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- Absolute Beginners Pickleball – In-Person
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Item Number: W25REC102A
Dates: 1/13/2025 - 1/17/2025
Times: 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM
Days: Daily
Sessions: 5
Maximum Enrollment: 20
Building: Lithia Park Pickleball Courts
Room: Winburn Way, Ashland
Instructor: Cori Frank
This course is designed for the person who wants to learn the basics of pickleball. Join in the fun as Cori Frank and a team of experienced pickleball players teach you the fastest growing sport in America. The class meets for 1½ hours a day for five consecutive days. Beginning players will learn how to choose a paddle, proper paddle position when playing, scoring, serving, return of serve, third-shot drops, dinking, drills, and calling “out balls.” There is an emphasis on safety and sportsmanship. Ashland Oregon Pickleball Club will provide the paddles, pickleballs, and instructors. Information on courts throughout the Rogue Valley will be provided as well as communication tools. You will need court shoes, a hat or visor, and a hydrating drink. Sunglasses or protective eyewear are recommended.
NOTE: People with mobility issues should not take this course. A waiver must be signed prior to the first class. If we have inclement weather, class will be canceled.
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- Advanced Beginners Pickleball – In-Person
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Item Number: W25REC304A
Dates: 3/10/2025 - 3/14/2025
Times: 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM
Days: Daily
Sessions: 5
Maximum Enrollment: 20
Building: Lithia Park Pickleball Courts
Room: Winburn Way, Ashland
Instructor: Cori Frank
This course is designed for students who have taken the Absolute Beginners Pickleball class or who have a rudimentary knowledge of the game. It will be taught by seasoned instructors who are experienced players and have taught before. Expect to build on the basic game to include advanced strategy in play. We will meet for 1½ hours at Lithia Park courts for five consecutive days. There will be an emphasis on sportsmanship and safety. This skills-building course will focus on different types of serves, lobs, third-shot drops or drop shots, drives, partner communication, stacking, and different types of scoring. We will introduce Nasty Nelson, Bert, and Erne. The last day will be a FUN Round-Robin whereby players will rotate play with all players. The instructors will be from Ashland Oregon Pickleball Club.
NOTE: If you have mobility issues, this course may not be for you. A waiver must be signed prior to the first class. Students are expected to have their own paddle, know the basic game, have court shoes, and a hat or visor. Safety glasses are recommended. Bring a hydrating drink and snack. If inclement weather occurs, class will be canceled.
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- Advanced Songwriting – Online
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Item Number: W25ARTS287
Dates: 1/14/2025 - 3/4/2025
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 8
Maximum Enrollment: 8
Building: Online
Room: (Zoom)
Instructor: Denny Caraher
This course is for students who have some experience with creative writing, whether it be songs, poetry, or journaling. Regardless of whether you’ve written scores of songs or have never dabbled in this unique art form, you will find support, guidance, and inspiration in these eight sessions. Each week we will take a listen to a song that is well-crafted and talk about why it works (or doesn’t). Most of each class will be given over to writing for short periods of time from prompts that will be provided. From these writings, a song will emerge, and over the week before the next class, we will share these songs with one another in a relaxed and supportive atmosphere. It is not about writing a perfect or even a “good” song. The purpose of these sessions will be to open up our creative selves and let go of the internal editor that tells us our work is not ready to share. It will be really fun and amazing to see what we create!
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- Becoming a Refugee: Six Ukrainian Women's Stories – Online
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Item Number: W25PERS267
Dates: 1/7/2025 - 2/11/2025
Times: 1:30 PM - 3:30 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 6
Maximum Enrollment: 26
Building: Online
Room: (Zoom)
Instructor: Louise Paré
What is the journey of a Ukrainian woman refugee? What was the experience of growing up in Soviet Ukraine? What is the impact of the transition from communism to a free Ukraine on the life of a Ukrainian woman and her family? Becoming a refugee involves a change of identity, loss of status and economic stability, and a descent into another unknown world. Through the stories of six Ukrainian refugee women living in Ashland, these questions will be explored within the larger context of Ukrainian history, women’s spirituality, and the refugee experience as a path of spiritual transformation. The course will include lecture and discussion, ritual circles, reflective writing in response to the readings, local Ukrainian women speaker presentations (videos), and out-of-class readings.
