Session 9: January 2014

January was a success. Next session is in May, with a short intersession in late March.

Saturday
4 January
2014

Faster, Stronger, Fewer Semicolons! Build a Website With Jekyll

time 2:30 p.m. 📷 Documentation

Designers, developers, and web hobbyists: Create a speedy, secure website. No database needed!

user Instructor: David Ramos

Sunday
5 January

How the Sausage Gets Made (Literally)

time 3 p.m.

Discover the magic of filling a hog intestine. Really.

user Instructor: Michael Clark

Monday
6 January

Corporate Social Responsibility: Fact or Fiction?

time 6 p.m.

Why does BP fund renewable energy research? What’s up with McDonald’s running a children’s health charity? Do corporations actually care or do they just pretend to?

user Instructor: Halley Aelion

Decoding the Russian Alphabet

time 6:30 p.m. 📷 Documentation

Cyrillic isn’t as intimidating as it may seem to the uninitiated. This crash course will have you pronouncing words like a native speaker.

user Instructor: Karyn Dubravetz

Wednesday
8 January

Make It Work! Mending and Fixing Clothes

time 7 p.m. 📷 Documentation

Stop throwing away socks with holes, stapling loose hems, and turning to safety pins when buttons make a break for it.

user Instructor: Juliana Rincon

Thursday
9 January

Mass Incarceration in America

time 7 p.m.

This class will examine our society’s use of the criminal “justice” system as a mechanism for producing mass suffering and prisons as a mechanism of control over certain populations.

user Instructor: Alec Karakatsanis

Friday
10 January

Salsa for Beginners

time 6:30 p.m. 📷 Documentation

And by “salsa,” we mean the dance, not the delicious condiment.

user Instructors: Regina Lam, Victor Yang

Saturday
11 January

Francais pour Amusement: French Conversation Workshop

time 11 a.m.

Parlez avec les autres francophones tout en engloutissant des croissants.

user Instructor: Philippe Martin

The Rise of Rock ‘n’ Roll, 1945 to 1962

time 1 p.m.

The down and dirty history of how rock music became indispensable to American culture.

user Instructor: Neal Fersko

Recycling D.C.’s Nutrients Back to Its Soils

time 2 p.m. 📷 Documentation

Tour DC Water’s Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant to find out how sewage is transformed into healthy meals for plants.

user Instructor: Bill Brower

Songwriting for Superheroes

time 3:30 p.m. 📷 Documentation

It’s a rhyme! It’s a chord! It’s Songwriterman! Or Songwriterwoman!

user Instructor: Courtney Dowe

Sunday
12 January

Money Resolutions 101: Getting Out of Debt

time 1 p.m.

Do the words Sallie Mae conjure shivers? Have you been willfully blind to the balance on your credit card bill? Get it together and make a plan.

user Instructor: Catherine Wood

Back to Basics: Finding Your Own Personal Style

time 1 p.m. 📷 Documentation

Hate every last article of clothing in your closet? It’s time to take control of your wardrobe and make it better represent you. No flair for fashion required.

user Instructor: Pearlette Merriweather

Build a Website That Sells Something (in Under Three Hours)

time 2 p.m.

You don’t need to be named Zuckerberg to make money online. We’ll show you how to quickly create a webpage for selling your product or service.

user Instructor: Will Ward

Monday
13 January

Malagasy Language and Culture

time 6:30 p.m.

Malagasy is unique to the African island of Madagascar and its expatriate communities. Discover this rare language and the culture of its speakers.

user Instructor: Jessie Beck

Tuesday
14 January

Tenants’ Rights in D.C.

time 6:30 p.m.

Your landlords may be super-flaky and greedy, but are they also breaking the law?

user Instructors: Daniel Hornal, Marc Borbely

Spice Up Your Writing With Culinary History

time 6:30 p.m. 📷 Documentation

Did you know that Kraft mac and cheese has a royal provenance? Have you ever thought of your everyday dishes as exotic cuisine? Learn how to find and utilize that kind of information to enrich food writing of all kinds.

user Instructor: Claudia Kousoulas

Statehood and D.C. Equal Rights: How to Be an Effective Advocate

time 7 p.m.

