Winter 2026 Courses & Registration
Course registration opens on Wednesday, December 3!
Please note the new ways to register for classes:
Online
By phone (707) 664-4246 (Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.)
In-person at the Course Preview event on January 14 or by appointment
TUESDAYS
Paving the Road to Disaster: Vietnam Before LBJ
Instructor: Mick Chantler
When: January 27 - March 3 | 10 a.m.-12 p.m.
Location: Stevenson 1300 & Hyflex | $90
Most Americans place the lion’s share of the blame for the Vietnam catastrophe on President Lyndon Johnson, since he escalated what had previously been a low level conflict into a full-blown war. This is an accurate assessment as far as it goes. But increasingly, historians are emphasizing that LBJ’s predecessors set the table for his dramatic deepening of our involvement in the tragedy of Vietnam. Harry Truman, Eisenhower, and JFK all upped the ante by steadily raising the stakes in Southeast Asia. In so doing, these three presidents made it much easier—perhaps made it almost inevitable—that Johnson would plunge fully into the quagmire beginning in the spring of 1965. This course will delve into the crucial decisions made by Truman, Ike, and Kennedy which led to our nation’s worst foreign policy debacle of the twentieth century.
Everyday AI: Discovering What It Can do for You
Instructor: Emily Acosta Lewis
When: January 27 - March 3 | 1:30-3:30 p.m.
Location: Stevenson 1300 & Hyflex | $90
Curious about artificial intelligence but unsure where to start? This course is your warm, welcoming introduction to the world of AI and how it can actually help you every day. Have you ever asked Alexa for the weather, let Google Maps guide you, or received a Netflix suggestion? Then you're already using AI! This friendly, hands-on course is designed especially for those who want to better understand this powerful technology and use it to simplify life, spark creativity, and stay connected. AI is more accessible (and less intimidating) than you might think.
Together, we’ll demystify AI, explore easy-to-use tools, and build your confidence using tech in practical, meaningful ways. No prior tech experience required—just bring your curiosity!
WEDNESDAYS
Born of Dust: Creation Myths
Instructor: Douglas Kenning
When: January 28 - March 4 | 10 a.m.-12 p.m.
Location: Salazar 1027 (in person only) | $90
The world arose as a thought, or as a dream, or as dismemberment, or because a lonely deity wanted companionship. Or perhaps in the beginning was the Word, or was a muddy mound arising from floodwaters, or was eternal salt water contesting with fresh, or was born from Chaos and will return to Chaos. Perhaps the beginning was a Cosmic Egg, or first light was sparked by the cackle of a goose. Every culture had creation myths, but we will limit ourselves to myths of the Western heritage—Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Hebrew, Canaanite, Greco-Roman, and scientific—our civilization’s imaginative flights of understanding how the world happened.
The Everlasting Renaissance Part 2
Instructor: Heidi Chretien
When: January 28 - March 4 | 1:30-3:30 p.m.
Location: Stevenson 1300 & Hyflex | $90
The Renaissance may have begun in Florence, but it was not confined there and was certainly not alone in its admiration and rediscovery of the Classical world and the importance of the philosophy of Humanism. This class is an extension of The Everlasting Renaissance taught in Winter 2025, but is its own stand-alone class, meaning that it is not necessary to have taken part 1. In this class, we will explore how ideas and the arts that were first developed in Florence migrated and were modified to suit the needs and visual culture of other cities on the Italian peninsula. Careful examination will be given to the Republic of Venice, to Rome of the Papacy and to the smaller, aristocratic city states of Mantua, Ferrara, Urbino, and Naples during the 15th and 16th centuries.
THURSDAYS
How to take back our Democracy
Instructor: Richard Hertz
When: January 29 - March 5 | 10 a.m.-12 p.m.
Location: Stevenson 1101 & Hyflex | $90
Though it may seem unlikely, we the people have the power to reclaim our democracy from self-dealing, partisan and special interests. Meaningful political reform must be citizen driven as lawmakers will not reform themselves. We’ll discuss specific steps individuals can take to get more involved in public decision-making, from expanding the criteria we use for casting our votes, to becoming actively more engaged and involved in other ways. If you’re tired of special interest-driven government, voters need to know who the biggest contributors are to those on their ballots. You’ll learn how to follow the money in politics and much more. There are many ways individuals can help make a difference and that’s exactly what this course is about.
The Historical Roots of Trumpism
Instructor: Jim Pedgrift
When: January 29 - February 12 | 1:30-3:30 p.m. | *3-week course
Location: Stevenson 1300 & Hyflex | $60
This course will NOT discuss the policies of the Trump Administration. The phenomena that motivate this course are that Trump has run for the presidency three times, received the second-highest vote count ever recorded, was reelected after felony convictions, and never lost public support—Trump’s political popularity results from converging historical trends that predate Trump by at least a half-century. Trump appeared to enter the political arena with no political experience. Still, the coalition of voters who put him into office are the culmination of sentiments and movements dating back, in some cases, to George Washington. Trump’s success reflects the current American political sentiment and its historic roots.
Writing Our Lives with AI: Memoir, Meaning & Machine
Instructor: Kyle Falbo
When: February 19 - March 5 | 1:30-3:30 p.m. | *3-week course
Location: Stevenson 1300 & Hyflex | $60
How can artificial intelligence help us tell the stories that matter most? In this three-week course, you’ll explore how AI can support personal reflection and creative memory-keeping through an interactive tool designed specifically for memoir writing. Together we’ll demystify the basics of AI—what it is, how it works—and then focus on a custom AI that gently guides students in writing their life stories through meaningful questions about family, work, values, and change. This is not a course about becoming tech-savvy, it's about becoming story-savvy with a compassionate machine partner. No experience with AI is required, just a curiosity to reflect and share. A unique offering for those interested in legacy, self-discovery, and the future of storytelling.
FRIDAYS
Art Nouveau, Modernismo and the Vienna Secession
Instructor: Anne-Louise Dierkes
When: January 30 - March 6 | 10 a.m.-12 p.m.
Location: Stevenson 1101 & Hyflex | $90
This course will introduce students to the great masterpieces of the Art Nouveau style from across Europe, examining both its earliest appearances in Brussels and Paris, as well as its unique national character in Spain (Modernismo) and Austria (the Vienna Secession). In addition to an exploration of the style's innovations in architecture and design, we'll discuss the best-known compositions by Art Nouveau-related painters and printmakers, including works by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Gustav Klimt. Numerous themes connected to late 19th-century modernism—from the development of the Métro to the often bawdy forms of popular entertainment that expressed a turn-of-the-century malaise—will be considered to provide a context for this "new art" of the 1890s.
Geologic Evaluation of North American with a Focus on the US National Parks
Instructor: Nicole Myers
When: January 30 - March 6 | 1:30-3:30 p.m.
Location: Stevenson 1300 & Hyflex | $90
The continent of North America has evolved for more than 4 billion years, ultimately creating our beautiful landscapes, many of which have been preserved as National Parks. The rocks and landscapes record the geologic & climactic history of the parks and the continent as a whole. Geologists have investigated the processes that form these geologic wonders to help us understand the timeline of planetary formation, the slow growth of North America, and the development of landforms. We will explore the landscape of North America through the lens of the best preserved lands in the United States, our National Parks. Learn how these natural wonders came to be & how they will continue to change before our eyes