Join Us for a Lively Adventure of the Mind!
Dear Friends:
In 1997, we founded The Shakespeare Society, which is celebrating its
20th Anniversary this year.
In 2009, we formed ROUNDTABLE CULTURAL SEMINARS, a
non-profit organization whose mission is to engage your intellectual
curiosity and enrich your life. Our participants have found the Seminars
to be a rewarding experience and continue to join us.
ROUNDTABLE CULTURAL SEMINARS is unique in that we limit
the number of individuals to an intimate group. Each Seminar is
moderated by a Professional of the highest credentials.
The six 1½ hour sessions meet in our Townhouse 5th floor space,
45 East 78th Street.
SPRING 2017 ROUNDTABLE CULTURAL SEMINARS
ARE AS FOLLOWS:
* * Join Us for Several of these Seminars * *
Nancy Becker
Adriana Mnuchin
ROUNDTABLE CULTURAL SEMINARS | 45 East 78th Street | 5th Floor | New York, NY 10075
www.RoundTableCulturalSeminars.org
For detailed Seminar descriptions with dates and times,
PLEASE PRINT THE ATTACHED 10-PAGE PDF.
••••••••••••••
REQUEST YOUR SELECTED SEMINARS BY EMAIL:
[email protected]
YOUR SEMINAR CONFIRMATION
MAY TAKE UP TO 8 BUSINESS DAYS.
UPON RECEIPT, SEND YOUR CHECK ($450 PER SEMINAR) TO:
ROUNDTABLE CULTURAL SEMINARS
45 East 78th Street
New York, NY 10075
••••••••••••••
Please note our Cancellation Policy:
No refund for cancellations after February 21, 2017.
Important: Your membership is “non-transferrable.” If you are
unable to attend a session, please do not send anyone by “proxy.”
ROUNDTABLE CULTURAL SEMINARS | 45 East 78th Street | 5th Floor | New York, NY 10075
FILMS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
MASTERS OF ASIAN CINEMA
Professor Joseph Luzzi, Moderator
*** FILLED ***
What are some of the films that have changed the history of the cinematic medium? How did the techniques
they employed and the themes they developed revolutionize the way we watch movies, and why do these
films still remain relevant and fascinating today? In exploring these questions, we will focus on six
groundbreaking films from the world of Asian cinema, which is becoming a global powerhouse to rival
Hollywood, both artistically and commercially. Video will be used.
Session 2
Tokyo Story, YASUJIRŌ OZU (Japan, 1953)
Pater Panchali, SATYAJIT RAY (India, 1955)
Session 3
Ran, AKIRA KUROSAWA (Japan, 1985)
Session 4
Dust in the Wind, HOU HSIAO-HSIEN (Taiwan, 1985)
Session 5
Close-Up, ABBAS KIAROSTAMI (Iran, 1990)
Session 6
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, ANG LEE (China, 2000)
Session 1
MONDAYS, 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
MAR
APR
MAY
6, 20
3, 17
8, 22
Cost $450 (6 sessions)
* tax deductible portion is $225
JOSEPH LUZZI – Professor of Comparative Literature at Bard College. He holds an
MA in French Literature, NYU and a PhD in Italian Literature, Yale University.
An active critic, Professor Luzzi’s writings on FILM have appeared in the New York
Times, Times of London, Los Angeles Times, Bookforum, Times Literary Supplement, and
many others.
His books include the memoirs In a Dark Wood (HarperCollins, 2015) and My Two Italies
(Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014), a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice; and
the scholarly works A Cinema of Poetry: Aesthetics of the Italian Art Film (Johns Hopkins
Univ. Press, 2014), a Finalist for The Bridge Book Award, and Romantic Europe and the
Ghost of Italy (Yale Univ. Press, 2008), which received the Scaglione Prize for Italian
Studies from the Modern Language Association.
ROUNDTABLE CULTURAL SEMINARS | 45 East 78th Street | 5th Floor | New York, NY 10075
OF MUSES, MISTRESSES, AND MARRIAGES
INVENTION OF LOVE IN MODERN LITERATURE
Professor Joseph Luzzi, Moderator
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How has literature represented—and in some cases influenced—the way we think and feel about love
and its institutions, especially marriage? This Seminar will explore some of the most important and
fascinating discussions of love and the related topics of romance, sex, and relationships, with special
attention to how the literary representation of love has evolved over the centuries and reflected key
social, cultural, and historical issues. With images.
