In 2011, he signed up for a course in Fordham’s College at 60, where he read Ulysses, James Joyce’s epic novel about a day in the life of Leopold Bloom.

“It’s not something I’d sit at home and read by myself, but Brother Ed Kent, who taught it, made it so fascinating,” said Kiehn, a clinical microbiology professor at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Fordham’s College at 60, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, offers a wide array of classes for lifelong learners like Kiehn. The program’s name refers to both its location on 60th Street and its student body, most of whom are older adults looking to pursue their interests and passions. This fall’s offerings included courses on topics ranging from the psychology of psychopathology and Dante’s Inferno to social security and the Supreme Court.

For Kiehn, the Ulysses class was an opportunity to leave behind pathogenic microorganisms for a study of Joyce’s epic, and he subsequently attended a “Blooms Day” celebration on June 16 at Symphony Space, where Joyce fans gathered to listen to a reading of excerpts of all 18 chapters of the novel.

“It was just fantastic. We went through the whole thing, and it ended at two o’clock in the morning,” he said.

Like Kiehn, Carolyn Titone, FCLC ’79, returned to Fordham for a College at 60 course in 2021 after successful careers in acting and advertising. She and her husband currently co-own Orchard Hill Cider Mill in Middletown.

Her first course was called Reality Has Always Had Too Many Heads: An Introduction to Literary Theory. Reading the course description, she was intrigued by concepts such as trauma theory, queer theory, and post-colonial criticism.

“I thought, ‘I don’t know what half of this stuff is,” she said.

“Instead of taking something in my wheelhouse, I decided to explore things I had never studied.”

This semester, she’s enrolled in two courses: China, Russia, Ukraine, and the World; and Slavery, the Half Has Never Been Told.

“As you get older, it’s really important to challenge yourself. I could take theater courses and have a great time, but to develop a point of view about race theory or something like that, that’s making your brain work,” she said.

Celebrating 50 Years

Founded in 1973 by former Cambridge University Press editor Robert Adamson, Ph.D., College at 60 was originally geared toward non-traditional students of any age looking to earn an undergraduate degree. It was part of Fordham’s College at Lincoln Center before being moved in 1998 to the College of Liberal Studies (now the School of Professional and Continuing Studies).

The credit-bearing course degree pathway was phased out between 1996 and 1999, and the current model, a non-credit program, replaced it.

George Shea, Ph.D., a dean emeritus of Fordham College at Lincoln Center, taught a class in the program’s first year and came out of retirement in 2011 to teach again. He said the fact that Americans are living longer makes it more necessary than ever.

“We’re getting close to the point where people don’t really start to work until their late 20s, and they often retire in their 50s, and they’re living a long time,” he said. It’s important that Fordham help “keep those people’s minds working.”

Staying Vibrant

Cira Vernazza, a former director of College at 60 who was involved with the program for 39 years, promptly signed up for classes herself upon retirement. She credited Adamson with teaching her how to look at older adults differently.

“He showed me how vibrant retirement can be. In 1981, the image that most people had was you either sat in a rocking chair, played golf, took care of the grandchildren, or visited family,” she said.

Nicole Bryan, an associate dean for academic programs at Fordham’s School of Professional and Continuing Studies, who took over the program in 2021, noted that the pandemic took a toll on enrollment, but the curriculum that Vernazza and the late Laura Greeney, who was an assistant director nurtured, set the stage for a rebound.

“Cira and I share a belief that aging is a beautiful experience that should be both celebrated and respected, and that is the culture we want to keep alive in College at 60,” she said.

Anthony Davidson, Ph.D., dean of the School of Professional and Continuing Studies (PCS), called the program an integral part of the college.

“PCS is all about providing lifelong learning to anyone and everyone who pursues it,” he said.

“The energy and enthusiasm of these students for courses ranging from Shakespeare to sustainable business practices to the arts is a joy to behold.”

Margot Nadien, Ph.D., a psychologist, author, and professor at Fordham for more than four decades, died of cancer on July 3 in Manhattan. She was 90.

Nadien taught psychology classes at the Lincoln Center campus for more than 45 years, including a new course she developed called Aging and Society, which is still being taught today. On December 9, 1983, she and psychology professor Harold Takooshian, Ph.D., co-founded the Fordham Lincoln Center chapter of the Psi Chi Honor Society with George J. McMahon, S.J., vice president for the Lincoln Center campus. The chapter won the Cousins Award in 1993 as the No. 1 Psi Chi chapter out of 1,100 U.S. campuses.

