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This course will cover the entire history of Universal Studios including its early embrace of television, which turned the studio into a giant television production factory. We will discuss Carl Laemmle – an innovative pioneer who built the studio and was responsible for some of the early, ground-breaking decisions (including opening up to the public for tours). We will also talk about Lon Chaney – Universal’s first great star – and other big names in the silent era.

We will continue through the 1930s discussing some of the early “talkie” hits, including “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Dracula,” and “Frankenstein.” Although they were successful, poor decision-making led to Laemmle’s ouster. Into the 1940s and 1950s, lots of changes turned up some popular, memorable (and yes, campy) movies. The 1960's Universal was where Alfred Hitchcock ended his career and where Steven Spielberg's began, ushering in the modern era of the Movie Blockbuster. Universal's vast TV legacy (Columbo, Law and Order, etc.) remains a dominant factor in what we watch on streaming services today.

We will also look at the Universal conglomerate which includes, among other enterprises, the music business and the hugely popular Universal Studios Tours and Theme Parks.

Matthew Weisman received his MFA in Film from Columbia University School of the Arts where he also taught classes in Cinema Studies and directed the Cinematheque film program. His undergraduate degree in English is from Boston University. A professional screenwriter and producer, he taught Graduate Screenwriting at the USC School of Cinema for fifteen years. He is a retired member of The Writers Guild of America. He has taught several continuing education courses in film and television history and appreciation both online and in the classroom.

Fifty and Better was designed to offer university-level courses and lectures (no tests, no homework) taught by experts in the field, and to host social engagement activities for individuals age 50 and older.

CIMM will host a celebration and book launch on Saturday, February 4, 2023, for the new book Coyote Saves Hawk by local author and tribal elder Alan Salazar “Puchuk Yaʼiaʼc.”

Coyote Rescues Hawk is based on a Chumash story dating back at least 300 years. Mr. Salazar brings humor and insights from twenty-five years of experience in bringing back the traditional Chumash canoe culture to a tale sure to delight readers of all ages. Mr. Salazar will be on hand for storytelling and book signing, followed by time for questions and answers from the audience.

The illustrator of Coyote Rescues Hawk, Mona Lewis, will also offer a free earth pigment class, demonstrating how she made paint from local soil for the illustrations in the new book. Participants of all ages will learn to make natural earth paint and use it to paint their own pictures.

The event will take place on Saturday, February 4, 2023, from 1:00 pm until 4:00 pm. Guests will have the opportunity to meet Alan Salazar for storytelling from 1:00 pm until 2:30 pm and to also meet illustrator Mona Lewis for a natural paint class from 2:30 pm until 4:00 pm.

This event is family-friendly, appropriate for all ages, and free for the entire community.

Do not travel there now - there is danger, starvation, and horror. Yet, there remains fascination and fantasy: no country is more diverse, enigmatic and surprising. It is home to Lucy, “mother” of hominids, and to a Christianity 2000 years in the making (with the Ark of the Covenant and churches hewed into rock downwards). Amid 70% of Africa’s mountains, the source of The Blue Nile lays to the west; from beneath the surface of the earth (Danakil Depression), massive lakes of molten lava lay to the east. Beyond Addis Ababa’s skyscrapers, concentrations of unique flora (coffee’s origin) and fauna (profusion of primitive tribes) beckon. The only African country never colonized, its recent history is stunning, eruptive, and tragic. From the murder of Haile Selassie (worshipped by Rastafarians) to civil war today, few places have comingled so much change, hope and despair. As traveler, not expert, permit me introduce you to Ethiopia.

Dr. Herbert Gooch is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at California Lutheran University. He formerly served as Director of the Masters in Public Policy and Administration program and Assistant Provost for Graduate Studies at Cal Lutheran. A graduate of U.C. Berkeley in History, he holds a M.B.A in Management and both masters and doctoral degrees in Political Science from UCLA. He has written extensively and is a frequent commentator on political affairs locally and statewide. He has been at Cal Lutheran since 1987 and lives in Newbury Park with his wife. His interests include politics, film and travel.

Fifty and Better was designed to offer university-level courses and lectures (no tests, no homework) taught by experts in the field, and to host social engagement activities for individuals age 50 and older.

