Courses - Spring 2008

Controversial Issues in the European Union
Decision making in the European Union can be extremely difficult because of the continuing need to reconcile conflicting national interests. This course will examine in successive weeks the background, the protagonists, and the present status of four recent controversial issues: the EU constitution, now the reform treaty; the Lisbon agenda; enlargement (especially Turkey ); and a Common Foreign and Security Policy. A common concern will be the importance of these issues for US-European relations.

Faculty: Professor Emeritus Karl H. Cerny, Department of Government
Location: Maguire Room 103
Four Sessions
February 22 & 29 and March 14 & 28
Fridays, 10:10AM-11:40AM

Economics of the 2008 Presidential Election
The lead up to the next presidential election is already underway. There are basically two topics to be covered: the major economic problems facing the electorate in the near and far term and the programs proposed by the major candidates. Already it is clear that the two are not the same in emphasis or even in coverage. Examples of problems or issues might include taxes, the budget deficit, health care, covering the cost of the war in Iraq , wages and income distribution, the housing market and the value of the dollar. Involved in the programs are issues such as the role of supply side economics and the proper role of government. Finally, we will briefly look at the state of the economy in predicting a winner.

We will spend about two sessions on each topic. No economics background is assumed, just a layman’s knowledge of current affairs and issues.

Faculty: Retired Associate Professor Bradley Billings, Department of Economics
Location: 3307 M Street, NW
Four Sessions
April 1, 8, 15 & 22
Tuesdays, 10:15AM-11:45AM

Evolution of the Medieval Gothic Cathedral
*Canceled
Consideration of the origins of the takeover by the Catholic Church of Roman basilicas and the administrations of the abandoned counties. Thereupon a short discussion of the architecture of the basilical, romanesque, and finally gothic structures. At the end, a field trip to the National Cathedral with an extended tour.

Fabulous Fakes
An historical examination of some of the most notorious and interesting literary forgeries and fakes since the invention of printing. Participants will be able to examine actual forged books and documents from Dr.Betz’s personal collection and those of the Georgetown University Library’s Special Collections. Dr. Paul Betz, an eminent Wordsworth and Romantic Literature scholar, has just retired from the GU faculty, and Joseph Jeffs, retired as Director of the GU Library in 1990, has operated an Internet Antiquarian book business since then.

Faculty: Professor Emeritus Paul Betz, Department of English and Mr. Joseph Jeffs, Retired Georgetown University Librarian
Location: March 4: Philodemic Room, Healy Hall
March 11 and 18: Durbin Room, Lauinger Library
Three Sessions
March 4, 11, 18
Tuesdays, 1:30-3:00PM

Goethe's Faust
"Goethe is generally recognized as the greatest German of all time, and Faust as his most important work." Thus begins the introduction to the superb English translation by Walter Kaufmann. In Faust Goethe established a new genre, a complex world theater that had few successors of equal stature but it inspired a great deal of literature and music.

So that we can right away start reading the English translation of Faust, Part I course participants are requested to obtain the side-by-side edition of Goethe's Faust, The Original German and a New Translation and Introduction by Walter Kaufman (available from amazon.com) and read the introduction before we meet for the first time. As we read aloud the English translation those who know German can, of course, follow the original text. We will discuss the work as we progress and supplement it with additional material.

Faculty: Assistant Professor Emeritus Barbara Harding, School of Foreign Service
Location: Clarendon Campus
Four Sessions
January 16, 23, 30 & February 6
Wednesdays: 11:00AM-12:30PM

Important Issues for All Americans-- A Facilitated Dialogue
Freedom of Speech…is it too costly? Capital Punishment...right or wrong? This course will explore these issues with an experienced facilitator/moderator. Participants will learn from student's diverse perspectives in a non-threatening, yet dynamic environment.

