Dreams, Love and Illusion

Mondays, 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM. This 4 week course begins April 7, 2008.

Dreams are the gateway to the Soul. This four-week course will explore the symbolic nature of dreams and how they can aid us in the voyage of self-discovery. A symbolic analysis of the myth of "Orpheus and Eurydice" will be done to illustrate how unconscious expectations can lead to disappointment in our relationships. Theories of the nature and purpose of dreams will be presented in addition to a review of current laboratory findings. Clinical material will also be offered. Dr. Martin Margulis, Clinical Psychologist, with psychotherapy practices in Freeport and Portland, is also a jazz saxophonist. His "Bebop Jazz Ensemble" performs throughout the State of Maine. Meets at University College, 9 Park Street, Bath.

Science of Horticulture

Mondays, 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM

Plant husbandry has a long history replete with "old wives tales," mythology and chicanery. This course is intended as a brief overview of the scientific bases for the practices and procedures used in growing plants. Topics to be treated include morphology, environmental factors, soil, fertility and fertilizing, pruning and transplanting, and poisonous plants. Ed Corbett has had varied experiences in the field of horticulture with the U.S. Army, USDA, and several academic institutions, including most recently, the University of Connecticut at Storrs. Meets at University College, 9 Park Street, Bath.

The Evolution of Animals on Planet Earth

Mondays, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM

This course covers evolution as told through the eyes of those to whom it happened: animals from the dawn of life to present day human beings. The story is told in The Ancestor's Tale by Richard Dawkins. The text takes us on a journey back through time. The tales reflect wide differences in experience, much as did those told by pilgrims on a journey to Canterbury Cathedral in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. Both books express aspects of what it is to be human. Chaucer sought it in the varieties of the human psyche; Dawkins seeks it in the kinship of all life. Class meetings will focus on discussion of readings enriched by a panoply of images drawn from studies of evolution. Ted Allen is a physical anthropologist with wide ranging interests in allied scientific fields. Meets at University College, 9 Park Street, Bath.

Beethoven, Brahms, Berlioz and The Boys: A Survey of the Music of the Romantic Period

Mondays, 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Most of the music that we listen to on the radio or live at the symphony comes from this great and expansive Romantic Period (1820-1900). Knowing the style and characteristics of this music will enhance your listening experience when you attend live concerts. Swoon as you are taken away by the emotional sounds of virtuoso concertos, powerful symphonies, emotional settings of the mass, romantic operas, and heartfelt art songs. In this class, we will listen to great Romantic music and discuss what it is that makes these compositions so appealing. We will also discuss how this music reflects the culture and times from which it came. Stu Gillespie retired to Maine after twenty-six years of teaching at Naugatuck Valley Community College in Connecticut where he was a professor, chair of the fine arts department, and director of choral ensembles. Meets at the Highlands in Topsham. Limit 30.

The Art of Drawing II

Tuesdays, 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM

This drawing class will start with a review of basics and proceed through exploration to a thoughtful development of individual projects. Some prior experience suggested but not required. Come with questions and ideas. A portion of each class will be spent in critiquing works in progress. Libby Irwin has regularly offered drawing courses for MSC students. Meets at the Highlands in Topsham. Limit 12.

Painting the Still Life

Tuesdays, 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM

From Vermeer to Andy Warhol artists have painted the stuff of everyday life, often achieving uncommon artistic ends. Working from a new still life each week, we will explore the materials and techniques of acrylic painting in an effort to turn common objects into art. Some painting experience is desirable. A list of materials will be provided before the first meeting. Stu Ross, a painter and printmaker, has been teaching and making art in mid-coast Maine for many years. Meets at the Chocolate Church in Bath. Limit 10.

Henrik Ibsen: Four Major Plays

Tuesdays, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM

We will read and discuss A Doll House, The Wild Duck, Hedda Gabler, and The Master Builder. A critic says, "These four plays project Ibsen's revealing criticism of society and… the intricacies of human motivations and relationships." These plays are exposures of the social lies and corruptions in middle class society. Bernard Shaw stated that: "a typical Ibsen play is one in which the leading lady is an unwomanly woman [i.e., not willing to submit to society's rules for her] and the villain an idealist (by virtue of his determination to do nothing wrong)." Sonja Johansen, who has taught music courses for MSC in past semesters, was born in the U.S. of immigrant Norwegian parents. She spoke only Norwegian until kindergarten and went on to study Scandinavian literature during her undergraduate years, which included a junior year in Oslo. Meets at University College, 9 Park Street, Bath.

