Courses Spring 2008

Registration for Spring courses begins on January 28 and continues until the second meeting of each class. You can register in person at the University of Maine at Augusta Senior College office in Stoddard House or by mail to 46 University Drive, Augusta, ME 04330. For further information please call 621-3551.

Course	Weeks	Dates	Day	Time	Capacity
Boundary Patterns	6	March 14 – April 18	Fridays	9:00 AM - 11:00 AM	5-20 students
Classical Music, Part 2: 1865-1975	8	March 15 – May 3	Saturdays	9:00 AM - 11:00 AM	6-20 students
Exploring America's National Parks	8	March 14 – May 2	Fridays	1:00 PM - 3:00 PM	8-20 students
Hands-On-Art for Beginners and Beyond	8	March 14 – May 2	Fridays	1:00 PM - 3:00 PM	8-15 students
History of the Bible	7	March 14 – April 25	Fridays	9:00 AM - 11:00 AM	10-20 students
Introduction to Natural History	7	March 14 – April 25	Fridays	9:00 AM - 11:00 AM	5-15 students
Introductory Spanish Continued	8	March 14 – May 2	Fridays	1:00 PM - 3:00 PM	4-12 students
Joy of Poetry	8	March 14 – May 2	Fridays	1:00 PM - 3:00 PM	10-20 students
Maine's Forest Resources	8	March 14 – May 2	Fridays	9:00 AM - 11:00 AM	6-20 students
Morality, Politics and the 2008 Elections	8	March 14 – May 2	Fridays	3:15 PM - 5:15 PM	5-17 students
Spiritual Commonalties	8	March 14 – May 2	Fridays	1:00 PM - 3:00 PM	5-20 students
The Basics of eBay	4	March 15 – April 5	Saturdays	1:00 PM - 3:00 PM	6-18 students
The Holocaust: A History and Reflection	8	March 14 – May 2	Fridays	9:00 AM - 11:00 AM	5-15 students
Using SketchUp for 3D Woodworking Design	8	March 14 – May 2	Fridays	1:00 PM - 3:00 PM	4-15 students
Exploring Maine's Covered Bridges/Waterfalls*	7+	March 5 – April 9+	Wednesdays	All day trips	10-50 w/UMF

*Register Bridges/Waterfalls class through Gold Leaf Senior College (Farmington) – see description.

Boundary Patterns

Intructor: Jim Todd

An introductory exploration of the patterns of our beautiful, natural, chaotic, fractal world. Art meets science, life and death flourish, biology meets mathematics, and chaos and order intertwine. New ways of thinking have resulted from discoveries in the last thirty years. This is a participatory course with classroom exercises and demonstrations aided by slides and video presentations. No prior knowledge needed. Note: This is a fast-moving course so in order to take maximum advantage of it, please ensure that you can attend most or all of the sessions, especially the first three sessions). Textbook provided.

Classical Music, Part 2: 1865-1975

Instructor: Chet Day

We will continue a musical walk through the second half of the Romantic period, and the first half of the Twentieth Century. Our guides will be (in order): Borodin, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Saint-Saens, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Grieg, Puccini, Mahler, R. Strauss, Debussy, Sibelius, Ravel, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, and Shostakovich — an average of two per week. On our trek we will hear recorded excerpts of each composer's greatest hits. Our road map will be Phil G. Goulding's entertaining text, Classical Music—The 50 Greatest Composers and Their 1,000 Greatest Works. Textbook provided.

Exploring America's National Parks

Instructor: Elizabeth Reinsborough

Our National Parks are often called America's "Crown Jewels" and protect the best of our nation's scenic, scientific, and historical heritage. Battlefields and barrier islands; forts and fossils; geysers and glaciers; monuments and mansions; prehistoric mounds and petrified forests; and the list goes on! This course will journey through some of America's most important and beautiful places. We will focus on a different region of the country each week, exploring what is unique about various parks. Half of each class will be a visual presentation by the instructor. Students will be encouraged to share some of their own experiences or insights, and take part in discussion. Textbook provided.

Hand-On-Art for Beginners and Beyond

Instructor: Ruth Bookey

This course is designed to introduce students to various media and materials in art, and also to show some basic beginning steps in the various media. We will use: watercolor paints, pastels, oil pastels, pencil, and charcoal. Other media that can be shared by students are watercolor pencils and colored pencils. We'll do still life, and try our hand at portraits in a relaxed and gentle atmosphere. Some materials provided.

History of the Bible

Instructor: Richard Bamforth

The who, what, how, when, where, and why of the Bible; its origins, authorship, contents, canonization, languages, and translations; what it is and what it is not, and to what extent we are acquainted with it. This is an historical overview of the compilation and transmission of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures through the centuries, and is not offered as an opportunity for theological or denominational debate. Textbook provided.

Introduction to Natural History

Instructor: Dorcas Miller

This course is designed to introduce participants to various aspects of natural history, and teach us to use tools so we may continue our learning. Topics covered will be animal tracks, mammal skulls, predator-prey relationships (dissecting owl pellets), winter weeds, berries, ferns, spring constellations, bird (adaptations and spring songs), and insects (tentative). Texts provided.

