Birding for Birders

5-16 students; May 8, 12, 15, 19, 22, 2008; 3 weeks; 9:00 AM - 11:30 AM (first class), subsequent class times variable (field trips). The field trip time will depend on how far afield we go.

This is an intermediate birding class for students who want to get out in the field when the birds are migrating through the MDI area. It meets twice each week. There will be an initial class indoors, which will include use of optics, use of the new class text and local and state field guides, more intermediate/advanced bird identification, and finding birds on MDI and beyond. The field trips will be twice a week and focus on field work and intermediate/advanced use of the "tools of the trade."

Instructor: Paul Haertel has lifelong experience in the outdoors, including a career with the National Park Service (NPS). Teaching opportunities have included graduate and undergraduate seminars, grade school, NPS scheduled and unscheduled programs.

Site: Wendell Gilley Museum (first class only)

Unravelling the Mind, Part II

5-20 students; March 31 – May 12, 2008; 7 weeks; 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM

In Unraveling the Mind, Part I, we discussed some of the basic brain processes that create the mind. In Part II we will extend our examination to increasingly complex brain activities that underlie motivated behavior, including the neuropsychology of love, emotion and feeling, attention and working memory, thinking and reasoning, and consciousness and the creation of the self. People who took Part I will have priority, but anyone may sign up for any remaining spaces.

Instructor: Robert Gallon completed his graduate studies in Psychology at City University of New York. He taught at Vassar College, Jefferson Medical College, and Bangor Theological Seminary, and served as Chief Psychologist at Eastern Maine Medical Center from 1979-1994. He also served as Psychologist to the State Forensic Service and as Psychologist to the District Court. He conducts independent psychological evaluations for legal purposes.

Site: Birch Bay Village Library

A Consumer's Guide to Journalism

5-15 students; March 31 - April 21, 2008; 4 weeks; 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM

This course will explain some of the subtle ways the media, newspapers in particular, can affect your impression of what's important. We will also explore the business side of journalism and the ramifications of changing patterns of ownership in the newspaper indus try. One session will cover the latest on libel, slander and invasion of privacy.

Instructor: Earl Brechlin is the Editor of the Mount Desert Islander since 2001. He has held editorial positions at The Bar Harbor Times, Ellsworth Weekly, Republican Journal and the Lincoln County Weekly. Educated at the University of Maine, Orono, he has taught at College of the Atlantic, University of Maine, and Northeastern University in Boston.

Site: Maine Seacoast Mission

Ethics of Our Times

6-16 students; March 31 – May 12, 2008; 7 weeks; 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

The course will present Ethics as a special talent that facilitates the functions of groups and individuals. Ethics has aided global success of the human species. The class will review the definition and biology of Ethics, and psychological theories explaining Ethical behaviors. Secular and religious codes of conduct and their mechanisms of allegiance will be compared. Issues include unethical behaviors in the political arena, focusing on lying skills, use of fear, power of propaganda and the vulnerabilities that make people gullible. Experts will be invited to facilitate discussions on religious and medical issues.

Instructor: Robert Gossart is a physician and specialist in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. His professional experience includes Clinical Faculty at the Yale Child Study Center, Chief Psychiatrist at the Connecticut Department of Children and Families, and private practice in child and adolescent psychiatry.

Site: Maine Seacoast Mission

Paris in the "Twenties", The Expatriates and the Lost Generation

5-15 students; March 31 – May 5, 2008; 6 weeks; 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

The primary focus of this course is the literature written in (or about) the great artistic center, Paris, during the creative years from the end of the Great War to the Crash (1918-1929). We'll also discuss, through the eyes of famous writers, modern arts as well as politics, society and the way of life in postwar Paris. For supplemental sources, access to the Web is recommended.

Instructor: Lawrence Martin. Larry is Elliot Professor of English emeritus at Hampden-Sidney College, Virginia. He is the author of numerous articles and papers about Hemingway, the Lost Generation and the Paris Expatriates, and has often taught college courses on those subjects. Larry received his B.A. from Tufts University and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts.

Site: Northeast Harbor Library

Birding by Car

4-8 students; April 29 – May 20, 2008; 4 weeks; 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM (first class); 8:00 AM - 11:30 AM (field trips)

This class is designed to be a birding class for those Acadia Senior College students who are not able to walk long distances and to stand for several minutes in inclement weather, but would enjoy bird watching by car. This class would be for all levels of birding experience.

Instructor: Margot Haertel is a life-long birder with a B.S. in Biology and 21 years of teaching experience.

Site: Southwest Harbor Library (first class only)

Impressionist Landscape Painting in Oils/Acrylics From the Photograph

3-10 students; April 1 - May 20, 2008; 8 weeks; 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

We will begin by answering the intriguing questions: "Just what did the Impressionists do and how did they do it?" We will also take a brief look at some of the French Impressionist movers and shakers of the 19th century. Class instruction, which will include a review of the basics of painting - drawing, color theory and design, will be based on both painting techniques and the aesthetic development of the individual student. All levels of painting skill and art history knowledge are welcome.

