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.  

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.  

ZOOM

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. Those wanting to participate from home can watch the films on Kanopy (available from the library) and join the group on Zoom for the after-film 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)

Registration for this class will close on Sunday, January 11, 2026.

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

ZOOM

Students will create a still life painting as they learn the art of negative painting. The still life painting will be created in acrylic.

Supplies needed:

• 9x12 or larger canvas or canvas board
• full set of acrylic paints including white and paynes grey
• round and flat brushes of various sizes
• paper towels
• 2 water containers
• hair dryer

Level: Beginner to advanced  

Ms. Poulin is a proud Franco-American who was born into a family of self taught artists (4 generations). She has lived in Maine all her life. She has been a member USM Senior College for many years serving as board member and instructor in fine art. She is a “Forever Learner”! She enjoys teaching and sharing her knowledge with others who are interested in learning and/or improving their skills in painting. “Creativity is good for the body, mind, and soul”. Ms. Poulin is continuously inspired by a circle of talented family and friends, who are her most valued critics.

Ms. Poulin is a member of the State of Maine Arts Association and the Union of Maine Visual Artists. She is the owner of GreenWood Gallery, located at 998 Old Danville Rd., Auburn. The gallery is open by appointment by calling 207-782-5118.  

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Observers have noted the emergence of extremely fundamental Islamic groups such as Boko Haram, Taliban, the Islamic State among others. These groups did not suddenly appear but have a long ideological history and rationale behind them. This class explores the major thinkers that led to a divergence of Islamic ideology - both the more accommodating worldviews and the far more intolerant beliefs that have dominated much of the news since 2000.

After teaching chemistry from the time of four known elements, Chuck Parker decided upon retirement not to take up golf but to earn a master's degree in history at Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas, where he studied radical Islamic groups. Since graduating in 2014, Chuck has offered a series of classes in Middle Eastern history in Maine Senior Colleges.