Faculty:
Corey Ryan Earle '07, Visiting Lecturer in American Studies

Evan Fay Earle '02, MS '14, Dr. Peter J. Thaler '56 University Archivist

Put yourself in the shoes of Ezra Cornell as he commits to “found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study.” Throughout this class, you will explore the different facets of building and operating a university from both a modern and historic perspective. This course will compare the experiences of Ezra Cornell with current university leaders, discussing Cornell’s place in the context of American higher education more broadly.

You will be immersed in the University Archives and Rare & Manuscript Collections of Kroch Library, where you will view historic archival materials related to the founding of Cornell University. Current university leaders will serve as guest speakers, highlighting the challenges and opportunities of their positions.

Topics will include curriculum, campus development, faculty recruitment, admissions, alumni affairs and development, budget and finance, university relations, student life, and more.

Faculty:
Catherine K. Blumenkamp, Lecturer in Human Centered Design

In this studio course, you will draw inspiration from the historical dress and traditional techniques of garment construction. You will create your own unique clothing designs using free draping, the process of manipulating two-dimensional fabric directly onto a three-dimensional dress form. Improvise with materials through hands-on activities, experimenting with the interplay of fabric, shape, and silhouette. In the spirit of sustainability, the course will source and up-cycle old garments and textiles, cutting, molding, marking, and joining fabric to create our own original clothing designs. Together, we will visit special collections, including the Cornell Fashion + Textile Collection, to find inspiration in the work of designers who came before us and understand the value of material culture through the centuries. This week-long course will culminate in an exhibit of our work together.

Previous sewing or design experience is not required. A beginner’s mindset and willingness to experiment are encouraged!

Faculty:
Kathleen Arnink, Senior Lecturer, Viticulture and Enology

Annemarie Morse, International Wine Judge, Educator, and Manager of the Johnson College of Business' Student Learning Center

We all must eat and drink for survival; for most of us, both activities can be a highly pleasurable experience. Pairing wine with meals and cooking with wine can increase our enjoyment of food and the healthfulness of the experience. In this course, you will enhance your wine and food pairing knowledge, and indulge your passion for exceptional wines, artisanal cheeses, gourmet chocolates, and other regional foods.

In this class, you will explore the principles of flavor chemistry and sensory science to explain what we experience as we eat food and drink wine. Together, we will discover the important flavor chemicals that we appreciate in wines and learn how they develop. Different flavor chemicals are created by the grapevines and the microbes that ferment juice into wine. Then we will investigate how our wine flavor perceptions interact with our perceptions of different foods. Why do people believe cheese works so well with wines? We will discuss both the misconceptions and the scientific explanations for this and other pairings. You will learn to understand why you like what you like, understand how your senses and your brain perceive different flavor chemicals and experience the ways your perceptions are influenced by pairing different flavors together.

There will be lectures each day to inform our daily sensory activities. Sensory activities will include standards we will prepare to illustrate some flavor and sensory principles. The standards will help students understand the wine and food pairings we will sample every day. We also plan a cooking session, to illustrate how cooking with wine can change a dish and enhance your enjoyment of it, and a winery visit for a food and wine experience. You must be 21 years of age or older to participate in this course.

Faculty:
Raymond Craib, the Marie Underhill Noll Professor of American History

The England of South America. A South American exception. The Republic of Poetry. Birthplace of neoliberal shock therapy. The descriptions for and of Chile abound. This course simultaneously reveals how those descriptions arose as well as the truths and the falsehoods they contain. Beginning with Chile’s independence from Spain in the early 19th century, we will be especially interested in Chile’s connections to a wider Pacific world. Did you know Chilean miners were some of the first to arrive in California’s gold fields in the 1840s, bringing with them biota and knowledge that would transform California’s future? That Chilean ships forcibly brought Pacific islanders to the country to labor in the 1860s? That Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe is based on the history of Alexander Selkirk, a castaway on the Chilean island of Juan Fernández?

We will in addition explore how closely Chile’s history is intertwined with that of Britain and the US. British capital dominated in the 19th century, from mining in the north to ranching in the far south. U.S. economic and political interests in the 20th century, meanwhile, spurred successful efforts to foment a coup d’etat in 1973 that saw the overthrow of the western hemisphere’s first democratically elected Marxist president. In the wake of the coup, Chile would become an economics laboratory for Milton Friedman and his Chicago Boys to experiment with what would soon become labeled ‘neoliberalism.’ Tens of thousands of Chileans went into exile in Venezuela, Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain... and Ithaca, New York. Even as we meet in the classroom, that neoliberal experiment is being undone in Chile as a result of two decades of social mobilizations by young and old alike. It is a remarkable moment in which to take stock of Chile’s history, present, and future.