A lack of equal voting rights is so central to D.C.’s identity that it’s inscribed on our license plates. But what can you do about it?

user Instructor: Tim Hampton

Thursday
16 January

Bitcoin for Beginners

time 6:30 p.m. 📷 Documentation

So, this Bitcoin thing: What is it? Is it all black market-y? Is it safe to use? And, most importantly, can you buy a pizza with it?

user Instructor: Darrell Duane

Hands-on! An Introduction to Massage

time 7 p.m.

Wield the power of massage in the war against stress!

user Instructors: Aries Indenbaum, Elizabeth Goldberg

Saturday
18 January

Road Trip! Exploring the Murals of Richmond

time 8 a.m. 📷 Documentation

Break out of your D.C. comfort zone and admire Richmond’s vibrant street art, created by artists from around the world.

user Instructor: Erika Rydberg

Pass the Kuaizi: Learning Chinese Through Food

time 1 p.m.

Moo shi chicken is delicious. But what does “moo shi” actually mean? Find out, and learn a little Mandarin in the process.

user Instructor: Mei Mei Chang

Create Your Own Art Light Box

time 2 p.m. 📷 Documentation

Spruce up your wall space with a softly glowing creation. AND learn to wire a lamp.

user Instructor: Heloisa Escudero

Sunday
19 January

Too Much Information: Intelligence Archives After Government Collapse

time 2 p.m.

All those files oppressive regimes keep on rabble-rousers don’t just disappear when the regimes do. Spies worked hard to gather that intel — what happens to it?

user Instructor: David Blum

Deck Out Your Apartment Without Stepping Foot in IKEA

time 3 p.m.

Be the envy of all your peers with a home full of unique, inexpensive, second-hand finds.

user Instructor: Holley Simmons

Monday
20 January

British Television Appreciation

time 6:30 p.m. 📷 Documentation

Mine this rich vein of quality comedy and drama, crap reality shows, lurid documentaries, quiz shows, and snooker.

user Instructor: Holly J. Morris

Performance Art: Past and Present

time 7 p.m.

Jackson Pollock and Lady Gaga have something in common, believe it or not. See how performance-art practitioners of yesteryear inform pop acts and high art today.

user Instructor: Claire Howard

Wednesday
22 January

Hear the Rhythm: How to Read and Scan Metrical Poetry

time 7 p.m.

It’s everywhere, meter, but do you know what ‘tis?
Come become an iambic pentameter wiz.
Recognize patterns in speech, music and rhyme.
Do more than just tapping your fingers in time.

user Instructor: Elijah Mendoza

Conflict Resolution With Difficult People

time 7 p.m. 📷 Documentation

Learn how to deal with that coworker/relative/roommate who pushes all of your buttons at once. And not with a passive-aggressive note. Or arsenic.

user Instructor: Chris Geyer

Thursday
23 January

Prisons, Profit, and Human Beings

time 6:30 p.m.

This follow-up to KCDC’s popular Mass Incarceration in America class delves deeper into the criminal “justice” system by examining profit motives and financial incentives.

user Instructor: Alec Karakatsanis

Anyone Can Make Comics

time 6:30 p.m.

Learn the basics of drawing and self-publishing your own print comic books. No experience required!

user Instructor: Josh Kramer

Saturday
25 January

Money Resolutions 101: Planning for the Future

time 1 p.m.

401Ks aren’t sexy, but neither is hoarding gold bullion under your bed. (OK, that’s a little sexy. But not practical!) Stop living paycheck to paycheck and set an agenda for the coming decades.

user Instructor: Jon Menaster

Holocaust History Through a New Lens

time 2 p.m.

Join a U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum educator for a behind-the-scenes look at the exhibit “Some Were Neighbors: Collaboration and Complicity in the Holocaust.”

user Instructor: Sonia Booth

Sunday
26 January

Basic Vegan Baking: Breads

time 2 p.m.

Come learn how to bake without using animal products! And consume some delicious carbs.

user Instructor: Salvatore Bohrer

Protests, Politics and Penalty Kicks: The 2014 World Cup

time 2 p.m. 📷 Documentation

Come find out how geopolitics, globalization, and international soccer will intersect at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

user Instructor: Harrison Stark

Monday
27 January

Edit Anything!

time 6:30 p.m.

We’ll provide the red pens.

user Instructor: Holly J. Morris

We’ve Got Spirits!

time 7 p.m.

