History Lessons in NYC, New York

Dinosaurs! Science! Adventure! Break out your pith helmet as we embark upon a brazen expedition through the halls of New York City's world-famous American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). Join your maverick tour guide as we deftly navigate this massive 27-building, 1.6 million square foot landmark cultural institution. Learn the science...

Rice around the world is thought of as Asian. But rice is just as African as it is Asian. Oryza glaberrima was cultivated from wild rice that needed humans when the Sahara was drying. That knowledge fueled the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade where Africans were brought west. Rice dominated the United States and particularly South Carolina for two hundred...

Meet the badass Brooklynites who brought us the ballot. Behind the stately facades of Brooklyn Heights’ most gracious brownstones lies the history of firebrand feminism! The wise “women of Brooklyn” were doctors, lawyers, educators and orators who made some of the foremost contributions to the Suffrage movement. Join us for a walk through their...

Much of what we know in today's American Culture, and how we have come to know it has been shaped by European colonization and western imperialism. How do we dismantle harmful systems of oppression rooted in the exploitation of the “other”? This Olio two-part series traces historical events that created the foundation for an exploitative, unjust...

Since the launch of Napster in 1999, there has been a massive transformation in how we create and consume media. This class charts the waves of change over the past two decades. We’ll start by looking at the tools and technology that underpin the digital revolution.  We’ll then trace what’s happened...

Our experience is a journey from the 1500s to the present day. We’ll start with explorers trying to find a route to Asia but then encountered a new land. I’ll share Harlem’s role in the American Revolution and the meeting of Alexander Hamilton and General George Washington. Our group will discuss the Trans Atlantic Slave trade in North, Central...

Access billions of names inside the more than 7,000 available databases of Ancestry® Library Edition, including Census and Vital Records, birth, marriage and death notices, the Social Security Death Index, Passenger lists and naturalizations, Military and Holocaust Records, City Directories, New York Emigrant Savings Bank Records, and...

Full Course Name:  The Pope DOES Wear a Funny Hat: Symbolism in Medieval and Renaissance Art Ever wondered why the Pope wears a hat shaped like a fish, or why baby Jesus is depicted squeezing a tiny bird to death? Now is your chance to find out! Learn about the history behind well known symbols in western Medieval and Renaissance art. Impress...

New York City at the turn of the 20th century was a rapidly growing industrial city with a flourishing crime rate to match! Unsolved murders, mob assassinations and daring heists colored the front pages of every newspaper. Come and learn about some of the most shocking crimes committed during the time when New York was forming...

In this introduction to the principles of Feng Shui,you will learn how to apply basic corrections and adjustments. Included are: a general history; discussion of schools and methods of practice; and use of color, form, and materials.  No prior experience is required.

Everything that has happened in 2019 has set us up for the shift in consciousness that is underway. In the upcoming days, we will see the manifestation of that transformation, as many visionaries have predicted. This will be a landmark year, a time of personal, national, and planetary upheavals.  Some of the finest astrologers and prophets from...

Forensic Architecture is both a recent, transdisciplinary research method and a specific research group headed by the method’s originator, the scholar Eyal Weizman. Combining architectural studies of the built environment, forensic investigation, geography, ecology, ethnography and journalism, Forensic Architecture takes up not the traditional architectural...

Study theories and principles that have shaped the design of landscapes from antiquity to the present. Explore Eastern and Western garden traditions. Survey all types of gardens and landscapes, including corporate and public spaces, through visual presentations, assigned readings, projects, and classroom discussion. Landscape designs will be considered...

New York City’s Cultural Institutions Group (CIG) is an unparalleled public-private initiative dating back to the 19th century. Today, it provides City support to 34 institutions across the five boroughs that help cement New York’s status as the cultural capital of the world. This robust public investment in diverse private non-profit organizations...

Join the longest-running informal foreign affairs discussion program in the country. Increase your awareness and understanding of timely, thought-provoking foreign policy issues involving the US. Each week another thematic/geographic issue is placed in its historical context. Topics are: Climate Change and the Global Order India and Pakistan Red...