We go back to school!?

Any topics that interest us. There's a lot to choose from. We've taken courses at NYU, museums, and the 92nd St Y. We even joined a private library, the Mercantile because they have discussion groups about books. Sometimes joined by friends, most often Ellen and Al Sharfstein (he's also on an extended sabbatical). One of the more interesting things we discovered was a group called One Day University. They had the idea to run a one day series of lectures featuring world class professors from Ivy League schools. The target audience was Baby-Boomers like ourselves who might be interested in topics they couldn't get out of the daily papers. It was inspired by the orientations that schools do for parents telling them a bit about what their kids will be studying.

This is the second "semester" for the program, the first having taken place in the spring. This time around there were 300 people at the session and they've added sites in New Jersey, Connecticut and Florida.

The day is just right with a total of 5 sessions of varied topics interspersed with refreshment and lunch breaks. Lectures complete with audio visuals and sometimes handouts are always concluded with a question period. My own personal favourites are the more obsure topics. Like the discussion of "Resilience" and how it impacts peoples ability to succeed. Or the discussion of the Imperial Presidency which included a good discussion of the Constitution and the Founding Fathers views of "Separation of Powers". In short, let's make sure they're at each others throats and can't do too much. Kind of like our own view that a divided government between the two parties is the best antidote to over-reach.

There was one 'miss' this time, but on the whole, topics were informative and stimulating and both felt it was a day well spent.

COURSE SCHEDULE AND PROFESSORS

9:00am - 10:00am
Psychology: The Science of Human Resilience
Andrew Shatté, University of Pennsylvania Most Popular Teacher Award

10:15am - 11:15am
American Studies: The Dawn of Cinema and the Transformation of America
Charles Musser, Yale University Film Department Co-Chair and Director
As part of our "extended sabbatical" we are always looking for speakers, programs, courses.

11:30am - 12:30am
Literature: Fairy Tale Culture in Modern Life
Marie Tatar, Harvard University Dean for the Humanities

12:30 - 1:30
Lunch Break

1:30 - 2:30
Sociology: Crime and Punishment 2006
Devah Pager, Princeton University Professor and Fulbright Grant Winner

2:45 - 3:45
Political Science: George W. Bush, the Imperial President?
Richard Pious. Department of Political Science, Barnard College, Columbia University, author of The American Presidency

4:00 - 4:30
Reception



One Day University