Faculty: Cynthia Walsh, Instructor Emerita, English as a Foreign Language Program
Location: White-Gravenor G 01
Four Sessions
February 27, March 5, 12 & 19
Wednesdays: 2:15PM-3:45PM

Population Aging: the U.S. in a Global Perspective
Population aging (PA) has profound implications for individual and family life and for domestic and foreign affairs. The causes and extent of PA will be reviewed, but most attention will be devoted to the social, economic, and political impact of PA. A particular focus will be placed on the issue of how the U.S. and other countries can deal with the growing cost of retirement and health care resulting from the rise in the share of the elderly in the population. Be prepared to discuss how you think we should deal with the anticipated great increases in the cost of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

Faculty: Professor Emeritus Murray Gendell, Department of Sociology
Location: 3307 M Street, NW
Three Sessions
February, 27, March 5 & 12
Wednesdays: 11:00AM-12:30PM

Social Services in Austria
If you are interested in how a small country manages universal health insurance for everybody, then you might want to come to this class. The course will cover the various health services available including child care, as well as pensions, welfare and related topics, and how these services are financed. We will also discuss the pros and cons of this system.

Faculty: Associate Professor Emeritus Alfred Obernberger, Department of German
Location: MaguireClassroom 101
Four Sessions
March 14, 28 & April 4 & 11
Fridays: 1:15-2:45PM

Some Views on Darwinism and Religion
Three sessions will each consider one of three recent short books that provide contrasting interpretations of the relationship between evolutionary science and traditional religion. [Participants do not need to have read any of these books.] In Darwin’s Gift (2007) Francisco J. Ayala (a leading evolutionary biologist and former Catholic priest) holds that science and religious beliefs “cannot be in contradiction since science and religion concern different matters.” In Living with Darwin. (2007) philosopher Philip Kitcher claims that evolutionary science undermines "supernaturalism and providentialism" but does not provide "routes along which lives can find significance." In Evolution for Everyone (2007), evolutionist David Sloan Wilson states that evolution and religion can be brought "harmoniously" together, and that everyone can, and should, learn the basic principles of evolution. The last session will compare the three books, and also consider a few relevant poems.

Faculty: Professor Emeritus Joseph E. Earley, Department of Chemistry
Location: ICCClassroom 214
Four Sessions
February 28, March 6, 13, & 27
Thursdays: 1:15-2:45PM

The United States and Iran : A Historical Perspective
The course examines the economic, strategic, political and economic factors that have influenced the critical relationship between Iran and America from the mid-twentieth century to the present.

Faculty: Professor Emeritus John D. Ruedy, Department of History Location: New NorthClassroom 412
Two Sessions
February 13 & 20
Wednesdays: 11:10AM-12:40PM

Three Pivotal Monuments in the History of Western Art
Greek Temple, Roman Tomb, Renaissance Vault: This class will examine in detail the decorative programs of three art masterpieces, each a thousand years apart. Two of them are scarcely known to the art loving public. The first is well known: the Parthenon in Athens , 447-432 BC. The second is in Spain at Centcelles, near Tarragonna, and is the Mausoleum of Emperor Constans I, son of Constantine the Great, and dated to 350 AD. The tomb’s decoration is one of the first major Roman imperial monuments to combine classical and judeo-christian imagery in a remarkable and thrilling synthesis. The third monument is a ceiling vault in the Palazzo della Cancelleria, dated to 1520 AD. The design is attributed to Raphael, but it is his pupils who execute it in the year of his death. Sponsored by Cardinal Raffaelle Riario and then by Cardinal Giulio de Medici, the vault attempts to imitate Emperor Nero’s Volta Dorata (Room of the Golden Vault) located in the framed Golden House in Rome which had just been discovered and excavated in the 1490s and 1500s. The vault presents the Renaissance belief that antiquity and Christianity contained complimentary ideas which could be expressed in art through daring and polyvalent iconography.

Faculty: Professor Thomas W. Hardy (Georgetown AB,1964), N. Virginia Community College, Annandale Campus, Departments of English and Art
Location: ICCClassroom 108
Three Sessions
February 22 & 29 and March 7
Fridays, 1:15-2:45PM