Introductory Spanish Continued

Instructor: Charles Acker

This will be a continuation and expansion of the fall Survival Spanish course. We will review pronunciation, expand vocabulary, review and expand conjugation of verbs in present, past, and future tenses; learn some idiomatic expressions, rehearse encounters in airports, hotels, restaurants, shopping, and the doctor's office. You will be best prepared for the course if you have had a previous course in this senior college series. However, if you have had any prior exposure to Spanish through study or travel, you will be able to handle the course. We try to gear the course to the needs of the students. Students should supply their own English/Spanish-Spanish/English dictionary. Text and workbook provided.

Joy of Poetry

Instructor: Ted Bookey

Poetry has been called a map of the soul. This class is designed for those who wish to explore that map; for people who already enjoy poetry and would like to enhance their appreciation and pleasure in the form; and for people who find much contemporary poetry difficult (at times incomprehensible) and wish they understood it better or could like it more. The goal is to put students in touch with a spiritually rich and aesthetically profound art form — The Joy of Poetry. For those who already write or might like to try their hand at writing poetry but are not quite sure how to get started, the instructor will provide some simple and enjoyable starter-writing exercises. We will also read and discuss a variety of poems in order to explore how and why a poem works and has the power to move us. We will look at meter, rhyme, stanza, line, image, language, simile and metaphor and become acquainted with a variety of poetic forms such as iambic pentameter haiku, sonnets, free verse poems, catalog and found poems. Textbook provided.

Maine's Forest Resources: Past, Present and Future

Instructor: Robert Bond

The forest resources of Maine have gone through considerable change in ownership and treatment during the years since being settled by Europeans. This course considers this history with particular focus on recent land-ownership shifts, actual and proposed use, and the implications of these changes for the future. Textbook provided (The Interrupted Forest — A History of Maine's Wildlands by Neil Rolde).

Morality, Politics and the 2008 Elections

Instructor: Charles Acker

Morality and politics — no, it's not an oxymoron. Our moral stance informs every personal and social decision that we make. Morality applies to much more than issues of sexuality. Of the many divides in the political arena, the one between conservative and liberal orientations is the most telling, especially during an election year. Such orientations come from very deep assumptions we possess concerning human nature and expectations of family roles. We will examine how moral issues play out in the pivotal 2008 elections. This course, and the responsibilities of students and instructor, will be structured according to the shared inquiry model. Students will be asked to take on assignments for leading the class discussion for a particular topic or session. Sources to be used in preparing for the discussion will be a portion of the text plus any other materials selected by the student leader. Here's your chance to both gain an insight into voting decisions and guide our understanding of significant issues. Textbook provided.

Spiritual Commonalities

Instructor: Allan Watson

Together we will examine some of the common factors of the world's major religions. As a mosaic of themes begins to emerge, we might begin to see a path for peaceful religious co-existence world-wide. Textbook provided.

The Basics of eBay

Instructor: Ann Lindholm

Have you been wondering about the value of your treasures in the attic, basement or garage? Do you have things you'd like to sell but don't have time for a garage sale? Think you'd like to try your hand at starting your own business on eBay but don't know where to begin? If so, this workshop will show you exactly how to get started. You will learn how to open a seller account, determine the value and price of your item, improve your listings with effective descriptions and photographs, learn how to open a pay pal account, and how to monitor your listings and complete a transaction. The instructor has been selling on eBay since 1999 and has been certified as an education specialist trained by eBay through eBay University. This will be a hands-on learning experience.

The Holocaust: A History and Reflection

Instructor: Jacqueline Littlefield

With the passage of time, the Holocaust is in danger of fading into memory. This eight-week course will examine the events that led up to the Nazi rise to power and the formation of the ghettos and concentration camps. Using personal testimony, video and selected readings, participants will learn the history of the Holocaust. Textbook provided.

Usking SketchUp for 3D Woddworking Design

Instructor: John Erdman

SketchUp is very powerful and at the same time a user-friendly medium for any type of sketching, from something one would draw on the back of a napkin to sophisticated and detailed architectural drawings. The software is available as a free download from Google for both WinXP and Mac OSX systems. SketchUp provides a comprehensive way to draw 3D images on the computer, instead of constantly revising with pencil, paper, and erasers. This software is conceptually different from most CAD drawing programs. This course will focus on introducing new users to SketchUp's tool set and unique drawing environment. We will work on sample projects designed to illustrate the use of the tools and provide class time for students to work on individual projects. Prerequisite: Basic computing knowledge and experience with either Mac or PC is assumed.

Exploring Maine's Covered Bridges and Waterfalls

Instructor: Duane Prugh

(Register with Gold Leaf Senior College, Deadline is February 14)

This is an exchange program between Gold Leaf Senior College (Farmington) and UMA Senior College. Come to Farmington (our host) and learn about some of Maine's covered bridge history. Learn how and why they were built, and discover how some organizations are aggressively campaigning to restore these symbols of the past. Under every bridge is a river or brook with raging water in the springtime, which presents spectacular views. The course will consist of two 2-hour lectures with field trips (5 or more) to several of Maine's covered bridges and waterfalls. All of the field trips will take up most of the day. Field trips will utilize car-pooling and will incur extra expenses for lunches and transportation. UMA students will meet in Manchester and car-pool to Farmington. Textbooks provided. To Register: contact Gold Leaf Institute Senior College, University of Maine at Farmington, 101 South Street, Farmington, ME 04938, phone (207) 778-7063. Cost of course is $30 plus extra expenses. Membership (2007-2008) in UMASC or Gold Leaf (Farmington) is required. Registration deadline is February 14, 2008.