Fall 2009 Course Offerings
Forms:
Fall 2009
September 14 - November 9
Mondays
U.S. Intelligence in a Post 9/11 World
This course contrasts traditional espionage methods used during the Cold War with non-traditional techniques needed to deal with terrorists today. The focus is on methods of human intelligence collection (i.e., recruiting and handling agents) as opposed to technical collection (i.e., intercepts and imagery). How should U.S. intelligence be transformed in order to obtain as much accurate and timely information as possible on threats to our national security posed by terrorists?
John Syer, PhD, is professor of Government (retired) from CSU Sacramento. Until 1995, Professor Syer worked with interns in the State Capitol. He is co-author of Power & Politics in California (eight editions.) Since 1995, Professor Syer has taught global politics and intelligence studies. He is a political analyst for ABC News (Sacramento and San Francisco), and the recipient of distinguished teaching awards from both Cal Poly (SLO) and CSU Sacramento.
September 14 – November 9, 2009
No class on September 28 (makeup class will be held on November 9)
10:00 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. (8 classes)
Location: Guzman Lecture Hall, Dominican Campus
The Art of Spain
Through brilliant color slides and an informed narrative we shall see how the threads of Phoenician, Carthaginian, Roman, Jewish, Visigothic, Roman Catholic and Islamic culture are woven into the rich tapestry of Spanish art. Highlights include Roman Segovia and Merida, the Visigothic and pre-Romanesque architecture of the Asturias, Romanesque frescoes in Catalonia and monuments along the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela. We’ll visit the great mosque of Cordoba and look at some manuscripts created during the Islamic presence on the Iberian Peninsula. A major focus is Toledo and its cathedral, synagogues, mosques, and El Greco masterpieces. We’ll do a virtual tour of Alhambra and its gardens in Granada. Moving on to the Madrid of the Hapsburgs and the Bourbons, we will visit El Escorial and the Prado museum where we will have to unravel the meaning in some masterpieces by El Greco, Velazquez, Zurburan and Murillo. Francisco Goya’s works there and in the chapel of San Antonio de la Florida bring us into the modern age. The tour ends in Seville where some surprises await us.
Kerrin Meis, MA, earned her master's degree in Art History at U.C. Berkeley. After teaching the History of Art at San Francisco State University and the College of Marin for many years, she is now in demand as a lecturer for Elderhostel, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and the Jewish Community Center. She taught European and Middle-Eastern Art History classes at Book Passage for a number of years and has led travel/study programs to Europe.
September 14 – October 19, 2009
1:30 – 3:15 p.m. (6 classes)
Location: Guzman Lecture Hall, Dominican Campus
Tuesdays
Understanding Human Evolution: An Overview
You don’t have to be a scientist to understand how we use stones and bones, and genetic information to help reveal human ancestry. Beginning with lemurs, chimps and gorillas we look at bones and our shared behavior (cooperation, communication, parenting, sexuality, art and degrees of aggression) to understand the underpinnings of human development. The 3 million year old Lucy, a 60,000 year old Neanderthal boy, a tiny skeleton known as “the Hobbit” from Indonesia, and the 4000 year old Ice Man all provide questions about what makes us human and reveal aspects of our heritage. There will be casts of bones to hold and examine, as well as personal slides and videotapes of my pursuit of lemurs, chimps and gorillas in their native habitat and archaeological digs in Africa
Betty Goerke, MA has been teaching Anthropology in the credit program at College of Marin for over 30 years. Her archaeological field work was conducted in Kenya, South Africa, India, China, Colorado and California. She has lectured at Stanford, U.C. Berkeley, San Francisco and Sonoma State Universities, and is a published author and video producer. Her most recent book is “Chief Marin: Leader, Rebel and Legend,” released by Heyday Books in 2007.
September 15 – October 20, 2009
10:00 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. (6 classes)
Location: The Tamalpais
501 Via Casitas, Greenbrae
Two Koreas and Japan
The countries of North East Asia, an area of competitive economic growth, political tension and environmental crises, are among the main international actors of our time. Sixty years after the armistice that ended the fighting in the Korean War, however, the divisions on the peninsula remain. Their roots lie deep in the historical relationships among Japan, China and Korea. For most Americans, Korea’s prewar past is little known, although for over a thousand years, that history has shaped the culture and politics of the region. This course will survey the basics of these relationships, both historic and contemporary. Special attention will be given to the 19th Century western impact on Asia and how this affects present East-West relationships. Emphasis will be on understanding these modern questions through review and discussion of past imperialisms, art and religion.Videos, a guest speaker on North Korea and slides will be part of the course.
