Acadia Senior College
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Past courses

Fall 2024

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Classes:

  1. 1816: The Year without a Summer - David Gapp
  2. Are You a Systems Thinker? - Michael Smith
  3. Brain, Aging and Art - Armine Darbinyan
  4. Designing Women: America's Landscape Architects 1890-1950 - Val Libby
  5. Easier Movement for Golden Years - Deborah Page
  6. Geology of MDI - Ruth Braun and Duane Braun
  7. Hollywood UK: Part Three, the 1960's
  8. iPhone Photography - George Soules
  9. James Joyces's Ulysses - Bill Dohmen
  10. Just for Fun - Give Watercolor a Try - Marion Smith
  11. Just this Meditation - Tom Tanguay
  12. Meaning - John Sherblom
  13. Other Amendments (and Today's News) - Richard S. Cohen
  14. The Lesbian History Trail of Mount Desert Island - Carolyn Gage

Spring 2024

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Classes:

  1. A Deep Dive into Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” Book One - Richard Parker
  2. A Foray into French and Italian Cinema: Part One, the Thirties through the Fifties - Steve Powell
  3. Becoming a Savvy News Consumer - Earl Brechlin
  4. Birding the Gulf of Maine during the Winter/Spring Transition - Michael Good
  5. Black Holes, the Big Bang, and the Multiverse - Bob Gallon
  6. Civil Rights Voices: Bobo, the Pastor, the Saint, and the Veteran - Nat Fenton
  7. Consciousness - John Sherblom
  8. Creating Textured Art - Bonnie Chase
  9. Guitar Refresher - Weslea Sidon
  10. iPhone Photography - George Soules
  11. Natural Hazards - Ruth and Duane Braun
  12. Plant-derived Medicines: The Good, the Bad, and the In-between - David Gapp
  13. The Forest Society of Maine: 40 Years of Intense Forest Conservation - Ben Emory
  14. Writing a “Legacy Letter” - Jay Sherwin

Winter 2024

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Classes:

  1. Antarctica: Exploration, Governance, Natural History and Challenges - Lisa Crockett and Pat Hassett
  2. Basic Instruction for New or Former Violin Players - Fred Benson
  3. Designing Women: America's Landscape Architects 1890-1950 - Val Libby
  4. Dimensions of the Wabanaki Presence - various invited presenters
  5. Food and Foodways: Highlights from Prehistory to the 19th Century - David Gapp
  6. Highlights of American Art and Architectural History - John Bryan
  7. Insight Meditation in Three Steps - Tom Tanguay
  8. Let’s Play Games! - Andy Cline and Jonathan Bender
  9. Mindful Eating - Jen Harry
  10. New World - Seth Singleton
  11. Prophets: Ancient and Modern - Jonathan Dwyer
  12. Shakespeare’s Macbeth - Ann Caswell
  13. The Cellular Foundations of Life: A 21st century perspective - Phil Grimley
  14. The Lesbian History Trail of Mount Desert Island - Carolyn Gage
  15. The Life and Legacy of Frances Perkins - Emma Wegner and invited presenters
  16. Without Reverence Things Fall Apart - William Bigelow

Fall 2023

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Classes:

  1. Hollywood UK: Part Two, the 1950's - Steve Powell
  2. Meet the Researcher - You! - Alison Leonard
  3. Music from Bach to Beethoven - Robert Gallon
  4. Scandinavian Christmas Baking - Meile Rockefeller
  5. SCOTUS's Greatest Hits - Richard S. Cohen
  6. The Challenges We Face in the 21st Century (and What We Can Do About Them) - Hugh Clark, Nick Fisichelli, Charles Hewett, Larry Larson, George Manning, Harald Paumgarten, Seth Singleton

Spring 2023

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Classes:

  1. 1816: The Year without a Summer - David Gapp
  2. Birding the Gulf of Maine during the Winter/Spring Transition - Michael Good
  3. Brain, Aging and Art - Armine Darbinyan
  4. Connecting Nature and Art - Bonnie Chase
  5. Myths and Legends from the Heart o the Indian Subcontinent - Sheila Kirby
  6. Roots of Revolution in China: Mao Zedong, 1919 - 1966 - Hugh Clark
  7. Sharpie Sailboats - An American Story - Ben Emory
  8. The American Family and the Law - Lawrence Rosen

Winter 2023

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Classes:

