September 2024

Fall 2024 catalogs.

Senior College membership perk!

• Please note that registration is open for the current members of individual senior colleges first! Once a senior college has ensured its members have had a chance to sign up, members of sister senior colleges can register for classes.
• Some colleges process your registration online; please review their registration instructions carefully.
• Other colleges require that you phone them and let them know you are a member of a sister college and want to take a class.

MSCN Fall 2024 Catalogs

Acadia SC 

Fall Courses

17 Classes: 9 In-Person, 1 Zoom, 5 Hybrid, 2 Field Trips

(Registration is now closed.)

Augusta SC 

Fall Courses

27 Classes: 17 In-Person, 3 Zoom, 4 Hybrid

10 Tuesday Lectures (all hybrid)

Belfast SC

Fall Catalog

19 Classes. 18 in-Person.

1 Zoom Class: "Marilynne Robinson's "Reading Genesis"

Bridgton Senior College

Fall Catalog 9 Classes. All in-person

Coastal SC 

Fall Catalog

15 Classes. 7 in-person, 6 Zoom, and 2 Hybrid.

Registration question? Contact info@CoastalSeniorCollege.org

Gold LEAF Institute 

Fall Courses

19 Classes: All in-person (includes one-off talks and field trips).

Lewiston-Auburn SC 

Fall Catalog

25 Classes: 14 in-person, 11 Zoom

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Midcoast SC 

Fall Term I

8 Classes: 4 In-person, 4 Zoom

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute 

Fall Catalog

63 classes plus 18 workshops:

46 In-person classes, 10 in-person workshops

17 Zoom classes, 8 Zoom workshops, 1 Hybrid workshop

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Penobscot Valley Senior College 

Fall Catalog

12 Classes. 10 In-person, 1, Zoom, 1 Hybrid

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Seniors Achieving Greater Education (SAGE) 

Fall Catalog

19 Classes. 17 In-person

Plus available via ZOOM: The SAGE Book Club and SAGE Lunch & Learn

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South Coast SC

Fall Catalog 

9 Zoom Classes. 5 In-person, 4 Zoom. 

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St. John Valley Senior College 

Fall Catalog 

10 In-Person, 2 Field Trips​

Sunrise SC 

Fall Catalog

​7 Classes. All classes are hybrid

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Western Mountains SC

Fall Catalog

8 Classes. All classes are in-person.

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York County Senior College 

Fall Catalog

​10 Classes. 6 in-person, 4 Zoom

Wikimedia Image

'Cosmos' by Marsden Hartley

Acadia SC presents Food For Thought

Acadia Senior College

Perspectives on the 2024 Federal Election

September 27, 2024

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

(HYBRID)

FREE for Zoom Participants

Jack Russell will put the 2024 federal election into perspective with five frames: the fundamental dynamics in the American political economy, what political parties do, the Republican and Democratic Parties as historical products, fearless robust prediction of federal results, and what America might be from 2025 forward based on Republican and Democratic victories in 2024.

The hybrid presentation is from noon to 1:00 p.m.

The Zoom component is free and starts at noon.

If you register for the online talk, you will receive the link the day before the event. Please note this is a hybrid event. The Zoom participants will join local members attending a lunch that begins at 11:30 a.m.

To reserve your place click the Reservations link and select your option. Reservations must be received by Wednesday, September 25th.

Jack Russell was born and grew up on MDI. He spent a half-century away waging a lively political life. Since his return to MDI in 2006, he has invested much of his time trying to understand and realize the political potential of our complex region and nation.

Acadia Senior College

Wikimedia Image

"Now we see through a glass, darkly" 

Puck, (1910 July 6), centerfold.

York County Senior College & South Coast Senior College co-present the following classes.

The Geography of Groceries

with Sandra Garson

$15 - Zoom Class

Tuesdays: November 12, 19, 26  10-11 am

In the Geography of Groceries, we look closely at where our food has come from. We start with Cross Country Cooking, discovering all the immigrants who brought their cooking to Maine, so now, while we stay still, our stomachs are going global. Then we recall the first ever global agribusiness: the spice trade, because those seemingly innocuous little shakers of cinnamon and black pepper on your shelf actually changed world history. And finally we come home to ask: what does it really mean to eat local here in Maine—and look at what the Wabanaki tribes bequeathed us that makes Maine food so special and unique.

