The fascinating story of the nefarious and contorted way that Middle East boundries were drawn. A pathway to understanding how the Middle East got that way.
Mozart: A Life in Letters
The New Map: Energy, Climate and the Clash of Nations
The Rise and Fall of Communism
Description
Communism was (and is) a major political movement of the 20th and 21st centuries. While Russia, its foremost promoter, has turned away from it, Communism is still said by China to be its political system and there are Communist outposts in North Korea, Vietnam and Cuba. Indeed, there remain advocates of Communism among the poor and some intellectuals to this day. One cannot understand world history since 1917 without a knowledge of what Communism promised and what it delivered.
This SDG will explore the history of Communism, including the thinkers who advocated Communism, the reasons that their advocacy resonated with leaders and the populace in many places, the Russian revolution, the spreading of Communism after World War II, the Chinese revolution, the revolts in Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Poland, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the dismembering of the Soviet Union and the persistence of Communism in China. The emphasis will be on how Communism has been practiced, rather than the details of its theories. Among the questions we will address are the following: Why was the movement attractive to so many? What were its successes? What were its failures? Is Communism fatally internally inconsistent or at odds with human nature? Have its leaders ultimately been good for the movement or did they insure its downfall? Did those leaders practice Communism or simply use its rhetoric as an excuse for the exercise of power? Has the political system proposed by Marx ever been implemented? Was the Cold War—serious battling, threats and arms buildups between the West and Communist countries—inevitable? Is it likely that there will be a resurgence of Communist principles in developed or undeveloped countries in the future?
Our core book will be “The Rise and Fall of Communism” by Archie Brown. It provides comprehensive history along with perceptive comments. Of course, there are thousands of books and on-line articles on every aspect of Communism and its leaders.
Weekly Topics
Karl Marx, the Then Social Structure in Europe, Promotion of Communism before Russian Revolution, Appeal of Communism
Lenin, Application of Marx to Politics and the Russian Revolution
Communism in USSR and Elsewhere before World War II, Stalin, Purges, Soviet/Nazi Pace, World War II
Successful and Unsuccessful Efforts to Expand Communism in Europe Post World War II
Description of a Communist System, Distinctions between Communism and Socialism, Contradictions between Theory and Practice in USSR and Elsewhere
Asia: Mao and Chinese Revolution, Korea and Vietnam
Latin America, including Cuba, Venezuela and Chile
Asia, including Korea and Vietnam
Cold War
Khrushchev, Changes in Communist Doctrines, Polish Resistance
Revolts in Hungary and Czechoslovakia, etc.
Gorbachev and Attempts at Reform
Adaptations in China, Policies in North Korea and Vietman
Fall of Berlin Wall, Dissolution of USSR, Choices of Former Soviet Republics, Current Status of Communist Parties throughout the World
Evaluation of Marxism, Communist Successes & Failures and Future of Communism
Bibliography
Core Book: "The Rise and Fall of Communism" by Archie Brown
In addition, there are countless books and essays on all aspects of Communism, the countries that revolted in reliance on Communist principles, the ways in which those countries dealt with Communism, the Cold War, the decline of Communism in Russia and Europe and the persistence of advocacy of Communism, including the following:
Communism in the 21st Century by Shannon Brincat (2014)
The New Communism by Bob Avakian (2016) This book and other books by Avakian advocate adoption of Communist principles
A Practical Communism for the 21st Century by Luke Davies
On My Country and the World by Mikahil Gorbachev (1999)
Cuba Since the Revolution of 1959 by Samuel Farber (2011)
Southeast Asia's Cold War by Ang Guan (2018)
goodreads.com: Listing of many books on all aspects of China's revolution and history since 1949
The Innovators
Description
Silicon Valley Innovators has been a recent hot topic because of the contributions Companies, R&D Centers and Universities have made to advance technology. However, we must also remember that much of the early development occurred in Tech Hubs on the East Coast such a IBM in New York, DEC in Maynard, MA (along the famous Route 128), Control Data (Minneapolis) and Bell Labs in New Jersey. The development coming from this Tech Hub have changed our life's and lifestyle. Some for good, others more nefarious.
A confluence of people, Universities and entrepreneurial drive have made Silicon Valley (which includes essentially the entire West Coast and Austin, TX) have wrought a world wide change that has not been seen since the late Industrial Revolution.
Who are these people? What were their Visions? What makes a region so successful? Will it continue? All good topics for discussion since they have impacted us so significantly.
As part of the above question we should ask why the US is good at early development but manufacturing and further advancement are made in Asia?
Weekly Topics
Timeline of major discoveries and what is missing from the list.
Ada, Countess of Lovelace nee Byron.
The Computer - Early Development and the final ingredient.
Programming - From Ada, Turing and the many early women programmers to Microsoft and Apple.
The Transistor - Bell Labs and Fairchild.
The Microchip - Fairchild to Intel and TI.
Video Games - Early start in the US but what about Japan and Korea?
The Personal Computer - From Altair to IBM and DEC to HP, Xerox and Apple.
Software - From DOS to Windows and in-between.
