Scarsdale Adult School Catalog Spring/Summer 2025

Greetings Lifelong Learners, As the 2025 honoree of the Scarsdale Foundation Spotlight Award for making a significant impact and bringing about positive change in community engagement, Scarsdale Adult School is proud to continue its longstanding tradition of building community through lifelong learning. We welcome the warmer weather with yet another fabulous semester packed with special events, walking tours, lectures, and discussion classes! SAS strives for the right blend of brand new timely topics with recurring fan favorites in a wide array of disciplines to meet student interest and scheduling preferences. An

award-winning source of affordable quality adult enrichment, SAS offers a diverse selection of subject matter taught by high caliber instructors, all while instilling a sense of camaraderie among its students, even in the virtual classrooms. We are constantly adding new classes throughout the year, opening new sections to satisfy demand, and offering new subjects from returning or newly recruited instructors. Please check our website regularly and make note the upcoming courses in our eblasts. If you are not already receiving them, please do subscribe to our newsletter to be certain to receive updates and highlights of our catalog contents. Registration for classes is open 24/7 at www.ScarsdaleAdultSchool.org , with staggered class start dates and varied meeting days and times throughout the year. In-person classes are housed in southern Westchester venues convenient to mass transit, parkways, and highways. Online classes are held over Zoom. Though originally born out of necessity, SAS’s impressive assortment of online classes have now become a mainstay, providing the perfect opportunity to engage in a common activity with friends and family in other communities, states, and even countries and most are being recorded and made available to watch on demand, eliminating any scheduling constraints. Classes are open to all, regardless of residency, and fill on a first-come/first-served basis.

We welcome your feedback and encourage you to fill out a Completed Course Survey for each class you take. If you love our classes, please tell your friends – word of mouth is much appreciated! In-person and online lifelong learning is a community-building experience regardless of place and space. With an unparalleled breadth of course offerings our catalog has something for everyone! Embrace the opportunity. Embrace the adventure. Embrace SAS. Onward and Upward, Jill Serling, Executive Direct

Mission Statement Scarsdale Adult School (SAS) is a pre-eminent, independent, not-for-profit adult education organization, offering a wide range of intellectually stimulating, best-in-class courses, lectures, and cultural activities along with skill-enhancing and recreational classes. By serving the needs of adults locally, regionally, and internationally, SAS continually strives to innovate, create a high quality curriculum, and grow our community of lifelong learners.

www.ScarsdaleAdultSchool.org • (914) 723-2325

Scarsdale Adult School Catalog Spring/Summer 2025

Table of Contents

Daytime Classes

Evening Classes

Daytime & Evening Classes

In-Person Classes

Online Classes

Special Events.....................................................................................................................................................1 Walking Tours....................................................................................................................................................10 Art Appreciation................................................................................................................................................13 Architecture....................................................................................................................................................... 23 History and Culture...........................................................................................................................................28 Current Events and Politics.............................................................................................................................29 Literature, Film, Theater, and Television.........................................................................................................31 Writing................................................................................................................................................................ 37 Music Appreciation...........................................................................................................................................38 Performing Arts.................................................................................................................................................39 Arts & Crafts......................................................................................................................................................43 Hobbies and Edutainment................................................................................................................................49 Computers, Technology, and the Internet.......................................................................................................51 Home and Garden.............................................................................................................................................55 Financial and Retirement Planning.................................................................................................................56 Games................................................................................................................................................................ 57 Food and Beverage...........................................................................................................................................60 Fitness and Dance.............................................................................................................................................61 Health, Wellness, and Personal Growth..........................................................................................................64 Languages......................................................................................................................................................... 65 Support Our School..........................................................................................................................................68 Our Team............................................................................................................................................................68 Campaign 2024 Honor Roll...............................................................................................................................69 General Information..........................................................................................................................................71 Registration Information...................................................................................................................................72 Register By Mail Form......................................................................................................................................73 Index of Classes By Day of the Week..............................................................................................................74 Index by Time of Day........................................................................................................................................79

www.ScarsdaleAdultSchool.org • (914) 723-2325

Scarsdale Adult School Catalog Spring/Summer 2025

Special Events

Recipes to Live By : An Evening with Al Roker and Courtney Roker Laga in Conversation with Jonathan Aubrey Meet the world's most famous weatherman, Al Roker, and his daughter, Courtney Roker Laga, as they discuss their new family cookbook, Al Roker's Recipes to Live By . The Rokers will be joined in conversation with Jonathan Aubrey, a Scarsdale native and owner of the Scarsdale restaurant Micheline and formerly employed at Eleven Madison Park. Rejoice in and relate to the Roker family rituals while thumbing through the Roker family recipe box. Roker's amusing anecdotes explain why he writes that "Food is the narrative that has shaped so much of who I am, and it’s the source of my warmest memories." Registration includes a copy of the cookbook. AL ROKER is a coanchor of NBC’s Today, an Emmy-award winning journalist, and a NewYork Times bestselling author. He lives in New York with his family. COURTNEY ROKER LAGA is a recipe developer and trained chef who has worked in two Michelin-starred restaurants. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and young daughter. JONATHAN AUBREY is the owner of Micheline, a French Bistro situated near Scarsdale's Metro North train station. Aubrey has lived in the US,