NOTE: Required Text: “Displaced: The Ukrainian Refugee Experience” by Tamar Jacoby. Independently published (Sept. 9, 2022).
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- Beginning Excel for PCs – In-Person
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Do you think spreadsheets are for accountants? I will de-mystify Excel spreadsheets and show how they can be used to plan and organize activities, keep track of expenses, and do simple analyses. The course will start with the basics, including the Excel Window and ribbons. We will navigate using shortcut commands and learn techniques for entering and formatting numerical and alphabetic data. We will manipulate page layouts and copy or move pages from one spreadsheet to another. Other topics include using basic arithmetic operations, analyzing data with simple functions such as SUM and AVERAGE, and use of simple IF statements. This is a course for beginners, and students are not expected to have experience using Excel for PCs. This is a hands-on course. Students must bring their laptops to class to work on in-class exercises.
NOTE: Students must have Excel for PCs (version 2013 or later) loaded on their laptop (PCs only) and know how to download, save, and open files from emails. The instructor will email files to students with exercises to use during class and to practice techniques at home. Before each class, students must download the files from emails and save them on their laptops to use in class.
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- Beginning Guitar: Chords – In-Person
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This beginning guitar course will concentrate on chords. Each session will include learning the chords for a few easy songs, and perhaps, time permitting, some more advanced songs. Students will have the option of learning at least one song of their choice. Instruction will include the parts of the guitar, including string names, how to tune a guitar, and how to play the basic scale and basic chords. The course will include workshop sessions for individual instruction and will end with an opportunity for all students to play one song they have learned for the group.
NOTE: Students must have their own guitar and a music stand for reading music while practicing the guitar. The instructor will recommend a reference book on guitar chords.
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- Caregiving for Alzheimer's: A Personal Journey – Online
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Item Number: W25LIFE104
Dates: 1/7/2025 - 2/11/2025
Times: 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 6
Maximum Enrollment: 299
Building: Online
Room: (Zoom)
Instructor: Bill Harris
The stress of caregiving is a major concern for someone whose loved one has been diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer’s. This course will provide an overview of the issues, the impact of the diagnosis, and the resources available to the caregiver. We will discuss coping strategies for the patient and caregiver. We introduce specific issues typically discussed between the caregiver, loved one, lawyer, and financial planner. These may include advanced directives, end-of-life choices and their ethical issues, changes to a will or trust, and strategies for dealing with medical expenses. Classes will consist of lectures using PowerPoint slides. Zoom will allow for electronic interaction. The PowerPoint will be sent to the students after each class.
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- Completing Your Oregon Advance Directive – In-Person
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Item Number: W25LIFE125A-1
Dates: 1/7/2025 - 1/28/2025
Times: 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 4
Maximum Enrollment: 32
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room C
Instructor: Joanne Kliejunas
We know we should have an up-to-date Advance Directive so that loved ones will know what healthcare we want if serious illness leaves us unable to make our own decisions. Still, you may not have one or yours may be outdated. This course will enable you to complete the revised 2021 OR AD to capture what will be important to you in the future. We’ll focus on selecting and preparing your all-important Health Care Representative and defining your wishes for prolonged care in nuanced cases of dementia and chronic disease, as well as for future end-of-life care. You’ll be able to complete the form and create addenda that may expand its value to you and your loved ones. Besides your engagement in class, you will need to devote time between our meetings to clarify your thinking and talk with your HCR. Are you ready to take advantage of this guidance to finally complete your AD? Your loved ones will be grateful!
NOTE: If you have a valid, legally executed AD that accurately reflects your wishes, you do not need to complete the 2021 version. If your current AD needs to be updated, you must use the revised 2021 form to do that. Your choice and preparation of a health care rep will be your first and most important work in developing your AD. Prepare for class by thinking about who you’d like to have speak for you. There are two in-person sections of this course offered.
