Yale Alumni Academy has unveiled its inaugural courses, a compendium of online summer sessions that includes free, one-day webinars and ongoing seminar courses offering an immersive experience – all taught by expert Yale faculty and specialists.
An evolution of the Yale Alumni Association’s lifelong learning and travel programs, Yale Alumni Academy brings alumni together as a community of scholars learning online, on campus, and abroad. Its educational programming showcases Yale’s faculty, study, and research interests for alumni who are interested in engaging at a deeper level of learning.
“Yale Alumni Academy is the next step in the development and growth of the lifelong learning and educational travel programs that our alumni have embraced over the years,” said Weili Cheng ’77, executive director of the YAA. “These well-received courses are a fantastic addition to our lifelong learning offerings and will hopefully build new bonds among alumni, faculty, family, and friends.”
The inaugural programs run the gamut. They include free, one-session webinars on how COVID-19 is changing our cities, artificial intelligence, and the D-Day invasion of Normandy; seminar courses held over five weeks that feature an in-depth look at topics such as the history of New Haven, Italian and American Cinema, and the Gnostic Gospels; and a rigorous immersive experience that explores the Eurasian Entanglements between China and Russia.
The latter program was developed by Bryan Garsten, chair of the Yale Humanities Program, in collaboration with the Yale professors teaching the course: Jinyi Chu, Peter C. Perdue, and Jing Tsu. Other Yale experts set to lead the summer sessions include renowned scholars Harold Attridge, Paul Bracken ’82 PhD, Mary Ann Carolan ’89 PhD, Harvey Goldblatt ’78 PhD, Alan Plattus ’76, Elihu Rubin ’99, and Jay Winter.
“For now, we are primarily focused on virtual programming, and we are very grateful to the Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning for their training and support as well as the Humanities Program and the many faculty who are excited to connect with alumni in our first online courses,” said Lauren Summers, senior director, YAA lifelong learning and travel, who leads Yale Alumni Academy. “We expect to add more programming throughout the summer, and we look forward to developing in-person experiences when it’s possible for alumni to travel to campus once again.”
For a complete list of the summer classes, visit the Academy Courses page on the Yale Alumni Academy website.