In this course, we will trace the roles of women in country music’s first half century, from its first interpreters in the 1920s to the 1970s.
Week 1: The 1920s & ‘30s
Women tentatively began making country records in 1924 with solo artists Roba Stanley and cowgirl singer Billie Maxwell leading the way. Others followed, although most supported male partners, including Moonshine Kate, Adelyne Hood, and Zora Layman.
Week 2: The Carter Family
Country music’s first family has featured three generations of female performers, beginning with pioneers Maybelle and Sara Carter, then Maybelle’s daughters: June, Helen, & Anita, and finally, Rosanne Cash and Carlene Carter.
Week 3: The Radio Programs
Female country performers became popular through their appearances on national radio programs like the Grand Ole Opry and the National Barn Dance in the 1930s and ‘40s. We’ll look at pioneering women artists and groups like Linda Parker, the Three Little Maids, The DeZurik Sisters, Cousin Emmy, Molly O’Day, and Kitty Wells.
Week 4: The Cowgirls
Women became more acceptable to audiences as solo performers when they donned leather fringe and ten-gallon hats. This class focuses on girl singers in western swing bands like Laura Lee Owens, Carolina Cotton, and Patsy Montana as well as songwriter Cindy Walker.
Week 5: Rockabilly Women
Women began asserting their equality in the 1950s with a series of rambunctious rockabilly singers like Wanda Jackson, Janis Martin, Lorrie Collins, and a young Patsy Cline.
Week 6: The Nashville Sound & the Outlaw Movement
Women begin to match men in record sales in the 1960s with artists like Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, and Connie Smith. In the 1970s, women joined their male counterparts in rebelling against Nashville’s curls-and-gingham image by becoming more assertive in their image, with Jessi Colter, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt combining country with other popular music forms.

Cary Ginell is a Grammy-nominated writer and author of 12 books on American music. After a 30-year career in radio, he has spent the last 20 years as a public speaker, talking about music in classrooms, at conferences, and on cruise ships. Cary brings a lifelong passion for the recording industry to his work and is one of the world’s foremost authorities on his specialty, western swing. Cary previously served as President of the Association for Recorded Sound Collections, an international organization of music scholars and world-renowned institutions. He holds a master’s degree in Folklore from UCLA and a bachelor’s in Radio/TV/Film from Cal State University Northridge.

Fifty and Better was designed to offer university-level courses and lectures (no tests, no homework) taught by experts in the field, and to host social engagement activities for individuals age 50 and older.

Any account of the history of the American entertainment industry will showcase the pivotal contributions of Jewish Americans. In these accounts, most of the discussion will focus on Jewish men. Yet Jewish women also played groundbreaking roles in the development of American entertainment, from stage to radio to film. This course will focus on two Jewish women whose contributions have significantly shaped the American entertainment industry: Gertrude Berg and Barbra Streisand. First, we will explore the pathbreaking work of Gertrude Berg in both radio and television through her signature role as Molly Goldberg in the show The Goldbergs, which she created, wrote, acted in, and produced. We will devote the second part of the course to the transformative mark Barbra Streisand made on the American film industry through three pivotal films: Funny Girl, The Way We Were, and Yentl. As actress, singer, writer, director, and producer, Streisand demonstrated the power of her art to entertain, instruct, and change the "old boys club" culture of the movie industry. These three films show Streisand as an artist and innovator at work and provide but a glimpse into the creative career of one of Hollywood's masters.

Cliff Wilcox is a historian who focuses on American intellectual and cultural history. His courses concentrate on the intersection of culture, ideas, education, and religion in American society. He lectures for Cal Lutheran’s Fifty and Better Program and at other local lifelong learning programs. He holds a Ph.D. in American intellectual history from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Fifty and Better was designed to offer university-level courses and lectures (no tests, no homework) taught by experts in the field, and to host social engagement activities for individuals age 50 and older.

For years, the Holocaust was portrayed as an act of unspeakable violence by humans who acted like animals. Yet this portrayal led to an inability to understand the psychology of the perpetrators of genocide. Further, many misunderstand why many of the victims of the Holocaust did not leave Europe––imagining that they simply chose not to leave. This course will examine why and how the Nazis were able to influence and enable almost an entire continent to murder, and why many of the Jews in Europe stayed in Europe. It will focus specifically on what impact these conclusions can have on genocide prevention for today.

Jason Hensley, Ph.D., teaches religious studies at a private school in Los Angeles. He is a fellow of the Michael LaPrade Holocaust Education Institute of the Anti-Defamation League, a member of Civic Spirit's teacher education cohort, and the award-winning author of 10 books. His work has been featured in The Huffington Post as well as the BBC, and he has served as the historical advisor for a Holocaust documentary.

Fifty and Better was designed to offer university-level courses and lectures (no tests, no homework) taught by experts in the field, and to host social engagement activities for individuals age 50 and older.

The increasing wealth in Europe following the Renaissance and exploration of the New World was reflected in the sumptuous furniture, interiors, and decorative arts of English palaces and country homes. This course will focus on the popular styles and design influences during the reigns of Henry VIII through Queen Victoria, including Tudor, Jacobean, William and Mary, Queen Anne, Georgian, Regency, and Victorian styles. The extraordinary influence of designers and craftsmen such as Robert Adam, Thomas Chippendale, John Nash, and Thomas Hope will be discussed, as well as the social and political influences upon their designs. Construction techniques and types of materials including fabrics, woods, and decorative elements will also be discussed.