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- Cyrillic: An Introduction – Online
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Item Number: W25LANG163
Dates: 1/7/2025 - 1/21/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 3
Maximum Enrollment: 299
Building: Online
Room: (Zoom)
Instructor: Alice Taylor, Marcus Levitt
The alphabet with which one reads and writes offers a key to a language’s cultural roots. This course will offer a panoramic overview of the Slavic world from this perspective, with the main focus on Russian. Russian is written in the Cyrillic alphabet, as are several other Slavic tongues, including Ukrainian, Serbian, and Bulgarian, while other Slavic languages — Polish, Czech, Croatian, and Slovenian — use the Latin script. This class provides some explanation for these cultural and historical divides, and it will also provide some practice reading the letters used in Russian. It is a good way for students with some Russian who would like to join the conversation course, Fun with Russian, to brush up, but those with no knowledge of Russian are welcome to join and to gain some understanding of this part of the world and the role of languages in shaping its culture and history.
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- Danger and Deception: The Best of Alfred Hitchcock – Online
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Item Number: W25ARTS328
Dates: 2/4/2025 - 2/25/2025
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 4
Maximum Enrollment: 299
Building: Online
Room: (Zoom)
Instructor: Jay Sherwin
In his legendary career as a director, Alfred Hitchcock created dense, suspenseful films filled with flawed heroes, charming villains, and moral ambiguity. In this four-week online course, we’ll consider some of Hitchcock’s very best films, focusing on two films each week that share a common theme. Students should watch the films on their own; in class, we’ll look at brief film clips and discuss key elements. Whether you’ve enjoyed Hitchcock films for many years or you’re just discovering them, this is a chance to go deeper into the mind of a brilliant, complicated man and the surprising, confounding, and entertaining world he created on film.
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- Exploring Crosswords – Online
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Item Number: W25REC120
Dates: 2/4/2025 - 3/11/2025
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 6
Maximum Enrollment: 299
Building: Online
Room: (Zoom)
Instructor: Steve Weyer
Would you like to become better at enjoying, understanding and finishing crosswords — and impress your friends as a “cruciverbalist”? Besides being fun, crosswords have been shown to improve “cognitive reserve” and mental flexibility. We’ll look at other benefits of solving puzzles and some highlights of crossword history and culture. We will learn about different types of crosswords, discuss solving strategies and techniques, explore online sources and applications, and introduce the process of constructing crosswords. During each session, we’ll also solve and discuss crosswords as a group to improve our skills.
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- Exploring Your Immune System – Online
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Item Number: W25STEM191
Dates: 1/7/2025 - 2/4/2025
Times: 3:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Maximum Enrollment: 299
Building: Online
Room: (Zoom)
Instructor: John Kalb
Let us explore the immune system together in a step-by-step fashion to untangle its many mysteries, components, and functions. Second only to the brain in complexity, this lifesaving system protects us on a daily basis from a world of threats including viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites, and toxins. Knowledge is powerful if it leads to appropriate action. The better we understand the workings of our immune system, the better we can support its function and not weaken it. This is especially important right now with all the confusion surrounding COVID-19 and the other infectious diseases out there. Some of the topics we will cover include innate and adaptive immunity; the major organs, cells, and messenger molecules involved in immune function; and how the immune system distinguishes between “self” and “non-self.” This introductory, science-based Zoom course will use colorful and easy-to-understand slide presentations and lectures, and some discussion, with questions and answers.
NOTE: The course, last taught in Winter 2024, has been updated with the latest information on COVID-19 and other common respiratory infections.
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- Fun with Russian – In-Person
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This highly interactive, informal class will give you a chance to improve your Russian. We will use a minimum of English, and repeat and contextualize Russian so that everyone understands and can respond in Russian. Grammar will be discussed only as needed, as our focus will be on using Russian. The free online textbook, “Mezhdu Nami,” provides some materials, along with a selection of short readings, songs, and poems.
NOTE: We don’t expect students with fluent Russian. Experience shows that some students struggle with pronunciation, some with cases, and some with the Cyrillic alphabet. For the latter, our course, Cyrillic: An Introduction, is recommended.