The Supreme Court in American Life

Tuesdays, 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM

This is your opportunity to learn more about what Alexander Hamilton called "the least dangerous" branch of American government. Topics to be considered include the appointment process, life in the "marble temple," the decision-making process, court opinion days. Jeffrey Toobin's best seller, The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court, and the 2007 PBS documentary, The Supreme Court, will provide the structure for our discussions on the contemporary court as well as its role over the course of the past two centuries. Howard Whitcomb, a retired political science professor, served as a Supreme Court Fellow in 1973-74. Meets at University College, 9 Park Street, Bath.

Ha Jin: The Human Tragedy of The Cultural Revolution in China

Wednesdays, 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM

Ha Jin chronicles the universal conflicts of collectivism and individualism, integrity and moral compromise, and loyalty and betrayal. He does so with subtle irony, compassion, honesty, and earthiness as these conflicts unfold in the daily lives of contemporary China. Ha Jin has been compared to Gogol, Chekhov, and Orwell. A National Book award winner and Pulitzer Prize finalist, he started to write in English when he went into exile after the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. Discussion will focus on the novels Waiting and The Crazed, a collection of his short stories, The Bridegroom, and his early poetry. Ann Kimmage, the author of a memoir, An Un-American Childhood, has taught several autobiographical writing courses for MSC. Meets at University College, 9 Park Street, Bath. Limit 15.

Robert E. Lee and His High Command in War and Memory

Wednesdays, 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM

Designed for those with an interest in Civil War History, the focus of this course is an examination of Robert E. Lee and his high command of the Army of Northern Virginia. Our goal is to develop an understanding of how and why Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia came to be the most important national institution in the Confederacy. We will explore the careers of Lee and 13 other generals in detail and will examine several of the battles in which they participated. Charlie Plummer is a life-long educator who is well known for his living history presentations. Meets at Thornton Oaks in Brunswick.

Classics of Detective Fiction

Wednesdays, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM

Detective fiction is one of most popular types of writing in the world today. Beginning as pure entertainment, the genre has been used as a basis for important literature dealing with social and political issues, both in the United States and around the globe. The object of this course is to examine some basic texts which illustrate the origins of the form and the characters and devices which have had such a wide influence. Authors to be read include Poe, Doyle, Chandler, Simenon, and Hammett. Patrick Brancaccio recently retired from the English Department at Colby College where he taught 19th Century American literature and modern drama. Meets at University College, 9 Park Street, Bath. Limit 25.

Reason, Faith and Propaganda: The Eternal Triangle

Wednedays, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM

Explore the origin and ongoing psychosocial tensions among science, religion and politics in 21st Century America. Topics to include: truth in science and religion; global climate change vs. the "blessed lifestyle"; bioethics; reproductive choice; morality, war and the "axis of evil"; politics of space; politics of energy. Fred Cichocki, a zoologist by professional training, taught an interdisciplinary course on energy, ecology and the economy this past fall at MSC. Meets at University College, 9 Park Street, Bath.

American Poets

Thursdays, 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM

We shall read selections from major American poets in order to understand their main themes and become familiar with their representative works. The emphasis will be on a new poet each week with brief comparisons drawn. While I shall give brief biographical information for each writer, the emphasis will be on the poetry itself. I teach by asking questions rather than lecturing. Poets studied may include Whitman, Dickinson, Robinson, Masters, Frost, Cummings, Hughes, and Eliot. Ted Reese taught literature courses at USM's senior college (OLLI) prior to relocating to the midcoast region. Meets at University College, 9 Park Street, Bath.

Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

Thursdays, 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM

In this course we will study James Joyce's pivotal and accessible portrait of childhood, adolescence and young adulthood as well as his artistic principles. Any novel that ends with these words deserves a reading in the senior college: "So be it. Welcome O life! I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race…. Old father, old artificer, stand me now and ever in good stead." Bill Brown is a long-time educator and regular MSC faculty member. Meets at University College, 9 Park Street, Bath.

The "AHA" Experience In Art

Thursdays, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM. This 4 week course begins March 13, 2008.

