Spring 2026 Courses & Registration
Course registration opens Wednesday, March 4 and closes March 27
Register Online (instructions for new process here)
By Phone: (707) 664-4246
In-person: SSU Student Center Desk, 1st floor (by appointment, please call number above)
Join us for the Spring 2026 Course Preview event on March 11 from 10 a.m.-12 p.m.
Doors open at 9 a.m., coffee and light refreshments will be served
RSVP for Course Preview here
TUESDAYS
Feuding Icons: How the Founding Fathers Build a Nation by Quarreling
Instructor: Mick Chantler
When: April 7 - May 12 | 10 a.m.-12 p.m.
Location: Stevenson 1300 & Hyflex | $90
Leaders of the early American Republic were a contentious lot. They argued endlessly about philosophy, religion, slavery, and politics. Gleefully they attacked one another with vitriolic rhetoric which rivals our current political invective. It is fortunate our young nation survived its first two decades. Surprisingly, though, out of this bubbling cauldron of bitter animosity, an unexpected understanding emerged: we can live together, even if we often don't see eye to eye or even like our fellow countrymen. This was a radical breakthrough in people's thinking about politics. We agreed to disagree, a principle that has served us well until the rise of today's culture of extremism. In this course we will trace the development of this surprising conclusion.
All Roads Lead to Rome: 2500 Years of Art in the Eternal City
Instructor: Lynn Ostling
When: April 7 - May 12 | 1:30-3:30 p.m.
Location: Stevenson 1300 & Hyflex | $90
Whether you’ve visited Rome once, twice, many times or never, there’s always more to discover in this fascinating city that has endured for over 2700 years. Join art historian Lynn Ostling for a grand tour of monuments, museums, oddities and hidden gems showcasing art from the eternal city’s earliest times to the present. We’ll view Etruscan and ancient Greek masterpieces, visit the Pantheon, the catacombs, and the Park of the Aqueducts, learn more about Raphael, Michelangelo, Bernini, and Caravaggio—we may even take a couple of “field trips” to places outside of Rome such as Ostia Antica and Tivoli. No hotel or restaurant recommendations, just lots of opportunities to learn more about Rome’s rich banquet of art throughout history.
WEDNESDAYS
Global Romantic Revolutions: A Call to Feeling & a Call to Action
Instructor: Anthony Rizzuto
When: April 1 - May 16 | 1:30-3:30 p.m.
Location: Stevenson 1300 & Hyflex | $90
This course takes us on a wild ride through the global Romantic movements that took the world by storm in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. These movements were global in two senses: first, they moved across the world (especially Europe and the Americas but also Asia); second, they touched nearly all human expression, including the artistic, social, political, philosophical, economic, and even religious. We will consider all of that sparkling context while paying particular attention to the literary explosions in Germany, Britain, France, and the Americas. We will consider the deep historical roots of Romanticism; we'll thrill at its grand performances, its refusals and its loves; and we will see the many ways it continues to move us today.
Ai Weiwei: Rebel with a Cause
Instructor: Linda Reid
When: April 8 | 10 a.m.-12 p.m. | Single, 2-hour course
Location: Stevenson 1400 & Hyflex | $25
Ai Weiwei is a Chinese artist, a steadfast advocate for free expression and a moral compass for us all. At almost 70, Weiwei has produced art that is the voice of the people. Yes, he co-designed the Bird’s Nest for the Beijing Olympics. Yes, 1,600 Chinese artisans made 100 million sunflower seeds. Yes, this is the artist with the amazing sculptures on Alcatraz. Yes, he dropped a Chinese Ming Vase. Yes, he was in Chinese prison. Yes, he used Legos for a reinterpretation of Monet’s Water Lilies. Worldwide, this is a beloved and brave artist who many say is the voice for our times and a guardian of our future.
Introduction to Eco-Feminism
Instructor: Emily Ray
When: April 22 - May 6 | 10 a.m-12 p.m. | 3-week course
Location: Stevenson 1400 & Hyflex | $60
Ecofeminism is a social theory that links feminism to environmentalism, and sees the forces of domination that oppress women are the same that oppress the environment and more-than-human life. Addressing one requires addressing the other. This course will examine the key ideas within ecofeminist thought and examples of its application in politics.
THURSDAYS
Fifty Years of San Francisco Jazz 1916-66
Instructor: Dave Radlauer
When: April 2 - May 7 | 10 a.m.-12 p.m.
Location: Stevenson 1101 & Hyflex | $90
San Francisco music and entertainment embraced individuality, innovation, and novelty. Early jazz flourished in the bawdy Barbary Coast quarter. Lu Watters launched a worldwide musical rebellion reviving early jazz style. Asian singers, dancers, and entertainers found liberty in San Francisco’s ethnic nightclubs. The Fillmore district was known as “Harlem of the West,” a dynamic jazz quarter. Oakland and the East Bay were a nexus for the West Coast Blues. North Beach nightlife became a world-class entertainment destination while the innovative Jazz Casual television series featured the greatest names in jazz. Each class offers interpretation of a dozen or more audiovisual clips, many created expressly for the course. Digital class handouts provide detailed playlists and link menus for further exploration.
Futurism and Other Isms: Art of Early 20th Century Europe
Instructors: Heidi Chretien and Charlie Goldberg
When: April 2 - May 7 | 1:30-3:30 p.m.
Location: Stevenson 1300 & Hyflex | $90
The early 20th century in Europe was a period of rapid economic change, devastating warfare, growing nationalist sentiments, and psychological alienation, all of which were acutely reflected in the many developing artistic movements of the period from approximately 1890-1940. We will examine both positive and negative reactions; Futurism in Italy and its connection to the rise of fascism; Cubism and Fauvism in France with its delight in new, vibrant color pigments; Constructivism in Russia with mechanical inventions; Expressionism in Germany; and Dada and Surrealism that responded to the horrors of WWI and the absurdity of the emerging 20th century.
FRIDAYS
Ancient Greece: The Making of Western Civilization
Instructor: Douglas Kenning
When: April 3 - May 8 | 10 a.m.-12 p.m.
Location: Stevenson 1300 & Hyflex | $90
Most of us know of the gifts of Ancient Greece, which include our understandings of democracy, politics, citizenship, philosophy, heaven, beauty, classicism, poetry, sculpture, history, drama, organized sports, etc. Few, however, have a comprehensive picture of how all these things wove together into “the Golden Age of Western Civilization.” We will look at Greek history and society from Homer to the fall of Athens, consulting Hesiod, Sappho, Herodotus, Thucydides, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, Socrates, Plato, Draco, Solon, Pericles, Phidias, Myron, Praxiteles, and others, and engage all aspects of ancient Greek society, thought, and art, with a tapestry of beautiful images.
Women in Rock: The First 25 years
Instructor: Richie Unterberger
When: April 3 - May 8 | 1:30-3:30 p.m.
Location: Stevenson 1300 & Hyflex | $90
Women in Rock: The First 25 Years documents the history of women’s contributions to rock music from the late 1950s to the early 1980s. Using both common and rare recordings and video clips, the course will cover women performers from rockabilly and girl groups through soul, the British Invasion, psychedelia, the singer-songwriter movement, and punk/new wave. It will also discuss women’s behind-the-scenes roles in songwriting, production, and rock journalism, as well as how the changing roles of women in society were reflected in how they sang, wrote, and recorded.