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- Fundamentals of Investing – In-Person
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Item Number: W25LIFE122A
Dates: 2/11/2025 - 3/4/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 4
Maximum Enrollment: 34
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room C
Instructor: Kenji Bleicker
In this mostly lecture course, we’ll cover the basics of stocks, bonds, real estate, and alternative investments before moving on to address how to combine various asset classes into a diversified portfolio. Investment vehicles such as mutual funds and exchange traded funds will also be discussed, as well as passive versus active investing, market timing, investor behavior, socially responsible investing, and tax considerations. While no specific stocks, bonds, funds, or other means to invest will be recommended, by the end of the course students will have the tools to either do their own investing or to be able to evaluate what their advisor is doing. No prior investing experience is required; there will be some class discussion and home assignments.
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- Hawks! – In-Person
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Item Number: W25NAT135A
Dates: 1/7/2025 - 1/21/2025
Times: 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 3
Maximum Enrollment: 34
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room A
Instructor: Dick Ashford
These fascinating creatures have captured our imaginations in ways that few other bird groups do; easily seen (but tough to identify), they push our primal poetic buttons. This course is a PowerPoint presentation with lecture and discussion that will examine the natural history of diurnal raptors — what makes a hawk a hawk, anyhow? There is more than one answer! Topics will include taxonomy, anatomy, and the raptorial lifestyle that defines these beautiful animals, as well as investigations into hawks’ relationship with humans. This is not a course in identification, but at the end of the course you are guaranteed to be a hawk enthusiast!
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- Hot News & Cool Views – Online (Hybrid)
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Item Number: W25SOC140
Dates: 1/7/2025 - 3/11/2025
Times: 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 10
Maximum Enrollment: 299
Building: Online
Room: (Zoom)
Instructor: Rick Vann
Hot News & Cool Views is an open discussion forum to explore and discuss breaking news from Oregon to “around the globe” each week. All differing views and opinions are not only welcome but essential to create the lively discussion in the group. We cover a wide range of topics ranging from politics to climate change, to technology, medicine, and more. An agenda with articles will be sent to you a couple of days prior to each class. Students are encouraged to send in topics and news articles to add to each week’s agenda and our discussion. Please join us for a sizzling hot journey around the world with our fast, fun, and sometimes controversial class! Better than a strong cup of coffee to get your week going!
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- Hot News & Cool Views – In-Person (Hybrid)
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Item Number: W25SOC140A
Dates: 1/7/2025 - 3/11/2025
Times: 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 10
Maximum Enrollment: 32
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room D
Instructor: Rick Vann
Hot News & Cool Views is an open discussion forum to explore and discuss breaking news from Oregon to “around the globe” each week. All differing views and opinions are not only welcome but essential to create the lively discussion in the group. We cover a wide range of topics ranging from politics to climate change, to technology, medicine, and more. An agenda with articles will be sent to you a couple of days prior to each class. Students are encouraged to send in topics and news articles to add to each week’s agenda and our discussion. Please join us for a sizzling hot journey around the world with our fast, fun, and sometimes controversial class! Better than a strong cup of coffee to get your week going!
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- Landscapes Revealed: What Gets Served on Plates – Online
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Item Number: W25STEM171
Dates: 1/7/2025 - 1/28/2025
Times: 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 4
Maximum Enrollment: 299
Building: Online
Room: (Zoom)
Instructor: Karen Grove
Earth’s surface is all cracked up! The upper, brittle layer of our planet is broken into large pieces called plates that are always on the move — that’s plate tectonics. It is at the edges of these plates that most geologic action, such as earthquakes and volcanoes, occurs. On the U.S. West Coast, we live “on the edge” and can explore the different types of plate boundaries using nearby examples. In this class we will examine the characteristics of plate boundary types — divergent, convergent, and transform — and the landscapes that result. Geologic action can also occur in the middle of plates where there are underlying “hot spots.” Locations to be explored include the Basin and Range Province of eastern Oregon, the Cascadia subduction zone on the Oregon coast, the offshore Juan de Fuca mid-ocean spreading ridge, the San Andreas fault in California, and the Yellowstone and Hawaiian hot spots. No prior geologic experience is needed.