Faculty:
Vanya Rohwer, Curator of Birds & Mammals, Lab of Ornithology

Natural history collections are archives of the living world, from rocks and fossils to rhododendrons and flamingos. They document global biodiversity, provide essential time-series data about natural populations, and help solve unanticipated conservation problems.

Through discussions, tours of Cornell’s renowned and vibrant vertebrate collections of birds, mammals, fishes, amphibians, and reptiles, and an outing to collect our own scientific data by capturing, measuring, and handling birds, this course will introduce you to the hidden world of natural history collections. You will explore the ethical dilemmas inextricably linked to scientific collecting, see how natural history collections are used for research and conservation, learn about the history and personalities involved in scientific collecting, and discuss the future of natural history collections.

Faculty:
Matt Baughan, Head Varsity Coach for Men’s Golf with Kelly Baughan and staff of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Course

Improve your game with intensive instruction tailored to your needs! Male and female golfers at every level, from novice to experienced, will benefit from this comprehensive clinic.

Grouped by skill, you will be led through daily exercises and individual instruction that will help you advance your game. After the morning instruction, you will enjoy free afternoons to practice what you’ve learned on Cornell’s legendary Robert Trent Jones Golf Course.

Note: Use of your own clubs is strongly encouraged, but rental clubs will be available.

Faculty:
Charlie Green, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Literatures in English

Writing a personal essay—the informal or familiar or genuine essay—is a wonderful means of exploring what really matters to you. In this class, you will write about events in your life that have moved you and mull over those questions about the human experience that most compel your interest. You will strive for conversational frankness and cultivate a high tolerance for uncertainty, writing not so much to prove ideas as to weigh their merits in your experience. In the process, you will deepen your own and your readers’ understanding of your life story.

As part of the course, you will also read a selection of published essays to discuss their structure, tone, and immediacy. Time will be devoted to work-shopping our essays, either with Charlie, in small groups, or with the class. Come to complete a piece or to shape your writing into a formal memoir.

Faculty:
David Todd, eCornell Course Facilitator and Visiting Lecturer, Art as Experience, Department of Art

Jennifer Gioffre Todd, Art and Photography Studio Manager

Grab your camera and join us outside as we explore Ithaca’s natural beauty through the lens! No matter your experience, Jennifer and David Todd will help you advance your skills to the next level. Each day you will visit a new location and focus on one aspect of nature photography. Afternoons will be devoted to editing and critiquing our work. Technical exercises and on-the-fly personal instruction will answer any question you’ve ever wanted to ask a professional photographer. Together, we will complete the week by sharing our final print exhibition with the entire CAU community.

Topics include close-ups, landscapes big and small, B&W versus color editing, the night sky, sunsets, waterfalls and more!

Note: Students must be able to carry their own camera equipment on dirt paths over a variety of distances. Students must bring their own laptop or tablet with their preferred editing software installed.

Faculty:
Nancy Green, Gale and Ira Drukier Curator, Johnson Museum of Art (retired)

Maryterese Pasquale-Bowen, Assistant for School Programs, Johnson Museum of Art

Starting in the 1930s—the decade that was defined by the Depression, FDR’s New Deal, and the emigration to New York of many of Europe’s leading artists and intellectuals—this course explores fifty years of art through the lens of social and political changes, from the Works Projects Administration and the Mexican muralists, through the emergence of the American Abstract Artists, the McCarthy era, Pop Art, Feminism, and the Black Power movement of the 1960s and 1970s.

You will examine these topics as they affected the Cornell University campus and the surrounding community during these decades. Together, we will explore archived materials and key artifacts housed at the Johnson Museum of Art, Kroch Library, and Catherwood Library.

There will be short reading assignments to accompany each class meeting, and we anticipate lively and wide-ranging discussions based on our reading and viewing experiences.

Faculty:
Elliot Shapiro, Senior Lecturer of the Knight Institute and the Knight Foundation Director of Writing in the Majors

Since sound came to the movies, movie musicals have been among the most visible and lucrative products of the American film industry. American Jews played key roles as composers and lyricists of the music that emerged from Tin Pan Alley; appeared front and center on the Broadway stage; and helped define the collective body of work known as the “Great American Songbook.” Stage musicals and film musicals developed in parallel, with many areas of overlap. Both fields of entertainment have been deeply intertwined with cultural production by—and sometimes about—Jewish Americans. This has sometimes included musical adaptations of literature by and about Jews and Jewishness.