Eleanor Schrader is an award-winning educator, lecturer, and author. She lectures worldwide on art and architectural history, and she leads art and architecture tours throughout the world. She has been named a Distinguished Instructor at UCLA Extension, where she teaches history of architecture, interior design, furniture, and decorative arts. She is also Professor Emeritus of Art and Architectural History at Santa Monica College. She has done graduate work in fine and decorative arts at Sotheby's Institute in London and New York. She has served as a Design Review Commissioner for the City of Beverly Hills and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the John Lautner Foundation.

In 2019, it was estimated that the global economy took a hit of $78 billion because of fake news. Further, nearly 70% of adult Americans report that made-up news is a serious problem. Recent research has found that even media-savvy consumers share and spread misinformation—simply because they aren’t paying attention. This two-part lecture will explore the role of journalism and information in a democratic society, as well as the importance of local news in the health of communities. It will also review strategies for identifying misinformation—particularly when it’s designed to look like traditional news products—and best practices for media literacy in a digital age.

Kirstie Hettinga, Ph.D., The Pennsylvania State University) is an associate professor of communication at California Lutheran University. She teaches media writing, editing, and content creation and serves as the faculty adviser to Cal Lutheran’s award-winning student newspaper, The Echo. Her research addresses issues of accuracy and credibility in news media, as well as how students learn in student newsrooms. Her work has been published in Newspaper Research Journal, College Media Review, Journal of Media Ethics, and Journalism Practice.

Fifty and Better was designed to offer university-level courses and lectures (no tests, no homework) taught by experts in the field, and to host social engagement activities for individuals age 50 and older.

Even before the invention of the automobile, Angelinos have escaped the city to play in the nearby mountains, the desert, and the seashore. Enjoy an armchair vacation while we explore their favorites, then and now. We visit Del Mar, Coronado Island, San Diego, and Tijuana to the south; Ojai, Montecito, and Santa Barbara to the north; the San Bernardino Mountains, Palm Springs, Death Valley, and Las Vegas to the east; and Catalina Island to the west. Note: These are two of five parts that will be offered throughout 2023.
Part 1: Beach vacation spots from Santa Monica south to Tijuana, north to Santa Barbara, and west to Catalina Island.
Part 2: Desert vacation spots including Palm Springs, Arizona, Death Valley

Sharon Boorstin is a contributing writer for the Los Angeles Times, specializing in lifestyle, food and travel. In 2019 she won Visit California’s Eureka Award for Best Newspaper Travel Article. In the 1970s and ‘80s Sharon was the Restaurant Critic of the (late) Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, and in the ‘90s she edited the annual Gayot Guidebooks for Los Angeles and other cities. She also wrote for magazines including Bon Appetit, Smithsonian and Town & Country Travel. With her husband Paul, she wrote dozens of screenplays for feature films and television including Angel of Death (ABC) starring Jane Seymour. Her memoir/cookbook, “Let Us Eat Cake: Adventures in Food and Friendship” (Harper-Collins 2002), was a selection of the Pulpwood Queens Book Club. Raised in Seattle, Washington, Sharon moved to Los Angeles in 1966 after earning a California Lifetime Teaching credential at U.C. Berkeley. She taught high-school History, English and Social Studies in L.A. for 11 years.

Fifty and Better was designed to offer university-level courses and lectures (no tests, no homework) taught by experts in the field, and to host social engagement activities for individuals age 50 and older.

American Popular music was in the midst of an historic change in the mid-1950's. While many of the artists and songs central to this music revolution hailed from the American South, there was a significant contribution from California and specifically Los Angeles. Artists like Sam Cooke, Ritchie Valens, The Penguins, and The Coasters were breaking out of L.A., while many local record labels became national Rock & Roll mainstays. We will take a nostalgic romp through musical history as we identify the Los Angeles contribution to the early years of Rock & Roll and beyond.

Tony Moon has spent 60 successful years in the music business. Beginning in 1960, he joined the L.A. group Dante and The Evergreens, which was managed and produced by Lou Adler and Herb Alpert. He later moved to Nashville becoming the guitarist and conductor for Brenda Lee. Tony also began playing on recording sessions and was Nashville's first rock independent music producer, working with five major labels. He scored several big hits for The Vogues, including "5 O' Clock World." Tony has won several awards as a songwriter and music publisher. His songs have been released by artists as diverse as Porter Wagoner, Willie Nelson, Vickie Carr, Pearl Jam, and The Beatles.

He currently administers several Music Publishing Companies and a New York Entertainment Company.

Fifty and Better was designed to offer university-level courses and lectures (no tests, no homework) taught by experts in the field, and to host social engagement activities for individuals age 50 and older.