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23F-A Modern American Poetry
Leader: Don Melander
Mondays, 10 AM – Noon | Oct 2 – Nov 6 on ZOOM
We are currently reading and discussing poems by Muriel Rukeyser, Delmore Schwartz, Karl Shapiro, and May Swenson in Library of America’s American Poetry: The Twentieth Century, Vol. 2: E.E. Cummings to May Swenson. New or used copies may be purchased online or ordered from your local independent bookseller. Poetry discussions are ongoing year – round for those who choose to do so.
Don Melander is a Senior Professor of Humanities, retired, at New England College, where he taught mostly literature and writing for 45 years. He holds a Ph.D. in American Literature from Syracuse University. His dissertation is on the 20th-century American poet Wallace Stevens. This seminar on American poets is his seventeenth for LINEC.
23F-B The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World
Leader: Curtiss Rude
Mondays, 4 – 6 PM | Oct 2 – Nov 6 @ NEC Lyons Building Rm 103
The class is based on a 2008 book, The Ascent of Money, by Niall Ferguson, adapted for an Emmy winning television documentary. Professor Ferguson reveals financial history as the essential back story behind all history. Banks financed the Renaissance while the bond market decided wars. Stock markets built empires and monetary meltdowns made revolutions. From ancient Mesopotamia right down to the present day the ascent of money has been an indispensable part of the ascent of man. But money’s rise has never been a smooth upward ride. Financial history has repeatedly been interrupted by gut-wrenching crises. Additional material, including videos, will describe the current global financial system and its history since 2009.
Curtiss Rude worked in the semiconductor industry in Essex Junction, Vermont, for 20+ years. His second career was as a high school chemistry and physics teacher. He has previously taught three LINEC courses on geography and astronomy.
23F-C Biology & Society: Genetically Modified Organisms
Instructor: Eric Simon
Tuesdays, *4:30 – 5:30 PM | Oct 24 – Nov 14 on ZOOM
We live in a golden age of biology. The scientific study of life affects each of us, our loved ones, and society at large in countless ways. The purpose of this ongoing course is to introduce learners to biology as a scientific discipline and then to survey several ways that the subject intersects with our daily lives. Topics will be chosen to be timely and relevant to all. This course is intended for learners of all backgrounds, with no prior knowledge or experience required.
Eric J. Simon, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Biology and Health Science at New England College, in Henniker, New Hampshire. He teaches introductory biology, human, biology, and tropical marine biology. Dr. Simon has also taught a series of international travel courses, including ones to Belize, the Galapagos, Tanzania, Cuba, the Amazon River, and Patagonia. He received a B.A. in biology and computer science and an M.A. in biology from Wesleyan University, and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Harvard University. Dr. Simon is the author of a widely used series of college biology textbooks with over 2 million books in print that help teach biology to students in over 40 countries. He also teaches adult online learners at the Learning Institute of New England College.
23F-D The Stage Shapes the Play and the Play Shapes the Stage: Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night
Instructor: Glenn Stuart
Tuesdays, 1:30 – 3:30 PM | Oct 10-31 @ Baker Free Library, Bow
This is a play about people searching…for home, community, love, and self. Often funny but rooted in tragedy; it is joyous and life-affirming…full of yearning, grief and loss… an intriguing play.
We will view two distinct productions of Twelfth Night: the 1996 film directed by Trevor Nunn and featuring Ben Kingsley, Imogen Stubbs and Helen Bonham Carter and the 2017 Royal Shakespeare Company stage production directed by Christopher Luscombe. Hopefully our conversations will lead us not only to a deeper understanding of this deceivingly simple yet decidedly complicated play.
Glenn Stuart is a Professor of Theater, retired, at New England College where he taught for 38 years. He designed scenery and lighting for more than 125 theatre and dance productions. As founding Director of the Open Door Theatre he designed and directed 20 productions including King Lear, Hamlet, The Winter’s Tale, The Merchant of Venice, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It and The Tempest. He holds an MA in Theater from the State University of New York, Albany where he studied with Roger Herzel, Jarka Burian and Judith Barlow.
23F-E Comparative Religion: Sacred Places
Instructor: Suzanne Rude
Wednesdays, 10 AM – Noon | Oct 4 – Nov 8 on ZOOM
Why do religious believers find certain places especially sacred to them, with particular sites found worthy of visitation by as many as 25 million adherents per year? Using a variety of documentary and travel media, we will examine the profound spiritual experiences of religious travelers around the world and learn about the foundations of our world religions, key beliefs and cultural settings that draw pilgrims to sacred places.
Rev. Suzanne Rude was ordained as an interfaith minister in 2020 following two years of religious studies at the One Spirit Interfaith Seminary in New York City. Her ministry focuses on supporting interfaith understanding and cooperation. She is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Concord. She currently serves as Vice-President of the New Hampshire Council of Churches and on the Greater Concord Interfaith Council. Suzanne is a 2018 graduate of Leadership Greater Concord and holds a BSc. degree from McGill University and an MBA from the University of Vermont.
23F-F The Novel Reading Group
Leader: John McCausland
Wednesdays, 1:30 – 3:30 PM | Oct 4 and Nov 1 @ Henniker Tucker Free Library
This discussion group meets throughout the year, on the first Wednesday of each month. We are discussing books selected from Britain’s prestigious Booker Prize lists: works written in English and published in the UK or Ireland, formerly by Commonwealth authors but now open globally. New members are welcome to join this on-going group any time. The October selection is Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things, a 1997 Booker winner about family dynamics, by an Indian author. The November work will be Irish author J.G. Farrell’s Troubles, part of his Empire trilogy about the crumbling of the British Empire. The group meets monthly on the first Wednesday afternoon, gathered informally in the reading room of the Henniker library to share reactions to the works read, and to connect their themes to issues in our lives and in the world today. New members are always welcome to enjoy discussions that bring us into deeper appreciation of the novels we read.
