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Welcome to UMD University for Seniors! Membership Page > Classes > Fine Arts, Film & Literature

Fine Arts, Film & Literature   

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If any required or recommended books are listed in the class description and you are interested in purchasing a book through the UMD Bookstore, you must notify the US Program Office to be added to the book list. 

 
  • American Film Institute’s 100 Greatest Films (1st four weeks)
  • Dates: 3/25/2025 - 4/15/2025
    Times: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
    Days: Tu
    Sessions: 4
    Building: Kirby Plaza
    Instructor: Paul Chialastri
    Continue viewing the American Film Institute’s choices of the best films ever made. In this class, participants watch each film and, if time allows, have a brief discussion.

    Spring term films are The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings (2001), Nashville (1975), Sullivan’s Travels (1941), and Cabaret (1972).
 

  • Creative Writing (2nd four weeks)
  • Dates: 4/24/2025 - 5/15/2025
    Times: 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM
    Days: Th
    Sessions: 4
    Building: Kirby Plaza
    Instructor: Cheryl Reitan
    Prepare to have fun with writing. Practice observing, using your imagination, and expanding your use of language. Explore several different types of poetry and prose styles including memoir, fiction, and creative non-fiction. Practice using the senses in your writing, and discover different methods to increase creativity. LIMIT 15

 

  • Exploring Emily Dickinson's Poems
  • Dates: 3/27/2025 - 5/15/2025
    Times: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
    Days: Th
    Sessions: 8
    Building: Kirby Plaza
    Instructor: Tim Blackburn
    Even those familiar with just the usual anthology poems by Emily Dickinson recognize the unique quality of her writing. In this class we will explore a wide selection of her more than seventeen hundred poems, poems often difficult, oblique, enigmatic, brilliant, and startling. Prepare to be puzzled at times as well as awed. Members of the class will choose some of the poems we explore. We will use a simple kind of “close reading” method that will allow us to build understanding and appreciate the verbal textures and intricacies that demonstrate Dickinson’s stature as the greatest American poet.

    Book: 

    The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, edited by Thomas H. Johnson. ISBN 0316184136 

    NOTE: There are many used copies of this book available, and most of Dickinson's poems can be found online.
 

  • Great Books: Great Conversations
  • Dates: 3/27/2025 - 5/15/2025
    Times: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
    Days: Th
    Sessions: 8
    Building: Kirby Plaza
    Instructor: Bonnie Lloyd
    This class will read and discuss works of fiction and poetry from western civilization. Writers include John Donne, Nikolai Gogol, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Edgar Allan Poe, Herman Melville, and Christina Rossetti and from the Bible. No special background is required beyond an interest in reading and discussing. LIMIT 16

    Book: 

    Great Conversations 2, Great Books Foundation, ISBN 9780945159483

    NOTE: The book is required. You can order it from the Great Books Foundation or find it used on sites such as Amazon.
 

  • Opera: Tragic Love Stories
  • Dates: 3/25/2025 - 5/13/2025
    Times: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
    Days: Tu
    Sessions: 8
    Building: Kirby Plaza
    Instructor: James Amato
    Participants will view four full-length operas with the theme of tragic love stories. All four are among the most popular in the entire operatic repertoire and will be shown with English subtitles. Those shown will be Verdi’s La Traviata, Bizet’s Carmen, and Puccini’s La Boheme and Madama Butterfly. Some background information will be included, and classroom discussion will be encouraged.

 

  • The Great Gatsby at One Hundred: Celebrating--and Analyzing--a Classic (1st four weeks)
  • Dates: 3/26/2025 - 4/16/2025
    Times: 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM
    Days: W
    Sessions: 4
    Building: Kirby Plaza
    Instructor: Deborah Schlacks
    F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby was first published on April 10, 1925. It was not a bestseller. In fact, in the last year of his life (1940), Fitzgerald earned just $13.13 in royalties from it and his other books combined, and it (and its author) seemed destined to plunge into complete obscurity. Since then, however, The Great Gatsby has become one of the most widely read and studied novels in the world. What happened? In recognition of this great book's centennial, let’s discuss its themes and style and examine the history of the novel’s reception. What about it has fascinated so many people? How does it still speak to us after one hundred years? Join us to explore the answers to these questions and others!

    Book: 

    The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, edited by James L. W. West III, ISBN 9780743273565

    NOTE: This novel is also widely available online at no charge on websites such as Project Gutenberg, Internet Archive, and SparkNotes.
 

  • Watercolor Experiences
  • Dates: 3/28/2025 - 5/16/2025
    Times: 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM
    Days: F
    Sessions: 8
    Building: A. B. Anderson Hall
    Instructor: Edna Blanchard

    This is a class for beginners, those at the intermediate level, and anyone who just wants to get together to paint. The weekly sessions consist of a demonstration, a time for questions, and personal paint projects touching on the principles of art, with guest artists sharing their work. Basic watercolor supplies are required. LIMIT 18


 

If you have registration questions, please contact the US Program Office: (218) 726-7637usask@d.umn.edu

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