France, and Israel, as well as spending time in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Beijing. He worked as a garde manger and entremetier at Daniel Boulud's DB Bistro Moderne, as a host and maître d',Eleven Madison Park, and as a general manager for Nur, chef Meir Adoni's first US restaurant. He then joined Gabe Stulman's Happy Cooking Hospitality Group, managing Simon & the Whale, George Washington Bar, and Studio at the Freehand Hotel. After a hiatus during the pandemic, Aubrey returned to Scarsdale, renovating the former Metro Diner space to create Micheline. Thursday, April 3 • 7:00pm-8:30pm • Scarsdale Middle School • Course 13190 • $50 Al Roker and Courtney Roker Laga photo credit: Amy Roth

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Scarsdale Adult School Catalog Spring/Summer 2025

Author Visit: Elizabeth Harris, How to Sleep at Night (2025) In conversation with Anna Katsavos, Elizabeth Harris, a New York Times reporter, will discuss her timely debut novel, How to Sleep at Night (2025). The protagonists are a married gay couple with different political party affiliations and beliefs. After the Republican half of the duo decides to run for Congress with his husband’s consent, the drama unfolds in their relationship.

ELIZABETH HARRIS is an award-winning reporter at The New York Times , where she covers books and the publishing industry. How To Sleep At Night is her first novel. She lives in New York City. ANNA KATSAVOS , PhD, is an experienced book group facilitator. A SUNY Professor Emerita of English Literature and Women’s Studies, she has received numerous awards for teaching, and her scholarship has been published in a variety of literary journals. She has interviewed many best-selling authors and has presented interactive programs focusing on a wide range of women’s issues. Additionally, she conducts writing, editing and publishing workshops.

Wednesday, April 2 • 1:00pm-2:15pm • Zoom • Course 13155 • $30

Author Visit and Book Discussion: Beena Kamlani, The English Problem (2025) Meet Beena Kamlani, whose extraordinary debut novel The English Problem came out on January 29, 2025. Set against the backdrop of the Indian independence movement, protagonist Shiv Advani is selected by Mahatma Gandhi to travel from western India to study law in England for the purpose of returning home better equipped to drive the British colonialists out. Before leaving, his family insists on his betrothal in an arranged marriage. Once in London, Advani's allegiances -- to his family, culture, and politics -- are tested. Beautifully written in understated prose, this tender saga illustrates one man's personal liberation as it also shows the multifaceted relationship between British and Indian culture and the impact of Gandhi's nonviolent resistance.

BEENA KAMLANI is a Pushcart Prize-winning fiction writer whose work has appeared in Virginia Quarterly Review , Ploughshares , World Literature Today , several short story anthologies, and other publications. She received the Yeovil Fiction Award (Somerset,

England), for a novel in progress in 2017. She has been awarded fellowships at Yaddo, MacDowell, Ledig House/Writers Omi, Hawthornden Castle, Jentel Arts, and Hedgebrook. She has worked as a senior editor at the Penguin Group and taught book editing at New York University for nearly two decades, earning their award for teaching excellence. The English Problem is her first novel. Monday, April 21 • 1:00pm-2:30pm • Shaarei Tikvah • Course 13149 • $30

www.ScarsdaleAdultSchool.org • (914) 723-2325

Scarsdale Adult School Catalog Spring/Summer 2025

Author Visit: Lisa Wingate, Shelterwood (2024) In conversation with Anna Katsavos, Lisa Wingate, author of the best-seller Before We Were Yours (2017), will be discussing her newest book, Shelterwood (2024). Through dual narratives set in 1909 and in 1990, this historical novel intertwines stories of child and land exploitation, escape, survival, and the pioneers who fought for justice in Oklahoma amid power-hungry land barons. The story was inspired by the bizarre reports of “elf children living in a hollow tree,” and the investigation that led to the discovery of the children’s true identities.

LISA WINGATE is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Before We Were Yours , which has sold more than three million copies and been translated into over forty languages worldwide. Wingate is an Oklahoma Book Award finalist, a Goodreads Choice Award winner, and a Southern Book Prize winner. She was named 2023 Distinguished Alumni of Oklahoma State University. She lives Texas and Colorado. ANNA KATSAVOS (see bio for “Author Visit: Elizabeth Harris, How

Sleep at Night (2025)”). Tuesday, April 22 • 11:00am-12:15pm • Zoom • Course 13156 • $30

Author Visit: Sarah Easter Collins, Things Don't Break on Their Own (2024) In conversation with Crown Publishing’s Senior Vice President and Fiction Publisher Amy Einhorn, meet Sarah Easter Collins, UK-based Edgar Award finalist, during her US tour for a discussion of her debut novel, Things Don’t Break on Their Own (2024). This heart-wrenching mystery tells the story of a woman whose life has been defined, in many ways, by her sister’s disappearance and the belief that she can be found alive. A stray comment at a dinner party proves seismic in exposing the tricks that memories play and the secrets that soon come to light.

Due out in paperback on 4/29/25, books will be available for sale and signing. SARAH EASTER COLLINS is a writer and artist. She has worked extensively in the field of education, teaching art in the UK, Botswana, Thailand, and Malawi. She studied English and Fine Art at university and is a graduate of the Curtis Brown Creative novel writing course. Like her writing, her painting is inspired by her interest in shades and layers and the way that light can change everything for one instant, creating ephemeral moments of wonder.

AMY EINHORN is the Senior Vice President and Fiction Publisher at Crown Publishing. Previously, she was President at Henry Holt & Co., Publisher at Flatiron Books, and had her own eponymous imprint, Amy Einhorn Books, at Penguin Random House. Einhorn has published many New York Times bestselling fiction authors, including Chris Whitaker, Liane Moriarty, Min Jin Lee, and others, as well as bestselling memoirs and narrative nonfiction by authors such as James Comey, Jenny Lawson, and Amy Sedaris.

