Courses and Lectures
Fall 2025 Catalog:
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Spring 2026 Important Dates:Spring catalog available: Mid January Registration opens: February 2 Brown Bag Lectures begin: March 4 Courses begin: March 16 |
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Click here to read more about our instructors and speakers!
Brown Bag Lecture Series:
TIME AND LOCATION: All Brown Bag Lectures takes place from 12-1:30 on the designated day in the Multipurpose Room of the Byrd Center for Congressional History & Education
September 10 – How Well Do We Understand the American Revolution?
Speaker: Nancy Spannaus
Description: America’s 250th birthday is July 4, 2026, but do we know what we are celebrating? How many of us are deluded into thinking our independence was a tax revolt? How many think our stated ideals are a sham, and we shouldn’t have split at all? Come to this presentation and book-signing by public historian Nancy Spannaus on her new book, From Subject to Citizen: What Americans Need to Know about Their Revolution, and get a deeper understanding of the American Revolution and how to preserve it.
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September 17 – The Constitution, The West Virginia Judiciary, and the Intermediate Court of Appeals
Speakers: Chief Judge Dan Greear
Description: he WV ICA opened on July 1, 2022. To help students and the public understand the judicial process, twice each year appropriate court cases are argued in sessions of the court hosted at educational institutions around the state. This September, cases will be argued in the Shepherd University Frank Arts Center. Between cases, the chief deputy clerk and participating attorneys provide a question and answer session with students and other members of the public in attendance. The public will have the opportunity on Tuesday, September 16 to observe the WV Intermediate Court of Appeals and then engage with court staff and the attorneys arguing the cases. This brown bag lecture will follow the September 16 public event, with a focus on the state and federal Constitutions.
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September 24 – The Clashing Egos, Hopes, and Interests on the Floor of the Constitutional Convention – Summer, 1787 Philadelphia
Speaker: Jim Surkamp
Description: Drawing from the materials created for the OPM’s Eastern Management Development Center we will assign a delegate(s) to each class member with a briefing sheet of their specific state’s aims amid the convention’s frayed nerves, bad behavior, wise behavior, last-minute breakthroughs, creating a final product that William Ewart Gladstone, Britain’s prime minister, famously called “the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man.” We do not parse legal fine points, but rather look closely and understand about seven (two overlooked by many) key moments, votes and subtle word changes by the authors that made all the diffe
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October 1 – The Dreyfus Affair: A Watershed Moment in Modern European History
Speaker: Claudine Lebeau
Description: The Dreyfus Affair stands as one of the most consequential political scandals of the late 19th century, forever altering the landscape of justice, nationalism, and civil rights. When Captain Alfred Dreyfus was wrongfully convicted of treason, what began as a military trial evolved into a twelve-year saga that would expose the deep fractures within French society. Set against the backdrop of rising antisemitism and lingering resentment from the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, the affair divided the nation The scandal gave birth to a new form of intellectual activism. The repercussions extended far beyond France’s borders, profoundly influencing the nascent Zionist movement. The affair’s resolution in 1906 with Dreyfus’s exoneration represented a triumph for republican values over authoritarianism. In this lecture, we will chart the complete timeline of the affair analyze the pivotal role played by both the French and international press in shaping public opinion, and examine how this single case of injustice catalyzed movements that would reshape European politics for decades to come.
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October 8 – Japanese American Experiences during World War II: Incarceration Camps and Beyond
Speaker: David Gordon
Description: Following Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese Americans fell under popular suspicion, particularly when it appeared plausible in 1942 that Japan might invade California. Responding to an atmosphere awash in false rumors, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which removed all ethnic Japanese from the U.S. West Coast and transferred them without due process to hastily built incarceration camps in remote areas. Meanwhile, ethnic Japanese in other parts of the U.S. faced harsh discrimination but were not removed from their homes. Some Japanese Americans, particularly from Hawaii, went on to serve with great distinction in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in Italy once this option became available. Others translated Japanese communications for U.S. forces in the Pacific and Southeast Asia. A comparison with the circumstances of Japanese Canadians shows that in certain respects the latter faced even worse treatment during the war than Japanese Americans did.
