Classes

Contemporary Native American Authors

Also see Oro Valley Session

After many years of eloquent Native American oratory and non-fiction, there has been what many literary scholars consider a Native American Literary Renaissance, a flowering of novels, short fiction, poetry, drama, essays, autobiography and other forms of non-fiction. This began in the late 1960’s and continued growing through the 1970’s and to the present.

In an essay for the Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature (2004), Arnold E. Sabatelli writes: “N. Scott Momaday, Ph.D., a long-time resident of Tucson and Professor of English at the University of Arizona, captured the essence of Native American literature in an address he gave entitled “The Man Made of Words” in 1970 at Princeton University:

“Storytelling is imaginative and creative in nature. It is an act by which man strives to realize his capacity for wonder, meaning and delight. It is also a process in which man invests and preserves himself in the context of ideas. Man tells stories in order to understand his experience, whatever it may be. The possibilities of storytelling are precisely those of understanding the human experience.”

Week 1: An introductory survey of some major contemporary Native American authors. We will discuss the careers of and sample works by Vine Deloria, Jr., Joy Harjo, Gerald Vizenor, and Linda Hogan.

Week 2: N. Scott Momaday (1934) Kiowa/Cherokee House Made of Dawn (1968 masterpiece novel) and selected poetry from The Angle of Geese (1974) and The Gourd Dancer (1976).

Week 3: Leslie Marmon Silko (1948) Laguna Pueblo “The Yellow Woman” (1974 short story from The Man To Send Rain Clouds) and selected poetry from Laguna Woman (1974) and Storyteller (1981)

Week 4: Louise Erdrich (1954) Chippewa “Lipsha Morrissey” and “The Red Convertible” from Love Medicine (1984) and selected poetry from Jacklight (1984)

Week 5: Luci Tapahanso (1953) Navajo “In 1984” and other selections from The Women Are Singing (1993) Other poetry selections from A Radiant Curve (2008), Simon Ortiz (1941) Acoma Pueblo “Travels in the South” and other selected poetry from Woven Stone (1992)

Week 6: Ofelia Zepeda (1952 – ) Tohono O’odham Selected poetry from Where Clouds Are Formed (2008). Selected prose selections from Ocean Power (1995), Sherman Alexie (1966) Spokane/Coeur d’ Alene, Selected poetry from The Business of Fancydancing (1992), “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven” (1993 short fiction).

Contemporary Native American Authors

Also see Tucson Session

After many years of eloquent Native American oratory and non-fiction, there has been what many literary scholars consider a Native American Literary Renaissance, a flowering of novels, short fiction, poetry, drama, essays, autobiography and other forms of non-fiction. This began in the late 1960’s and continued growing through the 1970’s and to the present.

In an essay for the Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature (2004), Arnold E. Sabatelli writes: “N. Scott Momaday, Ph.D., a long-time resident of Tucson and Professor of English at the University of Arizona, captured the essence of Native American literature in an address he gave entitled “The Man Made of Words” in 1970 at Princeton University:

“Storytelling is imaginative and creative in nature. It is an act by which man strives to realize his capacity for wonder, meaning and delight. It is also a process in which man invests and preserves himself in the context of ideas. Man tells stories in order to understand his experience, whatever it may be. The possibilities of storytelling are precisely those of understanding the human experience.”

Week 1: An introductory survey of some major contemporary Native American authors. We will discuss the careers of and sample works by Vine Deloria, Jr., Joy Harjo, Gerald Vizenor, and Linda Hogan.

Week 2: N. Scott Momaday (1934) Kiowa/Cherokee House Made of Dawn (1968 masterpiece novel) and selected poetry from The Angle of Geese (1974) and The Gourd Dancer (1976).

Week 3: Leslie Marmon Silko (1948) Laguna Pueblo “The Yellow Woman” (1974 short story from The Man To Send Rain Clouds) and selected poetry from Laguna Woman (1974) and Storyteller (1981)

Week 4: Louise Erdrich (1954) Chippewa “Lipsha Morrissey” and “The Red Convertible” from Love Medicine (1984) and selected poetry from Jacklight (1984)

Week 5: Luci Tapahanso (1953) Navajo “In 1984” and other selections from The Women Are Singing (1993) Other poetry selections from A Radiant Curve (2008), Simon Ortiz (1941) Acoma Pueblo “Travels in the South” and other selected poetry from Woven Stone (1992)

Week 6: Ofelia Zepeda (1952 – ) Tohono O’odham Selected poetry from Where Clouds Are Formed (2008). Selected prose selections from Ocean Power (1995), Sherman Alexie (1966) Spokane/Coeur d’ Alene, Selected poetry from The Business of Fancydancing (1992), “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven” (1993 short fiction).

Painters of all levels are invited to come together for instruction, inspiration, and encouragement. Review the basic elements of painting and receive plenty of individual attention in a small and supportive class environment. Work on projects of your choice or those suggested by the instructor. Discuss methods for color mixing, techniques for paint application, and ideas for still life, landscape, and portrait. Bring any art supplies you have. Additional supply needs will be discussed at the first class.

The Great Male Singers

Also see Session 2 & Session 3

Fly me to the moon
And let me play among the stars,
Let me see what spring is like
On Jupiter or Mars . . .

From Rudy Vallée to Frank Sinatra, from Bing Crosby to Tony Bennett, from Cab Calloway to Johnny Mathis, from Louis Armstrong to Nat King Cole, from Fats Domino to Elvis Presley to the Beatles, the great men of song have chronicled a romantic history of our lives. For generations, crooners have given voice to the Great American Songbook. The music and lyrics of the great tunesmiths live in their voices.

Celebrate the great vocalists who stood in front of the bandstand and sang the songs that told us who we were, where we were, and how we felt. A great singer can instantly trigger the soundtrack of our lives and take us into the heart and soul of a song. Hearing Strangers in the Night or Love Me Tender or Moon River or Eleanor Rigby can instantly transport you back to a special place in time when it was just you, the singer and the song.

Fly Me to the Moon will feature a cavalcade of male singing stars from the world of Big Bands, Jazz, Blues, Pop, and Rock who will lift your heart and make your spirits soar.

Cozy up, for it will be standing-room-only for the great men of song!

Fill my heart with song
And let me sing for ever more
You are all I long for
All I worship and adore…

The Great Male Singers

Also see Session 1 & Session 3

Fly me to the moon
And let me play among the stars,
Let me see what spring is like
On Jupiter or Mars . . .

From Rudy Vallée to Frank Sinatra, from Bing Crosby to Tony Bennett, from Cab Calloway to Johnny Mathis, from Louis Armstrong to Nat King Cole, from Fats Domino to Elvis Presley to the Beatles, the great men of song have chronicled a romantic history of our lives. For generations, crooners have given voice to the Great American Songbook. The music and lyrics of the great tunesmiths live in their voices.

Celebrate the great vocalists who stood in front of the bandstand and sang the songs that told us who we were, where we were, and how we felt. A great singer can instantly trigger the soundtrack of our lives and take us into the heart and soul of a song. Hearing Strangers in the Night or Love Me Tender or Moon River or Eleanor Rigby can instantly transport you back to a special place in time when it was just you, the singer and the song.

Fly Me to the Moon will feature a cavalcade of male singing stars from the world of Big Bands, Jazz, Blues, Pop, and Rock who will lift your heart and make your spirits soar.

Cozy up, for it will be standing-room-only for the great men of song!

Fill my heart with song
And let me sing for ever more
You are all I long for
All I worship and adore…