Course Library
All Chesapeake Forum Library Courses are now available FREE OF CHARGE. Registration is required to access the course recording links. Your Registration Confirmation from Chesapeake Forum will have the YouTube links for the course session(s). If you want to be on our mailing list for the Course Offering mailer that goes out prior to each semester, be sure to include your full mailing address when registering.
- with Ron Lesher
- Course Type: Library
- Semester: Fall 2021
Who knew that Lewis Carroll ever contemplated or wrote a draft of the third book of the Alice Trilogy? We will explore some of the hidden meanings in Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, and Exeunt Alice.
- with David Blight, Ph.D.
- Course Type: Library
- Semester: Winter/Spring 2021
Professor David W. Blight’s virtual live lecture will draw past and present together by focusing on Frederick Douglass’ key legacies. You are welcome to join a live Q&A following the lecture.
- with Suzanne Sanders
- Course Type: Library
- Semester: Spring 2022
This fun introduction to Shakespeare is full of hints to help you enjoy and understand his plays in the way that works best for you.
- with Samuel Hilgartner
- Course Type: Library
- Semester: Winter/Spring 2021
In this new course, we will explore the themes of human freedom and authority in a sampling of maritime literature.
- with Bev Williams
- Course Type: Library
- Semester: Winter/Spring 2021
We will explore the import and tension created by Hemingway’s objective point of view.
- with Forest Hansen, Ph.D.
- Course Type: Library
- Semester: Spring 2022
We will examine “On Liberty,” the seminal work by John Stuart Mills (described as the one piece of political thought most relevant to us today) by analyzing the relative and often competing rights of individuals with the rights of the community.
- with John Miller, Ph.D
- & Suzanne Sanders
- Course Type: Library
- Semester: Fall 2020
Are the Macbeths really Shakespeare’s happiest couple? If you first read the play in high school, come back for a deeper look at one of Shakespeare’s darkest works
- with Nancy Hesser Ph.D.
- Course Type: Library
- Semester: Fall 2021
Writers the world over have given us a wealth of creative fiction focusing on ways we discover, define, or reinvent ourselves through a wide variety of voices and identities.
- with John Miller, Ph.D.
- & Michael Valliant
- Course Type: Library
- Semester: Winter 2022
In this discussion course, we will examine how poetry’s power of language helps us understand what it means to be human through a close reading of the works of three famous English Poets.
- with John Miller, Ph.D.
- & Karen Kaludis
- Course Type: Library
- Semester: Winter/Spring 2021
We will explore what their intimate letters reveal about this extraordinary marriage.
- with Forest Hansen, Ph.D.
- Course Type: Library
- Semester: Fall 2021
COURSE IS NOW OVER. THE RECORDING IS STILL AVAILABLE.
Examine selections from one of Plato’s most famous dialogues as Socrates turns to a philosophical exploration of the nature of beauty and its role in the good life.
- with Sharika Crawford, Ph.D.
- Course Type: Library
- Semester: Fall 2021
COURSE IS NOW OVER. RECORDING IS AVAILABLE. Learn what ended the worldwide Caribbean turtle fishery of a century ago and why this is a cautionary note for the sustainability of fishing the Chesapeake.
- with John Miller Ph.D.
- & Suzanne Sanders
- Course Type: Library
- Semester: Fall 2021
See how the fast-paced comedy with interwoven plots of romance, mistaken identities and practical jokes make Twelfth Night one of the most popular and admired of all Shakespeare’s plays.
- with Jody Rennie
- Course Type: Library
- Semester: Winter 2022
Agatha Christie is known for her clever and intelligently written novels. Join us as we explore three of the Queen of Crime’s detective mysteries in the style of a classic book club.
- with Nancy Hesser, Ph.D.
- Course Type: Library
- Semester: Fall 2020
Those who relish good food and good fiction will enjoy reading and discussing imaginative short stories about the many ways we relate to food and cooking.
- with David O. Stewart, JD
- Course Type: Library
- Semester: Summer 2021
Learn how George Washington's successes were hard-won through effort, discipline, and lifelong learning.
- with Nancy Hesser, Ph.D.
- Course Type: Library
- Semester: Winter/Spring 2021
Do you know what flash fiction is? Join us for some lively discussions about evocative short stories and shared insights.
- with Forest Hansen, Ph.D.
- Course Type: Library
- Semester: Summer 2021
This course uses easily accessible dialogues by Plato to explore the days prior to and after the trial of Socrates as well as his defense in the face of a death sentence.
- with David O. Stewart
- Course Type: Library
- Semester: Spring 2022
(Recording Now Available!) Family history or family lies? This tale of hard times on the early Maine coast was inspired by David’s mother’s family. The ‘new land’ was fraught with hunger and meager shelter where death was always lurking and warfare was ubiquitous.
- with Phil Hesser, Ph.D.
- Course Type: Library
- Semester: Fall 2021
COURSE IS NOW OVER, BUT THE RECORDING IS STILL AVAILABLE! The Maryland Parks Service describes the landscape of Harriet Tubman’s early years as “virtually unaltered.” Join Phil, co-author of “The Old Home Is Not There,” on a sweep through Dorchester as he looks for continuity and change.