History and Economics   

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has insinuated itself into just about everything. It already has an outsized impact on our purchases, communications, finance, investments, software development, travel, workflows, and even our culture and politics. AI has been a long time coming but it is here now. It is imposing a new cultural paradigm, defining behaviors and setting out a new world order. We can only dimly see this next evolutionary era, an age that began with a steep decline of the industrial age from the middle of the last century.

This class will look at the current state of AI, its promises and pitfalls, and what is on the immediate horizon (2028-2030). It will include a deeper dive into where AI has been applied successfully (or not), what the big players are doing, and of course, all the new jargon. Discussion of related social and economic changes coming will also be included.

Long before England had monarchs, the island of Britain experienced the arrival of a succession of new peoples and traditions, one after another. Despite being cut off from the Continent, or perhaps because of it, the arrival of each new group changed the way the inhabitants lived, worked, and interacted with one another. These changes lasted until the next new group arrived.

In this class we will explore the impact of such early diverse cultures as the Neolithic farmers who built Stonehenge, the Beaker People with their bronze technology, and the famous Celtic culture. From there we will look at the Roman occupation, England’s unification by the Anglo-Saxons, and the Viking invaders. We will finish with the Norman Conquest.

While battles and war were part of this history, our class will downplay those elements. We will focus more on the way that peoples’ lives changed through this progression of cultures. This class will be a combination of lecture and discussion.

Borderlands tells the powerful history of the Hispanic Southwest, stretching from Spain's earliest explorations of the Americas to Mexico's settlement of the northern frontier that became today's American Southwest. Through vivid storytelling, author Angel Vigil traces the evolution of Hispanic life—from the Mexican Revolution through the Bracero labor program to the rise of the United Farm Workers and the Chicano movement. It celebrates the culture's deep traditions in art, music, food, and language, and the unbreakable value placed on family. It honors the patriotism of Latinos who have served our nation in every war and contributed leadership across every field. Borderlands showcases the lives of Hispanic leaders who through perseverance, resilience, and faith have contributed to America's success. Interactive discussion will be encouraged.

Recommended Book: Borderlands, Living in Two Worlds – the Story of Hispanics in the American Southwest

All of the tradeoffs in competing economic systems - capitalism, socialism, and communism are controversial. These systems and ideologies have shaped the way people view both the world today and modern history. But where does capitalism begin and socialism end? It's about choice and compromise.

Understanding and endeavoring to solve these dilemmas is the job of comparative economics. This course will show you the many ways the most influential modern economic theories were developed, how they function (or don't), and how they manage to cooperate, both together and in opposition to each other.

This class will consist of videos, lecture, and discussion.

This course will cover six major economic issues: the recent slowdown of US economic growth, economic inequality, the US's mounting national debt, the US's inefficient health care system, soaring prescription drug prices, and immigration. Here are some of the questions that will be addressed: What has caused the recent slowdown in the nation's growth? Is faster growth a good thing? What is driving the US's widening income inequality? Is the "American Dream" now just a pipedream for all but the richest American? How critical is it for America's national deficit to be reduced? Why does the US spend so much more on health care than other high-income countries, and is it getting its money's worth? Why are pharmaceutical drug prices so much higher in the US than elsewhere? Can drug price inflation in the US be tamed? What are the benefits and costs of immigration to US citizens, and does one exceed the other?

Are you ready for America's 250th birthday? Get acquainted with our little-known patriotic, colonial women and the roles they played moving us from a colony to a country all within the contexts of religion, history and politics.

You’ll meet poets and printers, essayists and satirists and one very successful, hard-working, literate midwife. These disobedient wives and spirited spinsters made our founding fathers anxious patriarchs. Nevertheless, they persisted! In this course, you will discover those feminine voices from the kidnapped Mary Rowlandson, the Annes both Hutchinson and Bradstreet. You may know their writings, but do you know Susannah Wright, Coonaponkessa or Martha Daniell Logan? Did you know that Phillis Wheatley, an enslaved, educated woman, moved General George Washington with her poetry?

Through reading, discussing, and watching videos, participants will identify important colonial and revolutionary women, describe their daily domestic lives and hardships, and elucidate how they became activists for freedom.

Required Reading: A Narrative of the Captivity, Sufferings, and Removes of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson. 

During the Middle Ages seafaring merchants plied their trade at ports primarily along the coasts of northern Europe, the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. Their focus was the trade of many goods and materials in demand in that region. They concentrated on trade; how to develop trade; how to promote trade; and how to protect trade in their sphere of influence and operation. Known as the Hanseatic League, their influence extends to today. The first half of this class will concentrate on the Hansa’s rise and fall. Many believe that the historical roots of the European Union may be found in this organization. Therefore, the last half of the class will examine those connections and contrasts including why the EU was formed, how it is formed, how it is organized and how it operates today.

