SCRANTON — The University of Scranton’s Schemel Forum will offer three separate evening courses during the fall months — one that will examine the legacy of President Dwight Eisenhower, one that will look at the current threats to global democracy and one that will study Europe’s fabled Paleolithic cave paintings.

Each course will be taught in six weekly sessions from 6 to 7:15 p.m. in the university’s Weinberg Memorial Library.

Sean Brennan, Ph.D., associate professor of history at Scranton, will present the first course, “Dwight David Eisenhower and the American Century,” on Sept. 16, 23 and 30 and Oct. 7, 21 and 28.

In the course, Brennan will take a close look at President Eisenhower, from his childhood in Abilene, Kansas, to his legendary military career during World War II, to becoming the first Republican president in more than 20 years during the 1950s.

Harold W. Baillie, Ph.D., professor of philosophy at the University, will present the second course, “Threats to Democracy in Our Time,” Sept. 17 and 24, and Oct. 1, 8, 15 and 22.

Baillie will look at the current threats facing modern democracy, including authoritarianism, populism and various forms of meritocracy. He will examine claims of democracy’s supposed triumph, then discuss why democracy might be transitory, with insights from Plato’s “Republic,” Marx’s “Economic Manuscripts” and Levitsky and Ziblatt’s “How Democracies Die.”

Finally, Harmar Brereton, M.D., a retired radiation oncologist, will present “Paleolithic Cave Painting in Europe: The Origin of Human Consciousness,” Sept. 26 and Oct. 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31. The course will review and contrast art found in the caves of Altamira, Tuc d’Albert, Trois Freres, Lascaux and Chauvet and explore why the art was created and what it might have meant to its creators.

The courses are free for university students, faculty, staff and Schemel Forum members, while for non-members the fee is $75 per individual and $125 per couple. Space is limited and registrations are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.

To register for the courses, contact Alicen Morrison, Schemel Forum assistant, at 570-941-6206 or alicen.morrison@scranton.edu.

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