Learning Series

Fall 2025 Learning Series

Exploring Our National Parks

Three Sessions: 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Tuesdays September 30, October 21 and November 18

 National Parks offer visitors a stunningly diverse array of experiences, climbing high mountain peaks, rafting white water rivers, hiking in red rock canyons, snorkeling coral reefs, camping in Dark Sky desert solitude, and scaling a granite dome- just to name a few.  Adventurer Steve Farrar has explored all of our 63 National Parks and will be sharing his stories and pictures in a series which will take us on virtual trips to some of the most spectacular places, the other worldly red rock formations of the Colorado Plains, the distant wilds of Alaska, and the magnificent beauty of the Rocky Mountains. Steve will delve into interesting informational topics such as the history, geology, climate and wildlife in the parks.

Steve Farrar experienced his first National Parks as an impressionable 14-year-old on his way to the 1969 National Boy Scout Jamboree in Idaho.  This sparked his lifelong passion for the beauty and adventure of the National Parks.  He has gone scuba diving in the Virgin Islands, camped among the wolves on Isle Royal, scaled rock faces in Yosemite and climbed the summits of Mount Rainier and Denali.

Murder and Mayhem in the Ancient World - This program has been cancelled!  

Three Sessions: 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Thursdays October 2, 9 and 16

 In this course Peggy Kelleher will explore the chaos, confusion, and carnage caused in families by curses, oracles, and prophecies.   Her focus will be the stories of the famous Greek figures, Orestes and Oedipus, as depicted in the works of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and other ancient writers.   Are there generational consequences for immoral actions?  Should we be punished for the crimes of our ancestors?  Who's responsible if a higher authority directs someone to commit a criminal act?

Peggy Kelleher has a B.A in Classical languages from Chestnut Hill College, and an M.A.T in English from Manhattanville College and a professional diploma in Education Administration and Supervision from Fordham University. She received an outstanding teacher citation from the University of Chicago and served as a vice principal and principal at schools in New York and Connecticut.

Hello Dali: Art and Life of Salvador Dali

One Session:   10:30 a.m. -12:00 p.m.   Tuesday October 7

The main purpose of the Surrealist art movement was to provoke a general crisis of consciousness; the method for achieving that purpose was the harnessing of the subconscious. An understanding of this opens a window into the purpose behind much of the art of Salvador Dali.  There were two sides to Dali:  his goal of disrupting, or altering, how art is interpreted, and his homage to those artists, particularly Spanish artists, who came before him.  Join Beth Stein as she examines the life and iconic art of this unique painter among all modern artists. 

Beth Stein has been educating adult audiences on the lives and works of famous artists for the past fifteen years on Cape Cod and in New Jersey. She received her BS in education from Indiana University, MA in history from Seton Hall University and MA in administration from Montclair State University.

Sports Cheats, Frauds and Con Artists

One Session: 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.  Thursday October 23

 Based on his soon to be released new book, Bob Ainsworth takes you on the trail of cheaters from ancient times to today, from baseball to Indy car racing to the card game of bridge. Many of you will recognize the stories from headlines in the sports pages or on ESPN. Some stories will surprise you for the audacity of the methods used to win at all costs. Cheating doesn’t just exist in major sports. It occurs everywhere that people compete, from fencing to boxing to chess. And it is pervasive, from little league baseball to colleges to the professional leagues to the Olympics and even to the Special Olympics.

Bob Ainsworth, a retired CPA and corporate Chief Financial Officer, has become a writer of mystery novels.  He has previously presented programs on the Isabella Stewart Gardner heist and the Great Ponzi Scheme.    

Standing at the Precipice: What’s Happening to America?