Session 1
Lyric Poems, FRANCIS PETRARCH (1374) (selections) and
Decameron, GIOVANNI BOCCACCIO (1353) (selections)
Session 2
Romeo and Juliet, WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1597) and
Poems, JOHN DONNE (selections)
Session 3
The Sorrows of Young Werther, JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE (1774)
Session 4
Death in Venice, THOMAS MANN (1912)
Session 5
The Great Gatsby, F. SCOTT FITZGERALD (1927)
Session 6
The Unbearable Lightness of Being, MILAN KUNDERA (1984)
MONDAYS, 2 – 3:30 p.m.
MAR
APR
MAY
6, 20
3, 17
8, 22
Cost $450 (6 sessions)
* tax deductible portion is $225
JOSEPH LUZZI – Professor of Comparative Literature at Bard College. He holds an
MA in French Literature, NYU and a PhD in Italian Literature, Yale University.
His books include the memoirs In a Dark Wood (HarperCollins, 2015) and My Two Italies
(Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014), a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice; and the
scholarly works A Cinema of Poetry: Aesthetics of the Italian Art Film (Johns Hopkins Univ.
Press, 2014), a Finalist for The Bridge Book Award, and Romantic Europe and the Ghost of
Italy (Yale Univ. Press, 2008), which received the Scaglione Prize for Italian Studies from the
Modern Language Association. An active critic, Professor Luzzi’s writings on art, literature,
and film have appeared in the New York Times, Times of London, Los Angeles
Times, Bookforum, Times Literary Supplement, and many others.
ROUNDTABLE CULTURAL SEMINARS | 45 East 78th Street | 5th Floor | New York, NY 10075
THE GREEK PLAYS
Professor Nickolas Pappas, Moderator
*** FILLED ***
Ancient Greek tragedy and comedy defined many of the parameters of drama, which are known in
Western literature. In its own time, tragedy was seen as a moral instructor to the public, while comedy
was seen as a moral critic of anything that could be called the establishment. We will read the plays of
antiquity and examine the theories that modern readers draw on to bring out their significance.
Session 1
The Persians and Eumenides (Furies), AESCHYLUS
War and the foreigner: Athenian democracy as a gift of the gods. Tragedy seen “politically” as a
display of Athenian democracy.
Session 2
Electra, SOPHOCLES
Women, family, mourning, and the endless desire for revenge: Tragedy seen “philosophically”
as a presentation of ethical principles.
Session 3
Oedipus Tyrannus, SOPHOCLES
Tyranny and legitimacy: The need to solve old crimes and to assign punishment.
Tragedy seen “historically” as the classical interpretation of an earlier time.
Session 4
Medea, EURIPIDES
The family and the foreigner: Tragedy seen under “structuralist and feminist” interpretation.
Recommended viewing: Pier Paolo Pasolini, Medea (1969). (Maria Callas in the title role.)
Session 5
Bacchae, EURIPIDES
Family and society in a world that contains Dionysus: Tragedy seen “religiously.”
Session 6
Lysistrata, ARISTOPHANES
Comedy Tonight! Athenian culture seen from the comic perspective.
Recommended viewing: Spike Lee, Chi-Raq (2015). (Set in contemporary Chicago.)
TUESDAYS, 10:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.
FEB
28
MAR
28
APR
11, 25
MAY
2, 9
Cost $450 (6 sessions)
* tax deductible portion is $225
NICKOLAS PAPPAS – received his Ph.D. in Philosophy at Harvard University. He
is now Professor of Philosophy at City College and the Graduate Center of the City
University of New York, where he has taught for more than twenty years. His
Guidebook to Plato’s Republic recently came out in a third edition, and has been
translated into several languages. He has also written The Nietzsche Disappointment;
Politics and Philosophy in Plato’s Menexenus (with Mark Zelcer); and published
numerous articles on ancient philosophy.
ROUNDTABLE CULTURAL SEMINARS | 45 East 78th Street | 5th Floor | New York, NY 10075
STEPHEN SONDHEIM
FORM, FUNCTION AND INFLUENCE
Edward Barnes, Moderator
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To learn Stephen Sondheim is to learn the best of musical theater by the master of its form. His influence on
Broadway and the world of songwriting has been extraordinary. This seminar will examine Sondheim’s work by
“song type” – categories of song that serve a particular function in a musical – then see how his innovations and
craft have informed musicals playing on Broadway this season. Video will be used.
Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Session 5
Session 6
THE OPENING NUMBER Sondheim shows A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to
the Forum and Sweeney Todd; Current Broadway show: Dear Evan Hansen
I WANT / I AM SONGS Sondheim shows Company and A Little Night Music;
Current Broadway show: Wicked
LIST SONGS / PATTER SONGS Sondheim shows Follies and Sweeney Todd;
Current Broadway show: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
THE ELEVEN O’CLOCK NUMBER Sondheim shows Sunday in the Park with George
and Company; Current Broadway show: The Color Purple
COMEDY SONGS Sondheim shows A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
and Company; Current Broadway show: Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812
MUSICAL SCENES Sondheim shows Into the Woods and Merrily We Roll Along;
Current Broadway show: Falsettos
Please note: BOTH SECTIONS OF THIS SEMINAR ARE FILLED.
THURSDAYS, 10:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. OR
MAR
APR
MAY
THURSDAYS, 2 – 3:30 p.m.
2, 16, 30
13, 27
11
Cost $450 (6 sessions)
* tax deductible portion is $225
EDWARD BARNES - Composer/Lyricist. He has worked with theaters around the
country including Lincoln Center Theater Company, Mark Taper Forum, San Francisco
Mime Troupe, Houston Grand Opera, San Diego Opera, American Repertory Theater,
Minnesota Opera, Williamstown Theater Festival and others. Barnes is the winner of a
Guggenheim Fellowship and the Stephen Sondheim Award for “Outstanding Talent in
Creating Innovative Musical Theater.” He is a producer of theater and concerts in New
York and Buenos Aires.
Photo Credit: Yousuf Karsh
ROUNDTABLE CULTURAL SEMINARS | 45 East 78th Street | 5th Floor | New York, NY 10075
WATCHING DANCE
Heather Watts, Moderator
*** FILLED ***
Guided by renowned ballerina turned arts educator, Heather Watts, this discussion and video
based seminar will look at dance through many lenses. In each session, we will examine ballets,
choreographers and dancers past and present to further our understanding of dance today. We will delve
into movement, music, and historical context, accompanied by Watts' personal insights. Included will be
important ballets made in the 19th and 20th century, as well as selected contemporary works.
Video will be used.
Session 2
From Russia to Monte Carlo: Apollo (1928) and The Prodigal Son (1929),
Balanchine's Diaghilev Era Works
Great Roles in Dance
Session 3
The Music We Dance To: Tchaikovsky
Session 4
Race and Gender in Ballet: Balanchine/Stravinsky Agon (1957)
Session 5
21st Century Dances: Wheeldon, Ratmansky and more
Session 6
Finale: Class Selections
Session 1
THURSDAYS, 2 – 3:30 p.m.
MAR
APR
MAY
9
6, 20
4, 18, 25
Cost $450 (6 sessions)
* tax deductible portion is $225
HEATHER WATTS joined New York City Ballet in 1970 and was one of the last of
the famed Balanchine Ballerinas. Watts worked closely with George Balanchine and
Jerome Robbins at NYCB, and was an acclaimed international ballet star retiring from
the stage in 1995. Watts is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair magazine. She has
created academic courses on Balanchine’s life and work at Harvard University, was
the Visiting Lecturer in Dance at Princeton University in 2012. She was an inaugural
fellow at the Institute of Ballet, NYU in 2014. Watts received a Doctorate in Fine Arts
honoris causa from Hunter College.
Photo: Inez and Vinoodh
ROUNDTABLE CULTURAL SEMINARS | 45 East 78th Street | 5th Floor | New York, NY 10075
GREAT WORLD LEADERS
Professor Robert David “KC” Johnson, Moderator
*** FILLED ***
This Seminar will examine the concept of leadership by looking at an array of great leaders in the 20th century
world. Focused on the political and international environments, it will be organized thematically, presenting two
or three leaders that help to illustrate important themes of world history during the era.
Video will be used.