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- Lesbian Culture and Relationships, 1970–Present – Online (Hybrid)
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Item Number: W25SOC309
Dates: 1/14/2025 - 3/4/2025
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 8
Maximum Enrollment: 53
Building: Online
Room: (Zoom)
Instructor: LauRose Felicity
This course brings to life lesbian community, culture, and relationships, from the 1970s lesbian feminist movement to the present. Particular emphasis will be on the impact of economic class and race on lesbians’ relationships and the preservation of their viewpoints from all sources. Topics will include the “first” achievements in the community to today. Some of these include women's and lesbians’ music festivals, dance and theater groups, music promotion companies, land communities, and Oregon writers’ groups and journals. We will also discuss the women in print movement, women’s health movement, and women in business and professions. Finally, we will learn about legal reforms for lesbian families. We will use writings, art, music, video, lecture, and drama from academic and popular sources. There may be guest lectures by lesbian authors, land community members, artists or musicians.
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- Lesbian Culture and Relationships, 1970–Present – In-Person (Hybrid)
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Item Number: W25SOC309A
Dates: 1/14/2025 - 3/4/2025
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 8
Maximum Enrollment: 53
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room D
Instructor: LauRose Felicity
This course brings to life lesbian community, culture, and relationships, from the 1970s lesbian feminist movement to the present. Particular emphasis will be on the impact of economic class and race on lesbians’ relationships and the preservation of their viewpoints from all sources. Topics will include the “first” achievements in the community to today. Some of these include women's and lesbians’ music festivals, dance and theater groups, music promotion companies, land communities, and Oregon writers’ groups and journals. We will also discuss the women in print movement, women’s health movement, and women in business and professions. Finally, we will learn about legal reforms for lesbian families. We will use writings, art, music, video, lecture, and drama from academic and popular sources. There may be guest lectures by lesbian authors, land community members, artists or musicians.
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- Mindful Movement: Qigong and Stretching – Online
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Item Number: W25MOV130
Dates: 1/14/2025 - 2/4/2025
Times: 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 4
Maximum Enrollment: 299
Building: Online
Room: (Zoom)
Instructor: Nando Raynolds
This course is an introduction to qigong and simple stretching patterns. Movements will be taught both as physical and energetic exercises and as methods for improving present moment awareness and mindfulness of subtle perceptions. No special clothing or experience is required. Participants should come as they are, ready to have fun with others! Although qigong can be studied for a lifetime, this brief series will provide a taste of the practices. Students will learn a set of simple movements that can be integrated into a daily routine. Students will also have access to videos on the instructor’s YouTube channel, and optional DVD or digital material is available for purchase. The exercises will challenge and enhance flexibility, balance, and coordination. Classes consist mostly of active movement.
NOTE: This online course will include social time with other students using breakout rooms. Since this is online, students must be prepared to take complete responsibility for their own physical well-being. Students must sign a liability waiver prior to the first class. Classes will not be recorded.
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- Overcoming Fear with Truth – In-Person
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Item Number: W25PERS238A
Dates: 1/14/2025 - 2/11/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Maximum Enrollment: 19
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room B
Instructor: Mark Gibson
In this highly interactive Q-and-A wisdom-sharing experience, students will learn how to use self-inquiry tools to recognize and replace destructive, fear-based limitations with positive, truth-based self-confidence. Emphasis will be placed on assisting participants to distinguish the difference between destructive irrational fears from life-enhancing rational fears. Students will explore topics such as minimizing feelings of vulnerability, guilt, and shame while strengthening accountability, personal integrity, and fearless heartfelt willingness to give and receive more love. Students will learn to use mental tools that help silence the pain-inducing inner critic so that you can consciously enrich your life with affirming constructive energy and love from your essence. The course will focus on the benefits that can be enjoyed by learning to replace irrational fear with truth, thereby empowering overlooked personal potentials and commitment to living more fulfilling lives.
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- Peace of Mind When Buying or Selling Your Home – Online
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Item Number: W25LIFE301
Dates: 1/7/2025 - 2/4/2025
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Maximum Enrollment: 100
Building: Online
Room: (Zoom)
Instructor: Jim Berns
An article in Psychology Today suggested that buying or selling a home is the third most stressful experience after death or divorce! Students of this course looking to buy or sell a home can expect to identify strategies to avoid or minimize those stressors. This course will be a combination of lecture and discussion and will deal exclusively with residential real estate emphasizing owner-occupied homes and “senior living alternatives.” We will cover the new laws requiring agents and buyers to have a signed buyer-broker agreement prior to showing any homes. Students need not have any background or experience in buying or selling real estate. Handouts will be provided ahead of time and shared on the Zoom call. The Zoom sessions will be live and will include Q&A and discussion. The instructor is passionate about making your move successful and, as much as possible, stress free. Other related professionals may be invited in as guest speakers to provide additional information.