  1. Biblical Foundations for Jewish and Christian Understandings of Social Justice - Jon Dwyer
  2. Comfort Bird Carving - Steve Valleau
  3. Evolution of Thinking on the Geology of MDI from 1836 to Now - Ruth and Duane Braun
  4. Food and Foodways: Highlights from Prehistory to the 19th Century - David Gapp
  5. Introduction to Classical Music: From the Ancients to Bach - Bob Gallon
  6. Russia's War in Ukraine - Seth Singleton
  7. Shakespeare's "Othello": Three Takes - Ann Caswell
  8. Shedding Some Light on Evil - William Bigelow
  9. The Longstanding Struggle Over American History - Greg Bush

Fall 2022

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Classes:

  1. A New Paradigm for Human Evolution - Peggy deWolf
  2. Design and Fabricate Your Own Unique Cards - Pat Pugh and Mary Vekasi
  3. Exploring Yoga - Andrea Lepcio
  4. Geology of MDI - Ruth Braun and Duane Braun
  5. Hollywood UK: Part One - Steve Powell
  6. How I Got That Story - Lincoln Millstein
  7. Major Poetry of W. B. Yeats - Bill Dohmen
  8. Scandinavian Christmas Cookies - Meile Rockefeller
  9. Shakespeare in Opera - Robert Gallon
  10. The 2022 Midterm Elections in Perspective - Jack Russell
  11. The Delights of Museum-Going: Swiss Collections - Mollie McNickle (Wheeler)
  12. The Living Constitution: The Supreme Court Deals with Today's Urgent Problems - Richard S. Cohen
  13. The Twentieth Century from Versailles to the Present - Harald Paumgarten
  14. What is Woodlawn and Why Should I Care? - Rosamond Rea

Spring 2022

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Classes:

  1. 1816: The Year Without a Summer - Impacts and Lessons Arising from Extreme Climate Change - David Gapp
  2. A Sense of Place: Printing and Dyeing with Spring Botanicals - Bonnie Chase
  3. Biography, Memoir, and Fiction - Creative Ways to Interact with History - Robin Clifford Wood
  4. Plant-based Cooking - Stefani Berkey
  5. Plantsmanship 101 - Valencia Libby
  6. Sea to Trees: Coastal Links to the North Woods - Ben Emory

Winter 2022

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Classes:

  1. A Citizen's Guide to the First Amendment - John Finn
  2. Downeast Maine: The Wish to Be at Home - Scott Planting
  3. History of Midwifery and Women's Health Care - Linda Robinson
  4. Mind and Body-fulness - Andrea Lepcio
  5. Monetary Theory and Federal Finance: Deeper Meanings - David Dawson
  6. Money, Elites, and Media: Attention Engineering in Modern America - Greg Bush
  7. Myth, Psyche, and Us - Mac Bigelow
  8. Shakespeare's Henry IV: Fun and Adventures with Prince Hall and Falstaff - Ann Caswell
  9. Will Democracy Survive in America? - Seth Singleton

Fall 2021

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Classes:

  1. Are You Ready for Some Football? - Joanne Harris and Ellie Pancoe
  2. Cosmology: Part 2 - Bob Gallon
  3. Europe: 1815 to 1924 - Harald Paumgarten and Seth Singleton
  4. Geology of MDI - Ruth and Duane Braun
  5. Me and White Supremacy: An Exploration - Mary Vekasi
  6. The Politics of Land Fever, Trade and the American Hinterland: 1763 - 2021 - Greg Bush
  7. The Truth About Government Money and Federal Finance - David Dawson
  8. We, the White Male Landowning People,... Do Ordain and Establish This Constitution - Rick Cohen
  9. Wood-Burned and Painted Fish Mobiles - Steve Valleau

Spring 2021

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Classes:

  1. Creating a Bird Mobile - Steve Valleau
  2. Designing the Surface - Shira Singer
  3. Downeast Maine Field Ornithology: Winter Birds and the Transition to Spring - Michael Good
  4. Improving Decision Making and Public Policy: Lessons from Behavioral Economics - Sheila Kirby
  5. Introduction to Nature Writing - Ann Caswell
  6. Let's Make Bread Together - Mary Vekasi
  7. Mindfulness Practices - Jen Harry
  8. So You Think You Know Maine? - Earl Brechlin
  9. The Future of Fisheries in Eastern Maine - Paul Anderson
  10. The Puzzle of Religion - Bob Gallon
  11. The Upanishads: Foundational Scriptures of Hinduism - Ned Beach
  12. Traditional Chinese Folk Culture as Seen Through Plays - Hugh Clark
  13. Writing a "Legacy Letter" - Jay Sherwin

Winter 2021

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Classes:

