Minicourses for Winter 2026
The Friends of the Madison Public Library will offer two new minicourses for the Winter 2026 semester to begin on Thursday, January 22, and Monday, January 26. The courses will feature: (1) the Italian Mafia and (2) Making of a Continental Power. Classes will be held for five weeks. The first will be offered via Zoom; the second will be in person in the Chase Room of the Madison Public Library.
Tuition for each course is $95. The non-credit minicourses are open to the public with no prerequisites or examinations. The minicourses are organized by the all-volunteer Friends of the Madison Public Library, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. All proceeds benefit the Madison Public Library.
The first minicourse, “Italian Mafia: Origins and Development in Italy,” will be taught by Dr. Gloria Pastorino, Professor Emerita of Art History at Fairleigh Dickinson University. This course will look at the development of organized crime in Italy from its inception as Cosa nostra in Sicily in the 19th century to the current Sicilian Mafia, Neapolitan Camorra, Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta, and Sacra Corona Unita.
Date/time: Thursday afternoons, 1:30 – 3:30 pm (2 hours) on January 22 and 29 and February 5, 12, and 19, 2026.
Location: This course will be offered via Zoom. Prior to each of the last four lectures, an optional film will be available for streaming or for viewing at the Madison Public Library, 39 Keep Street, Madison, NJ. Dates TBA.
The second minicourse, “Making a Continental Power: Expansion of the U.S. from 1607 to 1890,” will be taught by Dr. Gary Darden, Associate Professor of History at Fairleigh Dickinson University. This lecture series will focus on the following four events: (1) formation of British North America as a chain of separate colonies; (2) maturation of the 13 colonies and their rebellion for independence; (3) tension between Northern free labor and Southern slavery over Western expansion; and (4) rapid conquest and settlement of a preserved Union across the West.
Date/time: Monday afternoons, 1:30 – 3:30 pm (2 hours) on January 26 and February 2, 9, 16, and 23, 2026.
Location: Madison Public Library, 39 Keep Street, Madison, NJ.
For more information or to register, visit: https://friendsmadisonnjlibrary.org/current-minicourses
