The University of St. Thomas Selim Center for Learning in Later Years has announced its spring schedule of educational programs and short courses that are tailored for those 50 and older. The center first began offering programs in fall 1973.
Selim Center participants at a program.
The programs range from lunch discussions to three- and six-session short courses. The programs are designed to be affordable, with fees ranging from $15 to $80.
Here’s an overview of this spring’s offerings, which are taught by faculty and community experts and generally meet weekly. Most are held at St. Thomas campuses in St. Paul and Minneapolis.
February and March courses:
- “The Popes of the Modern Era” with Dr. Kenneth Snyder.
- “Music in the Old Testament” with Dr. Corrine Carvalho.
- “Important People in Early Minnesota: You Might be Surprised” with Dr. Annette Atkins.
- “Six Things We Couldn’t Have Imagined at Vatican II” with Father Michael Byron.
Late March, April and May courses:
- “Introduction to Product Design” with Dr. Anne Marie Thomas.
- “Arthur Miller and The Crucible” with Dr. Amy Kritzer.
- “Unveiling the Universe” with Dr. Elizabeth Wehner.
- “Sampler Series” with five professors and community experts.
- “Russia’s Relations With Her Neighbors” with Dr. Patrick Dale.
- “The Mind of the Market: Behavioral Economics in Perspective” with Dr. Gregory Robinson-Riegler and Dr. Robert Riley.
- “Monsters Unleashed” (literature) with Gordon Grice.
The topics and speakers for the Sampler Series are: “The Ku Klux Klan in Minnesota” with Elizabeth Dorsey Hatle; “That Great Heart: The Life of I.A. O'Shaughnessy, Oilman and Philanthropist” with Doug Hennes; “A Conversation with Muslim Women,” facilitated by Imam Makrim El-Amin; “Independent Filmmaking and the Language of Film” with James Snapko; and “Putin vs. Obama: New Cold War?” with Dr. Nicholas Hayes.
Lunch’n Explore:
- Dr. John Adams will lead a March 27 discussion on “How Metropolitan Regions Grow and (Sometimes) Prosper.”
- Dr. Geroge Woytanowitz, winner of the 2015 Selim Center Distinguished Educator Award, will lead an April 24 discussion titled “Historical Reflections.”
Go-to-College program:
The Selim Center coordinates a program that allows those 50 and older to attend regular undergraduate academic courses on a space-available basis. The fee is $80 per course.
For more information, call the center at (651) 962-5188 or visit the center's website here.
