Recap of Spring 2022 Courses

Re-Imagining Five Shakespeare Comedies, with Steve Reynolds

I want us to consider why and how “A Midsummer Night's Dream,” “ Much Ado About Nothing,” “ The Comedy of Errors,” “ The Taming of the Shrew,” and “As You Like It” are produced for the stage. Participants should come to class familiar with the play from having read it or from having watched a live or filmed production. We will spend class sessions discussing the play's unique dramatic qualities, themes, and possible directorial approaches. Participants will have a chance to talk about their experiences with each play. Near the end of every class I will share how I directed the comedy.



American Painting from 1910 to 2010 in Massachusetts Museums, with Lewis Shepard

The 20th century in American Art was marked by the divergent pulls of figurative depiction and abstract invention. Thomas Eakins and John Singer Sargent were still alive when The Armory Show (1913) changed the course of visual arts for many American artists. We who live in New England are fortunate that municipal and collegiate museums have incredible collections that span the years that mark the end of Romantic and Impressionist Painting to Abstract and Figurative art that merge historic traditions, indigenous awareness and emotional content.



The Socially Engaged Art of Provincetown's Jay Critchley, with Janis Bergman-Carton
This class provides a window into “socially engaged art,” visually compelling contemporary art that aims to affect its community and environment in a real (rather than symbolic) way. Provincetown’s Jay Critchley is one such artist. Critchley generates conceptual work with an enduring impact locally (Provincetown Community Compact, Re-Rooters Day Ceremony,  Swim for Life & Paddler Flotilla) and globally, from Argentina and Colombia to England, Holland, Germany, and Japan. We will look at Critchley in a larger global context of socially engaged art by such figures as Ai Wei Wei, Tania Bruguera, Theaster Gates, and Olafar Eliuason - four of the most dynamic creative thinkers in the art world today. 



Memoir: Fact and Fiction, with Seth Rolbein

Memoir writing; the more you delve into the idea, the more fraught it becomes.

For example, we’re supposed to think of memoirs as “non-fiction,” but is that true? Selective memory is the only kind, and serving as your own witness, how credible can you possibly be?
Meanwhile, isn’t the idea of memoir by definition among the most egocentric, indulgent, fundamentally embarrassing pastimes imaginable? Why would someone other than the most famous and influential think that the progression of our makeshift lives is of fascination to strangers?
Yet memoirs have always been written, and the best of them are celebrated as the great literature they are. And in the end, every doubt and suspicion about the memoir form creeps into every writer’s thoughts in every form, which means that the same standards for success and merit come into play for every attempt.
This course explores the idea and philosophy of memoir, where it fits in literature and in a life. Basic questions explored include how writers choose to address content, how much “reliability” matters, the subjective voice, thinking about audience, motivation, and aspirations for impact – and of course the creative demands of good storytelling, whether the subject is this morning’s coffee or a trip to the Andromeda galaxy.
We’ll look at and discuss some interesting memoir examples, and also create an opportunity to share some of our own efforts, should we be brave enough.


ANNA KARENINA, with Rhoda Flaxman
   Literature of the past often gives us a window into the present, and “Anna Karenina” is no exception. Russian dreams of empire have exploded on the world scene, as I write, and I want to ask,” Can a novel written in the 1870s help us understand anything about the spirit and ambitions of the Russian people today?” By giving us one of the great page-turners in fiction—a novel on the grand scale-- and telling the stories of Anna Karenina and her fall into passion with her lover Vronsky, and the Levin/ Kitty romance, we also learn about social change in 19th Century Russia, family life, farming and peasant life, attitudes toward marriage and adultery, and so much more. We are exposed to differences between the sophisticated aristocratic life of St. Petersburg and the pleasures of country life. In addition,Tolstoy, master of realism, takes on many moral questions, asking us to consider the novel’s overall views of women, issues of class, and how one should conduct one’s life. But beyond these weighty subjects is the pure joy of reading Tolstoy’s masterpiece as we consider how he--crowned by Nabokov as “the greatest Russian writer of prose fiction”-- makes art from life. 
   Class in person will be conducted through a combination of mini-lecture and discussion using organizing questions and topics sent in advance. Class on Zoom will rely more on directed discussion.
   Though a long work, “Anna Karenina” reads fast. We will be reading approximately 160 pages for each class. Please read the novel in the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation (Viking Press,2001).