Presentation will include power point, lecture, graphics, video, and discussion.

Throughout his 1000-day presidency, John Kennedy pursued peace through a broad spectrum of initiatives. He saw a connection between learning and leadership and sought to use military deterrence, diplomacy, and soft power in novel ways. In this course, we will explore how his character and life experiences were the origins of those efforts. We will evaluate his powers of persuasion by listening to key speeches, and we will assess his successes and failures and their relevance to today’s world.

This is an Osher Online course, offered through the Osher National Resource Center, lets you learn with fellow lifelong learners nationwide, guided by a world-class expert. OSHER ONLINE COURSES ARE NON-REFUNDABLE.

Come join this class and immerse yourself in engaging presentations. Four separate shows feature first-person dramatic presentations of four historical characters who lived epic lives in America. The presentations will highlight each of their lives as well as discussions of their character's historical importance. The performances also feature historically accurate costumes for the era, as well as accompanying historical props. The course will follow the Chautauqua format: first-person presentation, Q&A of historical character, followed with Q&A of scholar. The four historical figures will be: #1: El Vaquero—America's First Cowboy. The Origins of Ranch, Rodeo and Cowboy Culture. #2: Mariano Medina—Pioneer Mountain Man, Adventurous Trapper, Successful Businessman. The equal of Kit Carson. #3: Manuel Lisa—Northwest Explorer, Trapper, and Businessman—the equal of Lewis and Clark. #4: Casimiro Barela: Legendary Colorado Legislative Leader: The Father of the Colorado Senate, The Perpetual Senator.

The "Arsenal for Democracy," as President Roosevelt urged America to become. But wait…what was required to make this change? Unemployment in America was still at 4 million workers right before Pearl Harbor. Suddenly with Pearl Harbor, everything changed in America. Some of these changes lasted well after the war. We will look at these changes. We start with America's reaction to the attack and the rush to enlist. We encounter involuntary internment of US citizens. Rationing affected everyone. Industry retooled to go on a war footing. Worker shortages added Rosie the Riveters and mass movements of people. Hollywood joined in with war-related movies, bond drives, and stateside and overseas USO tours. Finally, the GIs returned. How had they changed during their time overseas? How had America changed? Join us as we look back at America during the war and discuss what was going on "On the Home Front."

The "Arsenal for Democracy," as President Roosevelt urged America to become. But wait…what was required to make this change? Unemployment in America was still at 4 million workers right before Pearl Harbor. Suddenly with Pearl Harbor, everything changed in America. Some of these changes lasted well after the war. We will look at these changes. We start with America's reaction to the attack and the rush to enlist. We encounter involuntary internment of US citizens. Rationing affected everyone. Industry retooled to go on a war footing. Worker shortages added Rosie the Riveters and mass movements of people. Hollywood joined in with war-related movies, bond drives, and stateside and overseas USO tours. Finally, the GIs returned. How had they changed during their time overseas? How had America changed? Join us as we look back at America during the war and discuss what was going on "On the Home Front."

Can people really talk to the dead—or have séances simply offered one of the most enduring illusions of the last 150 years? In booming Western cities like Denver, spiritualist mediums, lecturers, and stage magicians turned “spirit circles” into both a source of comfort and a profitable public spectacle, drawing believers, doubters, and outright debunkers into the same candlelit rooms.

In this class, explore how the séance emerged from the 19th-century spiritualist movement and spread across the American West, including Colorado’s own lively culture of mediums, spirit guides, and “spook exposers” working the newspapers and theaters of Denver. Trace key moments in American and Colorado history when people turned to séances—from post-Civil War grief to Gilded Age showmanship—and consider why the idea of speaking with the dead has remained so compelling.

Together, you’ll examine famous séance participants and scandals, analyze how performers blend psychology, technology, and stagecraft to create “otherworldly” effects, and discuss the ethical line between comfort, entertainment, and exploitation. Then, participate in a demonstration séance in a Denver venue with its own stories of “spirits and spirits,” using your new knowledge to decode what you’re experiencing in real time.

Please note: The class will meet at Broderick Bar, 1080 Gaylord St., Denver. You must have a valid 21-plus government issued ID.

