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- Defending Democracy
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Democracy thrives – or dies – within a framework of written laws and cultural traditions. In this class we will examine selected aspects of democracy, such as the role of elections, the separation of powers, the rule of law, and information systems. We will focus on the challenges we are facing and steps that can be taken to nurture democracy.
Book (recommended, not required):
Age Of Revolutions by Fareed Zakaria, ISBN 9781324105824
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- Early Civil Rights Movements (7 weeks)
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Dates: 1/7/2026 - 2/18/2026
Times: 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Days: W
Sessions: 7
Building: Online via Zoom
Instructor: Kathy Rous
Take an in-depth look at Reconstruction and Jim Crow laws, and learn about the efforts of African Americans to gain the equity they had been promised in the U.S. Constitution.
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- If the Trail could Talk: Secrets of Duluth along Its Superior Hiking Trail
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Dates: 1/6/2026 - 2/24/2026
Times: 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 8
Building: Online via Zoom
Instructor: Judy Gibbs
The Superior Hiking Trail in Duluth spans forty miles and boasts a rich history. Through excerpts from an upcoming book and a collection of historical and recent photographs, you'll gain an intriguing insight into Duluth's past, via an abandoned Little League field, ski jumps, soapbox derby track, and more. You’ll also hear stories from the more than two-hundred people who were involved in building the trail.
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- Inventions and Discoveries of the Twentieth Century
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From nuclear power to washing machines without mangles, from vaccines to soft toilet paper, the twentieth century was a time of amazing inventions and discoveries. Learn about various inventions and their inventors, discoveries and their finders, and consider how all of them have affected our lives.
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- Learning History through Music (7 weeks)
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Music is an important component of history. The ultimate quest of learning about history is to make it more real and meaningful, by making students feel like they were there. The music of an historical era can serve as a time-machine, providing us a path to take the ultimate field trip back into the past and giving us a more real and meaningful understanding of history. The class will be a trip through time, focused on American history with an emphasis on the music of the Vietnam era.
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- Maritime Disasters and Their Impacts (1st four weeks)
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Following an introduction to admiralty law, the international law of the sea, the nautical rules of the road, and marine insurance, we will examine significant maritime disasters from the eighteenth century to the present. Each disaster will be analyzed as to circumstances, probable causes, and how the incident influenced maritime laws, regulations, and insurance. Examples will be used from both international and U.S. waters, including the Great Lakes and navigable rivers. We’ll conclude with a discussion of the current state of maritime safety worldwide.
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- Native Nations of Minnesota (1st four weeks)
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Dates: 1/8/2026 - 1/29/2026
Times: 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 4
Building: Online via Zoom
Instructor: Elizabeth Blue
Let’s examine the various tribal nations of Minnesota. We will explore tribal economies, cultures, and clan/family structures at each Minnesota tribal location. We will discover current political, business, and educational structures, open a window into history, and meet/learn about current tribal leaders. The class is a companion to the second-four-week class on Native Nations of Wisconsin. You may enroll in either or both.
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- Native Nations of Wisconsin (2nd four weeks)
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Dates: 2/5/2026 - 2/26/2026
Times: 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Days: Th
Sessions: 4
Building: Online via Zoom
Instructor: Elizabeth Blue
This class will examine the various tribal nations of Wisconsin. We will explore tribal economies, cultures, and clan/family structures at each tribal location. We will discover current political, business, and educational structures, open a window into history, and meet/learn about current tribal leaders. The class is a companion to the first-four-week class on Native Nations of Minnesota. You can enroll in either or both.
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- North Shore Shipwrecks in Lake Superior (1st four weeks)
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Shipwrecks lie beneath the waters of Lake Superior outside nearly every city and town along the North Shore of Minnesota. This will be an opportunity to discover the maritime history many people may have sailed, motored, or paddled over as they enjoyed the beauty of the North Shore. Come learn about the different ships that plied the inland seas and ended their days nearby as the result of storms or other disasters that happened long ago.