With her popular catering business, Sandy Garson helped start the local food movement in Maine. She wrote the first-ever book to support farmers’ markets, which had a second updated edition. She joined the initial exploratory course in Food History at Radcliffe College and went on to publish articles and a second cookbook. She taught food history for the USM OLLI Senior College and runs its food discussions and workshops. She also spoke on The Indian Kitchen for the 2024 Camden Conference.

LINKS

Register at one of the following senior colleges

South Coast SC

York County SC

Seeing The Earth, Sensing The Sacred (part 2)

with Paul Doherty

$15

Sep 27, 2024, at 10 am, runs for 3 weeks

The Journey of Responding to the Challenges of Climate Change from Within Continues in this follow-up to last Spring's Seeing the Earth, Sensing the Sacred, we will continue to explore how we might respond to climate change as we look at additional spiritual guides and traditions, including the important voices of women in both the past and the present. We will also learn more about efforts currently underway to join spiritual principles with scientific knowledge as a path to greater ecological healing.

"Every creature is a glittering, glistening mirror of Divinity."                        

Hildegard von Bingen

"The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe, the less taste we shall have for destruction."                        

Rachel Carson

"I thought the secret of life was obvious: be here now, love as if your whole life depended on it, and try to get hold of a giant panda."                        

Anne Lamott

You do not need to have participated in the initial course last Spring! We will begin with a quick summary of what we covered as a review for those who were there and an introduction for newcomers.

LINKS

Register at one of the following senior colleges

South Coast SC

York County SC

Polar Bear Image generated using Magic Studio AI.

The Journey from Climate Doom to Active Hope

with Thomas White

$25

Oct 16, 2024 at 10 am, runs for 8 weeks

When you think about climate change and ecosystems destruction, do you experience feelings of despair or helplessness? Do you want to leave these negative thoughts and feelings behind and take a thought-provoking journey to “active hope”?  In this discussion-oriented class, you will explore the ideas of scientists, social scientists, and philosophers who have shown us how we could create a more hopeful story for ourselves. You will consider this question: How can I become more active—and hopeful—in protecting the Earth and ensuring the well-being of future generations?

Pre-Class Assignments and Suggested Reading:

Videos and short articles will be assigned before each class.

One book is suggested (but not required): Moore, Kathleen Dean (2016). Great tide rising.

Thomas G. White is a developmental psychologist whose career focused on teaching and research in K-12 and higher education settings. Since retiring from the University of Virginia in 2017, he has been teaching lifelong learners at Midcoast Senior College and the Osher Institutes at the University of Southern Maine and the College of William and Mary.



LINKS

Register at one of the following senior colleges

South Coast SC

York County SC

Wood Image generated using Magic Studio

Belfast Senior College presents

Marilynne Robinson's "Reading Genesis"

Tuesdays, 1:00 - 3:00 PM

September 17 - October 22

6 weeks. Zoom class

Instructor: Arlin Larson

The preeminent novelist and public intellectual, Marilynne Robinson, elucidates the Book of Genesis, a text foundational to all three Abrahamic religions – Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. While familiar in certain respect, (Adam & Eve, Noah’s Ark), Genesis is also quite perplexing even in those familiar places.

Unlike many academic treatments focusing on controversies regarding sources, dating, authorship, and historical setting, Robinson’s Reading Genesis focuses on what she believes is a coherent and compelling account of human nature and humankind’s place in the cosmos. In it, she discovers religious themes similar to those that permeate her Gilead series, such as the sanctity of human life, the centrality of personal responsibility (righteousness), and the reality of hope.

Required materials: Marilynne Robinson, Reading Genesis. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux: 2024 and Book of Genesis (a King James Version copy is included in Robinson's book, Reading Genesis)

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Instructor: Arlin Larson

The Rev. Dr. Arlin T. Larson graduated from the University of Redlands and the Divinity School of the University of Chicago. He has taught at Senior College since 2007 and served on the Board of Trustees and three terms as president. His interest in Marilynne Robinson goes back to the publication of Gilead with its rich religious themes and depiction of changes in American religious culture from Abolitionism through WWII. Arlin & Sharon now reside in Newnan, GA.