Wednesday, April 30 • 7:00pm-8:15pm • Scarsdale High School • Course 13143 • $30

www.ScarsdaleAdultSchool.org • (914) 723-2325

Scarsdale Adult School Catalog Spring/Summer 2025

Author Visit: Afabwaje Kurian, Before the Mango Ripens (2024)

In conversation with Anna Katsavos, Afabwaje Kurian discusses her debut novel, Before the Mango Ripens (2024). Longlisted for the Aspen Prize, Kurian’s work paints a nuanced portrait of life in a small Nigerian town in the aftermath of the Biafran War. This historical fiction set in the 1970s illustrates the hypocrisy and tensions between American Christian missionaries and the residents of Rabata as Nigeria teeters between post-colonial dependency and self-rule. Moving and bitingly humorous, the novel weaves together the characters' back stories and explores themes of faith, ambition, and betrayal in portraying a community at the precipice of change.

AFABWAJE KURIAN received her MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Her short fiction has been published in McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern , Callaloo , Crazyhorse (now swamp.pink ), The Bare Life Review , and Joyland Magazine . She has taught creative writing at the University of Iowa, for the International Writing Program, and for The Writer’s Center, and received residencies and fellowships from Ucross, Vermont Studio Center, and Ragdale. Born in Jos, Nigeria, and raised in Maryland and Ohio, Kurian now divides her time between Washington, D.C., and the Midwest. ANNA KATSAVOS (see bio for “Author Visit: Elizabeth Harris, How to Sleep at Night (2025)”). Tuesday, May 6 • 10:00am-11:15am • Zoom • Course 13157 • $30

Author Visit: Karissa Chen, Homeseeking (2025) In conversation with Anna Katsavos, Karissa Chen will discuss her debut novel, Homeseeking (2025). This epic depicts the lives of separated lovers across sixty years as war, famine, and opportunity take them from Shanghai to Hong Kong, Taiwan, New York, and their eventual reunion in Los Angeles. It chronicles the story of the sentimental Haiwen from his present to his past while tracing forward-looking Suchi’s life from her childhood to the present. This Good Morning America Book Club pick examines the experiences of the Chinese diaspora through an intimate story of family, sacrifice, loyalty, and love that transcends distance and time.

KARISSA CHEN is a Fulbright fellow, Kundiman Fiction fellow, and a VONA/Voices fellow whose fiction and essays have appeared in the Atlantic , Eater , the Cut , NBC News THINK! , Longreads , PEN

America , Catapult , Gulf Coast , and Guernica , among others. She was awarded an artist fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts as well as multiple writing residencies including at Millay Arts, where she was a Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation Creative Fellow and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, among others. She was formerly a senior fiction editor at the Rumpus and currently serves as the editor-in-chief at Hyphen magazine. She received an MFA in fiction from Sarah Lawrence College and splits her time between New Jersey and Taipei, Taiwan. ANNA KATSAVOS (see bio for “Author Visit: Elizabeth Harris, How to Sleep at Night (2025)”). Monday, May 12 • 11:00am-12:15pm • Zoom • Course 13158 • $30

www.ScarsdaleAdultSchool.org • (914) 723-2325

Scarsdale Adult School Catalog Spring/Summer 2025

Author Visit: Susan Dominus, The Family Dynamic: A Journey into the Mystery of Sibling Success (2025) Meet New York Times journalist Susan Dominus for a discussion of her new book, The Family Dynamic: A Journey into the Mystery of Sibling Success (2025) in conversation with Lori Rotskoff. Hear insights from scientific research into the ongoing “nature-versus-nurture” question in explaining the rare families that boast multiple children who achieve extraordinary success, sometimes in widely varied fields. Find out what can be learned about their struggles and the enigmatic, often disregarded role of sibling relationships. Inspired by the accomplishments of the legendary Bronte sisters, Dominus researched and detailed the stories of six remarkable families whose children achieved great success in their fields, from Olympic athlete to award-winning novelist to

successful entrepreneur. Time will be reserved for Q&A. Please note: Registration includes a signed copy of the book. This program begins with a hearty Continental breakfast in a club setting overlooking Long Island Sound. Menu includes make-your-own yogurt parfaits with granola and other

toppings, fresh fruit, hard-boiled eggs, mini pastries, coffee, tea, and orange juice. A portion of the proceeds from this event will be donated to the Larchmont-Mamaroneck Student Aid Fund. SUSAN DOMINUS has worked for The New York Times since 2007, first as a Metro columnist and then as staff writer for The New York Times Magazine . In 2018, she was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize for public service for its reporting on workplace sexual harassment. She won a Front Page Award from the Newswomen’s Club of New York and a Mychal Judge Heart of New York Award from the New York Press Club. She has studied as a fellow at the National Institutes of Health and Yale Law School. Her article about menopause in The New York Times Magazine won a National Magazine Award in 2024. She teaches journalism at Yale University. LORI ROTSKOFF is a cultural historian, writer, educator, and public speaker specializing in memoirs and narrative nonfiction, childhood and youth, women’s and gender studies, and arts and culture. She studied history and literature at Northwestern University and earned a PhD in American Studies at Yale. Friday, May 9 • 10:15am-12:00pm • Beach Point Club • Course 13310 • $80

www.ScarsdaleAdultSchool.org • (914) 723-2325

Scarsdale Adult School Catalog Spring/Summer 2025

Author Visit: Chris Bohjalian, The Jackal's Mistress (2025) In conversation with Anna Katsavos, prolific author Chris Bohjalian returns to SAS to discuss his latest novel, The Jackal's Mistress (2025). Inspired by a real-life friendship, the wife of a missing Confederate soldier discovers a wounded Yankee officer and must decide what she is willing to risk for the life of a stranger. With territorial control over the Shenandoah Valley in a constant state of flux during the Civil War, the brutal violence of the landscape serves as the backdrop for this emotional and poignant story of humanity.

