Course Descriptions

Ekphrastic Poetry:

• Explanation, description and characteristics of ekphrastic poetry.

Ekphrastic poetry–an aspect of the Greek’s study of rhetorical skills.

• The word ekphrasis, or ecphrasis, comes from the Greek for the written description of a work of art produced as a rhetorical or literary exercise. The Greeks used Ekphrastic poetry as a means to develop and practice rhetorical skills

Overview of various forms of poetry:

• Elements of poetry (such as: meter, rhyme, scheme, verse,stanza)

• Poetic devices (such as: anaphora, alliteration, enjambment, caesura)

• Characteristics of poetry (such as: universal themes, from oral tradition to written)

Analysis of examples of ekphrastic poems and the art which inspired them,

• "Ode on a Grecian Urn," by John Keats

• "Starry Nights" by Anne Sexton

• "In the Musee' des Beaux Arts" by W.H. Auden

• "The Shield of Achilles" from Homer's *Iliad*

*We will examine the following works of art, as examples to inspire us to write ekphrastic poetry:

• “The Blue Marble” photograph

• Raphael’s “The School of Athens"

• Rembrandt’s “The Storm on the Sea of Galilee

• Rembrandt’s “Return of the Prodigal Son.” 

A group trip to the NC Museum of Art, and/or Nasher Museum of Art, as one or more of the class sessions

This is a particularly enriched course offering, as we will be learning and analyzing both: works of visual art and poetry—and their connection within the context of ekphrastic poetry.

What students will learn and take away from this course:

•  By reflecting on works of art, students will develop skill in imagining the story or the action of a work of art, and then translating that into a narrative, in the form of poetry.

• In doing this, students will expand, amplify and embellish the meaning and interpretation of (works of) art. 

• Students will develop rhetorical skill by recitation of ekphrastic poetry.

• Regarding reflecting on works of art, students will develop, or rediscover their, imagination skills.

• Students will learn the elements, characteristics and techniques of poetry.

• Students will spontaneously seek to write ekphrastic poetry in response to any work(s) of art which so captivates their imagination.

Historical (with cultural context) timeline of math developments.

Key mathematicians, (examples: Pythagoras, Galileo, Gauss, Faraday, Newton), and their contributions. 

Brief description of types of math, including algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus, linear algebra, differential equations, number theory, statistics, chaos theory,  etc)

Overview of different types of numbers: integers, rational numbers, irrational numbers, transcendental numbers, dimensionless numbers, mathematical constants such as:  natural log base e, pi, golden ratio, Euler's constant.

Applications of math: many examples here: https://mathigon.org/applications

Description of Euclid's book, The Elements and its place in the historical curriculum. 

Platonic solids

The Pythagorean Theorem, including algebraic and  geometric (visual) proof.

Galileo's work on gravity / falling bodies: a video of dropping a bowling ball and a golf ball from a tower at the same time; and video of Neil Armstrong dropping hammer and feather on the moon, proving Galileo was right and Aristotle was wrong.

Interesting facts about math and science such as:  Leonardo DaVinci and Pres James A. Garfield, the 20th POTUS, developed geometric proofs of the Pythagorean Theorem.  Also, the discoverer of the Big Bang theory was a Roman Catholic priest named George Lemaitre.

Fibonacci numbers in nature / botany

Fractals in nature-- examples:  pine cones, romanesco broccoli, succulents, ice & snow, tree branches, copper crystals, leaf veins, rivers, foam.

Consider the philosophical question, and maybe have a formal debate on:  "Is there an inherent mathematical nature to reality? Or is mathematics all in our heads?"  Do we discover mathematics (that's already there?) or do we invent it?

Regarding this topic, the presenter has preeminent personal and professional medical credentials, however this will not be clinical, nor will there be politicization of the topic.  

The course will be a historical and cultural overview of Gender Variance--both ancient and contemporary.

Famous contemporary gender variant persons: such as Renee Richards, of Second Serve, photo of Christine Jorgenson deplaning from Denmark 1952, Billy Tipton, Alan L. Hart, etc.

Books reviewed include:  Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Conundrum by Jan Morris

What is a memoir?

History of memoir:

• Examples: Augustine's Confessions, Julius Caesar Commentaries on the Gallic Wars. and Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

We will analyze and discuss examples of memoir

We will learn techniques for writing memoir, for example: begin in medias res, and “show don’t tell”

We will write memoir and share in class

Participants will receive a complimentary copy of Hestia's House, a literary memoir.

We will see the distinguishing characteristics / features of each genre

We will review clips of films and discuss

We will examine other critical analysis / reviews of selected film

We will view and analyze the following films:

• Film Noir: Double Indemnity, Out of the Past, The Big Sleep

• Orson Welles:  The Third Man, Citizen Kane

• Science Fiction: 2001: A Space Odyssey, Forbidden Planet

• Westerns:  Stagecoach, The Searchers

We will look at “Gilgamesh,” which is the oldest myth

We will see how mythologies relate to the culture’s religion

How do planes fly?  Intro to the Bernoulli principle 

Very long list of “firsts” in flight

The poem ‘High Flight’ by John Gillespie Maggee Jr

Field trip to RDU Observation Park