The USM LA Senior College, 51 Westminster St. Lewiston, has announced its winter schedule. It will continue on Zoom format for this semester.
Registration begins Monday, Jan. 3. The complete course descriptions, schedule, instructors and registration information can be found at lewiston-auburn-senior-college.coursestorm.com.
• Meet the Victorians
Those who enjoyed watching “Victoria” and want to know more about her times and the poets who inhabited them can discuss the lives and works of poets such as Tennyson, Arnold, Hopkins, both Brownings, Christina Rossetti and others. Texts will be supplied.
Instructor: Jenny Doughty
• Wednesday Genealogy Workshop 1: Family Search (FS)
An introduction to using familysearch.org for genealogical research. The focus will be on using the FS world tree as a tool to bring together resources to aid in personal research. Pros and cons of the site will be discussed. Sign up for a free account before the workshop.
Instructor: Lin Wright
• Alfred Russel Wallace, Co-discoverer of evolution by natural selection
The discovery of evolution by natural selection was announced in London at a meeting of the Linnaean Society in 1858 during which papers written by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace were presented. This course will focus on the life and work of Wallace, from his childhood in Wales, his travels in the Amazon Basin of Brazil and his extensive wanderings in the Malay Archipelago. Participants will explore how his experiences in the tropics influenced his thinking and the direction of his life as a scientist, biogeographer, socialist, social critic, and ardent spiritualist.
Instructor: Tom Hamilton
• West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge
This is a look at Lynda Rutledge’s new book, based on the true story of two rescued giraffes on their way from the East Coast to the San Diego zoo.
Instructor: Laura Sturgis
• Memory and Food — Writing Workshop
This is a talk about food, and the people who cooked, prepared and ate it.
Instructor: Lisa Mayers
• Games Galore-Pictionary Challenge
This is the first of three game nights featured on Zoom. This is a modern twist on Pictionary using Zoom’s white board feature. People do not have to be able to draw, or know how to use the whiteboard, to participate.
Instructors: Mary Jane Beardsley and Judy Hierstein
• Artistree
This online studio art course focuses on trees, in all their glory. Participants will look at how artists have depicted trees throughout history and around the world, and share our work, tips, successes and struggles with the class.
Instructor: Judy Hierstein
• Heartwarming, Soul Soothing Winter Soups and Stews
In this class, Paul Drowns will focus on soups and stews, using healthy and tasty ingredients based on his knowledge of cooking that spans the globe. Recipes and plenty of cooking wisdom are provided, questions are expected, and everyone is strongly encouraged to tryout the recipes at home.
Instructor: Drowns
• Wednesday Genealogy Workshop 2: Introduction to Wikitree
Wikitree.com is a free community family tree. It does not contain genealogical resources. What it does have is a strong community of genealogical researchers, active project, useful and fun apps and lots of help.
Instructor: Wright
• Games Galore — Trivial Pursuit
Trivial Pursuit is featured in the second of three game nights featured on Zoom.
Instructors: Beardsley and Hierstein.
• What is Negotiating a Crisis with the North Koreans Actually Like?
In the autumn of 1996, a North Korean submarine inserting spy commandos into South Korea was beached on the shore there. The commandos killed their own crew, then struck out overland to try to return across the border. The South Korean army turned out to find them, eventually killing all but one of the commandos. This incident caused a direct armed confrontation between North and South Korea and threatened U.S. diplomacy with North Korea to contain its nuclear weapons program. The instructor, then director of Korean Affairs in the State Department, was dispatched for two weeks to negotiate with North Korean diplomats to obtain the North Korean apology demanded by the South.
Instructor: Mark Minton
• Games Galore — Mad Gab
Mad Gab is featured in this final of three game nights featured on Zoom.
Instructors: Beardsley and Hierstein
• Abstract Art
Judson Pealer will talk about creating abstract art and use his own art to illustrate and talk about what abstract painting means to him.
• Reclaiming Memories Using Photographs — Then Writing Them Down
The stories that disappear from our memory are forever a mystery. By hunting for lost memories in photographs, people can reclaim them and make them their own again. In this hunt, old photographs and new ones will be used as helpful means to achieve writing goals.
Instructor: Ariela Zucker
• Wednesday Genealogy Workshop 3: Using RootsMagic8
RootsMagic is a computer software program where people can keep their tree. Participants can learn how to begin and explore some of the features.
Instructor: Wright
• The Sons of Fez: A Moroccan Time Travel Adventure
A journey to the Moroccan City of Fez, and its Medina, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the setting for Kay Hardy Cambell’s novel, “The Sons of Fez: A Moroccan Time Travel Adventure.” People can discover the history, sights and sounds of the only intact medieval city in the Arab world. They can learn about its famous citizens, including Fatima Al-Fehri, who in the year 859 used her inheritance to found the famous Qarawiyyin Mosque and University that still stand today. The session will include a discussion of the novel, with ample Q&A time for the author and the participants.
Instructor: Kay Campbell
• Wednesday Genealogy Workshop 4: Newspaper Research
Newspapers contain many gems that can help in our genealogical research. This workshop will explore using online tools to locate extant newspapers, both those digitized and available online, and those in repositories offline.
Instructor: Wright
• The Cuban Revolution that Succeeded
This workshop delves into why the 1959 revolution in Cuba succeeded when all the others did not, and how the people who became the leaders and winners met.
Instructor: Diane Parker
• TED Talk Discussion Group
Bill Frayer will show TED talks on six consecutive Tuesday afternoons and lead a discussion by participants.
• Portugal
Bisson and Hierstein will discuss their visit to Portugal.
For more information, visit lewiston-auburn-senior-college.coursestorm.com.
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