CHRIS BOHJALIAN , a Fellow of the Vermont Academy of Arts and Sciences, is a New York Times bestselling author of 24 books as well as three plays. He is known for riveting historical fiction, such as Hour of the Witch and The Sandcastle Girls , page-turning thrillers such as The Lioness , and literary fiction such as Midwives and The Double Bind . His works have been translated into 35 languages, three have been made into movies ( Midwives , Secrets of Eden , and Past the Bleachers ), and one was turned into a hit television series ( The Flight Attendant ). He has received numerous awards, including the Walter Cerf Medal for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts, the Sarah

Josepha Hale Literary Award, and the ANCA Freedom Award. He has written for a wide variety of magazines and newspapers including The New York Times , the Washington Post , and the Boston Globe . He graduated from Amherst College and has been awarded honorary degrees from Amherst, Champlain College, and Castleton University.

ANNA KATSAVOS (see bio for “Author Visit: Elizabeth Harris, How to Sleep at Night (2025)”). Monday, June 2 • 11:00am-12:15pm • Zoom • Course 13159 • $30

Author Visit: Julie Averbach, The Art of Trader Joe's (2024) Meet author Julie Averbach for a presentation and Q&A about her recently published book, The Art of Trader Joe's: Discovering The Hidden Art Gems of America's Favorite Grocery Store (2024). Averbach illuminates how to view the grocery store as an art gallery. Hidden in plain sight, artwork animates everything from the brown paper grocery bags to eye-catching murals, and handmade signs. Many of the images at Trader Joe’s have histories stretching back centuries or are parodies of classic works ranging from Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa to Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night . Explore Trader Joe’s product packaging, from the ancient Roman sculpture posing on Caesar Salad to the famous hot air balloon on Bamba Peanut Snacks. Discover how graphic designers have remixed nineteenth century cartoons in the Fearless Flyer newsletter.

Course fee includes a signed book which will be mailed upon registration. JULIE AVERBACH graduated summa cum laude from Yale University with a BA in History of Art and Psychology. The Art of Trader Joe’s draws on her award-winning thesis titled “Collecting

Worlds: Trader Joe’s as a Contemporary Cabinet of Curiosities.” Averbach is the Founder & CEO of smARTee, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides live virtual art museum tours to promote arts access, wellness, and lifelong learning. Tuesday, June 10 • 7:00pm-8:15pm • Zoom • Course 13193 • $45

www.ScarsdaleAdultSchool.org • (914) 723-2325

Scarsdale Adult School Catalog Spring/Summer 2025

Author Visit: Andrew Porwancher, American Maccabee: Theodore Roosevelt and the Jews (2025) Professor Andrew Porwancher returns to SAS to uncover the close-knit and often surprising relationship between Theodore Roosevelt and the Jewish community. This lecture traces Roosevelt’s deep connection with the Jewish people at every step of his dazzling ascent. But it also reveals a man of contradictions whose checkered approach to Jewish issues was no less conflicted than the nation he led. Drawing on fresh research from his newest book, American Maccabee, Porwancher explores the complicated relationship between the leader of a youthful nation and the people of an ancient faith.

ANDREW PORWANCHER is a native of Princeton, New Jersey. He earned a BA in Communication from Northwestern, an MA in history from Brown, and a PhD in history at Cambridge. He is a Professor of History at Arizona State University. He previously held fellowships at Harvard, Oxford, and Princeton. His writing has appeared in the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal. Wednesday, June 11 • 7:00pm-8:15pm • Zoom • Course 13337 • $30

Author Visit: Rumaan Alam, Entitlement (2024) In conversation with Anna Katsavos, Rumaan Alam will discuss his latest novel, Entitlement (2024). This fourth book by the author of the acclaimed Leave the World Behind (2020) has been named to many 2024 top book lists. Entitlement is about money, race, identity, privilege, class, and consumption. Set in pre-pandemic New York City, Brooke, the inexperienced Black female protagonist is hired by an old white billionaire to manage his philanthropy. Brooke's proximity to extreme wealth soon triggers her metamorphosis as she succumbs to the seductions of money and greed.

RUMAAN ALAM is the author of four novels: Leave the World Behind (nominated for the 2020 National Book Award and adapted as a film by Netflix in 2023), That Kind of Mother , Rich and Pretty , and Entitlement . He also hosts two podcasts for Slate. He grew up in a suburb of Washington, D.C. and studied writing at Oberlin College. ANNA KATSAVOS (see bio for “Author Visit: Elizabeth Harris, How to Sleep at Night (2025)”). Monday, June 16 • 1:00pm-2:15pm • Zoom • Course 13161 • $30

www.ScarsdaleAdultSchool.org • (914) 723-2325

Scarsdale Adult School Catalog Spring/Summer 2025

Author Visit: Eleanor Wilde, June in the Garden (2025) Meet Eleanor Wilde, known until now as an author of YA literature, for a

discussion of her debut adult novel, June in the Garden (2025). Seen through the eyes of a young woman comforted by and able to function thanks to a rigid adherence to her daily routines, this fiction follows June as she struggles to forge a new life after the unexpected death of her mother. Promptness, order, consistency, and gardening were the rituals that had kept June afloat. Now forced to find a new place to live, she seeks out her birth father and secretly moves into a shed in his London backyard where she unexpectedly forms a secret friendship with her half-brother. Time will be reserved for Q&A.