  1. Edmond Rostand's "Cyrano de Bergerac," translation by Anthony Burgess - Nick Turner
  2. So You Think You Know Maine? - Earl Brechlin
  3. The Crowd in American Culture - Greg Bush
  4. The Enigmatic Psyche: Tales by Henry James and Joseph Conrad - Bill Dohmen
  5. Topics in Constitutional and Public Law - Rick Cohen
  6. Understanding Viruses - Phil Grimley

Fall 2020

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Classes:

  1. 2020 Visions: Working Forward - Jack Russell
  2. An Historical Introduction to Chinese Buddhism - Hugh Clark
  3. Civil Rights: The Other Half - Nat Fenton
  4. Cosmology: How Did We Ever Learn That? - Bob Gallon
  5. Engines of Change: The Automobile's Impact on Women's Independence - Jenna Beaulieu
  6. Explorations in Human Evolution - Peggy deWolf
  7. Introduction to the Yi Jing - Ned Beach
  8. The First Amendment: Freedom of Speech and Religious Rights - Rick Cohen
  9. Writer and Region: Exploring the Beloved Community - Scott Planting

Spring 2020

  1. Spring classes were cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Instead a number of instructors and other presenters offered online presentations. See the Videos page for recordings of some of these presentations.

Winter 2020

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Classes:

  1. Becoming a Better Photographer - Robert Thayer
  2. Carving a Common Loon - Steven Valleau
  3. Evolution of Thinking on the Geology of MDI from 1836 to Now - Duane Braun
  4. Homemade Bread! - Mary Vekasi
  5. Morning Mosaic - Liz Cutler
  6. Preserving New England's Gardens - Valencia Libby
  7. Short Stories of Honore de Balzac - Annemarie V. Quin
  8. Spiritual Wisdom from Hawaii and India - Richard Parker
  9. When God Was a Woman - Carol Leonard
  10. Without Reverence Things Fall Apart - William Bigelow

Fall 2019

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Classes:

  1. A Brief History of the Dismal Science (Part 2) - David Dawson
  2. A Close Reading of the Analects of Confucius - Hugh Clark
  3. Beginning Italian: Level 2 - Hank Schmelzer
  4. Geology of MDI - Ruth and Duane Braun
  5. Hollywood Goes to War: Censorship, Propaganda and Profits During WW II - Steve Powell
  6. How Nonprofits Work - Carolyn Ball
  7. I Think, Therefore I Am: What is Conciousness? - Robert Gallon
  8. Improving Decision Making and Public Policy: Lessons from Behavioral Economics - Sheila Kirby
  9. Introduction to Croquet - Fran Martin and Tina Hinckley
  10. Myth, Psyche, and Us - William Bigelow
  11. Post-Impressionism and Beyond - Mary Burnard
  12. Prelude to the 36th America's Cup - Nat Fenton and Michael Hastings
  13. Selected Topics in Modern European History - Harald Paumgarten and Michael Blythe
  14. The Cubism of Pable Picasso and Georges Braque - Mollie McNickle (Wheeler)
  15. The Sources of Constitutional Conflicts - Richard S. Cohen
  16. Viruses and Vaccines - Phil Grimley

Spring 2019

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Classes:

  1. 2020 Visions: A Discussion - Jack Russell
  2. A Look at French Impressionism and its Historical Antecedents - Mary Burnard
  3. Britannia to England: AD 410 to AD 1066 - Michael Blythe
  4. Civil Rights, Then and Now - Nat Fenton
  5. DNA, Genes, and Genetic Engineering - Michael Wiles
  6. Hooking and Stripping: A Course for Beginners - Judith Burger-Gossart
  7. Introduction to Opera: Part 3 - Robert Gallon
  8. Joy of Boats - Ben Emory
  9. Maine Political Leaders (1919-2018) and the Movements They Embraced - Michael Hastings
  10. Novels of Patrick O'Brian - Ward MacKenzie
  11. Open Studio: Surface and Shape - Liz Cutler
  12. Tai Chi for Health - Andrea Lepcio

Winter 2019

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Classes:

  1. Becoming a Better Photographer - Robert Thayer
  2. Beginning Italian - Level 1 - Hank Schmeltzer
  3. Bicycle Repair - Bob Shields and Eben Shook
  4. Bird Carving with a Knife - Steven Valleau
  5. Eat Bread and Salt and Speak the Truth: Russian Stories and Essays - Seth Singleton
  6. Introduction to Wine - Scott Worcester
  7. Island and Acadian Passages, Part II: Conservation to Resilience - Jack Russell
  8. Lessons from Indigenous Cultures for Mankind Today - Richard Parker
  9. Myth, Psyche, and Us - William Bigelow
  10. Shakespeare: Fun and Adventures with Prince Hal and Falstaff - Ann Caswell