John McCausland has taught LINEC courses on the Bible, Chaucer, and the American novel. An Episcopal priest and one-time lawyer, he loves history, literature, theology, teaching, and learning.
23F-G Philosophy 101
Leaders: Don Melander, Lisa Melander
Wednesdays, 1:30-3:30 PM | Oct 11 – 25, and Nov 8-15 on ZOOM
The class will be based on Paul Kleinman’s book Philosophy 101: From Plato and Socrates to Ethics and Metaphysics, an Essential Primer on the History of Thought and Tom Butler-Bowdon’s book 50 Philosophy Classics.
Don Melander was an English and Humanities professor for 50 years at New England College, served on the board of NHHC 1980-83, and has been teaching LINEC courses for over a decade. He holds an MA in English and a PhD in American Literature from Syracuse University.
Lisa Melander holds a BA in philosophy from New England College and an MA in Education from Plymouth State. She has been a 4th grade teacher in both public and private institutions, and has developed live and Zoom tutoring programs in mathematics for children and their parents.
23F-H Mary, Queen of Scots
Leader: Julie Machen
Thursdays, 1:30 – 3:30 PM | Oct 5 – 19 on ZOOM
This three-week course focuses on one of the most controversial rulers in history, Mary, Queen of Scots. The theme of the first session will be this controversy and why it exists. We will look at her birth in Scotland and her early years in France. Session two will revolve around her return to Scotland and the extraordinary events which took place while she was there. In session three, we will focus on her years in England and her eventual execution. Finally, we will learn of a recent discovery of coded letters written by Mary about her time in England.
Julie Machen confesses to have been an Anglophile since her student days at Durham University in Northern England. She and her British-born husband enjoy visiting England and Scotland when they can. Before retiring, she taught AP European History at Greenwich High School in Connecticut but did not have the opportunity to study Mary, Queen of Scots. This course has provided that chance. She loves history and has led a number of courses for Adventures in Learning in New London as well as a course on Charles Dickens for LINEC.
23F-I Gouverneur Morris: The Most Interesting Founding Father
Instructor: Dick Hesse
Thursdays, 10 AM – Noon | Oct 5- Nov 2 @ Venue NEC Science Building Room 114-A
A 23-year-old aristocrat was called upon to frame the New York Constitution separating it from England. He then served as liaison to General Washington in the effort to defend New York against the British Army. He proved to be the best writer and thinker in the Continental Congress and developed a plan to save the Army from disintegration. But wait! There’s more. Gouverneur Morris worked on the plan to finance the Revolution, became the most outspoken member of the Constitutional Convention and wrote the final draft of the Constitution. In many ways, his life was just beginning, He would live another active 29 years including experiencing the French Revolution. Oh, and by the way, he was a notorious ladies’ man.
Dick Hesse is a retired lawyer and law professor who holds a master’s degree in American History. He has presented history courses for NH Humanities Council, LINEC, OLLI and AIL over the past 40 years.
23F-J Movies: The Films of Alfred Hitchcock, Final Series
Leader: Mary Lee Sargent
Fridays, 10 AM – Noon | Oct 6 – Nov 10* @ Baker Free Library, Bow
This seminar has viewed and discussed the films of Alfred Hitchcock, and will screen and discuss the conclusion of the Hitchcock series: Torn (1966), Topaz (1969), Frenzy (1972), Family Plot (1976), and three early films. Two of these early films, The Thirty-Nine Steps (1935) and The Secret Agent (1936) will be shown at the Baker Free Library in Bow.
*A final film, The Lady Vanishes (1938), will be screened at home and discussed at a venue to be determined. This seminar meets year- round every Friday morning from 10 to noon, but folks may continue or leave at any time after the LINEC term.
Mary Lee Sargent has been a cinéphile since she was 5 and saw the first film she can remember, Disney’s Dumbo (1941). As a teenager, afternoons spent ironing in front of the 3 PM TV movie introduced her to the films of the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s, from the sublime (Citizen Kane) to the ridiculous (Lum and Abner and Charley Chan films). She taught US and European history at Parkland College in Champaign, IL and was an adjunct at several NH colleges and universities.
Travel to Tanzania | July 29 – August 10, 2024
Led by Eric Simon open to LINEC members
Tanzania boasts sprawling landscapes dotted with herds of wildlife, lions lounging blissfully on sun-drenched rocks, and mighty elephants trundling through tall grasses, making it a dream destination for wildlife and culture explorers around the world. Join Prof. Eric Simon on this 12-day adventure to marvel at Tanzania’s spectacular wildlife in its most stunning national parks. Celebrate Africa’s diverse indigenous groups with authentic cultural encounters in local communities. Set out in Tarangire, Ngorongoro, Karatu, and Lake Manyara for daily wildlife-viewing drives, and enjoy an unforgettable four-day exploration of the Serengeti to witness the world-famous Great Migration and much more. Return each day to memorable accommodations nestled amid idyllic African beauty, from the rim of Ngorongoro Crater to luxury tented camps perfectly positioned to access migration paths.
Trip to Tanzania (Arusha, Tarangire National Park, Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti National Park, Karatu)
Cost: $6,995 all inclusive (except for international airfare and visa fee)
Number of travelers: 10-16 (including 2 leaders)
Activity level is light: riding in safari jeeps, walking 1 mile on flat terrain, appropriate for travelers with a wide range of physical abilities.
Contact Eric Simon at SimonBiologyTravel@gmail.com with any questions or for more information