Search results for

The San Luis Obispo Museum of Art is pleased to present a solo exhibition of prolific contemporary artist Faig Ahmed. From his studio in Baku, Azerbaijan, Ahmed creates textile works that transcend and transform the history of carpet making in the region. Ahmed is interested in how the contemporary and the traditional collide to create something new that defies genres, borders, and even history.

Unconventional, energetic and independent, the New York City born Isabella Stewart Gardner commonly appeared in the Boston gossip pages as she blazed trails as socialite, art patron, and art collector. Beginning in the 1890s, she and her husband Jack began seriously collecting art while traveling through Europe, America, and Asia developing a world-renown and eclectic collection. Near the end of the nineteenth century, "Mrs. Jack" as she was known, began planning the building and design of a new home in the Fenway area of Boston houses to accommodate and show off her growing collection. In this two-part lecture, we look at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, which was designed according to her personal and eccentric aesthetic, and the immense collection of works of art including pieces by Titian, Johannes Vermeer, Rembrandt, John Singer Sargent, Edgar Degas, and many others. Part 1 will talk more about Isabella’s biography, origins, and early collecting. Part 2 will discuss the foundation of her museum. (This lecture can be taken independently, though it is recommended that you take them together.)

Katherine E. Zoraster is an Art Historian and a Professor of Art History at several local colleges specializing in Western art from the Renaissance to the 20th century. She graduated with a double major in English Literature and Art History from the University of California, Los Angeles. Following her undergraduate degree, she received a Master’s Degree with Distinction in Art History from the California State University at Northridge.
In addition to the courses Katherine teaches for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute through UCLA Extension and California State University at Channel Islands, she also works as an Adjunct Professor of Art History at Moorpark College and an Art History Instructor for the full-time program at the Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Arts. Katherine also serves as a commissioner for the Burbank Cultural Arts Commission and volunteers at the Burbank Animal Shelter. In her free time Katherine is an avid runner and travels extensively.

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.

Bible translators must make choices. Every word in Hebrew, Greek, or Aramaic has a range of meaning––and that range often doesn't match up exactly with the range of meaning of words in English. Because of this, when translators make a choice of how to translate––as they must do––the range of meaning that existed in the original language is thus limited to what is conveyed by English. How has this limiting through translation affected the way that gender is presented in the Bible? What passages about gender, men, and women, could have been translated differently? These lectures will first examine the basics of Bible translation and will then consider specific passages where the Hebrew and the Greek originals could present a slightly different picture of men and women than many English translations often present.

Part 1 will focus on the Jewish Scriptures and ways that particular Hebrew words and terms have been translated when applied to different genders––it will examine the difficulty of translation, and also the possible cultural values that can be created specifically by the way that translators translate the Hebrew Bible.

Like the previous lecture, Part 2 will consider how Bible translation can impact cultural views and gender roles, but this lecture will focus specifically on the translation of the Christian Scriptures.

Jason Hensley, PhD, 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.

From 1924 to 1937, there was no Broadway songwriting team as potent as George and Ira Gershwin. Growing up on the streets of New York at the dawn of the 20th century, the Gershwins were among the first to infuse popular song with an undeniably American flavor. Their brash and distinctive music reflected the dissonances and restlessness of urban life and the unabashed optimism shared by many immigrants who came to the United States seeking their fortune. Gershwin tunes strutted, swaggered, and sparkled with emotions ranging from desperate loneliness to unbridled enthusiasm. In this lecture, we will trace this remarkable partnership on Broadway, which ended tragically with George Gershwin's death from a brain tumor in 1937. Shows discussed will include "Lady, Be Good!," "Girl Crazy," "Strike Up the Band," "Of Thee I Sing," "Porgy and Bess," and more, featuring rare vintage recordings as well as modern interpretations.

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.

What was the Art Market like during the years of WWII? Today, we are more aware of the Nazi thefts, we celebrate the find of a lost object and the success of restitution claims.

Yet, what happened to the art dealers who attempted to protect their collections or of the artists they helped to shield and support? And, which dealers were willing to collaborate with the Nazis in order to gain safety, prestige, financial reward or power? Join in examining the great art houses of Paris, the Wildenstein family, Gertrude Stein, Paul Rosenberg, Hildebrand Gurlitt and others who directed the fate of art.

This two-part lecture will examine the lives of those dealers as we peel back the veneer of staged auctions, forced sales and forged provenance. The impact of the actions by the dealers and collaborators continue to affect the art world to this day. (These lectures can be taken independently of each other.)


Christine Maasdam holds a Master in Humanities and a B.A. in Cultural Geography. Her art studies include The Courtauld Institute of Art in London, The Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center in D.C. and Post Graduate studies in Antiquities Trafficking and Art Crime at the University of Glasgow. She is a graduate of the Art Crime Investigation Seminar led by Robert Wittman, founder of the FBI's National Art Crime Team. Christine is a member of the International Foundation for Cultural Property Protection and holds a certificate from Trident Manor on Protection of Cultural Venues. Christine received Sotheby’s certification on Determining Value: An Appraiser’s Perspective. She has spent over a decade as a LACMA docent and is an active volunteer at the City of David archaeological dig in Israel.