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- Physics for Nonphysicists: Basic Ideas in Physics – In-Person
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Item Number: W25STEM113A
Dates: 1/7/2025 - 2/4/2025
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Maximum Enrollment: 78
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room E
Instructor: John Johnson
How do physicists think about physical problems? How do things move? How do things interact? What are things made of? What about gravity, electricity and magnetism, elementary particles, physical astronomy, and cosmology? The answers to these and other exciting questions will be revealed when the curtain is lifted and, hopefully, all is illuminated. As much time as necessary will be devoted to your questions. There are no dumb questions; we are all in this together. We will try to cover all the topics, but we will go as slowly as needed to ensure all your questions are addressed. Remember, if you have a question, the probability is high that other students have the same question. The course will be taught using PowerPoint presentations and other visual and audio material.
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- Sapiens: From the Age of Science to the Modern Age – In-Person
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Item Number: W25HIST201A
Dates: 1/21/2025 - 2/18/2025
Times: 3:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Maximum Enrollment: 53
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room D
Instructor: Bob Wetmore
This course explores the history of Homo sapiens as our species emerged from the Middle Ages and embarked on the age of science, exploration, and conquest of the New World (about 1500). We end up with sapiens in the world of AI and biotech. We consider: Where have sapiens been? Where are we going? What is our place in the cosmic setting? This course is a continuation of the course in the fall, which brought the story through the hunter-gatherer period and the invention of agriculture, but attendance at the earlier course is not a prerequisite. The course is conceived as a deep dive into history involving archaeology, economics, astrophysics, and philosophy. To make the subject manageable, there will be a template, “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind,” by the Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari. To help us along, we will hear directly from noted scholars, scientists, and thinkers. The predominant mode of presentation in this lecture course will be PowerPoint and videos.
NOTE: Students should have a copy of Harari’s book, as critical weekly readings will be assigned.
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- Self-Discovery Through Artistic Expression – In-Person
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Item Number: W25PERS306A
Dates: 2/4/2025 - 3/11/2025
Times: 3:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 6
Maximum Enrollment: 10
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room C
Instructor: Daya Jaggers
This course will introduce you to the new social art known as generative scribing: a collaborative group art activity with no artistic background requirements. New on the scene, it is quickly building a reputation as a compassionate form of self-expression through listening without judgment and putting pen and artwork onto paper. Generative scribing invites true cognitive potential that includes broad-perspective viewing, expanded insight, and new realization possibility. These deeper states of self-awareness can support self-healing and encourage interpersonal relationship bonding. Sequence of activities in generative scribing include group grounding, optional prompts, time frames for scribing and drawing, and engaging in sharing each individual’s expressive art piece. Come join in this unique cutting-edge artist group activity!
NOTE: Students supply their own art paper and pencil/pen/markers in a variety of colors. "Your Brain on Art" by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross is optional reading.
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- The Evolutionary Psychology of Morality – In-Person
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Item Number: W25SOC321A
Dates: 1/7/2025 - 2/18/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 7
Maximum Enrollment: 32
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room A
Instructor: Dave Ferguson
Historically, morality has been studied as if it were a human invention. This has been the approach of philosophical thinking and writing in the field of ethics for over 2,000 years. Recently, however, biologists have been studying morality as an adaptation, attempting to discover how morality functions and how it evolved. We’ll examine five types of moral adaptation, all of which share a commonality: They enhance survivorship and reproductive success. Genetically based traits that enhance survivorship and reproduction will pass on copies of genes that produce those traits to their offspring. Over time, both the traits and the genes producing them will increase. Seven sessions cover 1) evolution and misconceptions, 2) genes and behavior, 3) Jonathan Haidt’s six dimensions of morality, 4) kin selection and caring, 5) reciprocal altruism and fairness, 6) groups and sanctity, and 7) hierarchy and liberty. Methods include readings, videos, lectures, and group discussions.