Two Sessions: 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. (coffee break each day) Mon., Oct. 27 & Tues., Oct. 28 at Snow Library, Orleans (Zoom only, email is required)  (generously cosponsored by Snow Library)

 In each of the last two years, David Bisno has delivered very memorable lectures on fascism and on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. This year he returns with a new compelling topic. Some of us may be thrilled and relieved about developments in Washington; while others of us may be in dismay if not "gobsmacked.” In 1935, Sinclair Lewis wrote "It Can’t Happen Here." Can it? Is it? In these new talks, David will consider, and try to understand, what is happening in America now. In his wide-ranging approach he will discuss Il-liberal Democracies, White Christian Nationalism, Populism, Authoritarianism, the Deep State, Political Purges, Cults of Personality, the role of Elites, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of DEI efforts.

 David Bisno, M.D. has degrees from Harvard, Dartmouth and Washington University School of Medicine.   For 35 years he has been a discussion leader and lecturer across our country and overseas.

Great American Composers

Four Sessions:   1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.  Wednesdays October 29, November 5, 12 and 19 
At the Chatham Congregational Church - Fellowship Hall (in person or zoom)

Discover the voices that shaped America’s musical identity in this four-session course on Great American Composers. From Aaron Copland’s sweeping landscapes to George Gershwin’s jazzy innovations, to Leonard Bernstein’s extraordinary work that bridged the worlds of symphony hall and Broadway, explore iconic works, styles, and cultural legacies. Joe Marchio will once again use musical excerpts, insightful analysis and just good story telling to immerse his audience in the music of these and other great American composers.   

Joe Marchio currently serves as music director of the Chatham Chorale, Assistant Director of the Cape Cod Symphony and pastor and music director of First Congregational Church in Chatham. He has two bachelor’s degrees from the College of Wooster in organ performance and religious studies. He earned a Master of Divinity degree at the Yale University Institute of Sacred Music and a Master of Music degree in choral conducting at the Boston Conservatory.

Pioneers of Rock and Roll

Three sessions: 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.   Mondays November 3, 10 and 17

 The pioneers of rock and roll are the focus of John Whelan’s latest exploration of American popular music.  The first class inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame created the genre that became Rock and Roll. Supported by Peter Gaines on the piano, John will examine the lives and music of ten of the inductees from that class. These include Little Richard, Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, James Brown, Buddy Holley, The Everly Brothers, Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino and Chuck Berry.

John Whelan is a retired stockbroker, writes a monthly column for the Cape Cod Chronicle, and is the author of several books, including I am of Cape Cod. Peter Gaines has been entertaining Library fans at the piano for the last three years.

All About Jazz: America’s Great Art Form

Three Sessions:   1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.  Mondays November 24, December 1 and 8

 In this course, John Basile will lead discussions of jazz, one of the few original art forms to emerge from the United States.  Its first star was Louis Armstrong, the great trumpet player and equally great singer. Other greats who shaped the music’s development include Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, and Ella Fitzgerald. The course will include information on all of these musicians and more, and we’ll listen to examples of their music as we trace the development of jazz from primarily a blues-influenced dance music through the Swing Era, Bebop, Modal Jazz and into the Avant Garde. The course will conclude with a session on jazz on Cape Cod.

John Basile has been involved in the media on Cape Cod since the 1980s. He is the local host of Morning Edition on CAI, the Cape and Islands NPR station, and produces music features (often about jazz and jazz musicians) for the station. He is also the author of “Cape Cod Jazz from Colombo to the Columns”. This book is the first and only in-depth look at how many world-class jazz musicians chose to call Cape Cod home.

Dickens for Grown-Ups: A Christmas Carol

Three Sessions:  10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.    Thursdays December 4, 11 and 18

 From theater, radio plays, cartoons, and movies, the story of Ebenezer Scrooge has entertained generations of audiences throughout the English-speaking world. First, though, came the short novel by Charles Dickens – always in print, but, in a mass-media age, sometimes overlooked. In three seminar-like classes, we will return to the literary source to rediscover and enjoy “this Ghostly little book” that remains timely and fresh.

Joe Auciello has a BA in English from Boston University and an MA in English from Boston College. He is a retired English and social studies teacher and department chair in public and private and parochial schools, including international schools. Joe is a former member of the Monomoy Regional School Committee and the board of directors for the Cape Cod Collaborative. He has written widely on literature, education, and national and international politics.