace and Anna Karenina, to name but the most popular, became common fare for the Western reader in the 20th century; however, these and other talented Russian writers created masterpieces in shorter forms that are far less familiar in the West.  In this course we will read and discuss a few of the most representative poems, short stories, and novellas of the above-mentioned writers.  We will also attempt to demonstrate how these works represented stages in the creative lives of the respective authors and how they influenced the scope and direction of much of 19th and 20th-century Russian literature.

James Walker taught Russian language and literature at St. Olaf for 30 years.  He received a BA in Political Science from Long Beach State College, an MS in Russian, German, and Linguistics from Georgetown University, and a Ph.D. in Slavic Languages and Literatures from Indiana University.  He led one of the first student groups to the then Soviet Union in 1968 and continued to lead groups to Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union until his retirement from St. Olaf in 1994.  Since retirement, he has been to Russia twice.  Before teaching at St. Olaf, he served five years as a translator and interpreter with the Office of Naval Intelligence in Washington, D. C.

11.  Elizabeth Olson – Beginning Music Reading  elizabeth.k.olson@gmail.com

Participants will develop reading skills while making music through singing and playing the pitch pipe, a type of whistle flute used to give string pitches to singers.  They will want to practice their new skills at home. The class will learn to read music employing a pedagogical model practiced in the United States that evolved from the Hungarian music education system created by Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967) – ethnomusicologist, composer, and educator. Participants will need to purchase one item, a pitch pipe, from the instructor on the first day of class ($20)

Elizabeth K. Beery Olson, Ph.D. taught music for more than 25 years, primarily focusing on elementary vocal music. Her research investigated Affirming Parallel Concepts™ (APC) among reading, mathematics, and music through Kodály music instruction. She continues to teach education professionals APC strategies to cross-train the brain during reading, math, and music preparation and practice.

12. Judy Cederberg – Patterns and Symmetry   cederj@stolaf.com

Using tools such as pencil, paper and mirrors, we will carry out “hands-on” exploration of patterns found in nature, tile floors, quilts, wallpaper and Islamic art to determine characteristics responsible for their beauty, sense of balance, and harmony – qualities described by the term symmetry. Starting with simple figures, class members will be coached in using reflections, rotations and translations to build their own patterns illustrating various types of symmetry. We’ll learn how these 3 symmetry motions are used to understand geometric ideas in schools and how similar motions create beautiful computer-generated shapes known as fractals. Brief handouts will explain major ideas in the course.

Judy Cederberg was a member of the St. Olaf mathematics faculty for 39 years. Her major area of mathematical interest is geometry and she is the author of the college text, A Course in Modern Geometries (2^nd Ed., 2001). Her recreational interests include travel and gardening.