On-Line - The Modem and the the AOL Free floppy disc or CD.
The Web - From Defense and Education to general use.
Ada Forever - Conclusion and future?
Bibliography
The Innovators by Walter Isaacson - Simon and Schuster, 2014
https://www.state.gov/policy-issues/science-technology-and-innovation/
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/07/americas-innovation-engine-slowing/614320/
https://www.brookings.edu/research/technology-and-the-innovation-economy/
https://www.globalinnovationindex.org/userfiles/file/reportpdf/GII-2014.pdf
African American Literature-Biography and Memoir
Description
America, has a tradition of black writers whose autobiographies and memoirs come to define their eras from the days of slavery until today. These are autobiographies that are also pieces of literature. We will enjoy them as literature and in the process come to understand the history and experience of Americans who are black.
Weekly Topics
Week 1: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself (1845), an influential piece of literature and the epitome of the antebellum fugitive slave narrative.
Week 2: Up From Slavery (1900), by Booker T. Washington, offers readers insight into his life as a slave to his becoming president and founder of Tuskegee Institute. The book was a best-seller when published, and remained the most popular African American autobiography until that of Malcolm X.
Week 3: The Big Sea (1926) [Parts I and II and the Postscript] by Langston Hughes recounts memorable years in the two great playgrounds of the decade--Harlem and Paris. In Paris he was a cook and waiter in nightclubs in Harlem he was a rising young poet.
Week 4: Crusade for Justice (1972, posthumously) by Ida B. Wells, the story of an incredibly courageous and outspoken black woman in the face of innumerable odds, a valuable contribution to the social history of the United States and to the literature of the women's movement as well."
Week 5: Dust Tracks on a Road (1942) by Zora Neale Hurston [first half] Hurston describes her career as a writer during the Harlem Renaissance and her work as a cultural anthropologist.
Week 6: Dust Tracks on a Road[second half]
Week 7: Autobiography of Malcom X (1964) [first half]: explores the tragedies X endured as a child to his transcendence from a criminal to a world-renown religious leader and social activist.
Week 8: Autobiography of Malcom X[second half]
Week 9: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (1969) a coming-of-age story that shows how strength of character and a love of literature can overcome racism and trauma.
Week 10: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings [second half]
Week 11: Buck, a Memoir (2013) [first half] by M.K. Asante is the story of a rebellious boy’s journey through the wilds of urban America [Philadelphia] and the shrapnel of a self-destructing family.
Week 142 : Buck, a Memoir [second half]
Week 13 : When They Call You a Terrorist (2020) [first half] by Patrisse Khan-Cullors is a powerful memoir of a Black woman raised in a poor area of Los Angeles who became a co-founder of Black Lives Matter movement.
Week 14: When They Call You a Terrorist [second half]
Irving Berlin, His Life and Music
Description
“Irving Berlin (1888-1989) has no place in American music, he is American music,” wrote Jerome Kern about the composer of “Alexander’s Ragtime Band, “God Bless America,” and White Christmas.” In a career that spanned nine decades, Berlin wrote some 1500 tunes. James Kaplan’s new biography (2019) “Irving Berlin: New York Genius” captures Berlin as he grows up in New York City as a self -made man and as a witty, wily, tough Jewish immigrant. With this core book, that has excellent reviews from the New York Times, we will explore Irving Berlin’s life and music. What motivated his songs? How did his music change America?
Weekly Topics
Musical overview of Berlin’s work, New York City’s environment (1888 – 1898) and core book preface
Ch.1: The Fugitive
Ch.2: I have Discovered a Great Kid
Ch.3: You can Never Tell Your Finish When You Start
Ch.4: I Sweat Blood
Ch.5: At the Devil’s Ball
Ch.6: Play a Simple Melody
Ch.7: I Wasn’t Much of a Soldier
Ch.8: Work for yourself
Ch.9: What Shall I Do
Ch.10: Always
Ch.11: Never Saw the Sun Shining so Bright
Ch.12: Good God, Another Review
Ch.13: Before They Ask Us to Pay the Bill
Ch.14: Write Hits Like Irving Berlin
Ch. 15: While the Storm Clouds Gather
Ch.16: What is a War Song?
Ch. 17: This is the Army Mr. Jones
Ch. 18: To War
Ch.19: And Back
Ch. 20 There is America’s Folk Song Writer
Ch.21: I’ve Never Been in a Tougher Spot
Ch.22: We’ll Never Get Off the Stage
Ch. 23: A worried Old Man on the Hill
Ch.24: What Have You Written Lately?
Movie: “This is the Army” available on Amazon Prime
Bibliography
Kaplan, James, Irving Berlin: New York Genius 2019 Yale University Press
Movies About The Movies
Description
How do filmmakers portray themselves, their art, their business and their lives in their movies? Sometimes funny, sometimes tragic or poignant or frightening and sometimes sizzling with sex. How do filmmakers portray themselves, their art, their business and their lives in their movies? Sometimes funny, sometimes tragic or poignant or frightening and sometimes sizzling with sex.
