Northwestern University School of Professional Studies Spring Semester

As Stacy Schiff wrote in The New York Times, “A short story is by definition an odder, more eccentric creature than a novel; a trailer, a fling, a warm-up act, a bouillon cube, a championship game in one inning. Irresolution and ambiguity become it; it’s a first date rather than a marriage. When is it mightier than the novel? When its elisions speak as loudly as its lines.” If you enjoy reading fiction and want to explore the succinctness of the short story, join our study group. The very brevity of the form invites lively discussion and differing interpretations of the material. Each week we will read two stories (usually a total of about 30 pages) chosen by the discussion leader, who also prepares brief biographies of the authors. As texts we will continue to use The O. Henry Prize Stories 2014 (Anchor Books paperback, September 9, 2014) edited by Laura Furman and The Oxford Book of American Short Stories 2nd edition (Oxford University Press paperback 2013) edited by Joyce Carol Oates. Same books as the fall!

This study group targets readers who enjoy exploring literature if many cultures and styles —classic to modern, from Aeschylus to Atwood, Roth to Rushdie, Shakespeare to Shaw — and combines the joy of reading with the pleasure of discussion. We usually devote at least two weeks to each book to assure a comprehensive and meaningful dialogue.

This study group is an intermediate level class for photography enthusiasts. This study group offers participants the opportunity to practice the art of photography while learning about Chicago. Every other week, members of the study group receive a brief history of a neighborhood or notable location. Meeting at the chosen location, we will break up into small groups to shoot photos that reflect the location.  Frequently, we will specify a photographic method or constraint to 'exercise' particular skills. We will reassemble after the shoot for lunch at a neighborhood restaurant, leaving time to return for afternoon classes.

In 1940, Hollywood celebrated its 12^th Academy Awards show, hosted for the first time by Bob Hope. The array of nominees was stunning.

Inside its famous covers and beyond the cartoons, The New Yorker magazine is dedicated to high-quality, topical writings and ideas. Our peer-led group discussions will be as varied as the contents of this distinguished magazine. Join us as we explore art, technology, politics, personalities, medicine, movies, fiction, fashion, culture and commentary. You will find your view of our current world expanded. You must have a current subscription to The New Yorker magazine.

“Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma,” so said Winston Churchill. If this quote resonates with you consider joining us in our study group. The foundation for our study group is the book Russia: A One Thousand Year Chronicle of the Wild East by Martin Sixsmith (Overlook Press paperback, 2013). Sixsmith shows how Russia’s complex identity has been formed over a thousand years and goes a long way towards explaining its often baffling behavior. With liberal references to Russia’s unique cultural history in music and literature as well as the historical narrative, Sixsmith’s work serves as a most entertaining and informative guide in solving the riddle. We will be reading approximately forty pages per week and participants will be encouraged to facilitate the classes. Our discussion topics will be disseminated via email.

If you like literature and lively discussion, welcome to our group! Our objective is to gain insight into literature of women’s lives from time to time and place to place. We focus on fiction about women, written by both contemporary and classic male and female authors from a variety of cultures. We plan to read novels (we devote one week for shorter books and occasionally two weeks for longer books) interspersed with short stories and perhaps a movie. A broader understanding and appreciation of books read individually, plus exposure to others not previously read or even known about, are especially valued by our group members. All group members are urged to take a turn as discussion leader, preparing a short biography of the author and developing questions that provide a springboard for discussion and enhanced understanding of the week’s reading assignment. Spring semester books will include Nora Webster: A Novel by Colm Toibin (Scribner hardcover, 2014), Floating in My Mother’s Palm by Ursula Heigl (Scribner paperback, 1990), and The End of the Affair by Graham Greene (Penguin Classic paperback, 1999). We will begin the spring semester reading Nora Webster: A Novel.

Why write our own stories? Memoir writing may help us capture on the page enduring portraits of the people in our lives, recreate with words the landscapes we once walked and take the time to reflect on our ever-changing personal, familial or social circumstances. Yet writing about one’s own life can be a daunting task. Where does one start? What should be included and what left out? As memoir writers, how should we organize our thoughts? Chronologically? By themes? What about style? Poems or prose? Brief anecdotes or chapter-long memoirs?

1968. Just the mention of a single word or phrase is enough to cause people of a certain age to remember this unforgettable year. Those of us who were there are able to vividly recall certain events, movements, "happenings" as they were called back then: Vietnam and the Tet Offensive; Martin Luther King, Jr., Johnson Drops Out; Presidential Primaries; Prague Spring; Robert F. Kennedy; the Chicago Convention; the Black Power Movement; The Graduate, Hair and LSD; the election of 1968; Flight to the Moon; Anti-War Movement. Join us as we go back to 1968 and explore what made each month of this remarkable year such a watershed in American and world history. We will use Mark Kurlansky's 1968: The Year That Rocked the World (Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2005) as a starting point for our discussions. We will also delve into magazines from the period, such as Time, Life and Newsweek as well as other relevant materials that help explain what made this particular year so memorable. Videos, films and YouTube will also be used to capture the essence of 1968.