Gloria Neumeier, MA has had personal experiences as an international teacher and traveler which enliven and illustrate her presentations on world affairs. In the past twenty years she has taught at universities in China and Vietnam as well as in the former Soviet bloc countries. An assignment at Honam Theological University in Kwangju, South Korea, as well as a recent trip to Pyongyang, North Korea, provide the context for this course about North East Asia. She holds degrees in International Relations and in History from Barnard College, Columbia University in New York and Dominican University of California.
September 15 – October 20, 2009
1:30 – 3:15 p.m. (6 classes)
Location: Alemany Library, Room 207, Dominican campus
Wednesdays
Secrets of the Brain
This course will take you inside the only organ smart enough to study itself, and show you how this 3 pound mass of tissue can be the source of our personalities, dreams, thoughts, sensations, and movements. This course will also help you understand how the brain maintains body homeostasis, and how its function can be affected by neuronal diseases and trauma.
Mohammed El Majdoubi, PhD earned his doctorate in Neuroscience & Pharmacology from the University of Bordeaux, France. He completed his Post-Doctoral Training at the University of Pittsburgh before joining the University of California San Francisco as a Research Scientist and Director of the Morphology Core Facility. Dr. Majdoubi is currently an Assistant Professor of Neurobiology at Dominican University of California, where his research is focused on the neuroendocrine differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells.
September 16 – October 21, 2009
1:30 – 3:15 p.m. (6 classes)
Location: Guzman Lecture Hall, Dominican campus
Thursdays
Marvelous Men of the Movies
From Barrymore to John Wayne to James Dean to Tom Cruise, American cinema has given us leading men that enlighten, entertain and sometimes even inform our views of the American male. Does Sean Penn remind some of feisty James Cagney? When did the romantic ideal go from Rudolph Valentino to Clark Gable to Brad Pitt? The interaction between leading men and leading women will be studied, as well as the iconic performances of men behind and in front of the camera that made the movies an amazing, immortal art form.
Jan Wahl is best known to the Bay Area for her incisive film criticism during appearances as KCBS Radio and KRON TV Film Critic and Entertainment Reporter. A graduate of San Francisco State with a degree in broadcast communication and arts, for 30 years Jan has been actively involved in the television and film industries. First as a producer, stage manager and director on such TV programs as “Good Morning America,” Jan has always shared her love of entertainment with the community. She is a two-time Emmy award winner and member of the Directors Guild of America.
October 1 – November 5, 2009
10:00 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. (6 classes)
Location: Angelico Concert Hall, Dominican campus
Muses In Their Own Right
Through art, music, story and lecture, we’ll examine the lives and works of extraordinary women who deserve to be known not only as the great inspiration for genius, but also for their own magnificent work: Theano (ancient Greek Mathematician), Hypatia (philosopher) Heloise (Medieval philosopher and abbess) Saint Clare and Brother Jacoba, (muses of Saint Francis), Clara Schumann (composer); Camille Claudel (sculptor), Alma Mahler (composer), and Lou Andreas Salome (writer).
Kayleen Asbo, MA has been a professor of music at San Francisco Conservatory of Music for the last ten years. She has a Master of Music degree in Piano Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and an MA in Psychology and Expressive Arts from the Institute of Imaginal Studies.
September 17 – November 5, 2009
1:30 – 3:15 p.m. (8 classes)
Location: Alemany Library, Room 207, Dominican campus
Fridays
Poetry, Gossip and the Pursuit of Pleasure
Fasten your poetic seatbelt and come prepared to experience poetry in a whole new way. Let’s see if there are poems that can actually earn a living out here in the real world. Let’s luxuriate in poetry that engages, entertains and inspires. We’ll go for practical and powerful poems – ones applicable to our everyday lives, challenges and triumphs. Together we’ll abandon those schoolhouse poems we never really cared for. We’ll drop pretenses, jettison airs and simply revel in the pure, provocative pleasure of world-class poetry.