“Among her psychology colleagues of the past half-century, both inside and outside of Fordham, Margot was widely known for her extraordinary grace, helpful attitude, and ready smile,” said Takooshian.

Margot Ballon Nadien was born on May 25, 1930, the second daughter of Lillian G. and David H. Ballon, a professor of surgery at McGill University’s Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal. She was a pianist, performing at the national level in Canada. She moved to the U.S. as a teenager to study music in New York.

On June 11, 1950, she married violinist David W. Nadien, who was concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic for several years under Leonard Bernstein. He died in 2014. The couple lived for nearly 50 years at 55 Central Park West, a historic building near Lincoln Center.

After teaching music for many years, Margot earned a B.A. in psychology at Hunter College in 1967, graduating summa cum laude, first in her class, and Phi Beta Kappa, according to the family obituary. She earned a Ph.D. in 1974 at the City University of New York Graduate School, where she studied under Florence L. Denmark, Ph.D., a pioneering psychologist and feminist scholar.

In the early 1970s, Nadien began as an adjunct professor in the Excel Division of Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus, then taught full-time in 1974 in the college’s interdisciplinary social sciences division. In 1981, she became the first psychologist in the division to achieve tenure. In 2013, Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, saluted Nadien with the Bene Merenti Award for 40 years of service to the University.

Nadien was an officer in the NYS Psychological Association and the United Nations NGO Committee on Aging. Her work received many accolades during her long career, including the NYSPA Kurt Lewin Award (1995), and Wilhelm Wundt Award (2003). In the American Psychological Association, Margot was elected to APA Fellow status, based on her contributions to psychology as the author/editor of several books on diverse topics in the field, including gender, development, autonomy, and aging. She was featured in Who’s Who in America and was a lifetime member of Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha Sigma Lambda, and Psi Chi, according to former colleagues.

At Fordham, Nadien’s many colleagues and students remember her as an extraordinarily gracious, kind, and supportive person, also known for her highly structured approach to classroom teaching. Even after her retirement, Nadien continued at Fordham as an active student in its College at 60.

“Margot was an incredible woman and her foremost concern was always people—students, colleagues, and staff,” said Cira Vernazza, associate dean and director of College at 60. “Even after retirement, she continued to learn and grow, ever mindful of keeping young.”

Nadien is survived by her brother Basil Ballon (Ruth) and sister Judy Levy (Norman), her brother-in-law Perry Meyer, and her sister-in-law Heather Ballon. She was predeceased by her husband, her sister Joy Meyer, and brothers Jonathan and Edward Ballon. She was cherished by her many nieces and nephews and their children.

Obit by Margot Nadien’s colleagues and Fordham News

A Christmas Carol at the Merchant’s House: Charles Dickens in New York, 1867
29 East Fourth Street, New York, NY 10003
Performances through Dec. 29.

“The Merchant’s House is a neo-Greek style house. Each year they have a reading of A Christmas Carol, which Dickens wrote in the 1840s, following a visit to New York where he saw the same economic disparity he observed in London. The house looks like something he would have seen when he visited New York. He came back to America for a performance of his classic story in 1867, which took place at Steinway Hall near Union Square, which is within walking distance to the house.”

For hardcore Dickensians, the Morgan Library will have the original manuscript of A Christmas Carol on display through Jan. 6. 

Paul Winter’s 39th Annual Winter Solstice Celebration 2018
Cathedral of Saint John the Divine
1047 Amsterdam Avenue
Dec. 20, 21, and 22

“Celebrating the solstice goes back to the Paleolithic era and Saint John the Divine is the wonderful place to be for this kind of event. It’s considered the largest cathedral in the world, two football fields long, and they say it can hold the Statue of Liberty in the church’s dome. Over the years, musician Paul Winter became interested in different cultural sounds and the neo-Gothic, Romanesque Revival space is the perfect environment for this performance. Whatever the genre, the joy is that they use the acoustics of the space with a wide array of instruments, western and nonwestern, from gongs to drums to organs and guitars. For the first time in seven years, the show actually happens on the weekend of the solstice (5:23 p.m. EST on Dec. 21), which is worth experiencing once in your life.”

