Membership in Lewiston Auburn Senior College is $35/year, non-refundable and runs from July 1 to June 30.

Please "register" for this "class" to renew or become a member. 

Benefits of membership include access to clubs, free one day classes, and courses at all Maine Senior Colleges. 

ZOOM

Seventy percent of the Earth's surface is ocean. This planet could be re-named "Ocean"; we are citizens of an ocean planet with islands the size of continents. The ocean is the most important resource on Earth because it controls weather, provides food, and creates 50% of the world's oxygen.  Awesome life forms are constantly being discovered at all depths of the ocean. Remarkable life forms inhabit the deepest ocean where there is no light!  As scientists pursue all types of marine research, they consistently advocate for caution because exploration and exploitation of the ocean's resources have a history of positive and negative consequences. One might say that the romantic ship-narrative has sailed, replaced with a heightened appreciation for the human impact on marine health and the human pressure on beings who live in or depend on the sea. Education is the key to understanding the ocean of the past, present, and future. The ocean is a complex and ambitious topic of study; however, a short course is a place to start. This quest to learn more will highlight the following: 

1. Maps: What You See and What You Don't See
2. Marine Specimens
3. Ocean Voyagers: Seafarers and Refugees 
4. Innovative Marine Museums
5. Stories Told by Artists and Scientists 

Catherine Hunter was museum curator, educator, and consultant for over twenty years. She received her Bachelor of Arts in History of Art from Cornell University and began her career as a curator in the Department of Textiles at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Hunter has been developing and teaching zoom courses for adults learners since 2019. Her courses reflect a lifelong interest in the intersection of art, art history, science, and culture. Hunter is a sailor with a broad interest in all things nautical. She is is a member of the New Bedford Whaling Museum and the International Congress of Maritime Museum (ICMM).

ZOOM

Monarch butterflies are, perhaps, the most well-known butterfly species in the world with the most highly evolved migration pattern of any known insect. With their parchment-thin wings, they fly 3,000 miles to, and from, Canada and the United States to their overwintering sites in the oyamel fir forests in Mexico's central highlands. Join Eve Fralick on her visually stunning travelogue as she shares the spellbinding sight of millions of fluttering wings as they fill the forest skies. Learn why the monarch population has been so seriously compromised in recent years and what you can do to help sustain monarch butterflies here at home. While in Mexico, you'll also experience a sunrise hot-air balloon flight over, and tour of, Teotihuacan, a United Nations World Heritage Site with the third largest pyramid in the world...as well as the Comovitral, a huge botanical garden encircled by ceiling-to-floor stained glass murals.

Eve Fralick is a resident of Greenland, New Hampshire. She began her career as a United States Air Force officer traveling internationally to develop and implement multi-million dollar, state-of-the-art, telecommunications programs. After leaving the military, she worked in healthcare technology and as an adjunct faculty member at Southern New Hampshire University's Graduate School of Business. She holds Master degrees in Public Health and Systems Management. Eve's passion is hiking far off the beaten path around the world. She develops travelogues of her adventures and presents them at libraries, assisted living facilities, senior colleges, and other organizations.  

IN PERSON AT SCHOONER ESTATES

In 1621, the Pilgrims celebrated the first recorded Thanksgiving in the New World. Who were the Pilgrims? Was it a day similar to the one we celebrate today? We'll take a deep look into that "First Thanksgiving."

Alan has taught at Senior College for over 20 years and originated the first Winter Sessions back in 2005.  

ZOOM

Theory of Knowledge is an inquiry into how we know. Student participation is essential in uncovering the sources of our knowledge and the elements that make up our knowledge of the world. We will be examining truth, beliefs, perception, and language which are some elements of knowledge.

Anita Denis graduated from St. Dominic Academy. She got her BA at Rivier College in Nashua, NH and her MA at Rhode Island College in Providence, RI. She taught overseas in 7 different countries in International schools for most of her teaching career. She is now residing in Portugal. 

ZOOM

America is an angry nation. Much of Buddhist practice fosters tranquility. And Buddhism has come bigly to our shores. How so? What might it become? Might it sooth our roiled emotions? How will it play in our religiously highly plural culture? We will look in depth at two American Theravada Buddhist communities: One mainly of Thai immigrants, Buddhist by birth and upbringing; and one mainly of American converts. 

SUGGESTED READING: Wendy Cadge, HEARTWOOD. THE FIRST GENERATION OÏ THERAVADA BUDDHISM IN AMERICA.

Steve is an anthropologist..... two years field work in Thailand, Thai Buddhism a main interest; research on religious conversion in the U.S.; 44 years at Swarthmore College; 35 courses offered at four of Maine's senior colleges.  

IN PERSON AT SCHOONER ESTATES

Did you attend the Lewiston Auburn Community Little Theater’s recent production of “A New Home”? This class provides an opportunity for those  who saw the play to share and discuss thoughts about the play and reminiscences about Lewiston history.

It is expected that those who attend this class will have seen “A New Home.”

Alan has been involved with Senior College for over 20 years and has taught many courses. Alan was also one of the founding members of what is now known as Maine Mill.  

IN PERSON at APL

LA Senior College will again be offering a collection of foreign film at the Auburn Public Library on Tuesday afternoons starting in early February. The films will include cinema from China, Iran, Japan, United Kingdom, France and Canada. Films will be shown at the library at 1PM, followed by a discussion.  

Scheduled films are:

• The Nightingale (China, running time 1:40)
• Antonia’s Line (The Netherlands, running time 1:42)
• Ida (Poland,  running time 1:22)
• The GoldenYears (Germany,  running time 1:31)
• When Fall Is Coming (France, running time 1:43)
• The Auction (Quebec, Canada, running time 1:52)

Those who want to participate from home should register for the Zoom version of this course.

Bill Frayer is a long-time Senior College instructor with degrees from Brown and USM who taught for many years at CMCC