Dale Biron is a popular lecturer, workshop leader, coach, published poet, and poetry editor living in the San Francisco Bay Area. Using poems as practical and potent tools for individual coaching assignments, as well as in organizational and public settings, Dale helps people grow, learn, heal and navigate change. Dale is Poetry Editor at Large for Gratefulness.org and is a former board member for the Marin Poetry Center. Dale has shared his poetry-based work and insights at such venues as The Herbst Theater and the Center for Attitudinal Healing.
September 18 – October 23, 2009
10:00 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. (6 classes)
Location: Margaret Todd Senior Center
1560 Hill Rd., Novato
Writing From Our Lives
This workshop will help us to capture significant moments and insights from our lives and to transform them into compelling and universal narratives whether in fiction or non-fiction. We will focus upon structure but attention will also be paid to dialogue, characterization and dramatic action. In each session we will share our stories and engage in constructive critique. This workshop is for writers of all levels of experience. Members who have not taken this course previously will be given priority registration.
Lynne Kaufman, MA, is a prize winning playwright, novelist and short story writer. Her plays have been produced in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. She has taught writing at Esalen Institute, Omega Institute and OLLI S.F. State University. Formerly Director of Travel/Study for U.C. Berkeley Extension she now serves as a trustee for California Institute of Integral Studies.
September 18 – October 30, 2009
1:30 – 3:45 p.m. (5 classes)
September 18, October 2, 9, 16 and 30
Location: Guzman Hall, Room 202, Dominican Campus
Maximum of 20 participants
Trips, Clubs, Partnerships and Workshops
Tour of Chinatown
Take a walk in the past. Explore San Francisco’s Chinatown as it was at the turn of the 20th century. Start out in Portsmouth Square which is considered the living-room of the Chinese community. Walk through the back alleys visiting a true pagoda, the Ma Su Tao temple, a fortune cookie factory, an herbalist and many other informative historical sites. Learn about the history of Chinatown. After our walk, led by docents from City Tours, we’ll enjoy a dim sumlunch at the Zagat rated Oriental Pearl restaurant.
September 9, 2009 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Registration Deadline: August 14, 2009
Cost: $55 (includes bus transportation, lunch, docent-guided tour and all gratuities)
Withdrawal: Refunds will be given after August 14 only if a substitute is available from the wait list.
Look for more trips in the Spring of 2010 to Fioli Gardens in Woodside and the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito!Theater Appreciation Club, Sandy Levitan
This club, led by one of our own premium members, will meet six times during the fall session. Its purpose is to give members the opportunity to sample the excellent and varied community theater that exists in Marin County. Class meetings will be used to read and discuss the play that we will see that evening and read from other scripts when possible. Dinner will follow the class, and after dinner participants will drive, separately or together, to that night’s selected theater. Registrants for the course must purchase all tickets and their own dinners.
Sandy Levitan, MA, is a Dominican graduate and has been a practicing Marriage Family and Child therapist for over 30 years. She has participated in past community productions both as a performer and director and regularly attends theater productions around the Bay Area and beyond.
September 17 – October 22, 2009
4:00 – 6:00 p.m. (6 classes)
Location: Guzman Hall, Room 202, Dominican Campus
Cost: $50 for Basic Members
Maximum of 25 participants
Up Close and Personal With the Marin Symphony
Live, classical music becomes even more fascinating when you understand the fabric of each composition and the composer’s motivations while writing it. Treat yourself to an “insider’s view” of an entire symphony season as professor and musician Sally Johnson explores the works performed, their historical contexts, even the mechanics of putting on the shows. Save 20% on ticket prices by purchasing of a 5-concert subscription (required to register for this class); price incluses free companion ticket to any single performance in the season. For the complete 2009 - 10 season program, click www.marinsymphony.org. Please call 415-479-8100 for information on purchasing your subscription.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
4:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Location: Angelico Hall, Room 116, Dominican Campus
Saturday, January 30, 2010
11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Location: Marin Symphony, San Rafael
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
4:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Location: Angelico Hall, Room 116, Dominican CampusWalking Tour Through Dominican's Grounds
On this walking tour through the central sites of Dominican's beautiful grounds the principal focus will be the trees and gardens. Brief histories of major buildings will be included, with the opportunity for questions. This tour will be led by Michael Henke, Associate Director of Facilities Services and Facilities Grounds at Dominican University of California.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
10:00 – 11:30 a.m.
Location: The class will meet in front of Caleruega Hall
