3900 Ford Road, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Courses taught by Dr. Lena Allen-Shore

Please reference the Course Guide for Educators for a listing of courses or see below.

Dr. Lena Allen-Shore is the founder of the Lena Allen-Shore Center for the Advancement of Human Potential in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Philosopher, poet, writer and educator, she is the author of 13 books and publications and has composed over 100 songs, including a cantata performed in Poland for the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. 

Dr. Lena Allen-Shore combines knowledge of life with the art of communication. Her philosophy is the harvest of experience and study in various universities and cities of several countries. Her lectures and television appearances have earned her the praise of students and educational professionals. She calls herself "just a little woman who dreams about a better world." What sets this woman apart is that she shares her dreams with the Pope. In 1978, just after Karol Wojtyla was elected Pope, Ms. Allen-Shore wrote a letter urging him to use his position to make a difference.

Dr. Allen-Shore also travelled to Jerusalem in 2000 when John Paul broke new ground in Catholic-Jewish relations, and to Assisi when the Pope and other leaders of world religions prayed for peace in 2002.

In a new book, Building Bridges, Dr. Allen-Shore tells her story of growing up in Poland, and of her relationship with the man she describes as "a man in white robes who is making a difference in the whole world." Like the Pope, Dr. Allen-Shore -- who would say only that she's younger than John Paul, who is 83 -- is also a philosopher, and a Pole. But while he was studying for the priesthood in an underground seminary during the Second World War, her Jewish family was desperately trying to evade being shipped off to Auschwitz. Despite the differences in their life stories, Dr. Allen-Shore says she and the Pope had a similar upbringing, and similar teachings on ethics, mythology and classical philosophy. "It didn't matter that he was going to a church and I was going to a synagogue."

In 1946, Dr. Allen-Shore and her husband, Sigmond, immigrated to Montreal, where they launched an import-export business and started a family. After 28 years in Canada, and her first husband's death, she moved to Philadelphia where she earned her doctorate in philosophy and established the Lena Allen-Shore Center for Human Potential. She has since authored 13 books, including works on the Holocaust and Rembrandt, and composed a variety of music, including a cantata performed at Auschwitz at a celebration of the liberation of the death camp.

Dr. Allen-Shore is the acclaimed author of the following:

• Bread and Peace
• Rendezvous with Love
• Man and his Aspirations
• The Little Shoes
• 40 Years of Darkness
• Ten Steps in the Land of Life
• Who Was Leonard DaVinci
• Art and Happiness
• Chagall
• Somewhere in Florence
  
• The Little Don Quixote
• Co-author of Roots and Wings
  

 

Spring Semester 2010

Weekday classes begin at 3:20 pm. Sunday classes begin at 10:00 am.
All courses have a Learning Extension Project.

Teaching About Friendship and Love in the Classroom

The knowledge of love is important in our time when people confuse casual acquaintances with friendship and sexual encounters with love. This course teaches the importance of commitment, responsibility and respect.
Ed A5287A     3 credits (G)
January 19, 20, 21, 24, 25

Michelangelo as a Teacher of Teachers: Touching the Eternity Through His Works

Explore the world of Michelangelo: a worshiper of beauty and sculptor, who knew how to endow stone with a soul; a painter, who knew how to awaken feelings of wonder and fear; a poet, who knew how to reveal his love for the creation of the world; a solitary giant striving for perfection.
Ed A5838     3 credits (G)
January 26, 27, 28, February 1, 2

The Educator and His or Her Ability to Create Strong and Meaningful Relationships

The importance of knowing who you are and training yourself to become effective in the classroom by recognizing your own approach to love and friendship. There will be discussions based on the works of several psychologists and poets.
Ed A5751     3 credits (G)   
February 3, 4, 8, 9, 10

Art and Its Role in Education: From Ancient Greece to the Renaissance 

Students will be encouraged to discuss the importance of understanding the cultures of ancient Greece through the Renaissance through their works of art. The course also discusses how art serves as a bridge between souls and how a work of art serves as an intermediary between creator and spectator.
Ed A5833     3 credits (G)
February 11, 15, 16, 17, 18

Is Prejudice a Contagious Disease?

How to introduce the concept of freedom and respect in the classes of very young and mature students. Can respect and the dignity be taught? There will be discussions based on works of Saul Bellow, Langston Hughes, James Weldon Johnson, Robert Frost and others.
Ed A5154     3 credits (G)
February 22, 23, 24, 25  March 1

Education & the Third Millennium

How to cope with the New World emerging everyday on the screen of life. How to awaken hungry minds of young people and how to understand their needs and their longings. This course will promote discussions on science and art as the main component of civilization today.
Ed A5137     3 credits (G)    
March 2, 3, 4, 8, 9

Building Bridges through Education and Understanding

Can understanding be promoted?  We can enhance the quality of human relationships through mutual respect for different cultures, different religions and different upbringings. Aspirations of human family are similar; longing for peace, dignity and sense of equality. Every human being has his or her uniqueness but also has the responsibility to contribute to building bridges to a better future. Our world of today can exist and go forward only if every individual will feel responsible for the progress based not only on knowledge but also our conscience. 
Ed A4714     3 credits (G)
March 22, 23, 24, 25, 28

Teaching About Self-esteem and the Meaning of Life in Order to Implant Student Self-esteem

How to instill self-confidence and establish constructive relationships with one’s self and the surrounding world. This course emphasizes the importance of one’s own identity and helps to meet challenges as a member of the family of man.
Ed A5288B     3 credits (G)
April 12, 13, 14, 15, 19

Teaching the Holocaust through Righteous Gentiles: A Powerful Weapon Against Hate and Discrimination

By encountering the small minority of people who acted during the Holocaust according to their conscience, this course will help to empower students to remain faithful to their convictions even at the cost of defying the majority.
Ed A5523A     3 credits (G)
April 20, 21, 22, 26, 27

Leonardo DaVinci: The Renaissance Man and his Importance in our Age of Technology and Science

Should we strive toward perfection in once specified field only? Can the students benefit from comprehending life through art as a mirror of time and thought?
Ed A5835     3 credits (G)
April 28, 29   May 2, 3, 4