This course delves into how a bastion of learning was stitched together across the last three decades. We will explore the development via a variety of architectural approaches, both obvious and subtle, that resulted in the campus being recognized as one of the most beautiful collegiate campuses. Reinforced by three short tours of new builds, renovations, and site projects, we will follow a course that explores lessons learned, reasons for the projects, and the commitment of four chancellors that has transformed the campus into one that our students and community show exceptional appreciation for. In-class discussions will be informed by the master planning history of the campus, the approach to design, and the alignment to core principles of durability, sustainability, and functionality. The final session will broaden to consider how DU compares and fits within the continuum of American collegiate campus planning and design.

Recommended: From the Rockies To The World by Allen D. Breck, Campus and An American Planning Tradition by Paul Venable Turner

If you have ever marveled at the buildings, bridges, roads and water distribution systems of the Greco-Roman world, this is the class for you. Ancient technology is incredibly interesting and even astonishing. How did they do it 2500 years ago? Classical-era technology often reflects the social, political, and cultural context of these civilizations and has influenced our modern world in substantive ways. Lacking modern engineering tools and expertise, ancient engineers were exceptionally clever in designing their systems which often displayed the ingenuity of their creators with great clarity. The course will span a 1300 year period from 800 BC to 476 AD when the last Roman emperor was deposed. Join us in this fascination discovery as we ask the big questions: “How and why was it built? How did it work? How did it fit in that distant culture?”

Human populations have grown ceaselessly since the last ice age. We now dominate almost every ecosystem on this planet. At first, the rate of growth was modest, but with each passing era the rate increased. Population growth has been accompanied by an even greater growth in both consumption and insatiable demands for energy. Ingenuity and innovation have up to now created new ways to sustain, protect and grow human populations. For thousands of years human ingenuity found ways to ease the burdens of labor, create surpluses, make room for more people, kept innovating, met demands for more energy, but also unleashed the disruptive forces of change, such as migration, war, and genocide. We don't seem to be done.

This course is the first of a two-part series. Part II will follow as a separate class. It will deal with the social, economic and political aspects of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

The First World War was the defining moment of European history in the 20th century. It led to the collapse of four empires: Russian, Austro-Hungarian, German and Ottoman. It greatly weakened the British Empire and hollowed France for the rest of the 20th century. It redefined the nature of European imperialism and led to the growth of communism, Nazism, fascism, and isolationism. It redefined national borders and led to the creation of numerous "national" states in the Balkans and central Europe. It was the precursor to World War II. Why was Europe so fragile that so much collapsed? And how did these catastrophic events come about? This course will address the antecedents of the war in the 19th century and the events in the 20th century that led to this conflict. Although this was a worldwide war, its main battlefields were in and about Europe. The course will focus on the European events that led to the war.

Gunfighter showdowns, horseback train robberies, and Indian-war last stands are among the most familiar devices in American culture. So are Western landscapes that signify both the heroic conquest of nature and its quiet contemplation. In this course, we’ll look at the history shaping these aspects of Colorado and the West, and their evolving cultural significance. We’ll begin with Indian-white conflict in the post-Civil War era, focusing on the Great Sioux War of the 1870s. Next we’ll look at frontier violence, using gunfighters and outlaw gangs to explore what one historian called “the western civil war of incorporation.”

We’ll then shift to how the West was reconceived from a place of hardship to one of inspiration and easy living. Besides historical scholarship, we’ll examine how writers and impresarios turned these western themes into new genres of entertainment and leisure that remain potent today.

Required: Elliott West, Continental Reckoning: The American West in the Age of Expansion (University of Nebraska Press, 2023); Ron Hansen, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Harper, 2007); free registration to JSTOR online journals repository; streaming of three movies (The Searchers, Little Big Man, The Missing)

This course is centered on the stories of specific individuals: refugees, designated enemy aliens, and those that enabled their escape from France during WWII. Meet and learn about the unsung heroes who spirited Europe’s most prominent artists and intellectuals (among them, Marc Chagall, Max Ernst, Wanda Landowska, Heinrich Mann, Franz Werfel, Hannah Arendt) from under the nose of Nazi terror. In 1940, the private non-profit Emergency Rescue Committee sent the 32-year-old American journalist, Varian Fry, to Marseille with a list of two hundred people and $3,000. Fry’s charge: rescue these acknowledged giants of western civilization from imminent demise. Instead, Fry and an unlikely cast of characters rescued two thousand people via derring-do, subterfuge and unremitting courage. Moreover, the arrival of this wave of immigrants permanently changed the face of American culture. The magic and heroism of this drama is infectious.

Recommended Prerequisite Movie: Varian’s War: The Forgotten Hero 

Recommended Book: Andy Marino, A Quiet American: The Secret War of Varian Fry