Oh Jerusalem: A History of the Navel of the World

Oh Jerusalem: A History of the Navel of the World
Thursdays 10-11:45 AM, March 21 – April 25

This is the heart of it, the whirlpool of human hopes
and follies, the fault line of East and West. "Oh,
Jerusalem," cried the prophet. We will visit naively,
with no religious agenda or slant, to see why our world
is forever transfixed by this bit of unhappy ground, why
the stones underfoot moan with more passion than
any place on earth. Trace the history from Abraham to
Solomon to Nebuchadnezzar to Titus to Arafat, from
Lot to David to Jesus to Mohammad to Saladin to
Netanyahu to failed warriors and failed peacemakers
yet unborn. We will use images of the greatest Western
art, maps, and evocative texts from the Bible and
Koran to trace the 3000 years of pain and struggle of a
place we cannot escape. "Oh, Jerusalem," wept Jesus.

Douglas Kenning (PhD University of Edinburgh)
enjoyed a career of two decades as an assistant professor
of literature & history at universities in Tunisia, Japan & Italy. He has been
a professional biologist, actor, army officer, Manhattan taxi driver, study abroad academic director, and writer of books, articles, and stage plays. He lives half of each year in the SF Bay Area, giving talks and lecture series on subjects related to ancient Mediterranean civilizations, with the other half year in Siracusa, Sicily, where he leads Sicily Tour, an organization offering history & myth focused small group tours around Sicily & the greater Mediterranean basin. dkenning@sicily-tour.com

Enrollment Fee: $95 for each six-week course. Fees are nonrefundable and nontransferable

Presented by Healdsburg American Association of University Women (AAUW). Proceeds support local educational programs and scholarships for women and girls. For more information, go to 
healdsburg-ca.aauw.net.