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Welcome to UMD University for Seniors! Membership Page > Classes > History & Politics

History & Politics   

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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. 

CLASS UPDATE: A History of World War II: How the Allies Won the War has been canceled and removed from our list of available classes.

 
  • "How Can They Be so Blind?" Exploring America's Political Divide
  • Dates: 3/25/2025 - 5/13/2025
    Times: 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
    Days: Tu
    Sessions: 8
    Building: Kirby Plaza
    Instructor: Mark Hummel
    Curious about the wild political scene in the United States over the past ten years? (Twenty years? Fifty years? Two hundred years?) This class will explore some fundamentals of human thought such as perceptual bias, avoidance of uncertainty, and the use of mental models to make sense of a complex world. We’ll talk about key thinkers in America’s ongoing give-and-take between economic priorities and humanist values. We’ll consider the influence of social changes in demographics, Supreme Court composition, legacy and social media, and concerns about voter fraud and voter suppression. We’ll pay special attention to the influence of the radical right and Donald Trump's efforts to tear down public trust in democratic institutions in favor of autocratic rule and how the resulting anger has led to mean-spirited scapegoating and alternate realities. Finally, we’ll explore how we can tone down the fear and anger and begin to talk and listen to each other with curiosity and respect.

 

  • Aviation History (7 weeks)
  • Dates: 3/26/2025 - 5/7/2025
    Times: 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM
    Days: W
    Sessions: 7
    Building: Kirby Plaza
    Instructor: Jerry Sandvick
    This class will be a survey of flight from early dreams and myths of flying, through the invention of the airplane and aviation developments in World Wars I and II. Participants will learn how modern airline transportation was developed and conclude with the aerospace age of rocket development and landing on the moon. 

    Note: This class meets for seven weeks due to the Spring Luncheon and Annual Business Meeting on 5/14/25.
 

  • Bird’s Eye View of U.S. Presidential Elections
  • Dates: 3/24/2025 - 5/12/2025
    Times: 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
    Days: M
    Sessions: 8
    Building: Kirby Plaza
    Instructor: Craig Grau
    This class is a survey of all of the elections for U.S. President from 1788 to the present, with a focus on candidate choice and electoral patterns. Participants will explore the changes in presidential campaigns and elections over that timespan.

 

  • Challenges for Democracy
  • Dates: 3/28/2025 - 5/16/2025
    Times: 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
    Days: F
    Sessions: 8
    Building: Kirby Plaza
    Instructor: Charles Gessert
    This class will examine the ideal of democracy and discuss the challenges that democracies face, both in the United States and worldwide. We will consider how to support and nurture democracy in our era of dark money, disinformation, and unchecked inequity. The class will also explore the “guardrails” of democracy: attitudes, traditions, and standards of behavior that enable democracy to thrive. Participants will improve their understanding of democracy and the conditions necessary for its continuation.

    Book (recommended, not required): 

    Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America, by Heather Cox Richardson, ISBN 9780593652985
 

  • Peoples on the Move
  • Dates: 3/25/2025 - 5/13/2025
    Times: 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM
    Days: Tu
    Sessions: 8
    Building: Kirby Plaza
    Instructor: Charlotte Frantz
    Every family history includes some migration stories. Participants will be invited to look at their own migration stories and also be introduced to historic and present-day migrations, some chosen and some forced. As a class, we will be learning together and from each other. LIMIT 20

    Books (recommended, not required):

    Each member of the class is invited to read one of the following as background to class discussion: 

    1. Healing Haunted Histories, by Ellen Enns and Ched Myers, ISBN 9781725255357

    2. Refugee, by Alan Gratz, ISBN 978054588003U 

    3. The Warmth of Other Suns, by Isabel Wilkerson, ISBN 9780679444329

    4. Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here, by Johnathan Blitzer, ISBN 9781984880826 

    5. Shame and Endurance, by H. Henrietta Stockel, ISBN 9780816526147

 

  • Real People Who Never Existed
  • Dates: 3/24/2025 - 5/12/2025
    Times: 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
    Days: M
    Sessions: 8
    Building: Kirby Plaza
    Instructor: Cindy McLean
    Was there really a King Arthur, and what about Robin Hood? Did the Pied Piper really lure away all the children in Hamelin? Did William Tell shoot an apple off his son’s head? Did Amazon warriors fight at Troy? This class will look at these people and more. Did they exist, and if not, why do we have these stories? This class will use material from the 2023 offering Real Places and People Who Did Not Exist.

 

  • The Importance of Words in American and World History
  • Dates: 3/26/2025 - 5/14/2025
    Times: 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
    Days: W
    Sessions: 8
    Building: Kirby Plaza
    Instructor: Marv Heikkinen
    Words that are positive, uplifting, and inspiring have influenced millions throughout history. Participants will examine these words and seek to understand how they helped shape history. We will consider the words of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, "The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself" and how these words influenced public opinion. Be willing to share your favorite words.

 

  • Times of Turmoil: Passage of the Civil and Voting Rights Acts
  • Dates: 3/24/2025 - 5/12/2025
    Times: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
    Days: M
    Sessions: 8
    Building: Kirby Student Center
    Instructor: Heather Sweetland
    The struggle for the Civil and Voting Rights Acts was long and bloody, but with perseverance, patience, television, faith, and political pressure, they were passed in 1964 and 1965. In honor of the 60th anniversaries of the passage of these acts, this class will review their historical background, the events leading up to their passage, the leaders of the movement, what the acts say, how they changed America, and what is happening now.

    Book (recommended, not required): 

    His Truth Is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope, by Jon Meacham, ISBN 9781984855039
 

  • Ukraine and the Cossacks
  • Dates: 3/24/2025 - 5/12/2025
    Times: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
    Days: M
    Sessions: 8
    Building: Kirby Plaza
    Instructor: Chris Thomalla
    With Ukraine in the headlines every day, how much do you really know about the country, the people, and their history? Would current events make more sense if you knew more? In multimedia presentations and films dramatizing the various subjects, this class will attempt to glean facts, details, and data about Ukraine that are interesting and entertaining.

 

  • Vietnam: Stories from the Homefront (1st four weeks)
  • Dates: 3/24/2025 - 4/14/2025
    Times: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
    Days: M
    Sessions: 4
    Building: Kirby Plaza
    Instructor: Mike Keller, Dan McClelland
    This class will join together veterans who may wish to share dialogues or reflect on war experiences and non-veterans who wish to learn about war conflicts and share stories they've heard through discussions with friends and family. This is a reflection and discussion group.

    Book (recommended, not required): 

    The Vietnam War: An Intimate History, by Geoffrey Ward and Ken Burns, ISBN 9781524733100.
 

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

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