Can you really learn anything meaningful in a 6-hour online class? At 92U, the answer is a definitive yes. 92U is our new online hub for learning, launched during the pandemic when our classrooms were shuttered, and very quickly blossoming into a virtual school of learning attracting students from all over the world. And as our in-person programs return, 92U’s online course are proving as popular as ever.
To what does 92U owe this success? “It’s definitely the caliber of teachers and professors that we’re able to attract,” said Melanie Macchio, 92Y’s Director of Continuing Education, who has been running the program since its inception. “Being fully virtual, we’re able to invite professors and experts from anywhere in the world to participate.” What makes 92U a standout in the world of online learning is the fact that programs take place live, in real time. “This means that students and teachers can interact with each other — just like an in-person seminar,” says Melanie. “Students tell us they really feel part of a learning community — and the teachers have told us these classes are some of their most rewarding experiences.”
Ricardo Maldonado, Managing Director of 92Y’s Unterberg Poetry Center, who runs many of the literary seminars at 92U, adds: “Because we invite teachers to give classes on the topics and areas they’re most interested, their passion really shines through — and that’s felt by the students. It’s infectious!”
Highlights of 92U’s fall season include:
Reading Proust’s Swann’s Way with Lila Azam Zanganeh
If In Search of Lost Time is on your “must read before I die” list, here’s a perfect class to get you started: Lila Azam Zanganeh, the brilliant young literary star who has served as a judge for the Man Booker Prize and the PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature, takes a fresh look at the first volume in the Proust’s series of masterpieces, Swann’s Way. Starts Nov 18.
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Adam Gopnik on Molière
The New Yorker writer returns to 92U by popular demand to give a three-part seminar to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Molière’s birth and the publication of Richard Wilbur’s translation of his plays by the Library of America. Starts Dec 1.
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Leonard Cohen: Mysticism and Spirituality
An exploration of the spiritual roots of Leonard Cohen, with leading British author and Jewish cultural historian Harry Freedman, starting Nov 16.
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Dante at 700
Filmmaker Ric Burns delivers a three-session online seminar exploring the continued resonance of one of the greatest literary masterpieces in history, 700 years after Dante’s death. Starts Nov 4.
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Patriots and Loyalists in the American Revolution
Bestselling writer and historian H.W. Brands gives a riveting account of the American Revolution as it really unfolded — as a violent battle among neighbors forced to choose sides, Loyalist or Patriot. Nov 10.
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Reading Toni Morrison
92U’s year-long investigation into the works of the Nobel Prizewinner with some of the nation’s most celebrated Black scholars, critics and writers continues, with Rich Blint on A Mercy (Oct 28); Namwali Serpell on Home (Dec 2), Elleza Kelley on God Help the Child (Jan 13); and Saidiya Hartman on The Black Book (March 31).
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If you’ve yet to experience the joy of learning at 92U, there’s no time like the present. We can’t wait to see you in class!