Past, Current, & Proposed Future Classes

You are looking at a list of proposed classes for OLLI at AU Business and Economic Studies.  I am going to ask for your help in filling out this list.  Please let me know if you have any ideas for future classes, preferences as to the classes from the list, or are willing to lead/coordinate classes.

Class Title

When / Tentative

Description

Leader/ Coordinator

A Politically Incorrect Guide to American History, Part I & II

Fall 2006 - Winter 2007

A study based on the text, The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History, by Dr. Thomas E. Woods, Jr.. Each week we will have a 40 minute lecture, followed by questions and discussion.

Dr. Thomas E. Woods, Jr. / W.C. McPherson, Jr., George Crispin

An Alabama Mock Constitutional Convention

Spring 2007 - Spring 2008

This class rewrote the Constitution for the State of Alabama as an exercise to learn how the job might be done at some time in the future.  The test of the Constitution this class produced is available here.

W. C. McPherson

Liberalism:   The Classical Tradition

Spring 2008

A discussion based on the book of the same name by Ludwig von Mises.  Classical Liberalism believes in free markets, private property, the rule of law, limited government, and maximum individual liberty.

George Crispin/ W. C. McPherson

What's New

(Current Events  

Fall 2008

Spring 2008

This class will be either a discussion group where issues and events in the news are discussed by the class or on occasion a guest speaker(s) may be brought in to discuss a particular issue followed by a Q&a session.  This class is intended to run in any term that the Great Decisions class is not running.  No subject will be removed from the table as long as the discussions remain collegial.  Various discussion formats will be tried as the class progresses. W. C. McPherson

Energy The Master Resource

TBD

A discussion group based on the book of the same name by Bradley and Fulmer.   Fundamental questions will be discussed. What is energy? Where does it come from? Current policy; Are we running out of oil? Is the globe warming? and more. The book is the best single primer on energy. It discusses electricity, coal fired plants, nuclear fission, natural gas, hydroelectric, plants, wind power, geothermal energy, microturbines, solar power, biomass, fuel cells, and more.

TBD

The Lost Literature Of Socialism

TBD

Discussions based on the book of the same name - written by a literary critic who believes that the writings of many Socialists have been ignored or forgotten and that is a serious mistake. The book is an attempt to correct the imbalance. For example, de Tocqville - “The state can make of mankind anything it wants - that sums up their theories.” George Orwell - “There is something wrong with a regime that needs a pyramid of corpses every few years.” Hitler - “How, as socialist, can you not be an anti-semite.” Marx - “Germany takes Schleswig with the right of civilisation over barbarism, of progress against stability.”

Watson begins by stating his purpose, “As a literary historian I seek to open doors to a new debate by studying class, revolution and race through largely forgotten texts of the age that stretches from Marx to Hitler

TBD

Essays on Classical Liberal Thought

TBD

A Class using a series of essays containing classical liberal beliefs.  This ongoing serries of essays and excerpts will include works of many classical and modern champions of classic liberal thought Including Ludwig von Mises, Tom Bethell, Lawrence M. Ludlow, Edward Fesser and many others.  Each week the class will be given the essay to be covered the next week to allow them to read and evaluate before discussing it in class.  All essays to be covered in a class will be handed out the week before.

George Crispin / TBD

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Last Updated - 08/01/20087