Instructor: Mary Burnard has a B.A. and M.A. in art education, taught in public schools for 14 years, and has taught art education and art history at college level. She has studied studio painting at the Vermont Studio Center and the Banff Centre for the Fine and Performing Arts.

Site: Abbe Museum

Introduction to Croquet as a Pastime and a Sport

4-8 students; April 29 – May 27, 2008; 5 weeks; 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Introduction to croquet, brief history and the various forms of the game. Instruction in the techniques, rules and strategy of American Rules six-wicket croquet and golf croquet.

Instructor: Larry Stettner. Larry completed graduate studies in Experimental Psychology at Stanford University and was Professor of Developmental and Biopsychology, Wayne State University, 1963 to 1998. He began playing croquet at the Claremont Hotel in 1985 and on the United States Croquet Association Tournament circuit in 1993. He founded the MDI Croquet Club in 1997 and taught beginning and intermediate croquet classes for Downeast Senior College.

Site: Stettner's court in Southwest Harbor

Healthy Ethnic Cooking II

5-8 students; April 16 – May 21, 2008; 6 weeks; 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

We will prepare and eat healthy foods from Germany, Greece, the Iberian Peninsula, the Balkans, North Africa and Quebec. We will learn several basic techniques of cooking. There will be a bonus session on knife sharpening, as well as emphasis on handling and care of kitchen equipment. This is a hands-on course, so bring aprons and towels.

Instructor: Anne Funderburk taught several sessions of "Healthy Ethnic Cooking" for ASC. Having taken Jacques Pepin's short course in Pittsburgh, she taught cooking at various places, including her home. Anne gave lessons and dinners for fundraisers for National Public Radio for 20 years and catered for 1½ years.

Site: Northeast Harbor Neighborhood House Kitchen

American History: 1861-1917

5-15 students; April 2 – May 21, 2008; 8 weeks; 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM

We will review and discuss American history from the time of the horror of the American Civil War to perhaps the greater horror of Reconstruction, through the age of the robber barons to Theodore Roosevelt and events leading to American participation in World War I.

Instructor: Bill Clark has been an American citizen and resident in the United States since mid-1935. He has a BS in geology from Tufts University and had a career in public history and natural history with the National Park Service. He has taught Geology of MDI and Maritime History of Maine for the Acadia Senior College.

Site: Birch Bay Village Inn Library

Scientific Answers to Everyday Questions

5-15 students; April 16 – May 21, 2008; 6 weeks; 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Have you ever wondered why car batteries go dead in winter? How microwave ovens work? The best way to get ketchup out of a bottle? How magnets work? Why ice cubes crackle in your glass? How soap cleans? Why the sky is blue and a candle flame is yellow? What eventually happens to a helium-filled balloon after you let it go out of doors? Join us and discover the secrets of modern life's most baffling mysteries! We will even perform some "experiments"!

Instructor: Lance Funderburk has a Ph.D. in chemistry and taught chemistry at Washington and Jefferson College for 31 years. He has taught "Chemistry and the Environment" and "What Einstein Told His Cook" for Acadia Senior College.

Site: Northeast Harbor Neighborhood House

Birding for Birders

(See Monday course description.) This course meets twice each week.

5-16 students; May 8, 12, 15, 19, 22, 2008; 3 weeks; 9:00 AM - 11:30 AM (first class), times variable (field trips). The field trip time will depend on how far afield we go.

Art, Heart and Memory

5-14 students; April 3 – May 8, 2008; 6 weeks; 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM

With paint and clay, we will expand our sense of well-being and awareness of art/creativity as a key to personal therapy. Returnees and beginners are welcome. "Our life is what our thoughts make of it." Marcus Aurelius.

Instructor: Sue Clark graduated from the Art Therapy Masters program at The George Washington University in 1985 and earned her registration as an Art Therapist in 1987. She worked with adults, children and families in mental health settings and supervised students at the Masters level in hospitals, schools, and community centers.

Site: St. Mary's Chapel

Coastal Issues Forum

5-15 students; April 3 – May 1, 2008; 5 weeks; 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM

Coastal Issues Forum provides seniors an opportunity to evaluate, discuss, and visualize a future for the coast of Maine. The prime mover in such an effort turns out to be our love of this specific place on earth, not scientific knowledge, not self-interest, not governmental action, but love. Without it, we will get nowhere—exactly where we inadvertently place ourselves now through lack of understanding and neglect of coastal ecosystems. The forum aims to develop a vision of the future based on trends and evidence, not personal opinions. The instructor will show two Powerpoint presentations detailing, 1) the local situation, and 2) that situation generalized to the 5,300-mile coast of Maine. Most of the course will consist of listening to one an other, reflecting, and sharing personal knowledge and experience.

Instructor: Steve Perrin has an Ed.D. from Boston University and extensive teaching experience in photography, art, English, poetry, and the humanities, and his primary interest is the coast of Maine. He has been monitoring Taunton Bay for 17 years, and has largely committed himself to regional management efforts to protect the local ecosystems on which coastal life depends.

Site: Maine Seacoast Mission