That’s right, it’s a hands-on class about vodka, rum, whisky, tequila and gin!

user Instructor: Liz Liberman

Tuesday
28 January

How to Make a Not-Terrible Website

time 6:30 p.m. 📷 Documentation

Learn the inner workings of a website and how to build your own from a self-taught programming guru. Laptops not necessary.

user Instructor: Robert Thomas

Hive and Horde: The Collective Organism in Myth and Popular Culture

time 6:30 p.m.

From the Greek chorus to the Borg, groups that act as one have long fascinated writers, filmmakers, and other creators. Join us for some deep thinking about the concept and its impact on our lives.

user Instructor: Salvatore Bohrer

Get Knotty

time 6:30 p.m.

Introduce yourself to ropework from both practical and decorative standpoints.

user Instructor: Galen Hon

Wednesday
29 January

Write Your Bucket List!

time 7 p.m.

What’s on the agenda before you kick the you-know-what? Nothing specific?! Let’s change that. Unless you’re immortal.

user Instructor: Kirby P. Riley

Go Fly a Kite!

time 7 p.m.

Get ready for the Cherry Blossom Kite Festival with this workshop, from which you’ll depart with a lovely handmade kite.

user Instructor: Amanda Leslie

Thursday
30 January

Ice Skating for Non-Olympians

time 7 p.m.

You won’t be ready for Sochi after this class, but the ability to remain upright at the rink is better than a gold medal.

user Instructor: Mike DeLiso and Melissa Richards

Sunday
2 February

DIY Clap-On Electronics

time 2 p.m.

“Clap on! Clap off! Clap on, clap off, the Clapper!” Remember those ads? Learn how that sophisticated bit of as-seen-on-TV tech worked.

user Instructor: Rikki Irwin

Monday
3 February

Poetry and Sodomy: Argentine Writers of the 20th Century

time 7 p.m.

The Argentine literary scene is booming, with poets born in the 1980s and after coming into their own. Learn about the influential poets and writers who came before.

user Instructor: Nenet III

Burning Man for Beginners

time 7 p.m.

This class is for anyone interested in learning more about the notorious annual desert event. (It’s not all art, drugs, and orgies.)

user Instructor: Darrell Duane

Tuesday
4 February

Rolling in Dough: Pop-Tarts From Scratch

time 5:30 p.m.

Join the D.C. non-profit Brainfood to make and devour homemade (and less junkfood-y) Pop-Tarts.

user Instructor: Brainfood Community MVPs

Wednesday
5 February

Dirty German

time 7 p.m.

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. Sexy Deutsch is here for you!

user Instructor: April Seager

You Are the First Organization That You Must Master

time 7 p.m. 📷 Documentation

It’s all you, baby. Find the leader within yourself — it’s there, we promise, and we’ll help you find it.

user Instructor: Kaytura L. Felix

Thursday
6 February

Bye, the Farm: Easy Vegan Cooking

time 5:30 p.m. 📷 Documentation

Join the D.C. non-profit Brainfood to bake and (and summarily devour) any easy dish with no meat, eggs, or dairy products.

user Instructor: Brainfood Community MVPs

Translation: A Brief History

time 7 p.m.

Learn about the emergence of translation as an academic discipline from the 19th century to the present.

user Instructor: Andrew Robbins

An Introduction to French Comics

time 7:30 p.m.

You’ve heard about American and Japanese comics — come learn about another linguistic world and its comics culture.

user Instructor: RM Rhodes

Saturday
8 February

Make a Camera Obscura

time 11 a.m.

Learn what happens inside a camera by making one big enough that you can put your head inside. 

user Instructor: Diana Sanchez

Sunday
9 February

Group Meditation

time 2 p.m.

Join like-minded KCDCers and meditate as one.

user Instructor: Dawn Quintanilla

Monday
10 February

Can Slacktivists Change the World?

time 6:30 p.m.

Signing online petitions doesn’t do much by itself. Come learn what does.

user Instructors: Micah Effron, Zoë Alexis

playbackthetape: VHS Archaeology for Beginners

time 7 p.m. 📷 Documentation

It’s time to rewind. That dusty box of tapes in your parents’ attic? Yup, we’re digging in!

user Instructor: playbackthetape

Tuesday
11 February

It’s On Like Mahjong

time 7 p.m.

Learn to kick ass at this ancient game of skill and chance.

user Instructor: Sam Huang