Course Descriptions
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2020 Fall Semester – Course Descriptions TUESDAY Turning a Story into a Book and Film: How a Cave Explorer Got the Word Out About Holocaust Survivors’ Hiding Place Nearly two decades ago, Chris Nicola discovered that five Jewish families spent nearly a year and a half in the pitch-black caves to escape the Nazis, the longest uninterrupted underground survival in recorded human history. He went back with the remaining survivors 65 years later to make a documentary about this amazing experience. Chris returns to CL&L to describe the behind-the-scenes story of his book, The Secret of Priest's Grotto, and his documentary, No Place on Earth. He’ll address such questions as: How do you make a movie that nobody wants to have made? How do you tell the story about people who want nothing to do with you and are adamant that the story is never told, when you believe it’s important for the world to hear their story? How do you win their trust when they see you as the wrong age, wrong religion, and as an outsider? How do you get people to open up about memories they repressed for decades? How do you find the true story when they tell different stories as a group and as individuals? How do you connect your audiences and your subjects, when they are of different generations and cultures? How do you raise enough money to make a documentary? How do you shoot a film in remote areas of the world? Perhaps most importantly, how did going back after so many years personally affect four of the original survivors and their storyteller? Tue 10:30-11:45a Sept 22 1 session Chris Nicola, participated, organized and lead caving expeditions in countries around the world. Former police officer, retired Senior Investigator for NY State, an undercover investigator in NYC schools, and civilian operative for the FBI. He runs the Priest's Grotto Heritage Project, a genocide awareness project; co-author, The Secret of Priest's Grotto. Other jobs included labor union organizer, adjunct lecturer, bar manager and bouncer, bodyguard. BS, MA, Criminal Justice, John Jay College; BA, Forensic Psychology, John Jay College; BA, Physics, Hunter College. New York Women Artists: From the Civil War to the Great Depression American women artists working before 1945 had to navigate societal expectations of women’s domestic roles with their drive to be professionals. These artists often faced difficult choices – sacrificing in their personal lives or in their careers. Despite evident talent and success, most fell into obscurity with their death. But their works give fresh takes on major historical events, from the Civil War to World War II. In this interactive session, come discover and closely examine works by New York’s women artists who collectively paint a picture of a changing America. Tue 10:30-11:45a Sept 29 1 session Rena Tobey, American art historian. Teaching experience includes NYU School for Professional Studies, 92Y, and Southern Connecticut State Univ. Her research and writing centers on American women artists working before 1945. Rena provides museum tours and talks around the region and, just for fun, created Artventures! Game, a “cheeky party game on the adventures of art and art history.” MA, Art History, Hunter College; PhD, Human and Organizational Studies. Guilty Pleasure: Enjoying Popular Cinema Do we need to feel guilty about “guilty pleasures”? In movies, this refers to the enjoyment drawn from films generally considered to be lacking in quality. This class will consider a nuanced definition of the term, looking at a range of movies to assess why they are so enjoyable. Examples include the Focker films, in which much-loved veteran actors like Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, and Barbra Streisand offer a light-hearted treatment of rivalry through the lens of aging. An example of on- and off-screen rivalry is Grudge Match, in which De Niro and Sylvester Stallone clash over who is the better boxer. And The Center for Learning and Living, Inc. PO Box 592 New York, NY 10028 | 212-644-3320 | www.clandl.org | [email protected] we’ll also look at TV shows like The Crown, which applies a lavish treatment to a dramatized history of the royal family with regal gossip Americans have loved as much as their British cousins. Tue 10:30-11:45a Oct 6 1 session Robert Hensley-King, film scholar and writer. Currently based in Toronto, he has taught at Harvard Univ., Boston College, and in Europe at Sheridan College; Ghent Univ.; and Birkbeck College, Univ. of London. Recent academic publications include Incarceration as a Dated Badge of Honor: The Sopranos and the Screen Gangster in a Time of Flux and The Irishman: An Extended Review. He has also been an independent filmmaker and broadcaster. The Pandemic’s Impact on U.S. Businesses COVID-19 has caused financial