This schedule is current until December 2009.
| # | Saturday and Sunday |
| 75) |
GROWING TREES IN CONTAINERS Grant Foerster will discuss proportion, bringing out the beauty of the tree, the aesthetics of pots and matching trees to containers, and the all-important choosing of a tree. He will introduce you to tools, repotting, root pruning and wiring techniques. Instructor: Grant Foerster, Aesthetic Pruner. 1 class $25 |
| 76) |
FRUIT TREE PRUNING Learn to prune for the highest yields in fruit. Elizabeth will cover basic tools, and the safety, care and culture of most common fruit trees. She will discuss goals, approach, trimming young trees and maintaining older trees and espalier. Instructor: Elizabeth Ruiz, Aesthetic Pruner. 1 class $25 |
| 77) |
GROWING WINTER VEGETABLES Winter shouldn’t mean the end of fresh home-grown vegetables. There are many easy edibles that thrive in the cool season, even through frosts. Anita will discuss how to prepare and manage a winter garden that will keep you in fresh veggies and edible flowers. Instructor: Anita Bueno, Owner of BuenoLuna Design. 1 class $25 |
| 78) |
IRAN: DEMOCRACY VS CONSERVATISM After the latest presidential election in Iran which is believed by many analysts to be rigged, a political situation in the country remains very tense and highly complicated. The lecturer, a professor of political philosophy specializing in Islam, will observe, in many unknown details and on the new materials, all major characteristics of a continuous struggle between democracy and religious conservatism in the Islamic republic today. Instructor: Ismail Agayev, Ph.D., Philosophy and Religion, is the author of 16 published articles on the History of Shi’a Islamic development in Iran and the Caucasus. He has taught in educational institutions in the U.S. and overseas. 1 class |
| 79) |
THE MIDDLE EAST & OBAMA POLICY During his election campaign of 2008, Obama stated that he will redefine the US Middle Eastern policy and it will be a major priority for his administration for many years to come. In his highly publicized speech in Cairo the President specifically emphasized that his vision of the American policy towards the Muslim world and specifically, the Middle East significantly defers from the one of the previous administration. In this presentation, a lecturer, who spent 18 years working as a diplomat in the Middle East, will discuss what impact the ongoing changes of the American policy in the region have had and may have in the future on a geopolitical situation in the world. Instructor: Ismail Agayev, Ph.D., (see bio class #78) 1 class |
| 80) |
US & RUSSIA: NEW BEGINNINGS? At the summer 2008, when the US governments condemned Russian aggression to Georgia, the relationship between two countries reached its lowest level in decades and many analysts were considered a beginning a new Cold War. Meanwhile, the Obama administration claims that in the recent months the US relationship with Russia has significantly improved and there are today many new positive re approaches from both sides. We will discuss and analyze, on new and practically unknown to general public materials, a real status of the political between two countries with largest nuclear arsenals on the planet. Instructor: Ismail Agayev, Ph.D., (see bio class #78) 1 class |
| 81) |
KABBALA: MEDITATIVE PRACTICES Our 2nd lecture on the Middle Eastern is dedicated to healing practices will help you to familiarize yourself with one of the most interesting and spiritually challenging traditions of the Middle East –Kabala. You we learn how to use a unique combination of a traditional prayer, meditation and contemplation which was successfully used by generations of spiritual masters and sages of the Judaism. Instructor: Ismail Agayev, Ph.D., (see bio class #78) 1 class |
| 82) |
SOMALILAND: PIRATES, MERCHANTS, AND MILITANTS Dr. Agayev, a lecturer in modern political history of Islam, will present and observe from many perspectives a highly complicated situation in Somalia, the only country in world that did not have a functioning central government for over 3 decades. Most recently such an unusual for the 21st century phenomenon as a piracy is continuously attracting attention of world media and governments. At the same time the country remains an enigmatic place for many in the West. The lecturer explains what made Somalia today one of the bases for the Islamic militants of different kind, with possible links with al-Qaida and other international terrorist organizations. Instructor: Ismail Agayev, Ph.D., (see bio class #78) 1 class |
| 83) |
SUDAN: ITS HISTORY & CURRENT EVENTS Sudan, a largest country of the African continent is also one of the richest one, with vast mineral and agricultural resources. The lecturer, who lived and worked in Sudan as a diplomat for 5 years and traveled all over the country, will share with the participants his personal, insider perspective on all major developments in the political struggle. We will discuss such controversial topics of the modern Sudanese history, as the civil war in Darfur, a coup that brought to the power a radical Islamic government and the country’s relationship with its neighbors. Instructor: Ismail Agayev, Ph.D., (see bio class #78) 1 class |
| 84) |
PROPHETS & ANGELS OF ISLAM Islamic theology and tradition accepts and regards most of the Biblical prophets, including Moses (Arabic -Musa), Abraham (Ibrahim) and Jacob (Ya’akub), but sometimes recognizes their messages differently. Muslims also believe in angels and other spiritual beings and their role in the spiritual history of the universe but their recognition of the spiritual beings significantly defers from the one of Christianity and Judaism. The lecturer, a specialist in a field of Islamic philosophy and spirituality, will present on visual materials a perception of prophets and spiritual beings in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Instructor: Ismail Agayev, Ph.D., (see bio class #78) 1 class |
| 85) |
SUFISM: MEDITATIVE PRACTICES The lecturer introduces one of the major spiritual teachings and meditative techniques which are characteristic for Sufism - the Islamic Spiritual tradition. You will see 7 unique visual recordings dedicated to the Sufi practices, will listen a mesmerizing music which is very popular today both in the Middle East and far outside its borders. Instructor: Ismail Agayev, Ph.D., (see bio class #78) 1 class |
