We are really excited to have six new courses being taught this summer! If you would like to sign up, please call our office at (435) 797-0423 or (800) 538-2663
Course Title: 651 - The Mormon Trail and Western Expansion
Instructor: Bruce Roghaar
Date and Time:June 16-20, 2008 / 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Cost:TBA
Course Description:
The overland immigration of thousands of Americans is one of the great sagas in United States History. In the four decades previous to the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 - the acknowledged event signaling the need of the primacy of wagon travel - thousands of immigrants founded and followed trails linking the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and opening vast expanses of the United States, her territories and resources for expansion and settlement. The travelers immigrated for a number of reasons: adventure and exploration, a new beginning, prosperity and wealth, peace and religious sanctuary. The "Mormon Exodus," or western movement of thousands of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints beginning in 1846 and the development of the "Mormon Trail" was part of that story. This class will look at the story and significance of the Mormon Trail against the backdrop of other contemporary trails and migration. For many years Utah was a crossroads for many of the western trails and today the Utah State campus is in close proximity to a number of interesting historic sites. This class will take advantage of this and following three class periods of preparation, will include the opportunity for an on-site field trip experience.
Instructor Biography: H. Bruce Roghaar did undergraduate studies in history and anthropology/archaeology and completed a PhD in sociology with an emphasis on the sociology of religion and family studies. He has taught religion courses for more than 30 years. He has enjoyed visiting and associating with many of the diverse religious cultures about which he teaches.
Course Title: 745 - The Bucket List: a rationale and process for considering forgiveness as a place to visit.
Instructor: The Rev. Bude Van Dyke, D.Min
Date and Time: July 21-25 (No Class Thursday July 24 in observance of Pioneer Day) / 1:00-2:30pm
Cost: $35
Course Description: The recent film with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman popularizes the notion of determining places to visit, things to do, and people to meet before the end of life. The notion of forgiveness and its healing benefit is as old as time itself. But knowing something is good for us and doing it are two different things. We will explore the nine common myths about forgiveness that tend to convince us to maintain the status quo instead of taking the risk of real forgiveness. Hopefully, as we crack open these myths, we can discover a way to inhabit reconciliation in ourselves, in our families, in our communities, and in the world.
Instructor Biography: Bude Van Dyke is an Episcopal Priest living in Sewanee, Tennessee. He serves as a School Chaplain and seminary Spiritual Director. He has served as a chaplain to the unit that houses HIV positive inmates in Alabama, and, prior to his call to the ministry, was shot by the 17 year-old son of the dealer while assisting on a drug bust in North Alabama. Bude's approach to forgiveness is formed in the tension between the theoretical and the experiential.
Course Title: 748 - Religion without the Sticks and Stones and Broken Bones: a practical and non-judgmental framework for studying any religion or cumulative tradition.
Instructor: The Rev. Bude Van Dyke, D. Min.
Date and Time: July 28-August 1, 2008 / 11:30am-1:00pm
Cost: $35
Course Description: If the events of the last 7 years have taught us anything, it has taught us that the welfare of the human race depends on our collective capacity to comprehend enough about the faith of others to enable us to respect them and they us. The Three Methods of Analysis is a process that has been utilized by many teachers of religion to help students respectfully explore and academically comprehend the major religions of the world. We will look at the two commonly understood Types of Faith (Moral and Ontological); the Four Basic Questions (that underlie all questions that religion seeks to answer); and the Five Categories that define a particular tradition's concepts about God, humanity. conflict, reconciliation, and how one's worship informs the way they makes decisions. We will study the model itself and use it to take a bird's eye look at Judaism.
Instructor Biography: ABude Van Dyke is an Episcopal Priest living in Sewanee, Tennessee. He serves as the School Chaplain and Religion and Ethics Instructor at St. Andrew's-Sewanee School, an Episcopal college preparatory school. He and his wife Pam also serve as Spiritual Directors for the School of Theology at Sewanee: the University of the South. Bude earned his Master of Divinity and Doctor of Divinity at the School of Theology.