The New World Order (Wilhelm II, Jaurès, Wilson)
Session 1
Session 2
Fate of the West (Chamberlain, Churchill, Laval)
Session 3
Totalitarian Leaders (Hitler, Stalin)
Session 4
Nationalists (Ho, Sukarno, Ben Gurion)
Session 5
Idealists (King, Rankin, Dubček)
Session 6
Traditionalists (Thatcher, Reagan, John Paul II)
Please note: ALL SECTIONS OF THIS SEMINAR ARE FILLED.
WEDNESDAYS, 10:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.
MAR
8, 22
APR
5, 19
MAY
3, 17
OR
WEDNESDAYS, 2 – 3:30 p.m.
OR
WEDNESDAYS, 2 – 3:30 p.m.
MAR
15, 29
APR
12, 26
MAY
10, 24
Cost $450 (6 sessions)
* tax deductible portion is $225
ROBERT DAVID “KC” JOHNSON - History Professor at Brooklyn College and the City
University of New York Graduate Center. In 2007-2008, he taught at Tel Aviv University as
Fulbright Distinguished Chair in the Humanities.
Professor Johnson received his B.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard and his M.A. from the
University of Chicago. He has written and edited numerous books about American history,
and appears frequently as a pundit on the History Channel. His most recent publication is the
edited Asia Pacific in the Age of Globalization, published by Palgrave/MacMillan; and he has
been selected by Oxford University Press to edit its Oxford History Handbook of American
Foreign Relations, which will appear in 2016.
Photo: Yalta summit in February 1945 with Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin.
ROUNDTABLE CULTURAL SEMINARS | 45 East 78th Street | 5th Floor | New York, NY 10075
REFORM AND REFORMISM
IN AMERICAN HISTORY
Professor Robert David “KC” Johnson, Moderator
*** FILLED ***
The Constitution speaks of the search for a "more perfect Union," and the desire for creating an
improved society has formed a hallmark of American society. This seminar will explore themes
of reform and reforming in American history, from the 19th century through the present day.
Video will be used.
Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Session 5
Session 6
Social Reform in the 19th Century
Progressivism
New Deal
Great Society
Peace Activism
Modern Reform
WEDNESDAYS, 10:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.
MAR
15, 29
APR
12, 26
MAY
10, 24
Cost $450 (6 sessions)
* tax deductible portion is $225
ROBERT DAVID “KC” JOHNSON - History Professor at Brooklyn College and the
City University of New York Graduate Center. In 2007-2008, he taught at Tel Aviv
University as Fulbright Distinguished Chair in the Humanities.
Professor Johnson received his B.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard and his M.A. from the
University of Chicago. He has written and edited numerous books about American
history, and appears frequently as a pundit on the History Channel. His most recent
publication is the edited Asia Pacific in the Age of Globalization, published by
Palgrave/MacMillan; and he has been selected by Oxford University Press to edit its
Oxford History Handbook of American Foreign Relations, which will appear in 2016.
Photo: President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
ROUNDTABLE CULTURAL SEMINARS | 45 East 78th Street | 5th Floor | New York, NY 10075
ART & ARCHITECTURE OF TODAY
Lowell Pettit, Moderator
*** FILLED ***
This Seminar offers a series of presentations on Contemporary Art and Architecture, highlighting the
works of today’s emerging talents.
The sessions, which are more conversational than didactic, honor a simple ethic: that one of the best
ways to access today's art is to re-engage Art History. Specifically, we isolate influential artists working
in the 21st century and create a context for their respective practices, rooted in more familiar names and
movements in the 20th century, and earlier.
Video will be used.
Please note: BOTH SECTIONS OF THIS SEMINAR ARE FILLED.
TUESDAYS, 10:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. OR TUESDAYS, 1:15 – 2:45 p.m.
MAR
APR
MAY
7, 21
4, 18
16, 23
Cost $450 (6 sessions)
* tax deductible portion is $225
LOWELL PETTIT - Art Historian, Contemporary Art Advisor (Pettit Art Partners),
educator, and independent curator. He has lectured on the history and business of art
for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, Guggenheim Museum,
New York University, Christie’s Education and Sotheby's Institute of Art, on whose
faculty he has served since 2001. Pettit has been featured in many publications
including The New York Times, New York Observer, Fortune, Forbes, Bloomberg, and
ArtNews. He graduated from Collegiate School and earned his BA with honors in
Studio Art and Art History from Wesleyan University in 1995.
ROUNDTABLE CULTURAL SEMINARS | 45 East 78th Street | 5th Floor | New York, NY 10075