Roundtable

08/11/2026

Mahjong is having a moment. 🀄

How did a game from China become an American phenomenon — and a beloved tradition around tables across the country?

This August, discover the fascinating story behind the tiles in Mahjong! How a Chinese Game Shaped Modern American Culture, a FREE live online class from Roundtable, the online classroom of 92NY.

We’ll explore mahjong’s journey from China to the United States, its place in Chinese American and Jewish American history, and the generations of women who helped transform the game into an enduring social tradition.

Whether you play every week, just learned your first Charleston, or simply love discovering the hidden histories behind everyday life, you’re invited.

🀄 FREE to attend
💻 Live online — join from anywhere
📚 No mahjong experience necessary

Already have a mahjong group? Send this their way and come learn the story behind the game together.

Register free: https://roundtable.org/live-courses/history/mahjong-how-a-chinese-game-shaped-modern-american-culture

How did a game from China become an iconic element of Jewish American culture? Historian Annelise Heinz takes you inside the fascinating American history of mahjong. The game’s history connects American expats in Shanghai, urban Chinese Americans in the 1930s, Jewish American suburban mothers, and...

07/23/2026

Have you ever wondered why some novels become classics while others fade away?

This fall, join Roundtable, the online classroom of 92NY, for a live seminar exploring one of literature's most enduring questions: What is the Great American Novel?

Across 24 live online sessions, you'll read and discuss some of the most influential works in American literature, examining how writers across generations have grappled with identity, democracy, race, ambition, freedom, and the ever-evolving American experience.

Whether you're revisiting old favorites or discovering new classics, you'll join a nationwide community of curious readers in thoughtful conversation led by expert literary scholars.

📚 New to Roundtable? Use code NOVEL40 to receive 40% off your registration.

Reserve your place and join the conversation: https://roundtable.org/live-courses/literature/reading-the-great-american-novel-visions-voices-and-identities?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=Facebook&utm_campaign=GAM

Join Jesse Kavadlo to explore nearly a century of Great American Novels in this discussion-based course. From Miss Lonelyhearts to Manhattan Beach, we’ll examine iconic works, themes, and styles while questioning what makes a novel “great”—or even “American.” Read and analyze celebrated ...

07/21/2026

In 1977, NASA launched the Voyager spacecraft carrying a remarkable message for anyone—or anything—it might encounter beyond Earth.

Instead of sending only scientific data, they included music.
The Golden Record featured Bach, Beethoven, Chuck Berry, traditional songs from around the world, greetings in 55 languages, and even the sounds of a heartbeat and birdsong. It was an extraordinary attempt to answer a timeless question:

If music could tell the story of humanity, what would it say?

Join us for Music as a Universal Language: Voyager's Golden Record, a live online class exploring the fascinating story behind one of history's most ambitious cultural projects. Together, we'll discover why NASA believed music could communicate something words never could—and what the Golden Record still tells us about ourselves nearly 50 years later.

🌎 Live online. Join us from anywhere. Register here: https://roundtable.org/live-courses/music/music-as-a-universal-language-voyagers-golden-record?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Facebook&utm_campaign=voyager

In 1977, NASA launched two spacecraft carrying a gilded LP into the cosmos — the Voyager Golden Record, loaded with music from across the globe. It remains the most ambitious act of communication ever attempted. But what does it mean to represent all of humanity through music? Can a recording comm...

07/20/2026

"I was surprised by how many academics liked it."

That's how classicist Joel Christensen described the reaction to Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey' after watching it alongside fellow Homer scholars.

As the editor of 'The Oxford Critical Guide to Homer's Odyssey', Joel knows the epic as well as anyone. Yet what impressed him wasn't whether Nolan faithfully recreated Homer — it was that the film succeeded on its own terms.

In a recent 'Variety' interview, Joel reminds us: this isn't Homer's Odyssey. It's Nolan's.

If the film leaves you wanting to dig deeper into the original story—and understand why Odysseus continues to captivate audiences nearly 3,000 years later—join Joel this week for Hero, Scoundrel, and Survivor: Odysseus from Homer to Today.