Book (recommended, not required):
Shipwrecks Along Lake Superior's North Shore by Stephen B. Daniel, ISBN-13 9780873516181 and ISBN-10 0873516184
NOTE: The book will be available to purchase in the classroom.
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- Overlord: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy (1st four weeks)
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Dates: 1/7/2026 - 1/28/2026
Times: 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Days: W
Sessions: 4
Building: Kirby Plaza
Instructor: Steven Coz
This class will focus on the June 6, 1944 landings in Normandy and the buildup of the personnel and material needed to make and sustain the landings. We’ll also look at, to a lesser degree, the battles that were fought to enable the Allies to break out into open France. We’ll discuss the important players on both the Allied and Axis sides and identify the major problems anticipated and overcome.
Books (recommended, not required):
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Overlord by Max Hastings, ISBN 9781982110772
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The Americans at D-Day by John McManus, ISBN 0765307448
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The Americans at Normandy by John McManus, ISBN 076531200X
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The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan, ISBN 9780671890919
NOTE: There is no required reading, but I will be relying on the books listed above.
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- Plagues and People in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages (1st four weeks)
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Dates: 1/8/2026 - 1/29/2026
Times: 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Days: Th
Sessions: 4
Building: Kirby Plaza
Instructor: Tom Burns
Plagues (also called pandemics) altered the lives of millions of people in pre-modern Europe. We will concentrate on the Justinianic Plague of the 6th c. CE, and the so-called Black Death of the fourteenth through seventeenth centuries. At our first meeting the class will view Ingmar Bergman's awesome ninety-three-minute film The Seventh Seal (1957). Bergman captures the pain, the sorrow, and the essential dilemma of mass death and inexplicable suffering. LIMIT 16
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- Slavery, Lincoln, and the Civil War
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The Civil War is the greatest crisis, costliest war, and, many historians say, the defining episode in our national identity. Its effects have rippled through American history for more than a century, up to the present. Central to the cause of the war was the issue of slavery. And central to the execution and outcome of the war was Abraham Lincoln. This class will examine each of these three critical stories in American history. Each of them will be examined in itself but also in the larger context of how they reflect the development of the United States.
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- The Harlem Renaissance: Going Deeper
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This class will more fully flesh out the brilliant work and vibrant lives of some of the most important writers of the Harlem Renaissance than in the class offered during the fall term. Authors to be discusses include Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, Jesse Fauset, Countee Cullen, Gwendolyn Bennett, Claude McKay, Nella Larson, Jean Toomer, Paul Robeson, and Wallace Thurman. It is not a requirement to have attended the previous Harlem Renaissance class.
Books (recommended, not required):
1. The Norton Anthology of African American Literature, Volume 1, Fourth Edition edited by Henry Louis Gates Jr., W.W. Norton & Company, 2025, ISBN 9781324047049
2. Voices from the Harlem Renaissance by Nathan Irvin Huggins, Oxford University Press, 1995, ISBN 9780195093605
3. The New Negro by Alain Locke, Mint Editions, 2021, ISBN 1513282395
4. On the Shoulders of Giants: My Journey Through the Harlem Renaissance by Kareem Adbul-Jabbar, with Raymond Obstfeld, 2007, ISBN 9781416534891
5. Ebony Rising: Short Fiction of the Greater Harlem Renaissance Era edited by Craig Gable, 2004, ISBN 0253343984
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- The Russian Revolution
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Make an in-depth examination of the causes leading up to the Russian Revolution and the events ending in civil war and the Soviet State. In this multi-media class, pictures, photos, music, and videos will be used to illustrate the presentation. Films, several from the USSR, United States, and the Russian Federation, will dramatically describe the events of these times.
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- Why Russia Deserves Respect (1st four weeks)
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Dates: 1/7/2026 - 1/28/2026
Times: 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Days: W
Sessions: 4
Building: Kirby Plaza
Instructor: Tom Morgan
Russia has repeatedly felt disrespected and unappreciated by the West. This mentality can be traced back to the Middle Ages and is a critical element in Russia's national mythology today. It also explains--in part--Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Book (required):
How the West Brought War to Ukraine by Benjamin Abelow, ISBN 9780991076703
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