University of St. Thomas Center for Senior Citizens’ Education to offer short courses this fall
The University of St. Thomas Center for Senior Citizens’ Education again will offer several short courses this fall on the university’s campuses in St. Paul and Minneapolis.
The courses, designed for people 55 and older, are taught by faculty members and experts from the community. Cost for each course is $60. Scheduled this fall are:
- “More American Short Stories,” from 10 a.m. to noon Mondays, Sept. 11-Nov. 6, in Thornton Auditorium of Terrence Murphy Hall. Dr. Kelli Larson of the St. Thomas English Department offers an “American short story feast,” examining works by Flannery O’Connor, Edgar Allen Poe, Katherine Anne Porter, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Kate Chopin, Ernest Hemingway and others. Larson, who has a Ph.D. from Michigan State University and is a professor of English, specializes in American literature of the 19th and 20th centuries. She has published books on Hemingway and William Carlos Williams and essays on other authors. Currently she is the bibliographer for the Hemingway Review.
- “China and America in the Asian Century,” from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Thursdays, Sept. 14-Nov. 9, in the auditorium of O’Shaughnessy Educational Center. Dr. P. Richard Bohr, professor of history and director of Asian studies at the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University, leads this conversation series about the past, present and future relationship between the United States and China. Bohr is former deputy commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Trade and Economic Development and former executive director of the Minnesota Trade Office. He also was president and executive director of the Midwest China Center.
- “Remembering, Feeling and Deciding: Does Mind Matter?” from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Wednesdays, Sept. 20-Nov. 15, in the auditorium of O’Shaughnessy Educational Center. This course offers multidisciplinary perspectives questions about the mind, brain and behavior. Speakers include faculty members from St. Thomas departments of biology, philosophy, psychology and economics.
- “The United States and the World: Six Decisive Eras,” from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Thursdays, Sept. 21-Nov. 9, in O’Shaughnessy Educational Center auditorium. UST history professor Dr. George Woytanowitz leads an examination of changing aspects of American foreign policy over the last two centuries. Woytanowitz has a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University and has special interests in late-19th to early-20th century American history and the history of American education.
- “Sacred Sounds: Musical Encounters With the Holy,” from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Sept. 26-Oct. 31, in O’Shaughnessy Educational Center auditorium. The program will explore how music in the Western Christian tradition has attempted to facilitate the encounter between God and humanity. The course’s leader is the Rev. Jan Michael Joncas of St. Thomas’ Catholic Studies and Theology departments; he has written three books and is a frequent contributor to liturgical and theological journals a well known composer of liturgical music.
“Lunch ’n’ Learn” programs: Returning to downtown Minneapolis this fall are three “Lunch ’n’ Learn” programs sponsored by the Center for Senior Citizens’ Education and the Medica Skyway Senior Center:
- Dr. Thomas Rochon, executive vice president and chief academic adviser at St. Thomas, will discuss “Culture Moves: How American Culture has Changed in the Last Half-Century and Why it Matters,” on Tuesday, Sept. 12.
- Well known polar explorer and environmental educator Will Steger, a St. Thomas alumnus, will give a presentation, “Eyewitness to Global Warming,” on Friday, Oct. 27.
- Dr. Kenneth Goodpaster, the Koch Chair in Business Ethics at St. Thomas, will give a talk, “Consciences for Corporations? The Very Idea!” on Thursday, Nov. 16.
Each luncheon program runs from 11:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Great Room (Room 201) of Opus Hall on the university’s downtown Minneapolis campus. Cost of each lunch and talk is $25.
Other programs: The Center for Senior Citizens’ Education also offers one-to-one peer consultation services and the “Senior Citizens Go to College” program that allows senior citizens to attend regular undergraduate courses at St. Thomas, tuition free, on a space-available basis.
For more information about the short courses or other programs, call the center, (651) 962-5188.
