(This program is more of a concert than a class.) Ferde Grofe painted American landscapes with gorgeous musical notes. During this hour you will be enchanted with his musical descriptions of the Mississippi River, the Grand Canyon, and then marvel at his orchestrations of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” “ Porgy and Bess,” and much more.  Gershwin and Grofe: an amazing collaboration. This hour will delight you with orchestral invention and jazzy motifs.

Edouard Manet was a reluctant revolutionary. He had a traditional art education and admired the Old Masters but he developed a loose, painterly technique and preferred to paint genre scenes of everyday Parisian life. Although viewed as a trailblazer of the nascent Impressionist movement, he turned down invitations to exhibit in the seminal Impressionists' group shows. His final work "A Bar at the Folies Bergere" was shown at the Salon of 1882. This masterpiece marked Manet as a premier painter of modern life, following his own path to the end.

Edouard Manet was a reluctant revolutionary. He had a traditional art education and admired the Old Masters but he developed a loose, painterly technique and preferred to paint genre scenes of everyday Parisian life. Although viewed as a trailblazer of the nascent Impressionist movement, he turned down invitations to exhibit in the seminal Impressionists' group shows. His final work "A Bar at the Folies Bergere" was shown at the Salon of 1882. This masterpiece marked Manet as a premier painter of modern life, following his own path to the end.

“So you’re the little lady who started this great war!” said President Abraham Lincoln in the fall of 1862 when he finally met Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of the blockbuster antislavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. But Lincoln might just well have been talking to and about Harriet Tubman, the most famous conductor on America’s underground Railroad. Both women’s extraordinary activism advanced the fight against slavery and edged this country closer to Civil War.

In the second of four lectures on the sub-fields of philosophy we explore metaphysics, the study of reality. How do we know there is an external world? How do we know there are other people? Is the mind different from the brain? Does God exist?

In the second of four lectures on the sub-fields of philosophy we explore metaphysics, the study of reality. How do we know there is an external world? How do we know there are other people? Is the mind different from the brain? Does God exist?

Día de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead), the traditional Mexican holiday, celebrates friends and family members who have passed away and is recognized and observed internationally. This talk explores the many traditions associated with Día de Los Muertos, including the creation of altars, the making of special food, and the costumes and creative customs. Despite the skulls, it's not scary!

In a career of more than 40 years, Harry Warren wrote some of America’s best-known songs, including 21 number one hits on the “Hit Parade”. Warren’s career offers a chance to discuss how Hollywood introduced songs over time, including the studio system of the 1930s and 40s that relied on in-house composers such as Warren. We'll talk about the history of studios and showcase many great performances of Warren’s songs, including the song Chattanooga Choo Choo premiered in film by Glenn Miller.

Painters, butterfly collectors, Himalayan mountaineers - only a few of the descriptors of a rare breed of Victorian women travelers; tough women who traveled the globe usually traveled alone or with just one companion. Explore the backgrounds of five women: where they traveled, how they traveled, why they traveled - all in an era when "it just wasn't done" - but they did it!

The Potomac River, the dominant geological feature of Montgomery County, has also played a dominant role in American history. It was the first interstate waterway in North America, the spawning ground for the Constitution, and a protective barrier in the Civil War. To travelers today, it is a time tunnel to 250 million years of history. Join this class to see the Potomac in a new way!

Viewed by many as the worst decision ever by the United States Supreme Court, Plessy v. Ferguson helped establish Jim Crow segregation in the American South. But many who have heard of Plessy don't know the fascinating though tragic story behind the case. It's a story born in New Orleans of activist Afro-Creoles and includes complex yet heroic figures. In this talk, University of Maryland legal and constitutional historian Michael Ross will bring the story of Plessy to life, while also explaining the decision's deleterious impact on American law and race relations.

Viewed by many as the worst decision ever by the United States Supreme Court, Plessy v. Ferguson helped establish Jim Crow segregation in the American South. But many who have heard of Plessy don't know the fascinating though tragic story behind the case. It's a story born in New Orleans of activist Afro-Creoles and includes complex yet heroic figures. In this talk, University of Maryland legal and constitutional historian Michael Ross will bring the story of Plessy to life, while also explaining the decision's deleterious impact on American law and race relations.

Learn how to fill your cart and plan your menu to support a healthy immune system and reduce your risk for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. We'll cover ways to reduce salt, fat, and sugar as well as the food fighters you should be including for long term wellness.

It is again World Series time - held every year but two since 1903! We'll review memorable moments from past series - great plays, surprise stars, game-ending home runs and errors, legends and myths, and share your memories and recollections. It’s time to say "Play Ball!!"

In the jewel-like mosaics of Ravenna, the dazzling domed interior of Hagia Sophia, the penetrating stare of holy figures in Orthodox icons, we come face-to-face with the visual splendor and spiritual power of Byzantine art. Created in the thousand-year period between 330 and the conquest of the Byzantine capital Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks in 1453, Byzantine art transformed Roman classical traditions. The human figure lost its corporeality. The church building itself was a microcosm of the universe. Byzantine art lives on in the art and architecture of Eastern Orthodox Christianity.

Against extraordinary political pressure both at home and around the world, Harry Truman was a staunch ally of Zionists hoping to establish a homeland in 1948. This lecture goes behind the scenes based on years of interviews with former aides to Truman and former Israeli officials, and extensive archival research. What emerges is a fascinating story of politics, the creation of Israel, and moral courage.