Due out on 6/17/25, books will be available for sale and signing.

ELEANOR WILDE is the pen name of an acclaimed YA author who has now published her first adult novel. She holds a doctorate in literature and a master’s in disability education, having worked for several years in the U.S. public education system. She loves books with neurodiverse voices and often spends her weekends gardening or foraging for wildflowers in the woods with her kids. Tuesday, June 17 • 7:00pm-8:15pm • Scarsdale Public Library • Course 13336 • $30

DID YOU KNOW?

The Scarsdale Adult School is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit entity that accepts tax-deductible donations from individuals and corporations. Help keep the Scarsdale Adult School as a valued resource for Scarsdale and its neighboring communities. Please consider making a donation when registering. We extend a heartfelt thank you to each and every donor.

www.ScarsdaleAdultSchool.org • (914) 723-2325

Scarsdale Adult School Catalog Spring/Summer 2025

Book Discussion with Roya Hakakian: Immigrant Chronicles Author Roya Hakakian leads three book discussions of her own works that address issues of exile, displacement, political and religious persecution, and the struggles against authoritarianism. Each session may be taken individually. For an optimal experience, register for all three classes at once to save $15: Immigrant Chronicles Series • $105

Journey from the Land of No: A Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran (2004) Hakakian’s memoir details the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in her birth country in the aftermath of the 1979 revolution. She was twelve years old and part of the very small Jewish population in Iran who witnessed the iron fist of the Islamic fundamentalists when the revolution swept through Tehran. Poignantly and painfully, Hakakian reveals an Iran most readers have not encountered and re-creates a time and place dominated by religious fanaticism, violence, and fear with an open heart. Wednesday, June 4 • 11:00am-12:30pm • Shaarei Tikvah • Course 13342 • $40

Assassins of the Turquoise Palace (2011) Hakakian’s second book, hailed as both a thriller and a suspenseful courtroom drama, is the account of the 1992 murders of four Iranian-Kurdish leaders in Germany, the investigation that ensued, and the four-year trial that culminated in an historic judgment. On the evening of September 17, 1992, eight leading members of the Iranian and Kurdish opposition had gathered at a little-known restaurant in Berlin when they were ambushed and four of them shot dead. Over one hundred other Iranian exiles similarly had been assassinated or disappeared since the rise to power of Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979. One of the survivors of the shooting along with the widow of one of the victims and a handful of reporters, attorneys, and fellow exiles, began a crusade for justice. An undeterred federal prosecutor and a patient chief judge took over the case, resulting in a verdict that marks the only time that a non-democratic regime had been put on trial for the blatant violation of international law and represents the only instance of Western success against Iran’s ruling clerics.

Wednesday, July 16 • 11:00am-12:30pm • Shaarei Tikvah • Course 13343 • $40

A Beginner’s Guide to America (2021) Called a “love letter” to American democracy and written in the form of a guide for the newly arrived, this book portrays what immigrants love about the country, what they miss about their former homes, the cruelty of some Americans, and the unceasing generosity of others. She discusses race, sex, love, death, consumerism, and what it is like to be from a country that is in America’s crosshairs. Her tenderly perceptive and surprisingly humorous account invites us to see ourselves as we appear to others, making it possible for us to rediscover our many American gifts through the perspective of the outsider. Wednesday, August 8 • 11:00am-12:30pm • Shaarei Tikvah • Course 13344 • $40

ROYA HAKAKIAN is an acclaimed writer, lecturer, and journalist. Born and raised in a family of Jewish educators in Tehran, Hakakian arrived in the US as a refugee in 1985 and later became a naturalized US citizen. Prior to writing prose in English, Hakakian published two collections of poems in Persian and has been included in numerous anthologies of Iranian literature. She is a former associate producer at CBS’s 60 Minutes. She speaks on the subject of the Middle East and human rights and has been a guest on all the principal networks and radio stations. Her opinion pieces and essays have appeared in numerous media outlets and journals. She is a founding member of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and has served on the board of Refugees International and the editorial boards of both the American Purpose and World Affairs. She has been a fellow at City College of CUNY, Yale University’s Davenport College, the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University, and she was awarded the 2008 Guggenheim fellowship in nonfiction.

www.ScarsdaleAdultSchool.org • (914) 723-2325

Scarsdale Adult School Catalog Spring/Summer 2025

Walking Tours

Below are the walking tours organized by month. Full class descriptions of all in-person walking tours may be found within this interactive catalog. Please search by course number: April ● Walking Tour: Chinatown's Burgeoning Art Scene (13297) ● Walking Tour: Monstrous Beauty: A Feminist Revision of Chinoiserie at the Met (13059) ● Walking Tour: Gilded Age Mansions of Fifth Avenue (13183) ● Walking Tour: Making Home — Smithsonian Design Triennial at Cooper Hewitt (13125) ● Walking Tour: European Wing at the Met (13210) ● Walking Tour: Mondays at the Met, the World of Vermeer (13164) ● Walking Tour: Kenji Nakahashi and Blanche Lazzell at the Bruce Museum (13171) ● Walking Tour: Art Deco NYC, East 40s (13176)

www.ScarsdaleAdultSchool.org • (914) 723-2325

Scarsdale Adult School Catalog Spring/Summer 2025

May ● Walking Tour: Amy Sherald: American Sublime at the Whitney (13334) ● Walking Tour: Historic West Village (13184) ● Walking Tour: Rashid Johnson at the Guggenheim Museum (13129) ● Walking Tour: Mother's Day Outing, Mother and Child Art at the Met (13165) ● Walking Tour: Contemporary Galleries of New York City (13126) ● Walking Tour: Amy Sherald: American Sublime at the Whitney (13172) ● Walking Tour: Eighteenth Century French Paintings at the Met (13215) ● Walking Tour: Step Back in Time to the Old Lower East Side (13291)