NYC Lantern Festival at Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden
Through Jan. 6

“Snug Harbor in Staten Island the first place to house retired merchant seamen in America. Today, with more than 50 structures on 83 acres, it’s also one of the largest adaptive reuse sites. There’s a museum dedicated to the artist John Noble who lived in a houseboat, painting southern Manhattan. Noble’s houseboat is also on display. But this time of year, the thing to see is the Lantern Festival in the Chinese Scholar’s Garden. It is one of two authentic scholar’s gardens in the U.S. The concept was perfected in the Ming Dynasty. There must be certain types of stone, specific views, and amounts of water. The garden was to be created when you have finished your life’s civic duties and were entering retirement. The lantern festivals symbolize new birth, but this festival has brought whole new meanings, using lights sculptures and LEDs.”

The Center for Architecture
536 LaGuardia Place
“Paul Rudolph: The Hong Kong Journey,” runs through March 9, and “Close to the Edge: The Birth of Hip-Hop Architecture,” runs through Jan. 12.

“Our class had a couple of architecture-based sessions that referred to museums that are small and under the radar. The Center for Architecture has a good Paul Rudolph show that is tiny and thorough. Rudolph was an architect and historian known for Brutalism in America. There are a lot of the architect’s drawings, sketches, and renderings that were previously unseen. The hip-hop show looks at the skin of architecture and explores elements of street art and graffiti. It also examines how decay has become ‘sexy.’”

Skyscraper Museum
39 Battery Place

“The skyscraper museum’s space is designed by Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, the dominating firm that created some of the world’s best-known skyscrapers. They built the world’s tallest building in Dubai, the Burj Khalifa, which is 1,000 feet taller than One World Trade, which was also designed by them. The space, by contrast, is very intimate. They always have dynamic shows with really great models. Right now, there’s an exhibition that explores the history of the Manhattan skyline.”

National Museum of the American Indian at the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House
One Bowling Green

“Right around the corner from the Skyscraper Museum is one of my favorite buildings, The Alexander Hamilton Custom House. It was designed by Cass Gilbert, the same architect who designed the Woolworth building. It’s a wonderful Beaux Arts example of the City Beautiful movement, which championed municipal buildings that looked grandiose in the European tradition, with the thinking that the people would be inspired to be better citizens. Inside, the first three floors are taken up by the Museum of the American Indian, which is free! It’s a wonderful museum and there’s a great WPA-era ceiling mural by Reginald Marsh, a disciple of the Ashcan School of painters. It shows the port of New York and the transfer of goods, including a really cool 1930s car. But the real gem is the building exterior, which at the top features figures from Greek mythology, waves, and whales and at the bottom features four sculptures by Daniel Chester French that depict the continents of Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Europe. They should be viewed with an understanding of the time they were created, where Asia is represented with a vague Orientalist theme, Africa is mysterious, Europe is crowned in glory, and America is represented as a young woman.”

Church of the Intercession and Trinity Church Cemetery of Upper Manhattan
155th St. and Broadway

Besides being the final resting place of John James Audubon, and more recently former New York City Mayor Ed Koch, Trinity Cemetery also holds the tomb of Clement Clark Moore, author of the poem “A Visit from Saint Nicholas,” which begins with the famous line, “’Twas the night before Christmas…” At the center of the cemetery sits the Church of the Intercession.

“It is an English perpendicular style church, a type of English Gothic which is distinguished from the French Gothic for its emphasis on horizontal rather than vertical. Inside, the choir loft has German styled woodwork. There’s also a crypt chapel that you need to make an appointment to see. Outside in the back of the church is a beautiful cloister and a lovely Celtic cross memorializing Audubon, on whose former estate the church was built. The cross has carvings on it of the animals Audobon loved. And while you’re up there you might as well go to the Cloisters, which is decorated beautifully for the holidays.”

This Friday night and Saturday afternoon The Cloisters will present “Nativity Reconsidered,” an all-new chamber music version of modernist John Adams’s Christmas oratorio. 

Holiday Nostalgia Train Rides by the New York Transit Museum
Dec. 23 and Dec. 30

“This Sunday and next, the Transit Museum, a 1930s subway stop and underground museum in Downtown Brooklyn, runs a fantastic holiday nostalgia ride. So, for the price of a metro card, you can ride a 1930s-train car from Second Avenue to 125th Street. For the really ambitious, they also run vintage of buses along 42nd Street.”