This SDG will examine how filmmakers from different eras and countries utilize the various genres of cinema (drama, comedy, mystery, horror, animation and the musical) to depict their own unique perspective on the art and business of filmmaking. Among the issues we will consider are a film's narrative structure, its visuals, thematic content, the era when made, production history and its creative team. We will also factor in the topics of race and gender. As there is no textbook, members will be expected to research their chosen film and provide the group with a limited amount of recommended reading or viewing material.
All films are readily available from Amazon, Netflix and many can be taken out from a local library.
Weekly Topics
During the fourteen weeks we will view / discuss one film a week. (Pending availability) these films are :
Show People, King Vidor, 1928 (silent)
A Star is Born, William Wellman, 1937
Sullivan Travels, Preston Sturges, 1941
Sunset Boulevard, Billy Wilder, 1950
Singing in the Rain, Stanley Donen / Gene Kelly. 1952
Kaagaz Ke Phool (Paper Flowers), Guru Dutt (India), 1959
Peeping Tom, Michael Powell (Great Britain), 1960
8 ½, Federico Fellini (Italy), 1963
Day for Night, François Truffaut (France), 1973
The Front, Martin Ritt. 1976
The Player, Robert Altman, 1992
The Watermelon Woman, Cheryl Dunye, 1996
Baadasssss!, Mario Van Peebles, 2006
Hugo, Martin Scorsese. 2011
Possible alternatives if any of the above films are not available at the time of the SDG: Adaptation, Spike Jonze, 2002 or White Hunter, Black Heart, Clint Eastwood, 1990 or Millennium Actress, Satoshi Kon, 2001
Bibliography
There is no text. All films will be available to view on a streaming service such as Amazon or Netflix. The discussion leader for each film (with the assistance of the SDG leader) will be responsible for recommending a limited amount of relevant materials concerning the assigned film.
Los Angeles in the 60's
Description
Los Angeles in the sixties was a hot bed of political and social upheaval. The core book is entitled Set the Night on Fire: L.A. in the 60's by Mike Davis and Jon Wiener which tells the compelling story of this important decade in Los Angeles history. The city was a launchpad for the Freedom Rides and the struggle for fair housing. The city's history includes the 1965 Watts rebellion and its repercussions, the development of the Black Muslims, Black Power, the Black Panther Party, US and the political competition and repression that followed. It is time to look at the Eldridge Cleaver for President campaign, the Peace and Freedom Party, and the struggle to "Free Angela Davis!" Let us not forget Tom Bradley's campaign for Mayor and the changes it brought to the political landscape. A movement to Ban the Bomb became a struggle to Stop the War, draft resistance and the war coming home. Chicano power arose and asserted itself in many forms including the Chicano Moratorium. Asian-Americans organized and made their presence known. L.A. was also a focus of the struggle by women in many forms and for gay liberation. It was a capital of California counterculture. What is a discussion of L.A. in the sixties without talking about KPFK , the L.A. Free Press, and the Free Clinic? It is time to look at this tumultuous decade as it played out in Los Angeles.
Weekly Topics
Introduction and Chapters 1-3. A Movement History; 1960 Setting the Agenda; A New Breed; Police Chief William Parker; L.A. to Mississippi-The Freedom Rides.
Chapters 4-7. The Black Muslims (1963); The United Civil Rights Movement (1963); The Beginning of the Backlash; The Repeal of Fair Housing (1968).
Chapters 8-11. Alternative Culture; Ban the Bomb-Stop the War-Women Strike for Peace; From Bach to "Tanya" KPFK Radio (1959-1974); L.A. Free Press (1964-70); Gay L.A. (1964-70).
Chapters 12-15. Catholic Power and Protest (1964-73); The Explosion; The Watts Uprising (August 1965); The McCone Commission (1965-66); The Watts Renaissance (1965-67).
Chapters 16-19. Black Power (1966); The Panthers and US (1967-68); Vietnam Comes Home; The Century City Police Riot (1967); Eldridge Cleaver for President (1967-68).
Chapters 20-22.. Draft Resistance (1967-69); The Great High School Rebellion; Riot Nights on the Sunset Strip (1966-68); The Blowouts (1966-68).
Chapters 23-25. Black High School Activists (1968-1969); There is Only the Gun; Bradley for Mayor (1969); The UCLA Murders (1968-69).
Chapters 26-28. Killing the Panthers (1969-70); Free Angela! (1969-72); Reigns of Repression; The Ash Grove and the Gusanos (1968-73).
Chapters 29-32. Valley State (1968-70); The Battle for the Last Poor Beach: Venice (1969); Generation Chicano (1969); The Chicano Moratorium (1970).
Chapters 33-36 and Epilogue. Other Liberations; The Many Faces of Women's Liberation (1967-74); The Free Clinic (1967-70); Asian American Radicalism (1969-74); L.A.'s Black Woodstock: Wattstax (1972); Sowing the Future.
Bibliography
Mike Davis and Jon Wiener, Set the Night on Fire: L.A. in the Sixties, New York and London, Verso. 2020.