● Walking Tour: Sargent and Paris at the Met (13166) ● Walking Tour: Fashionable Upper East Side (13298) ● Walking Tour: Sargent and Paris at the Met (13211) ● Walking Tour: Art Deco NYC, East 50s (13177)

June ● Walking Tour: Lorna Simpson: Source Notes at the Met (13217)

● Walking Tour: Nineteenth Century French Paintings at the Met (13216) ● Walking Tour: Mondays at the Met, Philip Guston and Friends (13167) ● Walking Tour: Central Park North: North Woods, Conservatory Garden, Harlem Meer (13185) ● Walking Tour: Superfine: Tailoring Black Style at the Met (13173) ● Walking Tour: Modern Wing at the Met (13214) ● Walking Tour: Mondays at the Met, the World of LGBTQ Art (13168) ● Walking Tour: Yale Center for British Art (13174) ● Walking Tour: Art Deco NYC, Murray Hill to Gramercy Park (13178) ● Walking Tour: Sargent and Paris at the Met (13212)

www.ScarsdaleAdultSchool.org • (914) 723-2325

Scarsdale Adult School Catalog Spring/Summer 2025

July ● Walking Tour: Anonymous Was A Woman: The First 25 Years at the Grey Art Museum (13175) ● Walking Tour: Madison Square Park Monuments and Sculptures (13186) ● Walking Tour: Monstrous Beauty: A Feminist Revision of Chinoiserie at the Met (13213) ● Walking Tour: Recasting The Past: The Art of Chinese Bronzes, 1100-1900 at the Met (13169) ● Walking Tour: Sculptures at the Met (13305) ● Walking Tour: Mondays at the Met, Arts of Africa (13170)

August ● Walking Tour: Art Deco NYC, Central Park West (13179)

www.ScarsdaleAdultSchool.org • (914) 723-2325

Scarsdale Adult School Catalog Spring/Summer 2025

Art Appreciation Walking Tour: Monstrous Beauty: A Feminist Revision of Chinoiserie at the Met Using a feminist lens, Monstrous Beauty (running March 24, 2025, through August 17, 2025) radically reinterprets the history of European porcelain. When porcelain first arrived in Europe from China, it led to a decorative style fixated on the East as exotic. Explore how this art form shaped not only European women's identities but also the racial and cultural stereotypes of Asian women. When viewed with a critical eye through the lens of female empowerment, this exhibit of nearly 200 porcelain works from the sixteenth century to the present shatters the illusion of chinoiserie and a neutral, harmless fantasy. HELEN LEE is an independent art educator, conducting research and crafting personal, customizable, in-person and virtual gallery experiences for adults and children at several museums. She studied art history as an undergraduate and graduate student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with areas of concentration in Asian Art and Modern Art. Monday, April 7 • 10:30am-12:00pm 10:00am-11:30pm • Metropolitan Museum of Art • Course 13059 • $85 PAGE KNOX is an adjunct professor in the Art History Department of Columbia University, where she received her PhD in 2012. She lectures widely in museums in New York City. Friday, July 11 • 11:00am-12:30pm • Metropolitan Museum of Art • Course 13213 • $85

Walking Tour: European Wing at the Met Tour will include highlights in the Met's European Wing, including its celebrated European Paintings collection encompassing more than 2,500 works of art from the thirteenth through the early twentieth century. This visit will not repeat any works shown during the September 2024, December 2024, and February 2025 tours. PAGE KNOX (see bio for “ Monstrous Beauty ”). Friday, April 18 • 11:00am-12:30pm • Metropolitan Museum of Art • Course 13210 • $85

Walking Tour: Eighteenth Century French Paintings at the Met Tour the galleries that include eighteenth century paintings by French artists. PAGE KNOX (see bio for “ Monstrous Beauty" ). Friday, May 16 • 11:00am-12:30pm 1:00pm-2:30pm • Metropolitan Museum of Art • Course 13215 • $85

www.ScarsdaleAdultSchool.org • (914) 723-2325

Scarsdale Adult School Catalog Spring/Summer 2025

Sargent and Paris at the Met Sargent and Paris (running April 27, 2025 through August 3, 2025) covers the early period of American painter John Singer Sargent's career, from 1874 to the mid 1880s, while Sargent was living in and traveling throughout Europe. He arrived in Paris as a young art student and soon immersed himself in a cosmopolitan circle of artists, writers, and patrons, achieving acclaim and awards through French exhibitions. This exhibition assembles Sargent’s diverse works that were inspired by subjects in Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and North Africa, and culminated with his infamous portrait Madame X . Walking Tour

Museum Preview This armchair preview will enhance your visit or serve as a fine substitute for those unable to go in person. PAGE KNOX (see bio for “ Monstrous Beauty ”).. Tuesday, May 20 • 4:00pm-5:00pm • Zoom • Course 13230 • $30

