Staff picks: The classes we can’t wait to take this spring and summer

Spring and summer bring new energy and the chance to experiment — with the plants you grow in your garden, the foods you try on vacation, and the knowledge you pursue. As we gear up for the season, we can’t help getting a little excited about all the new paths we’ll take.

With that in mind, we sat down with our staff to chat about the classes they’re most looking forward to in the coming months. Here’s what they had to say.

Stay curious!

The Roundtable Team

Courtney, Vice President of Marketing:
I’m looking forward to Natalia Mehlman Petrzela’s upcoming class, America’s Classroom Wars: How and Why Education Became a Battleground. I’ve long admired her work — from her podcasts to her essay “Family Values Feminism” in Myth America, to her role as Lead Scholar on New York City’s Jewish American Hidden Voices curriculum. As a parent of two children in public school, I’m eager for the historical perspective this class offers — on the conflicts shaping education, past and present, and how we might move forward.

I’m also excited for Reading the American Short Story: Hemingway, Faulkner, O’Connor, and Carver with Philip Weinstein. Flannery O’Connor is one of my favorite writers, and I’m looking forward to revisiting old favorites while discovering new ones in this deep dive into the masters of the American short story.

Michael, Director of Marketing:

My pick is Understanding Symbolism and Iconography in Great Art. I’ve always loved spending time with a work of art and trying to figure out what’s actually going on. This class is exactly that. It’s built around identifying and analyzing the visual language artists use to convey meaning — the key to understanding not just what we’re looking at, but how to read it.

Cau, Senior Marketing Manager:
I’ll admit it — I love romantic comedies. I can watch them back to back, and that’s pretty much my perfect Sunday. There’s something irresistible about watching two people find their way to each other. What excites me about this class is the chance to go beyond the surface and explore how these stories reflect the times in which they were made, from classic Hollywood to more modern takes on relationships.

Raphael’s work has always felt almost too perfect — like you admire it, but don’t quite understand how it came to be. That’s exactly why this class caught my attention. I love that it goes beyond the finished paintings and into the process behind them. I also paint as a hobby, so I’m especially curious about his preparatory drawings and what I might take from his process and bring into my own work.

Bel, Marketing Analyst:
I am most excited about Imposter Syndrome: A History of Fakes, Forgers, and Deceivers. Who hasn’t suffered from impostor syndrome once in a while? But this class goes beyond that — to explore the political act of pretending to be someone else, including the psychological and sociohistorical ramifications that this deception can have. Led by the brilliant Ilan Stavans, this class is sure to be one of the hits of the season.

Learn more and sign up at Roundtable.org!