The Holiday Train Show at the New York Botanical Gardens
Through Jan. 21

While on the subject of trains, we’d be remiss to not mention our neighbor and Bronx Science Consortium partner, The New York Botanical Gardens…

“The train show is extraordinary, displaying both beautiful model trains and reconstructions of NYC monuments and neighborhoods. All the landmarks are made from organic botanical material. There is even a Coney Island display that includes the famous rides the Cyclone and the Wonder Wheel, both of which are continuously running. As for the gardens themselves, I would recommend bundling up and walking through the paths in the forest, as it is one of the few actual original, uncut terrains of plants and trees in NYC. The gardens also have several different conifer gardens, which all look like a winter wonderland during this season. There also are places to grab a hot chocolate and relax and warm up.”

The event was held before a live audience on April 11, Holocaust Remembrance Day, and was sponsored by Fordham’s Jewish Student Organization.

Freund answered Ben-Atar’s questions with unfettered swiftness. But while she was up for answering questions about the horrors of the war, she also insisted on underscoring the beauty of life and the importance of hope. Following the interview, she took questions from several students.

In her responses, Freund’s near photographic recall of events was both harrowing and inspiring. In instance after instance she quietly balanced the bad with good. There was the Christmas Night hunting party where the Nazis went out to kill escaped Jews in the woods, where Freund and her family were hiding. Then there was the German woman named Maria who helped Freund and her mother escape from a Gestapo prison run by the famous Klaus Barbie, known as the “Butcher of Lyon.”

“She opened the door and took pity on us,” said Freund.

Freund has been a student in Fordham’s College at 60 program for more than 40 years. She remembers most of her professors by name—in particular John Adams, S.J., former provincial of the Hungarian Province of the Society of Jesus and an associate professor of philosophy.

“I’m very curious, I write a little bit, I read lots of books, and I am very, very happy,” she said. “I can only recommend going to school and continue learning—really that’s the best medicine in the world.”

Within a year, Goss, who teaches writing and cultural studies in Fordham’s School for Professional and Continuing Studies’ College at 60 program, had embarked on an immersive and impassioned academic journey through Dylan’s oeuvre.

The result is a recent volume of essays she has co-edited and contributed to,Tearing the World Apart: Bob Dylan and the Twenty-First Century (University Press of Mississippi, 2017). Goss said the collection considers the Nobel laureate’s releases since 2001 as a singular and exceptionally fertile phase in his more than five-decade songwriting career. The essays pay particular attention to the records “Love and Theft” (2001), Modern Times (2006), Together Through Life and Tempest (2012), as well as the film Masked and Anonymous (2003), co-written and co-starring Dylan.

“The later work has an inherent and inexhaustible value to it, not just in the shadow of the ‘60s stuff,” Goss said. Giving it its due, she said, is her “great crusade.”

“The gravitas, the strangeness, and the innovation of his later work is what, to me, is a greatness that I want addressed,” said Goss.

Dylan, Kierkegaard, and Shakespeare

She and her co-editor, Eric Hoffman, a poet and essayist who conceived the book’s focus, had no trouble enlisting contributors, she said. Among the 11 essay subjects are an American scholar’s juxtaposition of Dylan and the Danish philosopher and theologian Søren Kierkegaard; a fresh look by an Italian film studies scholar at Masked and Anonymous; and an exploration of the connections between Shakespeare’s The Tempest and Dylan’s similarly titled release.

Goss’ own contributed essay uses “Love and Theft” and Modern Times to illustrate Dylan’s significance independent of his early work.

She said the book’s variety of approaches to Dylan—in this case his more recent work—is “exemplary” of how writers, be they soberly academic or on the nonsensical fringe, have engaged with him.

“Each one of the writers in the book is writing so energetically and vigorously and closely from their context, their interest and their background,” said Goss, who also co-edited Dylan at Play (2011) and founded the Dylan studies journal Montague Street. “And each one unfolds a different vision and a different context for Dylan’s work.”

The so-called “Millennial Dylan,” Goss said, is robust and restless, fervent and fecund.

“I want him to enter that world of artists . . . whose consciousness of themselves and their relation to the world is as fine-grained in age as it was in youth,” she said. “And that’s something he has to teach us.”

–Rich Khavkine