Special deal for Retired Faculty Association members, and guests
Retired Faculty (and guests) may sign up for a two-part Fall 2018 OLLI course being held over breakfast at the Mason Club (in the Pilot House), next to the Rappahanock Parking deck (a parking pass will be provided). The only cost for part 1 or part 2 (3 sessions each) is that for the three continental breakfasts ($30) of fruit, yogurt, granola, bagels and pastries, coffee, tea, and juice. Come and have your breakfast at 9:00 AM before the lectures begin at 9:30. In order to sign up, Mail a check to the OLLI registrar Shannon Morrow together with a completed registration form (below), no later than a week before each part begins — but they may fill up! OLLI can supply a parking pass if you do not have one. The description of each part of the course can be found at the end of this registration form.
Registration form for F90X Mason Faculty Club Series
Name: _________________________ E-mail: _________________________ Tel: _________________
Address: ______________________________________________________________________________
Emergency contact: ________________________ Phone________________ Relation: _________
Part 1 ____ Part 2 ____ Both parts ____ Need parking pass ____
Enclose a check for $30 or $60 made out to OLLI at George Mason University, and mail it with the above completed form to: OLLI at GMU, 4210 Roberts Rd., Fairfax, VA 22032-1028. Alternatively, you can register directly online either for part1 or part2.
If you have any questions contact Sharon Morrow at smorrow4@gmu.edu or 703-503-3384
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Mondays, 9:30–11:00, Sept. 17–Oct. 1
- Sept. 17: The French Wars of Religion. Mack Holt, professor of history at George Mason University. Dr. Holt received his PhD in history from Emory University and has taught at Harvard and Vanderbilt Universities. From 1998 to 2002 he was director of the honors program in general education at Mason, and he served as the department’s director of graduate studies from 2004 to 2010.
- Sept. 24: Military Enlightenment and the French Way of War. Christy Pichichero, associate professor of French and history, coordinator of college diversity and global education in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Mason. Dr. Pichichero is a literary scholar and cultural historian of early modern France (Renaissance through Napoleonic era). She received her BA from Princeton University (comparative literature), a BM from the Eastman School of Music (voice and opera), and her PhD from Stanford University (French studies). She has held fellowships at the Stanford Humanities Center, King’s College at the University of Cambridge, the École Normale Supérieure—rue d’Ulm, the Society of the Cincinnati, and the US Military Academy at West Point. Her book, The Military Enlightenment: War and Culture in the French Empire from Louis XIV to Napoleon, was published by Cornell University Press in 2017.
- Oct. 1: Total War and the Russian Campaign under Napoleon. Jack Censer earned his PhD at Johns Hopkins University and spent over 40 years at Mason, where he served as chair of the departments of history and art history and as dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. In retirement, he has continued his interest in revolutions.
Monday, 9:30-11:00, Oct. 15-29
- Oct. 15: Time and Time Again: Do the Classics Still Matter in Today’s Theater? Why do we continue to study and perform theatrical works from hundreds (or thousands) of years ago, written under radically different circumstances? Times have changed, and the politics, religion, social mores, gender roles, economies, and living conditions that Sophocles, Shakespeare, Calderón, Moliere, Ibsen, or Chekhov knew have morphed in some cases beyond recognition. Do we keep these old works alive just because they’re famous? Or is there another way in which the classic works of drama and opera remain vital to a changing world? This talk will examine a few cases of old works telling new stories and invite a discussion of the resonance of some theatrical classics in our world today. Rick Davis is dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts, professor of theater, and executive director of Hylton Performing Arts Center. Previously, Davis served as Mason’s associate provost for Undergraduate Education and artistic director of Theater of the First Amendment. Before coming to Mason in 1991, he was resident dramaturg and associate artistic director of Baltimore’s Center Stage, associate director and co-founder of the American Ibsen Theater in Pittsburgh and taught drama at Washington College. His four books include selected translations of Ibsen and Calderón de la Barca. Davis was educated at Lawrence University (BA) and the Yale School of Drama (MFA, DFA).
- Oct. 22: Authoritarian Regimes in Comparative and Historical Perspective: The Cases of Napoleonic France, Pre-WWII Japan, and Modern-Day Burma (Myanmar). After the fall of the Roman Empire, some areas, such as Spain, England, France, and Russia, were consolidated under kings. Kings were kings because their ancestors had been kings. By the 17th century, kings claimed much more authority through the theory of divine right or power passed from God. Napoleon broke this mold by crowning himself. His power came from his ability to subdue others by force of arms. In the domestic realm he exercised unprecedented authority. In the case of Japan, the lurch towards authoritarianism in the 1930s occurred as domestic and international crises pushed the political climate rightwards and created room for military leaders to work within existing institutions to suppress dissent at home and promote military aggression abroad. Myanmar’s path to authoritarianism occurred by way of a military coup and is largely a product of the constitutional constraints institutionalized by the military and the ongoing power that this constitution provides it. This kind of authoritarianism is difficult to defeat, and it is increasingly giving rise to “personalist dictatorship”—a particular brand of autocracy in which power is highly concentrated in the hands of an individual. Professor Emeritus Jack Censer earned his PhD at Johns Hopkins University and spent over 40 years at Mason, where he also served as chair of the department of History and Art History, and dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. In retirement, he has continued his interest in revolutions generally and has most recently authored, with Lynn Hunt, The French Revolution and Napoleon in Global Perspective. Brian Platt is associate professor of history in the department of History and Art History at Mason and is currently serving as department chair. He is a specialist in Japanese history, with a research focus on the 18th and 19th centuries. He received his PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1998 and is the author of Burning and Building: Schooling and State Formation in Japan, 1750-1890. John G. Dale is associate professor of sociology in the department of Sociology and Anthropology at Mason. He is also affiliate faculty of the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, and research affiliate of the Center for Social Science Research and the Institute for Immigration Research. He received his MA in sociology from the New School for Social Research and his PhD in sociology from the University of California, Davis. He is the author of Free Burma: Transnational Legal Action and Corporate Accountability and co-author (with Anthony Orum) of Political Sociology: Power and Participation in Modern World.
- Oct. 29: Reimagining American Policing: The Role of Research. Cynthia Lum will discuss how policing has changed but has also stayed the same since her time as a sworn officer, focusing on the important role that research has played in reimagining American policing. Lum is director of the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy and professor in the department of Criminology, Law and Society at Mason. She is a former Baltimore city police officer and detective who earned a PhD in criminology from the University of Maryland, an MS in criminology from the London School of Economics and a BA in political science and economics from the University of California, Los Angeles.