Course Title: 751 - Your Memoir: Now's the Time
Instructor: Marilyn Anne Pate
Date and Time: July 14-18, 2008 / 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Cost: $35
Course Description: Write your life stories using dialogue, description and detail to create a treasure for your loved ones. Each life is unique and you are the only one who can preserve not only your stories but those of your parents and grandparents. If not written or recorded family stories are lost in three generations. Join us for a journey and an adventure into the past.
Instructor Biography: Marilyn Pate, a graduate of Sophia University, Tokyo, has taught elementary school and community college classes. She has written for magazines, newspapers and Chicken Soup books while starting and mentoring memoir writing groups for senior citizens. As author of Mary George, Her Book, which begins and ends in Cache County in the 1800"s, she has spoken to forums and writing groups about writing memoir and family history.
A native Arizonan, she lives in Green Valley, AZ where she is active in the writing life as president of the Santa Cruz Valley Chapter of the Society of Southwestern Authors.
Course Title: 754 - Shakespeare: An enjoyable and enlightening approach to the world's greatest playwright
Instructor: Kevin Dustin
Date and Time: July 7-11, 2008 / 11:00am-12:30pm
Cost: $35
Course Description: Ever seen dissent in a family? Yes, perhaps, but not like you'll see in this year's class. Last year's class voted to read and study King Lear. The class will spend a brief amount of time learning about Shakespeare's life and times. The vast majority of the class will focus on the play. Students should do their own advance work on Shakespeare to insure a better understanding of the work. Participants should obtain their own copy of the play in advance of class.
Instructor Biography: This is the 6th year of our study of the greatest playwright. Kevin Dustin is an Associate Athletics Director at Utah State University. He taught English literature, Shakespeare and advanced placement English for 14 years in the public school system. His Shakespeare class was one of the first classes ever taught over the Ednet system in Utah high schools. Kevin enjoys sports and reading and is married to Danene Dustin with whom he shares five children. This will be Kevin's third year teaching a Summer Citizens' course.
Course Title: 757 - Cuban-American Artists in Miami: The Journey from Exile to Transculturation and Beyond
Instructor: Dr. María de Jesús Cordero
Date and Time: July 21-25, 2008 3:30-5:00pm
Cost: $35
Course Description: In this course, we will explore the styles and themes which prevail in the art of Cubans who emigrated to Miami as adults whose life and work had already reached maturity on Cuban soil and those who have come to be known as the one-and-a-half generation because they came to the United States as children or adolescents. While exile is always experienced as a violence (a violent tearing away from homeland, social network, and language), studies have indicated that the experience is even more traumatic for child refugees because they have not fully formed their identities at the time of the rupture. For this reason, the art of this younger generation known today as La Vieja Guardia (the Old Guard, because many of them are now in their seventies and eighties) looks to the violent art of the Renaissance and Baroque periods (especially the art depicting the Passion of Christ) to convey the pain of exile. While much of the art produced by Cuban-Americans in Miami today continues in this vein, there is also a growing effort to transcend this suffering and offer a respite to the spectator. We will feature works created by newer Cuban-American artists either living in Miami or maintaining some connection to the Cuban-American enclave, among them Danny Ramírez, Juana Valdés, Juan "Ermán González", and Luisa Mesa.
Instructor Biography: Dr. María de Jesús Cordero is an Associate Professor of Spanish at Utah State University. Born in Matanzas, Cuba, she emigrated to the United States with her family ten years after the Revolution. She was raised in Chicago, where she graduated from Loyola University with a B.A. in Spanish and English. Dr. Cordero received an M.A. in Comparative Literature from New York University and a Ph.D. in Romance Languages and Literatures from Princeton University. Her areas of specialization include Spanish-American Colonial Literature and Caribbean Studies.
While on sabbatical in Miami in 2005, she became involved with the Diaspora Vibe Gallery: Incubator for Emerging Caribbean Artists and has begun to use her writing to help bring recognition to Caribbean artists whose work has long been misunderstood and excluded from mainstream art circles.