This semester includes a bevy of classes relating to America's Gilded Age. Architecture courses include a focus on Richard Morris Hunt (1827-95), the Man Who Gilded the Gilded Age (11023), among others featured in the Architects of America series who designed buildings in the late 1800s. Walking tours venture to two of New York's shining examples of beaux arts structures, with an exploration of Farley Post Office and Penn Station's New Moynihan Train Hall (10985) and Grand Central Terminal (11047). In our Literature, Film, and Television department, we take a deep dive into the most popular series of today, HBO’s Gilded Age, Fact and Fiction (11232), to review the historical events, fashion, and backstories of the elite socialites of the time, such as Mrs. Astor.

Hone in on the street most associated with the Gilded Age, New York's Fifth Avenue, and some of its famous landmarks. Study the History of the New York Public Library and the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building (10986) at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street. View luxury living in person with three separate walking tours: Ladies' Mile, Shopping During the Gilded Age (11167), Gilded Mansions of Museum Mile, Fifth Avenue from the Frick to Cooper Hewitt (11168), and Iconic Fifth Avenue from Bryant Park to Central Park (11042).

For those who want to focus on nature's beauty, choose one of our classes with themes of trees and open spaces. Two tours of Central Park, Cleopatra’s Needle, Shakespeare, and Bears in Central Park (11165) and Carousels, Taverns, and Strawberry Fields in Central Park’s West Side (11166), as well as a tour devoted to three separate NYC squares, Madison Square Park, Gramercy Park, and Stuyvesant Square Park (11169), are all on the schedule this spring. Enjoy nature from home too with Arboreal Ideal, in Praise of Trees (11083), which blends fine art with appreciation for nature and political activism in this lecture featuring works about trees by contemporary artists.

As pandemic restrictions are lifted, venturing abroad is once again an option. Languages for travelers provides tourists with the tools to make the most of their vacations. Spanish (11231), French (11226), and Italian for Travelers (11201) are three brand new courses this semester to prepare you for your journey. For those who prefer to stay put, learn about famous Americans who toured Europe years ago in America's Historic Roots in England (11184). This illustrated history and culture class visits the ancestral homes of and sites frequented by some of America's founding fathers and the castles restored by its famous American residents.

Blending history and religion, this semester includes several secular Judaism special events and classes. On March 23, 2022, we are pleased to host Author Visit: Andrew Porwancher, The Jewish World of Alexander Hamilton (2021) (11117), in which you will hear the untold story of Alexander Hamilton’s likely Jewish birth and upbringing. Porwancher’s radical reassessment of Hamilton’s religious origins gives us a fresh perspective on both his adult years and the country he helped forge. Another March special event is Curator's Perspective on The Hare with the Amber Eyes at the Jewish Museum (11190). Ideally paired with the book discussion of bestselling memoir, The Hare with the Amber Eyes (2010) by Edmund de Waal (11105), this insider's virtual tour tells the story of the Ephrussi family’s rise to prominence in the first half of the nineteenth century and subsequent fall at the hands of Nazi looters. The exhibition brings together pieces from the Ephrussis’ collections to examine the ways in which objects can function as storytellers, symbols of resilience, and monuments of a family legacy. In April, examine How Knitting Helped Women Resist, Remember, and Renew Life after the Holocaust (11093) and in May, delve into the Ancient Roots of Cultural Judaism (11099).

In just over a month, we are introducing an entire series that blends art appreciation with film, entitled Where Film and Painting Meet. Classes may be taken individually or together as a cohesive grouping. The lectures explore how particular filmmakers' cinematography, costumes, and sets mimic the visual style and composition of specific paintings as well as films that use famous paintings as part of the scenery to reinforce a theme or mood. The first of the seven lectures debuts on Thursday, March 31, 2022, with Light It Like Rembrandt (11122).

From Carson to Oprah to Stephen Colbert: A History of the TV Talk Show (11170) will meet on Tuesday, March 9, 2022, instead of March 15, 2022.

Walk 15® (11191), originally scheduled to begin on Monday, March 14, 2022, has been postponed until Monday, March 21, 2022, and will have skip dates of April 25, and May 30, 2022.

Emergence of Women Composers in the Nineteenth Century (11234), originally scheduled to start on Tuesday, March 25, 2022, has been postponed until Tuesday, April 19, 2022. In the original time slot, John King will lead Felix Mendelssohn and the Formation of the Mendelssohnian Style (11233).

All upcoming classes are listed in our Printer-Friendly, Interactive Version of our Spring/Summer 2022 Catalog. New classes are added regularly.