Religious herstory is complicated, so why not grab a gender narrative class at the New School (229-5690; The program offers "Women and Islam," among other $425 courses designed to add nuance to your conceptions of femininity and faith.

Do we live in a godless universe? Where's the line between blind faith and obedient acceptance? Consider these questions and others during a New School religion course (212-229-5690; Thirteen evening sessions cost $425, and range from "Comparative Religions" to "The Symbolism of Evil" and "Culture in the Clinic: Freud's Theory of Religion and Culture." [daniel king]


New York City's waterways have thawed, so it's time to test your nautical know-how by sailing through the city's harbor with the Offshore Sailing Club (888-567-2211; The program offers beginning-level classes at $45 per person on Fridays and Saturdays (great value), starting April 26 and lasting through September. You can set sail from either West 23rd Street or the Liberty Landing Marina.

Whether you're working, attending school, or both, daytime soccer is not out of the question. The Chelsea Piers Field House (212-336-6500; offers pickup games for all skill levels at eight bucks a game. Bouts begin at noon and continue until 1:30 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays. You're free to jump in and out.

Gymnasts: Gear up, get down, tone your triceps, and shape your deltoids during weekly classes at Asphalt Green (212-369-8890; Twelve-session courses begin at $300, and get you on the beams, uneven bars, vaulting horse, and floor. For ages 10 and up. Private lessons are also available. [daniel king]


The very name "New York School of Poets" was supposed to be a joke, but it stuck. Now it refers to poets like John Ashbery, Frank O'Hara, and Kenneth Koch, which begs the question—what is a "New York Poem"? Does such an entity exist? Stylistic adjectives include "free, urban, electric, contemporary, industrial, casual" and "exciting." Hmmmm. In the New School's "Writing and Reading Poems of New York," (800-319-4321;, students plumb the so-called New York poems in search of answers, as well as penning their own Gotham poems.

Do you feel tiny standing next to soaring skyscrapers, or inflated and exhilarated as you strut around town? Who are you in relation to your city—what role does it play in creating you, and what do you give back to it? The New School's "Writing the City: Urban Memoirs" (800-319-4321; aims to find the writer's body and voice in relation to the gargantuan cityscape.

exquisite corpses cut-ups collage dreamy fragments obsessions vignettes memory . . . Fiction went experimental some time ago, in search of new methods and ideas for composition and content. The New School's "Accidental Realities: Writing Experimental Fiction" (800-319-4321; continues in the tradition of reading and writing fractured prose. For 13 linear sessions, you'll deconstruct and reconstruct and deconstruct again, scattering images, exploding sentences, and rearranging narratives. Change is in the air—get in on the postmodern phenomenon before the literati move on to something else. [danielle winterton]

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