HELEN LEE (see bio for “ Monstrous Beauty "). Monday, May 19 • 10:30am-12:00pm • Metropolitan Museum of Art • Course 13166 • $85 PAGE KNOX (see bio for “ Monstrous Beauty ”). Thursday, May 22 • 1:30pm-3:00pm • Metropolitan Museum of Art • Course 13211 • $85 Friday, June 27 • 11:00am-12:30pm • Metropolitan Museum of Art • Course 13212 • $85

Walking Tour: Lorna Simpson: Source Notes at the Met Lorna Simpson: Source Notes (running May 19, 2025 through November 2, 2025) is the first exhibition to consider the entirety of this New York-based artist. She came to prominence in the 1980s with a pioneering approach to conceptual photography and later expanded to painting, collage, sculpture, and screen printing, exploring issues of gender, race, identity, representation, and history. She has often drawn inspiration (source notes) from images found in Ebony and Jet magazines as well as the archives of the Associated Press and the Library of Congress. PAGE KNOX (see bio for “ Monstrous Beauty ”). Thursday, June 5 • 2:30pm-4:00pm • Metropolitan Museum of Art • Course 13217 • $85

www.ScarsdaleAdultSchool.org • (914) 723-2325

Scarsdale Adult School Catalog Spring/Summer 2025

Walking Tour: Nineteenth Century French Paintings at the Met Tour the galleries that include nineteenth century paintings by French artists. PAGE KNOX (see bio for “ Monstrous Beauty ”). Friday, June 6 • 11:00am-12:30pm • Metropolitan Museum of Art • Course 13216 • $85

Walking Tour: Modern Wing at the Met The Modern and Contemporary Art wing at the Met is devoted to the study, collection and exhibition of art from 1890 to the present. An era marked by seismic cultural, social and political shifts across the globe, artistic responses to these changes have shaped multiple modernities and diverse contemporary practices. In 2012, the wing intentionally began to expand and diversify its collection that had historically focused on the art of Western Europe and North America. Now inclusive of more works by women and artists of color, with particular emphasis on acquisitions from Latin America, South Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, Turkey, and African diasporas, the wing spans a range of media, including paintings, sculpture, works on paper, design, decorative arts, and time-based media. This visit will not repeat any works shown during the October 2024 and February 2025 tours. PAGE KNOX (see bio for “ Monstrous Beauty ”).. Friday, June 20 • 11:00am-12:30pm • Metropolitan Museum of Art • Course 13214 • $85

Walking Tour: Sculptures at the Met Tour the vast collections of sculptures throughout the permanent collection at the Met. PAGE KNOX (see bio for “ Monstrous Beauty ”). Friday, July 25 • 11:00am-12:30pm • Metropolitan Museum of Art • Course 13305 • $85

Superfine: Tailoring Black Style at the Met Superfine: Tailoring Black Style (running May 10, 2025 through October 26, 2025) is this year's Costume Institute's spring exhibition. Through a variety of media, including garments, paintings and drawings, photographs, film excerpts, and more, the exhibit illustrates the importance of sartorial style to the formation of Black identities in the Atlantic diaspora. Explore the history of Black dandyism from its emergence in eighteenth century Europe to its incarnation today, as a discrete phenomenon reflecting societal issues of power and race. Class size is limited to 5; registration is first-come/first-served. Walking Tour

Museum Preview This armchair preview will enhance your visit or serve as a fine substitute for those unable to go in person. PAGE KNOX (see bio for “ Monstrous Beauty ”). Wednesday, August 6 • 11:00am-12:00pm • Zoom • Course 13302 • $30

HELEN LEE (see bio for “ Monstrous Beauty ”). Monday, June 16 • 1:30pm-3:00pm • Metropolitan Museum of Art • Course 13173 • $125

www.ScarsdaleAdultSchool.org • (914) 723-2325

Scarsdale Adult School Catalog Spring/Summer 2025

Museum Preview: Hilma af Klint: What Stands Behind the Flowers at MoMA

This armchair preview will enhance your visit or serve as a fine substitute for those unable to go in person. Hilma af Klint: What Stands Behind the Flowers at MoMA (running May 11, 2025 through September 27, 2025) focuses on a recently discovered portfolio of nature drawings that break with traditional botanical art. Made during the spring and summer of 1919 and 1920, af Klint's work employed jewel-toned watercolors to juxtapose exquisitely rendered blossoms with precisely drawn diagrams: a blooming sunflower is echoed by nested circles; a marsh marigold is accompanied by mirrored spirals; a cluster of budding branches is set against checkerboards of dots and strokes. Her artistic interpretation of botany recognizes the interconnectedness of all living things, as she used her surroundings

to represent and reveal the human condition. PAGE KNOX (see bio for “ Monstrous Beauty ”). Wednesday, July 23 • 11:00am-12:00pm • Zoom • Course 13301 • $30

Museum Preview: David Hockney 25 at Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris

Take an armchair tour of David Hockney 25 at Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris (running April 9, 2025 through August 31, 2025). More than 400 of his works from his seventy-year career, primarily those created in the past twenty-five, occupy the entire building in this retrospective that is exceptional in scale and originality. On display are paintings from international, institutional, and private collections, as well as works from the artist’s own studio, in a variety of media including oil and acrylic painting, ink, pencil and charcoal drawing, digital art (works on iPhone, iPad, photographic drawings), and immersive video installations. Hockney himself participated in the selection, sequencing, and layout of each space. This virtual preview will enhance your visit to Paris or serve as a fine substitute for those unable to go in person.