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.

One of the superstars of early 20th Century pop culture is the now mostly forgotten comic strip creator, pioneer animator and political cartoonist Winsor McCay. Often called the “father of the animated film,” McCay’s influence during his lifetime was far reaching. He raised the bar of daily comic strip art to a level rarely surpassed or ever equaled. His most fabled comic strips “Dreams of a Rarebit Fiend” and “Little Nemo” ran for years and were republished for decades after.

McCay was also a successful entertainer on the vaudeville stage where he combined “live drawing” performances, storytelling, and his early animated films. The great Looney Tunes animator Chuck Jones wrote: “After McCay’s animation it took his followers twenty years to figure out how he did it. The two most important people in animation are Winsor McCay and Walt Disney and I’m not sure who should go first.”

We will explore McCay’s varied output of comic art, his animation experiments as well as his unique life story which includes his rather tumultuous later career as the country’s foremost political cartoonist working under the thumb of the legendary William Randolph Hearst.

We will also look at a rare re-enactment of McCay’s live performance with his most famous animated character “Gertie the Dinosaur”, recreated by non-other than Walt Disney.

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.

The term “genocide” was coined in the 1940s, although genocides have occurred repeatedly since the beginning of time. Why? And what exactly is a genocide? What is the difference between physical genocide and cultural genocide? This course will spend time examining the history of the term and considering multiple case studies both from ancient times and more modern centuries––including analyzing whether or not the current war in Ukraine involves genocide.

Part 1 will discuss the origin of the word "genocide" and then consider the retroactive application of that term on massacres and violence before the middle of the 20th century. It will discuss possible genocides in the Bible and the application of genocide to the history of the United States and North America.

Part 2 will review the official UN definition of genocide and will then examine modern genocides, touching on the Holocaust, Yugoslavia in the 1990s, and discussing whether or not the current war in Ukraine connects to genocide.
(These lectures can be taken independently of each other.)

Jason Hensley, PhD, 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.

Sunset Boulevard started off in the 1780s as a 600-foot dirt road near the old Pueblo de Los Angeles. Today, Los Angeles' iconic thoroughfare stretches 22 miles from Figueroa Street downtown to the Pacific Ocean. Along the way it passes through some of the most historic and fascinating parts of our city - places with stories to tell. In this lecture, we explore those stories: the birth of the movie industry; the playground of the stars, mobsters, and rockers on the Sunset Strip; the mansions of the rich and famous in Beverly Hills and Bel-Air, and more.

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.

Edouard Manet is an important transitional figure between the art of Realism and Impressionism. Although he is now viewed as a crucial and influential figure in the history of Modernism, at the time, much of his art was seen with controversy and derision. This lecture will look at his art, the controversy associated with it, and how he both influenced and was influenced by Impressionism.

Katherine E. Zoraster is an Art Historian and a Professor of Art History at several local colleges specializing in Western art from the Renaissance to the 20th century. She graduated with a double major in English Literature and Art History from the University of California, Los Angeles. Following her undergraduate degree, she received a Master’s Degree with Distinction in Art History from the California State University at Northridge.
In addition to the courses Katherine teaches for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute through UCLA Extension and California State University at Channel Islands, she also works as an Adjunct Professor of Art History at Moorpark College and an Art History Instructor for the full-time program at the Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Arts. Katherine also serves as a commissioner for the Burbank Cultural Arts Commission and volunteers at the Burbank Animal Shelter. In her free time Katherine is an avid runner and travels extensively.

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.

This lecture will explore ethics; the definition, whether ethics and morality are the same, reasons people sometimes make clearly unethical choices, compliance with law and ethical considerations (i.e., can law mandate ethical behavior?), theories of ethical behavior and how ethics works in making ethical choices in business and personal decisions. In this lecture we will address the questions of whether ethics and morality change over time - is ethics universal or situational? Many are familiar with the McDonald’s hot coffee case and the debate it sparked. We will explore this and other new and interesting cases, helping to better understand business decisions affecting us as consumers, and how to make better ethical decisions in our daily lives and in our relationships with others.

Attorney Roy Schneider brings more than 40 years of experience to practicing law in the areas of business planning, entity formation, employment law, contract law, estate planning, ethics, and non-profit law. Roy advises and represents companies and entrepreneurs with a broad range of business-related services. Roy established his own law firm in 2012, Schneiders & Associates, L.L.P, which employs 11 attorneys. Roy has published numerous articles and regularly speaks before business groups.
While maintaining his law practice, Roy founded the California College of Paralegal Studies, which trained paralegals to work in the field of law. Roy has served as a professor and adjunct professor for several colleges and universities teaching business law and business ethics. Roy currently is an adjunct professor teaching business law at California Lutheran University.

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.