IN PERSON Analyze a different topic in depth each week. The topics may currently be in the news while others are more eclectic and focus on timeless issues. American domestic politics as well as foreign policy are constant themes running through many of the topics. Classmates and guest speakers contribute regularly, ensuring a wide variety of points of view.

ONLINE Analyze a different topic in depth each week. The topics may currently be in the news while others are more eclectic and focus on timeless issues. American domestic politics as well as foreign policy are constant themes running through many of the topics. Classmates and guest speakers contribute regularly, ensuring a wide variety of points of view.

NEW You know about Bloody Sunday in 1965. Visit lesser-known episodes in the long fight for Black voting rights, a rescinding of those rights, a Philadelphia assassination, the Reconstruction-era bloodbaths, the unpunished killings of 20th Century activists, and the recent gutting of the Voting Rights Act. This story is full of heroes and villains, terrible setbacks and inspiring victories. And it's not over. Sara Rimer, Journalist

NEW A new environmental issue has grabbed public attention: microplastics! Amazingly, each of us ingests a credit card’s worth of plastics weekly, to unknown effect, and microplastic particles in the ocean now outnumber the stars in our galaxy by a factor of 500. What do we know about them? What do we do now?

NEW Why do Iranians and Americans hate and distrust each other to the point of going to war? Perhaps surprisingly, the hostility does not stem from cultural or religious differences, but from the Cold War. In 1946, 1953, and 1979, the U.S. wanted stability from an oil-rich country on the edge of the Soviet empire. Iranians wanted all sorts of things that clashed with U.S. aims. For 47 years, the clash has been open and acrimonious.

NEW Go beyond the daily news, however important that news might be. Examine six critical components of a president's performance - communication, decision making, political skill, vision, personality, and character. Examples will be provided from the performance of recent presidents in relation to these components. Also look at the effect of the electoral process on presidential performance. 

The work done by the citizenry of this nation in the last quarter of the eighteenth century was fundamental to the establishment of our nation. But a valid argument exists that without the aid of foreign supporters the nation’s foundation would not have succeeded. Delve into the philosophies, communications, and actions of a handful of significant men, Lafayette, von Steuben, Pulaski, Rochambrau and others, that directly contributed to the existence of the U.S. 

NEW Katz will present excerpts from his numerous historical documentaries, explore the journey that led him to this work, and excavate some of Philadelphia's most interesting characters, events and stories. The portfolio of historical documentaries covers numerous moments that have been unsung, hidden or simply forgotten. Sam and History Making Productions have been awarded 18 Emmys and were the 2021 Winners of the Ken Burns Prize for Film.