Fall 2024 @ OASIS Abq

 Great Courses of Jewish Interest

Abq Jew is pleased to inform you that
OASIS Albuquerque has just announced
their Fall 2024 line-up of classes!
Registration opens on
Wednesday September 4
but you can Wish List your selections now.

OASIS Albuquerque Executive Director Scott Sharp and his staff continue to bring you new and interesting class offerings, and continue to make sure there are plenty of courses of Jewish interest.

This session's courses and instructors include,

but are by no means limited to:

Death Beliefs & Funeral Traditions

Wednesday September 25 @ 12:30 - #186

Instructor: Gail Rubin

What It Is: Customs and traditions to honor the dead vary greatly from past to present and place to place. What do different religions and cultures believe about life and death? How do funeral traditions vary among different religions? Gail Rubin shares some of the fascinating practices from around the world.

Slow Travel in New Mexico:
A Transforming Experience

Friday October 4 [Rosh Hashanah 2] @ 12:30 - #212

Instructor: Judith Fein & Paul Ross

What It Is: Award-winning journalists describe a slow approach to travel and photography. Slow travel is the secret to opening doors, meeting people, participating in surprising events, experiencing joy, and making each trip–no matter how long or short–deeper, richer, and an adventure that is uniquely yours. A different and transformative way to travel around the word and in your home town.

Spinoza: Heretic or 

God-Intoxicated Man?

Thursday October 10 @ 10:00 - #187

Instructor: Michael Nutkiewicz

What It Is: Benedict, or Baruch Spinoza (d. 1677), was excommunicated from the Dutch Jewish community and went on to write some of the most controversial books about philosophy, religion, and political theory. Look at Spinoza’s life and the circumstances surrounding his excommunication. Touch upon his philosophy as well as his critique of religion. Learn why Spinoza’s life represents the coming Age of Enlightenment, and why he has sometimes been called the first “modern man.”

Roger Williams, Dissenting Puritan

Separation of Church & State

Wednesday October 23 @ 10:00 - #156

Instructor: David Crowley

What It Is: Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island, broke with the notion of civil support of religious belief and practice, effectively creating the political doctrine of separation of church and state in the American political ethos. Moreover, he did this a century and a half prior to the First Amendment. We look at Williams’ founding of a new colony that sought to honor the free exercise of religion.

Brujeria: A History of

Witchcraft in New Mexico

Monday October 28 @ 10:00 - #211

Instructor: Rob Martinez

What It Is: The history of witchcraft in New Mexico is a fascinating subject that spans the Spanish Colonial, Mexican, and US Territorial periods. In this presentation about brujería and hechicería, witchcraft and sorcery, Rob Martinez looks at actual case studies from historical documents that help to explain why, even in current times, such beliefs still persist in New Mexico.

Poland & The Holocaust:

An Exploration

Wednesday November 13 @ 10:00 - #159

Instructor: Christopher Zugger

What It Is: Poland had a population of three million Jews in 1939. Over the course of the war, Hitler opened 400 camps there. Challenges to rescues included fear, blackmailers, betrayal, prewar anti-Semitic attitudes, and harsh Nazi persecution of Jews and Poles. Any assistance to a Jew could bring death and even the destruction of whole villages. Hear stories of rescue, loss, the work of both the Catholic Church and Żegota ending with how Communist rule affects retrieving history.

The Genius of Leonardo da Vinci

Wednesday November 13 @ 12:30 - #160

Instructor: Timothy Graham

What It Is: Scientist, inventor, engineer, architect, and creator of the world’s most famous painting; there seems no end to the accomplishments of Leonardo da Vinci. Timothy Graham sets Leonardo’s amazing innovative prowess against the shifting background of his career, as da Vinci moved from Tuscany to Milan and into the service of the king of France. We consider why he chose to write backwards. And we explore the mystery of his most beloved work, the Mona Lisa.

Why is Leonardo in a list of Great Courses of Jewish Interest?

Click here to find out!