OLLI101743 - Emma Goldman: Life, Times and Legacy* 

Course Description

Emma Goldman: Life, Times and Legacy* 

Instructor: Karen Bojar 

Day of the Week: Thursday 

Dates: Mar. 19 – Apr. 16 (No class on April 9th) (5 sessions) 

Time: 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. 

Location: Hybrid at TUCC 

This course explores the life, writings and enduring influence of Emma Goldman, a leading figure in American radical movements and international anarchism. Using her autobiography, Living My Life, and collections of her essays, participants examine Goldman’s advocacy for freedom of expression, sexual emancipation, birth control, and anarchist politics. The course traces her experiences from adolescence in Tsarist Russia to deportation from the United States, her disillusionment with the Russian Revolution, and her activism in Spain during the Spanish Civil War. Goldman’s personal life—including her relationships and philosophy of “free love”— is considered alongside her political thought. The course also examines her posthumous influence on 1960s and 1970s feminists and the growth of Women’s Studies, highlighting how her radical ideals of liberty and personal freedom continue to resonate. 

Maximum: 25 

Instructor Bio: Karen Bojar is Professor Emerita of English and Women’s Studies at the Community College of Philadelphia. She earned a PhD in English Literature from Temple University and a master’s degree in education from the University of Pennsylvania. She has a long history as a feminist activist, serving as President of the Philadelphia chapter of the National Organization for Women from 2001-2009 and on the Philadelphia Commission for Women from 2016-2024. She has written numerous books and articles on feminist activism including Feminist Organizing Across the Generations (2021) and The Evolution of Socialist Feminism from Eleanor Marx to AOC (2024).