Register today: https://lnkd.in/g95HDmKP

https://variety.com/2026/film/news/christopher-nolan-the-odyssey-adaptation-scholars-react-1236815190/

Christopher Nolan's adaptation of 'The Odyssey' has created a lot of controversy online, but academics are having a different conversation.

06/10/2026

Why are writers so fascinated by a single day?

From "Ulysses" to "Mrs. Dalloway" to "Saturday," some of literature's greatest novels unfold over the course of just 24 hours.

What can a single day reveal about a person, a city, or an entire society?

We're celebrating Bloomsday this month with a literary festival devoted to novels that unfold over one remarkable day.

Which one belongs on the syllabus?

Explore more:

In his 1922 modernist novel, Ulysses, James Joyce set the stage for novels that limit their narrative to the events of a single day. In celebration of this literary method, join us this Bloomsday as popular Roundtable instructors Samantha Hill, Yi-Ping Ong, Phil Weinstein, and Saul Noam Zaritt discu...

04/21/2026

Since America's founding, its best playwrights have depicted both what’s beautiful and broken in our nation’s spirit.

Join Juilliard professor and dramaturg Shana Komitee to explore 10 landmark plays that address the state of our union: who we are as individuals, families, and communities; where we’ve triumphed and what obstacles we still face; and how the stage – as a vehicle for brave self-reflection – remains central to the democratic project.

Ten Plays That Changed America
Thu, 6/4-8/20 | 12:00 - 1:30 PM ET
Register now:

Since America's founding, its best playwrights have depicted both what’s beautiful and broken in our nation’s spirit. Join Juilliard professor and dramaturg Shana Komitee to explore 10 landmark plays that address the state of our union: who we are as individuals, families, and communities; where...

03/03/2026

It’s hard to imagine New York City without Robert Moses.

He built parks, parkways, beaches, and public housing at an unprecedented scale — and reshaped the city in ways we’re still debating today.

Roundtable, the online classroom of 92nd Street Y, takes a critical look at Moses’ complex legacy in an 8-session class led by Cornell University urban historian Thomas J. Campanella. Moving beyond myth (and even Robert Caro’s 'The Power Broker'), we’ll examine the full arc of his 50-year career. The heroic and the destructive alike.

How should we judge a figure who both built and dismantled so much of modern New York?

Grateful to partner with NYC creator Urbanist Ariel for helping bring this important conversation to a wider audience through his video feature.

If you care about cities, power, and the making of the modern metropolis, join us: https://tr.ee/lHXBHJ

02/23/2026

Unlock more with Roundtable Membership.

✨ 30% off all live classes
🎟 Early access to special events
📚 Unlimited access to hundreds of on-demand classes

Join a vibrant community of curious, lifelong learners — and make every class count.

Learn more at roundtable.org/membership

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02/11/2026

The year 1776 wasn’t just pivotal for America — it was pivotal worldwide.

While the Declaration of Independence reshaped the American colonies, the rest of the world was hardly standing still. France edged closer to revolution. The Ottoman Empire confronted mounting strain. Qing China and Tokugawa Japan navigated internal pressures and shifting global dynamics. Britain’s industrial transformation accelerated. Across continents, Enlightenment ideas, imperial ambition, trade, and political change were already redefining power.

In this five-part online history series, we examine 1776 as a single year in global time — asking what was happening around the world at that precise moment, and how those simultaneous developments shaped the modern age.

Register at roundtable.org or follow the link in our bio.

Online classes
American history
Continued learning

02/09/2026

From the Revolutionary War to the present day, American identity has defined itself in song through the voices of protest — anti-war anthems, songs against injustice, chants against authority. In fact, one might argue that there is no American identity without song, and no American song without protest.

In this class, Timothy Hampton, Professor of Comparative Literature at UC Berkeley, will explore this rich tradition, from early American anti-war songs through Civil War ballads, to the rich vein of modern protest song, from Woody Guthrie, to Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Marvin Gaye, Ani di Franco and Neil Young.

Register now: https://roundtable.org/live-courses/music/this-land-is-our-land-the-american-tradition-of-protest-music
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This class is part of America at 250, Roundtable’s year-long series exploring the history and identity of an evolving nation.