Recap of Winter 2022 Courses
Two Worlds Collide: Teaching Ourselves About Cape Cod’s First Inhabitants with Paul Savage
Cape Cod’s history is indelibly linked to Nov. 1620 when the Pilgrims landed at Provincetown. In Massachusetts, the Cape and Islands–and in numerous locations of North America--thousands of places are named for Native American peoples, cultures and nations. Yet most of the history we were taught in our schools comes from the European and American perspectives; Native American history is often generalized, glossed over, romanticized or not taught at all.
Join retired Advanced Placement United States History teacher Paul Savage for a journey back to the origins of human settlement in North America and the Cape. This exploration will use historical thinking skills to open a new path of discovery to teach ourselves about the rich, highly advanced and complex cultures that were in North America for thousands of years before European settlement. The five sessions will emphasize the Native American history of the Cape and Islands.
Irving Berlin, America’s Songwriter with Marc Strauss
Irving Berlin (1888 – 1989) was a Russian American composer and lyricist, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in history. His music forms a major part of the Great American Songbook, including hits as recognizable and eternally popular as “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” (1911), “Blue Skies” (1926), “Puttin’ on the Ritz” (1927), “Easter Parade” (1933), “God Bless America” (1938), “White Christmas” (1942), and literally hundreds of others.
Following the approach of earlier Open University of Wellfleet composer-focused courses on Rodgers and Hart, Harold Arlen, and most recently, Jerome Kern, Marc Strauss, Ph.D., will present, discuss, and analyze dozens of vocal and dance versions of Berlin’s popular, and oftentimes overlooked, songs, from his first published tune, “Marie from Sunny Italy” (1907), through his last hit in 1966, “An Old-Fashioned Wedding.” Come revisit, or experience for the first time, the broad historical and popular reach of one of the world’s greatest songwriters, on Broadway and in film.
Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier: Context and Contrast with Martha and Elliot Rothman
For this OUW course, we want to examine the architectural heritage of Le Corbusier (1887-1965) and Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959), two architects whose lives spanned from the late 19th century to a post-World War II world of developing technologies— Le Corbusier based almost exclusively in Europe, Frank Lloyd Wright firmly rooted in mid-western United States. We will look at selected work of both these “greats,” the contexts in which their work was developed, and discuss why each is (or is not) relevant to today’s architecture.
These two architects lived at a time when the majority of architects were men, white men. Each encountered, and worked with, some women architects, but their views and actions were influenced by their time. Each has been criticized for his political views and alleged prejudices. They can be judged by today’s perceptions; but we propose, rather, to look together at their work in context. We will read, look, discuss and learn together. We hope that this course will help each of us to understand the work of these two architects better and appreciate their importance for architecture today. We have selected a few key works and utopian visions to look at in the class, but we are not attempting a comprehensive view of their works.
Utopias and Dystopias with Elissa Greenwald
People have tried to design better worlds for centuries. Recently, we have been forced to confront human imperfections such as inequity, exploitation of Nature, and competition rather than cooperation in using resources. Looking at past models of better worlds, as well as warnings about the consequences if humankind does not correct its course, may help us design a better future. We will read Plato’s “Myth of the Cave” from The Republic and Thomas More’s Utopia (1516) as models of utopian societies, then explore the possibility of equality between men and women in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s novella Herland (1915) and Virginia Woolf’s essay A Room of One’s Own (1929). We will conclude with two twentieth century dystopian works, Thornton Wilder’s play The Skin of Our Teeth, a satire of the American Dream from 1942, and Octavia Butler’s visionary novel The Parable of the Sower (1993; set in 2024). Along the way, we will consider examples of utopian architecture and urban design as well as the history of utopian communities. In the spirit of equality, the course will combine mini-lectures with discussion.