NOTE: “The Righteous Mind” by Jonathan Haidt is the optional text for this course.
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- The Music of Béla Bartók – In-Person
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Item Number: W25ARTS121A
Dates: 2/11/2025 - 3/11/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 5
Maximum Enrollment: 63
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room E
Instructor: Tony Davis
Béla Bartók (1881-1945), whose symphonic and chamber music is still widely performed, was a leading composer of the first half of the 20th century. A convinced modernist, his musical inspiration nonetheless stems equally from the vanishing world of traditional Balkan folk music--which he was one of the first to document for the wider world. In the five sessions of this course, we’ll explore his lyrical and original voice as expressed in works such as Concerto for Orchestra, “Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta,” his piano concertos, and his six masterful string quartets.
NOTE: Listening to some of the music outside of class is encouraged but not required. Chamber Music Concerts in Ashland is presenting Bartók’s String Quartet No. 3 in 2025. Some online videos are available to enhance class sessions as well. Familiarity with classical music and its terminology will be helpful but is not necessary.
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- The Oxford Book of French Short Stories – In-Person
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Welcome to Part I of “The Oxford Book of French Short Stories” (in English translation). Spanning the centuries from the late 18th to the late 20th, the collection opens with a rambunctious tale from the Marquis de Sade, then proceeds to take on the masters of the 19th century, from Stendhal and Balzac to Maupassant, and reaches to Quebec, Africa, and the French Caribbean. Women writers include relatively well-known figures such as Renee Vivien, Colette, and Beauvoir, and newer writers such as Assia Djebar, Christiane Baroche, and Annie Saumont. Before each session, students will read three or four designated stories, which will then be discussed in a comfortable inclusive classroom setting. We will only be covering only the first 15 stories. The final stories, Part II, are planned to be covered in the winter of 2026. The French short story is a rich and diverse medium, but all the stories selected share a common characteristic: They will make this class exciting and fun!
NOTE: A copy of “The Oxford Book of French Short Stories,” edited by Elizabeth Fallaize, is required. New and used versions are available online with used versions priced at about $8.
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- Wilderness – In-Person
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Item Number: W25NAT117A
Dates: 1/7/2025 - 1/28/2025
Times: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 4
Maximum Enrollment: 34
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room C
Instructor: John Schuyler
Wilderness — what does that term mean to you? Is it your un-mowed backyard? Is it an area large enough for a two-week backpack trip without seeing a road, building, or other symbol of modern society? Does the word even have meaning to the indigenous peoples that stewarded North America prior to Euro-American conquest? In 1964, the U.S. made the decision through federal legislation to not develop every acre of our country, but instead to create a system of preserves where natural processes are allowed to function. This course looks at the development and history of wilderness as a simple descriptive, yet highly subjective, notion. Included are the visionaries who pushed for setting aside some of our wildlands. Managing wilderness (an oxymoron?) is not an easy task with climate change, fires, and overuse. Does the wilderness system have the political support that it once enjoyed? How much is enough? Classes will include lectures, slides, videos, guest speakers, and time for discussions.
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- You Can Let Stress Roll Off Your Back – In-Person
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Item Number: W25PERS309A
Dates: 1/21/2025 - 2/25/2025
Times: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Days: Tu
Sessions: 6
Maximum Enrollment: 53
Building: Campbell Center
Room: Room D
Instructor: Lisa Hubler
Learn simple, easy, time-tested and evidence-based methods drawn from the traditions of yoga, meditation, and hypnotherapy. Down-regulate your nervous system and quiet your mind, and stress can roll off your back much more easily. Through lecture, discussion, and guided practices that you can do at home with or without free audio recordings made and provided by the instructor, by the end of the course you’ll have the tools to feel a greater sense of ease and well-being throughout your day and find yourself naturally less reactive to stressors. Becoming more relaxed and present makes it easier to be at peace with wherever you are in life. Each class incorporates a thorough understanding of stress reduction and deep relaxation techniques and an embodied experience of the methods and practices taught. No previous experience with meditation, hypnotherapy, or yoga is required.
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