In this class, you will focus on six movie musicals that engage with questions of Jewish visibility, Jewish identity, and Jewish cultural production. Our advance reading will include several of the short stories that were adapted into musicals, including two of the Sholom Aleichem stories that were incorporated into Fiddler on the Roof and the I. B. Singer story that was adapted for Yentl. Some additional advance reading will be assigned to provide context for the films.

Class time will be devoted to close reading and discussion of the films on the curriculum, and the relevant source texts. In advance of class, participants will be asked to view the six main films being discussed: Duck Soup (1933), Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949), Funny Girl (1968), Fiddler on the Roof (1971), The Jazz Singer (1980), and Yentl (1983).

Faculty:
Emily Wilcox Gier, Associate Professor of Practice and Dietetic Internship Director for the Division of Nutritional Sciences

Are you curious about the evidence behind popular diets promoted for better health? Are you challenged by confusing diet recommendations to manage cardiovascular health, weight, or diabetes? Are you interested in honing your meal preparation skills to prepare quick, tasty, and healthy meals using local ingredients? Join us in Cornell’s new Discovery Kitchen where we’ll explore the science and practice the art of preparing delicious and nutritious food for healthy living.

Faculty:
Holger Klinck, John W. Fitzpatrick Director of the K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Laurel Symes, Assistant Director of the K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology

In this seminar-style course, you will gain exclusive insights into how scientists collect and interpret sounds in nature to inspire and inform the conservation of marine and terrestrial wildlife and habitats. Together, we will listen to animal sounds and learn how organisms use sound to communicate with each other, detect prey, and navigate their environments. You will explore topics such as animal sound production and reception, acoustic recording equipment, and sound analysis technologies. In addition, you will identify ways in which the increasing human noise footprint impacts ecosystems and examine the plethora of acoustics applications advancing conservation efforts.

Faculty:
Warren D. Allmon, Hunter R Rawlings III Professor of Paleontology and Director of the Paleontological Research Institution

Hike stunning gorge trails and learn about Finger Lakes fossils and geology! Ithaca's spectacular gorges are windows into our prehistoric past. Their 380-million-year-old rocks started in a shallow sea and have been sculpted over the past 2-3 million years by water and ice, revealing how this part of North America has evolved.

In this course, you will join us on an exploration of the area’s rocks, fossils, and past and current flora and fauna led by Warren Allmon, geologist, paleontologist, naturalist, director of Ithaca's Paleontological Research Institution and the Museum of the Earth, and the Hunter R. Rawlings III Professor of Paleontology in Cornell’s Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.

Daily field trips to dramatic sites—including Buttermilk Falls, Taughannock Falls, and Watkins Glen State Parks—will require the ability to wade a stream and climb steep steps without difficulty.

Faculty:
Mark Holton, Lindseth Co-Director of Cornell Outdoor Education

Take a two-wheeled vacation in the beautiful surroundings of the Finger Lakes! Enjoy the support and camaraderie of the group as we pedal past gorges, waterfalls, farmlands, lakes, and vistas with Cornell Outdoor Education’s expert bike leaders. Along the way, we will break for picnic lunches, hiking, and contemplative awe.

Participants need not have competed in the Tour de France, but reasonable physical fitness and biking ease are essential.

Faculty:
Ivan Sagel, Director and Senior Instructor of the Merril Sailing Center

Learn the ropes (literally!) and everything else you need to know for safe sailing! All the fun of this class takes place at Cornell’s Merrill Family Sailing Center, one of the finest sailing centers in the country, located on Cayuga Lake. Led by the staff of the Sailing Center, you will learn the skills you need for skippering and crewing on a variety of small and large sailboats, enjoying the beauty of the outdoors while skimming over the waters of Cayuga Lake.

For this program, you need to be in good health and able to swim.

The course is intended for one adult enrolling solo or one adult enrolling with one or more teens 15 years old or older.

Everything you need to know about CAU Summer social and educational offerings, staying on campus, getting to campus, what to do in your free time, and more!

“It was a fun and stimulating vacation. Being on a campus, living in a dorm, and learning something new, while spending time with interesting folx, was a great way to spend some time in the summer.”
—Mark Kelland P’18, CAU Summer 2022

Cornell’s Adult University
Cornell University Alumni Affairs and Development
607-255-6260
cauinfo@cornell.edu