Wednesday University, a program of Seattle Arts & Lectures and the Walter Chapin Simpson Center for the Humanities provides Puget Sound residents with an intellectually stimulating and fun way to continue their education in the arts and humanities. Each year, the Wednesday University offers three courses taught by distinguished professors at the University of Washington. These courses, which meet on Wednesday evenings in the Henry Art Gallery Auditorium, are open to anyone—from high school students to senior citizens. Past courses have included Early Modern Art, Greek Myth, Silent Film, and Race in the American West, among others, and are taught by professors at the University of Washington known for both their scholarship and their teaching ability.

All courses take place at the Henry Art Gallery Auditorium on the University of Washington campus and begin at 7:30pm.

Autumn - Religion, Politics, and the Modern American Presidency

10/17/07, 10/31/07, 11/14/07, 11/28/07, 12/12/07

Religion has been part of American politics since the nation's inception. Presidents have spoken of a higher power, sought divine favor, and expressed gratitude for providential outcomes. For much of the nation's history, this confluence of faith and politics has been perceived as largely symbolic and nonpartisan. But something significant seems to have changed in recent decades. On issue after issue, U.S. public debate today includes faith-based perspectives espoused by politically adept individuals and organizations. Citizens' religious affinities are now among the strongest predictors of presidential voting patterns. Political leaders speak openly and often about their religious beliefs, and news media respond. Religion has become a defining -- and often partisan -- part of the political arena. The course will examine how this change occurred, who has led these developments and why, and what it means for the American experiment in democracy.

David Domke is Associate Professor of Communication and head of Journalism at the University of Washington. His work explores the relationship between U.S. politics, journalism, and public opinion. He is the author of God Willing? Political Fundamentalism in the White House, the "War on Terror," and the Echoing Press. Domke received the UW's Distinguished Teaching Award in 2002 and was named the Washington State Professor of the Year in 2006.

Winter - Art and Action in Ancient Rome

1/16/08, 1/30/08, 2/13/08, 2/27/08, 3/12/08

Ritual saturated every aspect of ancient Roman culture and society, from official state religion to ordinary household practices. The art and artifacts of this vast empire -- statues, sarcophagi, reliefs, and mosaics -- depicted these rituals and played a part in them. Through these beautiful and useful objects, we discover the world of work and entertainment, urban forums and marketplaces, emperors' palaces as well as the households of simpler folk. Exploring Rome and its provinces between 27 BC and 300 AD, the course will examine how the ritual actions and representations of "being Roman" shaped daily life and the social order, from emperors and citizens to women and slaves.

This course is team taught.

Sandra Joshel is Associate Professor of History at the University of Washington, where she teaches courses in Roman History and the Ancient World, with a focus on the lives and practices of Ancient Rome's non-elites -- slaves, freed people, and women. Joshel is the author of Work, Identity, and Legal Status at Rome and has also written about the representation of Ancient Rome in popular film and television.

Margaret Laird is Assistant Professor of Ancient Art & Archaeology in the University of Washington's Division of Art History. Her research examines how statues and other municipal monuments created community and civic identities in Roman towns. Laird is also the guest curator of the exhibition Roman Art from the Louvre at the Seattle Art Museum (February 21 - May 11, 2008).

Spring - American Sabor: Latinos Shaping U.S. Popular Music

4/2/08, 4/16/08, 4/30/08, 5/14/08, 5/28/08

From the resurgence of tango and salsa to the success of Buena Vista Social Club, the popularity of "Latin" music with a broad American public is as unmistakable as its distinctive rhythms and styles. But Latino contributions to the history of American popular music go much deeper. U.S. Latino musicians have served as interpreters of Latin American genres like salsa, mambo, and conjunto, and as innovators within "American" genres such as rock and roll, R&B, jazz, country/western, and hip hop. We will listen to the unique contributions of Latino communities across the country and to various artists, from Tito Puente and Celia Cruz to Carlos Santana and Linda Ronstadt. Through the music and the stories behind the music, the course will also highlight the social struggles, language differences, and generational changes that have shaped the lives of Latinos in the Americas.

This course is team taught.

Shannon Dudley is Associate Professor and head of the University of Washington's Ethnomusicology program, as well as chair of the Seattle Partnership for American Popular Music (which includes the UW, the Experience Music Project, and KEXP radio). Dudley specializes in the music of the Caribbean.

Michelle Habell-Pallan is Associate Professor of Women Studies at the University of Washington and adjunct Associate Professor of Music. She is author of Loca Motion: The Travels of Chicano and Latina Popular Culture.

Dudley and Habell-Pallan are guest curators for the Experience Music Project exhibit, American Sabor: Latinos in U.S. Popular Music (October 2007 - September 2008).

For information about previous courses in the Wednesday University Series, please visit our season archives.