This four-week course will explore the notion of creativity by examining art works from the past and present, from prehistoric caves to contemporary installations. We will look at the elements that create an "aha" moment, when we recognize an artist's sensibility that resonates with our own experience of life. Expect a delicious romp through the artist's mind and methods. Ed McCartan is a painter and educator in studio art and art history who has taught and exhibited nationally. Meets at University College, 9 Park Street, Bath.

Homer's Odyssey

Fridays, 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM. This course begins one week early, on March 7, 2008.

This course will entail a close reading of Homer's Odyssey in a verse translation by Robert Fitzgerald, with consideration of the historical, cultural and religious context of this epic. We will concentrate on the character of Odysseus and his relationships with mortal and immortal characters in the poem, particularly with females. Ancient illustrations of the life and adventures of Odysseus will be shown, and later relevant poems will be included, if time permits. Mark Davies taught classics for three decades after receiving his Ph. D. in Classical Archaeology at Princeton University. Meets at University College, 9 Park Street, Bath. Limit 15.

Hemingway's Personal Farewell to Arms

January 9, 2008

Susan Beegel is the editor of The Hemingway Review, a scholarly journal published by the Ernest Hemingway Foundation, and the author or editor of three books as well as more than fifty articles on Ernest Hemingway, other writers, and various aspects of American literature and history. This illustrated lecture will look at the historical and biographical context of A Farewell to Arms and how Hemingway altered autobiographical material to create one of his most compelling fictions. The lecture explores the causes and nature of WW I, Hemingway's service as a Red Cross ambulance driver on the Italian front, his wounding, and his love affair with nurse Agnes von Kurowsky during his recuperation at a Milan hospital. The lecture looks as well at how he used these experiences when crafting the novel.

The Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918: Its Effect on World History and Lessons for Today

January 16, 2008

Richard Neiman MD is Emeritus Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine. He has had a long-standing interest in the history of medicine, and particularly in the effect disease has had on the course of history. The influenza pandemic killed between 20 and 100 million people, more than have been killed so far by AIDS, and in a period of less than three months. It seemed to come from nowhere and it disappeared as quickly as it came. Could it happen again? Are we more, or less, prepared for such a pandemic?

Cruising the Mediterranean from France to Turkey

January 23, 2008

Mark Davies, who received his doctorate in Classical Archaeology from Princeton, has taught classics courses from the secondary through collegiate level. Mark will be teaching a course on Homer's Odyssey this coming spring at MSC. The illustrated talk will describe a cruise by Mark and Monique Davies on their 43-foot cutter SPINDRIFT from southern France to Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Croatia, Italy, Greece and Turkey during the summer and fall of 2007.

A Novel Look at History

January 30, 2008

Anne Easter Smith is an historical novelist from Newburyport, MA, whose first book, A Rose for the Crown, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2006. Her second, Daughter of York about Margaret of Burgundy, sister to Edward IV and Richard III of England, will be published in early 2008. In Anne's words: "I began my research for my book on Richard III pretty much in conjunction with receiving my first AARP card, and now eight years later I am a published author with a total of four books contracted to Simon & Schuster. I guess I qualify as a senior who has finally found her bliss."

Some Things I Know About Making Stuff Up

February 6, 2008

Ellen Cooney of Phippsburg has been a creative writer all her life; she was a child poet and playwright, and became a fiction writer over 30 years ago. In all that time, she has been asking questions about the thing that we all have inside us called "imagination," and her talk will focus on some of the answers she has discovered. She will offer samples of her own creative efforts and discuss her own training and the problems she's encountered, along with thoughts on how the impulse toward creativity is a vital force for everyone, and how it gets strengthened and weakened, like any natural resource. She is well known to Maine readers as the author of Gun Ball Hill, a novel about mid-coast Maine during the early days of the American Revolution. Her seventh novel, Lambrusco, will be published by Pantheon/Knopf early in 2008.

Longfellow and the Network to Freedom

February 27, 2008

This National Park Service dramatic presentation under the auspices of National Underground Railroad: Network to Freedom program portrays Henry W. Longfellow's connections with the abolitionist movement and the Underground Railroad. This program is sponsored by Longfellow Days 2008 in cooperation with Midcoast Senior College. We will hear several interacting presenters during the 55-minute production. There will be time for questions.