FMI Contact Belfast Senior College

Email

Website

Phone: 207-707-6010

Wikimedia Image:

Noah's Ark

And the award for the most unique class

in the Maine Senior College Network goes to :

University of Maine at Augusta Senior College

Thrifty Shopping

Instructor: Corley Anne Byras

5 outings • 9/19-10/17 • 10:00 AM-2:30 PM

Location: Field Trips

Class size 5-15 students

Everyone loves a bargain! Fortunately, we have several thrift stores in our area, which gives us lots of opportunities to save. The class will visit the best of them. If possible, I will arrange to get us a discount at each shop.

UM Augusta Senior College

Wikimedia Image

Gold medal from the 1948 Winter Olympics

On Call

by Anthony Fauci, M.D.

 Published by Viking 2024

Pages 464 Price $36.00

Reviewed by Pat Davison Reef

Dr. Anthony Fauci’s memoir, “On Call,” is written with great humility, candor, and insight regarding the importance of public health in the 21st century by a dedicated professional in the field. Dr. Fauci was the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, from 1984-2022.

His down-to-earth book discusses his childhood in Brooklyn, New York, in a warm and close Italian family in the 1940s and 50s and follows his life in parochial school, college, medical school, and in working with doctors as a scientist searching for ways to battle contagious diseases like AIDS, and Ebola, and Covid.

It is a book reflecting Fauci’s great humanitarian spirit in a chaotic world. Fauci’s lifelong search for ways to improve the world by addressing public health is inspiring. Being “On Call,” the title of his book, included sleepless nights, endless research, and never giving up on helping people from all walks of life to overcome debilitating diseases. His honesty and dedication to helping others through scientific discovery, bedside personal attention, and calm knowledge-sharing have made the world a better place to live.

Fauci said, when he was in his third and fourth year of rotation as a medical student doing the rounds at New York Hospital Medical School-Cornell Medical Center, “I learned that I was dealing with human life who needed care, compassion, and comfort, in addition to the correct description of the disease which they had.”

With these qualities in mind, Fauci learned to tell the truth to victims of HIV, AIDS, Ebola, and COVID as he helped them while also searching for the right drugs and vaccines that could one day prevent or slow down the disease. He spent a lifetime in pursuit of helping protect the public from contagious diseases and epidemics.

Serving as a medical consultant to many presidents, including Presidents Bush, Clinton, Obama, Trump, and Biden, he brought knowledge of ways to approach different public health issues. 

While in the White House, Fauci advised Trump about Covid but Trump would not listen to him. Trump was convinced that Covid was like a bad cold and would go away. However, Fauci insisted on revealing the truth to the public that it was a serious pandemic. Fauci recommended masks and a newly developed vaccine which was being approved, not bleach, as Trump blindly suggested in one press conference. In fact, Trump disagreed with Fauci on many things because he did not want to scare the public or cause panic in the stock market. However, with calm dignity and inner strength, Fauci continued to tell the truth to Trump and Trump’s advisors. In addition, he told the truth to public in T.V. interviews that COVID-19 was a public health issue and a serious global pandemic. When that hit the press, Trump was wild at Fauci because it interrupted his political plans. Trump’s team, both Mark Meadows, Chief of Staff, and Peter Navarro, former Director of the Trade Council under Trump, humiliated Fauci at staff meetings. However, Fauci remained calm and collected and never lost his integrity in warning the public about COVID and not hiding the pandemic.

In conclusion, Dr. Anthony Fauci writes with humility, knowledge, and a dash of humor on the trials and errors of research in the field of contagious diseases. He always says “WE” when discussing research on preventing contagious diseases like COVID and AIDS, meaning all the scientists at the National Institute of Health. He never says “I,” taking credit for it himself, although he was a major leader in the research. However, he stood alone in representing the National Institute of Health against Trump and told the truth about COVID to protect the general public. His book is a testament to the goodness found in human beings who search scientifically to help others. Dr. Fauci’s book brings hope out of chaos in a fractured world, and I highly recommend it to all.