Arlington Community Education

We will explore the meteoric rise of American chattel slavery from 1619–1861 through economic, historical, legal, political, religious and scientific lenses provided in the book Four Hundred Souls. This epic one-volume “community” history of African Americans, edited by Ibram Kendi and Keisha Blain, includes essays by 90 different writers. We will apply these perspectives to increase our understanding of the current racially polarized historical moment.

Take a thematic tour of the vast and fascinating world of Chinese history through space and time. Each session will showcase the complexity and diversity of the subject with informal lectures, discussions, and suggested readings on topics from Warring States Philosophy to Tang Poetry. Get an overview of different historical periods as well as suggestions for how to learn more about whichever things interest you the most.

Boston’s Big Dig rerouted the city’s highway corridors in the 1990s into tunnels extending from Charlestown to South Boston. It also provided archaeologists with a unique opportunity to explore sites associated with the area’s earliest Native American and European inhabitants. This illustrated presentation highlights human adaptations to Boston’s marine and coastal setting over the past 2,000 years, as well as colonial-period sites that were “frozen in time” in 1775 on the day of the Battle of Bunker Hill.

Participate in a critical analysis that brings the tools of social scientific inquiry to the question of the historical Jesus. Separate history from myth by looking at Jesus within the cultural and religious Roman and Jewish world in which he lived, without the accumulated baggage of subsequent centuries. We will examine the earliest Christian writings, both inside the New Testament and outside, and explore the rich literary traditions of philosophers and the “wonderworkers” who greatly impacted depictions of Jesus. We will also consider the long history of historical Jesus scholarship that illustrates a tendency for each generation to turn Jesus into the person they want him to be—most often, a reflection of themselves.

Recent history and politics have felt like an ambush to engaged citizens. Where does our democracy seem to be headed? As we approach another national election, this course will take a deeper look at American history to gain a better understanding of the bewildering and terrifying events happening in our country. We will use the historical themes explored in The Plot Against America by Philip Roth as a lens for understanding where we are now and where we may be going.