PAGE KNOX (see bio for “ Monstrous Beauty ”). Wednesday, July 30 • 11:00am-12:00pm • Zoom • Course 13304 • $30

www.ScarsdaleAdultSchool.org • (914) 723-2325

Scarsdale Adult School Catalog Spring/Summer 2025

Master Flemish and Dutch Painters Explore painting in the Netherlands from the time of the Northern Renaissance in Flanders to the era of the Dutch Golden Age. During this dynamic period, the Low Countries thrived as a center of agriculture and trade while also grappling with religious wars, resulting in the emergence of the Dutch Republic as an international power both economically and artistically. Examine master painters who engaged with different forms of government and patronage, ranging from dukes and kings to burghers and merchants. As the region split between Catholic and Protestant, Flemish artists such as van Eyck, Rubens, and van Dyck took advantage of a complex political world to become recognized throughout the European continent while Dutch artists, including Rembrandt, Hals, and Vermeer, unable to rely on church or court commissions, developed a modern art market that encouraged experimentation and the emergence of new types of secular painting, from portraiture and landscapes to everyday scenes and still life. PAGE KNOX (see bio for “ Monstrous Beauty ”). van Eyck and the Origins of Netherlandish Painting Wednesday, April 30 • 11:00am-12:00pm • Zoom • Course 13218 • $30 van Eyck's Impact on Memling, van der Weyden, and Bosch Wednesday, May 14 • 11:00am-12:00pm • Zoom • Course 13219 • $30 Pieter Bruegel and the Development of Landscape Painting Wednesday, May 21 • 11:00am-12:00pm • Zoom • Course 13220 • $30

Anthony van Dyck, Cosmopolitan Painter Wednesday, June 4 • 11:00am-12:00pm • Zoom • Course 13222 • $30 Rembrandt and Hals, Portraiture and the Rise of the Dutch Nation Wednesday, June 11 • 11:00am-12:00pm • Zoom • Course 13223 • $30 Dutch Landscape in the Golden Age Wednesday, June 18 • 11:00am-12:00pm • Zoom • Course 13224 • $30 Vermeer and Dutch Genre Painting Wednesday, June 25 • 11:00am-12:00pm • Zoom • Course 13225 • $30 Flemish and Dutch Still Life Painting Wednesday, July 2 • 11:00am-12:00pm • Zoom • Course 13226 • $30

Peter Paul Rubens, International Art Star Wednesday, May 28 • 11:00am-12:00pm • Zoom • Course 13221 • $30

www.ScarsdaleAdultSchool.org • (914) 723-2325

Scarsdale Adult School Catalog Spring/Summer 2025

Walking Tour: Mondays at the Met Study first-hand the vast collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Each Monday in the series will take a deep dive into a specific collection and/or works of art. Classes may be taken together or individually in that each one covers a different topic. HELEN LEE (see bio for “ Monstrous Beauty ”). The World of Vermeer Monday, April 21 • 10:30am-12:00pm • Metropolitan Museum of Art • Course 13164 • $85 Philip Guston and Friends Monday, June 9 • 10:30am-12:00pm • Metropolitan Museum of Art • Course 13167 • $85

The World of LGBTQ Art Monday, June 23 • 10:30am-12:00pm • Metropolitan Museum of Art • Course 13168 • $85 Arts of Africa Monday, July 28 • 10:30am-12:00pm • Metropolitan Museum of Art • Course 13170 • $85

Walking Tour: Kenji Nakahashi and Blanche Lazzell at the Bruce Museum Experience the highlights of the Bruce Museum through a guided tour of two impressive exhibits, both running February 6, 2025 through April 27, 2025. Kenji Nakahashi: Strange Beauty showcases the experimental street photography of this Japanese artist, whose work depicts the pleasures of ordinary life through images that place his subjects in unexpected or surreal contexts. Blanche Lazzell: Becoming an American Modernist is the first monographic exhibition of her work in nearly two decades. View more than sixty paintings, prints, and unique works on paper of this visionary female abstract artist. HELEN LEE (see bio for “ Monstrous Beauty ”). Tuesday, April 22 • 11:00am-12:30pm • Bruce Museum • Course 13171 • $85

Walking Tour: Mother's Day Outing, Mother and Child Art at the Met In celebration of Mother's Day, this tour features mother and child artworks in the permanent collection of the Met. HELEN LEE (see bio for “ Monstrous Beauty ”). Friday, May 9 • 10:30am-12:00pm • Metropolitan Museum of Art • Course 13165 • $85

Walking Tour: Amy Sherald: American Sublime at the Whitney Amy Sherald: American Sublime (running April 9, 2025 through August 10, 2025) is the first major museum survey of this NYC-based artist's work and is also her first solo exhibition at a New York museum. The exhibit contains approximately fifty of Sherald's paintings, including her iconic portraits of Michelle Obama and Breonna Taylor. These along with both her earlier lesser known works and newly created paintings of everyday and famous Black Americans focus intentionally on a population that has been omitted historically from portraiture and representation. HELEN LEE (see bio for “ Monstrous Beauty ”). Wednesday, May 14 • 2:00pm-3:30pm • Whitney Museum of American Art • Course 13172 • $125

RIVA BLUMENFELD (see bio for “Walking Tour: Contemporary Galleries of New York City”). Monday, May 5 • 2:30pm-4:00pm • Whitney Museum of American Art • Course 13334 • $85

www.ScarsdaleAdultSchool.org • (914) 723-2325

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