All upcoming Seminars

The music of Gustav Mahler, some of the most powerful and emotive of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, speaks deeply to the heart and soul of many people. In a two-part series, Baroque flutist and music professor at Carnegie Mellon Stephen Schultz traces the stylistic evolution of his first creative period and illuminates the main characteristics of his music, highlighting the programmatic, spiritual, and emotional content of his early symphonies.

Few royal houses shaped the political and cultural landscape of medieval Britain more profoundly than the Plantagenets. Ruling from the 12th to the 15th centuries, they forged an empire stretching from Scotland to the Pyrenees, developed Parliament, clashed with the Church, fought crusades, and waged the Hundred Years’ War, all while also inspiring some of the most enduring legends in British history. In a full-day seminar, historian Cheryl White traces how perceptions of the Plantagenets have evolved over time and explores why the dynasty continues to fascinate today.

Discover key works of American architecture through four themes: residences, commercial buildings, spaces for enrichment and reflection, and public buildings and memorials. Art historian Matthew Palczynski highlights defining styles—from Monticello’s Neoclassicism to Fallingwater’s Modernism—and shows how they express social values. He identifies architects who shaped the national canon and explains how to recognize their signature approaches. Together, these insights reveal how architecture forms spaces for living, working, learning, and renewal.

Shakespeare’s tragedies, filled with ambition, love, betrayal, and devastating choices, have captivated audiences for centuries. In a full-day seminar, Shakespeare scholar and historian Carol Ann Lloyd-Stanger considers what makes these plays so compelling: the way he takes us into the mind of his characters, the complexity of their experiences, and the language that has become part of our discourse. From Antony and Cleopatra to Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar to King Lear, she explores the tragedies by considering their place in Shakespeare’s time and the ways they continue to resonate with audiences today.

Explore the art and architecture of the Middle Ages through four transformational moments in history and how painters, sculptors, and architects responded to them. Independent art historian Judy Scott Feldman examines the art of the thousand-year period between classical antiquity and the Renaissance and its relationship to an evolving society infused with faith and spirituality. (World Art History Certificate core course, 1 credit)

Issues of death, dying, love, and the meaning life—and the afterlife—hold key places in the belief systems of the major religious traditions of the world. Graham M. Schweig, a professor of philosophy and religion at Christopher Newport University, leads a seminar that surveys differing visions of these timeless themes from a variety of Eastern and Western cultural-religious perspectives.

At the crossroads of the Adriatic, Renaissance Venice was a city shaped by commerce, diplomacy, and cultural exchange. Influences from Byzantium, the Ottoman Empire, and Northern Europe helped foster a distinctly Venetian artistic style, celebrated for its luminous color, sensual beauty, and decorative splendor. Art historian Aneta Georgievska-Shine revisits the works of some of the greatest artists who made Venice one of the most fascinating cultural centers of the Renaissance. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1 credit)

Shakespeare’s comedies create worlds of mistaken identity, romantic entanglements, disguise, and playful deception. Filled with pirates, bumbling constables, mismatched couples, separated-at-birth twins, and even a memorable dog, they mix lively humor with insight into human nature. In a full-day seminar, historian Carol Ann Lloyd-Stanger explores how Shakespeare uses fools, confusion, and magic, tracing his shift from early slapstick to later plays centered on reconciliation and reunion.