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October 15 – Living Every Day with AWE
Speaker: Carol Richmond, Ph.D.
Description: Accessing awe is a way to help people to reduce stress in these troubled times, and reduce loneliness as we age, while improving overall-wellbeing. Walking in AWE can lower anxiety about time, connection and can ease chronic pain. The session will describe new research, practices and reflections to find awe throughout the day. Practicing AWE less than 1 minute per day can help you to find clarity and purpose. Ideas and practices are based on “The Power of AWE” by Jake Eagle, LPC and Michael Amster, MD, and the book “Approaching AWE” by Dacher Keltner and Jonathan Haidt and my own study.
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October 22 – Ludwig Wittgenstein. Greatest Philosopher of the 20th Century– because he destroyed Philosophy.
Speaker: Mark Kohut
Description: Ludwig Wittgenstein has been described as one of the greatest philosophers of the 20th century. Because of his unique approaches, his breakthrough originality, the successful trashing of so many past historical directions, he forged unforgettable insights into how the human community knows itself, and how we communicate, including about the ultimate things. He wanted to solve problems, not learn and teach “philosophy”. Wittgenstein, born into immense wealth, gave it all away; a volatile friend and a moody genius who once left Cambridge to teach elementary school; raised in a family so cultured that music was a second language and so tormented that three of his brothers committed suicide at a young age. His sexuality was tortured and largely repressed. You might have encountered his name or one of his famous lines: “The limits of my language are the limits of my world” or “If a lion could speak, we wouldn’t understand it.” I’ll try to unpack what such lines really mean—without philosophical jargon, as students never got jargon from him. Wittgenstein was sure he had eliminated many, many former philosophical questions. So, if no one asks too many philosophical questions, we’ll learn a lot.
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October 29 – The Music of Kindness: Therapeutic Music at the Threshold of Life and Death
Speaker: Tracy Seffers
Description: “Sound healing” is all the rage these days, in every yoga studio from San Diego to Shepherdstown. But is there science behind it?
Well, in fact — there is.
Tracy Seffers — Shepherd University registrar, Certified Music Practitioner (CMP), Threshold Singer, and end-of-life doula — will explore what can happen when music, science, and compassionate presence intersect at the thresholds of life and death. Learn about the research being collected and supported in clinical spaces where CMPs are practicing; experience the music itself; and consider what kind of music might most powerfully support recovery from illness as well as the transition into death and dying.
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November 5 – The Tarot in History and Myth
Speaker: Frank “Doc” McCluskey
Description: How did a deck of Italian playing cards end up in the hands of mystics and spiritualists? What are the ancient claims that these cards make? We will spend a hilarious and fact filled 90 minutes unveiling the secrets of the pyramids, the fortune telling tricks of the Gypsies (now called Romani) a French nobleman who claimed to be 500 years old and the wickedness of Alister Crowley. Along the way we will also encounter Houdini, Arthur Conan Doyle and Led Zeppelin.
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November 12 – Sun Tzu and The Art of War
Speaker: Gerald Collins
Description: In The Art of War, written over 2,000 years ago, the Chinese general Sun Tzu (Sunzi), asserts that “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.” Is that true? If so, how would it work? Over the years, military theorists in Asia and the West have studied this and similar ideas contained in Sun Tzu’s concise treatise on military strategy and tactics. In recent times, his ideas have even become popular with Wall Street analysts who try to apply them to the market. This is what Charlie Sheen’s character in “Wall Street” told his boss he had done — not long before he was hauled off to jail!!! In the more serious realm of international relations and modern warfare, are Sun Tzu’s ideas relevant? Do they tell us anything about the adversarial relationship that now exists between the United States and the People’s Republic of China? The presentation will include time for questions and a discussion of such issues.
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November 19 – Confused About Medicare?
Speaker: Judie Marshall
Description: Come learn the Medicare alphabet of parts A, B, C, and D. Detailed descriptions will be discussed for each part, eligibility, and how it applies to you or someone in your family. Handouts will also be available.