distress for many businesses, their investors, creditors, and other parties. As a result, there has been a sharp rise in business distress and bankruptcy filings. Stephen Lerner, an expert on bankruptcy and restructuring, has firsthand experience dealing with such challenging circumstances. He’ll discuss the Paycheck Protection Program and other relief packages provided by the government, as well as techniques businesses are using to address and combat the impact. The session will explain how a Chapter 11 reorganization is conducted to maximize value for stakeholders (maybe stockholders like you) and answer your questions on this important and complex subject. Tue 10:30-11:45a Oct 13 1 session Stephen D. Lerner, Global Chair of the Restructuring & Insolvency Practice, Squire Patton Boggs. Has practiced for 35 years; extensive national and cross-border restructuring experience representing troubled businesses and creditors through Chapter 11 reorganizations, Chapter 9 municipal restructurings, Chapter 15 cross-border insolvency cases, and out-of-court restructurings throughout the U.S., Europe, Asia, South America, the United Arab Emirates, and India. Represented clients in Chapter 11 cases of Lehman Brothers, Enron, Chrysler, and WorldCom, among many others; lead role in NJ State’s out-of-court restructuring of Atlantic City, and Detroit’s historic Chapter 9 bankruptcy. Fellow, American College of Bankruptcy; Chair of its Board of Regents and International Committee. Director, Executive Committee Member, American Bankruptcy Institute; former Chair of its Advisory Board Midwest Regional Bankruptcy Seminar; member, Attorney Advisory Committee of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Ohio. Guest lecturer, Harvard Business School, Univ. of Michigan Law School, Moritz College of Law at The Ohio State Univ., Univ. of Cincinnati Law School. BA, MA, Univ. of Pennsylvania. JD, Univ. of Pennsylvania Law School. The ‘60s on Film: A Look at Movies from and about the 1960s “There is a great future in plastics.” This advice is of no interest to Benjamin Braddock in The Graduate. Benjamin’s ennui resonated with a generation of filmgoers questioning their place in the world. This class looks at some of the key movies that emerged from the 1960s and became regarded as classics. This includes a breadth of films such as Bonnie and Clyde, In the Heat of the Night, Funny Girl, Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Easy Rider – movies about rebellion and non-conformity. This class also examines how Hollywood has looked back on the decade with movies such as Mississippi Burning and Forrest Gump. Clips will be shown along with a contextualized close analysis. While the movies are products of a particular time, many of their themes remain relevant today. Suggested reading: Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock ‘N’ Roll Generation Saved Hollywood, by Peter Biskind; Scenes from a Revolution: The Birth of New Hollywood, by Mark Harris. Tue 10:30-11:45a Oct 20 1 session Robert Hensley-King, see bio above. Classic TV Comedy Ready for a giggle, chortle, laugh, maybe even a guffaw? Let’s travel back to the early days of television when we laughed at Sid and Imogene, Groucho, Lucy, Uncle Miltie, and so many others. YouTube provides clips for our journey through the twentieth century: the ‘60s Carol Burnett, the ‘70s Bob Newhart, the ‘80s Cheers, and the ‘90s Seinfeld. Just a few of the shows whose funny bits you can enjoy again. We hope you get to see some of your favorites, so we can laugh and discuss. Session 1: The Early Years – let’s gather around the ten-inch television with our Swanson’s TV dinner and have some laughs. Session 2: More Twentieth Century Laughs – it’s time for Sam and Diane; Frasier and Niles; Murphy Brown; and yadda, yadda, yadda. *Note: day/time change. Tue 10:30-11:45a Oct 27 1 session Wed 1:00-2:15p Nov 11 1 session CL&L | 2020 Fall Semester | Course Descriptions | Page 2 Karen Valen, Executive assistant for nonprofit organizations, including the Robert Bowne Foundation, providing grants for NYC after-school and literacy programs; The After-School Corporation; and Phoenix House Foundation. Spent 10 years at Soros Fund Management/Open Society Foundation. Taught English and related courses at New Rochelle Academy and Pittsburgh area high schools. Volunteer usher at the Signature Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, York Theatre Company, Irish Rep, Atlantic, MTC, Second Stage, CSC. MA English, Carnegie Mellon Univ. Creative Writing Workshop This course is based on the belief that everyone can write interesting stories with the right encouragement and environment. A variety of prompts are given that offer room for interpretation. They will stimulate thought and heighten observation. We’ll read our work aloud and listen to each other in a non-judgmental atmosphere.