Road Scholar

THE STORY OF ANCIENT ISRAEL Who were the ancient Israelites? Where did they come from? Follow their history, culture and archaeology across the centuries, through the days of Jesus and the Great Revolt against Rome, culminating in the total destruction of the temple and the city of Jerusalem.

INTERSECTIONS: WHERE MUSIC AND ART MEET Who From heart-rending spirituals and work songs to cool jazz the history of Black music has expanded the depth of American culture. Many visual artists were strongly influenced by this powerful music. Listen to recordings of Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington and learn about artists like Carrie Mae Weems, Jacob Lawrence and Romare Bearden.

FAMOUS FRAUDS AND HOAXES A look back at some of the most infamous frauds and impostors of history – the “Cardiff Giant”, the Salem Witch trials, the game show scandals of the 1950’s, Irving’s bogus autobiography of Howard Hughes… and the many reasons why we can sometimes be so easily deceived.

CIRQUE DU SOLEIL – Performance – These amazing street performers from Canada have literally reinvented the circus, thrilling and amazing audiences all over the world. Travel with the circus through history focusing on music, theatre, costume design and extraordinary circus acts.

AGATHA CHRISTIE: MISTRESS OF MYSTERY – A shy and retiring British housewife found fame and fortune plotting countless murders. A look for clues to her personal past through examining recurring themes in her books and plays.

JAZZ IT UP WITH ARMSTRONG, BASIE, MILLER, GILLESPIE AND MORE! – Listen to and enjoy some of the many styles of jazz. What were the sociological, economic and cultural factors that contributed to the development of this swinging music.

FOLK MUSIC IN AMERICA – Americans have always enjoyed stories presented in song. While playing original recordings of over 100 folk hits through the ages, we’ll discuss the performers and their political agendas, survey the sources of folk songs, and consider the effect of different eras on the folk music of our country.

“TRAVELS WITH CHARLIE” – Journey across America with Nobel-Prize winning author John Steinbeck and his French poodle, Charley. Look deeply into concepts of community, regionalism, nostalgia, home and place in 1960 compared with 21stC American landscape and mindset.

FRIENDS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION – There were four men who were instrumental in the success of the Revolution – though they were not American. Explore the lives and work of Tom Paine, the Marquis de Lafayette, Baron von Steuben and Thadeus Kosciuszko and the contributions they made in securing our freedom.

THE GILDED AGE – The Gilded Age was a term fi rst coined by Mark Twain in his book “The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today,” satirizing an era of serious social problems masked by a thin gold gilding. An era of rapid economic growth and industrial wealth, the late 1800s also saw two major nationwide depressions and an infl ux of millions of immigrants. Come revisit this period at the peaceful San Pedro Conference center and delve into the politics, people, scandals and entertainment that became synonymous with the time.

Highlights:

• Explore a variety of popular music from the late 1800s from parlor songs like “A Bicycle Built for Two” to the patriotic, “America the Beautiful,” learning the stories behind them and even taking the opportunity to do some singing.
• In 1876 the presidency was won because of a ballot controversy and two presidents were shot and killed shortly after they were inaugurated. Congress was known for being inefficient, its halls filled with tobacco smoke and spittoons.
• Vaudeville was the most popular form of mass entertainment and at home everyone was reading books by Arthur Conan Doyle, H.G. Wells, Robert Louis Stevenson,and Booth Tarkington Baseball’s first pro team was established in 1869 and was becoming the “National Pastime,” while basketball was invented in 1891.

THE YEARS THAT “ROARED”: THE 1920’s- From boom to bust and “anything goes” to selling apples on a street corner, the 1920’s were an age of dramatic social and political change. As the nation’s total wealth doubled and for the first time more Americans began living in cities than on farms, it was a decade that was anything but tame. Going by names such as the Jazz Age, the Age of Intolerance, and the Age of Wonderful Nonsense, the 1920’s embodied the beginning of modern America.

• Revisit the larger-than-life personalities like Charlie Chaplin, Rudolph Valentino, Greta Garbo, Charles Lindbergh, Al Capone and Babe Ruth who became synonymous with the decade.
• Explore the political climate and the impact that the inhabitants and policies of the White House had on the country.
• Delve into the dawn of a homegrown American modern art movement with Art Deco, artists such as Georgia O’Keefe, Arthur Dove and Charles Sheeler and the Harlem Renaissance with important artworks by Aaron Douglas, Archibald Motley, Romare Bearden and Jacob Lawrence.