Online and In-Person
To enroll in the summer term, please click the "Register Here First" button below.
After registering for the summer, you'd be able to add the courses to your cart.
24Su | A – Poets of Place
Edwin Arlington Robinson’s Tilbury Town, Maine
Leader: Don Melander
Facilitator: Alice Nye
Lyons Center, NEC (Room 103)
Mondays, 10 AM-Noon | July 8 – 29
In the late 19th/early 20th centuries, Robinson wrote several series of poems, many of which are sonnets featuring fictional characters such as Richard Cory, Luke Havergal, Cliff Klingenhagen, Reuben Bright, Aunt Imogen, Annandale, Miniver Cheevy, and other fictional characters inhabiting a fictitious town in real Maine. You will be provided with copies of poems we will read and discuss.
Don Melander is a retired Professor of English from NEC and has been leading poetry and film courses for LINEC for more than a decade.
24Su | B – Culturally Curious? Great Stories from Art History
Instructor: Jane Oneail
Facilitator: Amanda Marsh
Zoom
Tuesdays, 10 AM-Noon | July 2, 9, 23, 30
(Note: class starts July 2 and skips July 16.)
This course is an introduction to a broad range of fascinating subjects in Art History, from exploring the lesser-known aspects of some of the world’s most famous paintings to an overview of women’s contributions to the arts and from considering library design to considering the original reception of now revered works in the canon – all in the form of engaging storytelling.
Jane Oneail is an independent scholar holding an MA in Art History from Boston University and a Master’s in Education from Harvard. A native of NH, Jane has worked at some of the state’s most esteemed cultural institutions, including as Executive Director of the League of NH Craftsmen and Senior Educator at the Currier Museum of Art.
24Su | C – Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Instructor: Glenn Stuart
Facilitator: Don Melander
Baker Free Library, Bow
Tuesdays, 1:30 – 3:30 PM | July 9 – 30
Delightful Romps through film versions of A Midsommer Nights Dreame (as the title is spelled in the First Folio edition).
Glenn Stuart is a retired Theater Professor and Producer/Director of the Open Door Theatre, who has been teaching Shakespeare courses for LINEC for over a decade.
24Su | D – Lincoln & Finch: Attorneys at Law
Instructor: Sarah Traphagen
Facilitator: Don Melander
Zoom
Wednesdays, 10 AM-Noon | July 10 – 31
One real historical legend. One imagined literary giant. Both lawyers. This interdisciplinary course contemplates the law careers and enduring influence of President Abraham Lincoln and Atticus Finch from Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. We will start from 1830s Illinois, where Lincoln litigated thousands of cases long before he arrived at the White House. And then we’ll venture to Maycomb, Alabama, in 1939 to the one case defining Atticus Finch in which he defended a black man against the charge of rape. What might we discover if we place Lincoln and Finch side by side in their own “law office” of examination? Why do they command timeless American reverence? Please secure a copy of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird; all other materials will be provided.
Sarah Traphagen received her PhD in English from the University of Florida. Her areas of expertise are American literature and history, as well as Civil War medicine. She has published in The Journal of Military Experience and The Journal of Working-Class Studies. She has taught at the University of Florida and in college preparatory schools. Currently, she is raising her son in NH.
24Su | E – The Novel Reading Group
Leader and Facilitator: John McCausland
Tucker Free Library, Henniker
1st Wednesdays, 1:30 – 3:30 PM | July 3 and August 7
The Reading Group meets throughout the year on the first Wednesday of each month to discuss books selected from Britain’s prestigious Booker Prize Lists. The July choice is Penelope Fitzgerald’s Offshore; the August choice is Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart.
John McCausland is an Episcopal priest, now retired, who has taught LINEC courses on the Bible, Chaucer and the American novel. He loves history, literature, theology, teaching and learning.
24Su | F – Supreme Court Review
Instructor: John Graebe
Facilitator: Dick Hesse
Lyons Center, NEC (Room 106)
Thursday, 10 AM-Noon | July 11
The review of the Supreme Court’s 2023-24 term will include a discussion of the most significant cases.
John Graebe teaches constitutional law at the UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law. His scholarship focuses on constitutional law, federal courts, and civil rights litigation.
24Su | G – Four Clint Eastwood Movies
Leader: Don Melander
Facilitator: Paul Hague
Baker Free Library, Bow
Fridays, 10 AM-Noon | July 12 – August 2
High Plains Drifter (1973),
Pale Rider (1975),
The Unforgiven (1992),
Gran Torino (2008)
I see these four films as a kind of tetralogy pursuing the evolution of a theme central to a dozen of the more than 60 movies that constitute Eastwood’s work as an actor and director. Will serve as an interruption in the Ingmar Berman series we are now studying, the dark core of his work not suitable for summer.
Don Melander often made reference to films in his teaching of literature and a Communications course on movies and film directors. Although he has no formal training in film, he has been ‘reading’ serious films as serious literature since 1958.