An ORICL course during the winter-spring term will explore Zentangle, a fun, easy-to-learn, relaxing method of drawing beautiful images with structured patterns. As a meditational art form, every Zentangle stroke is mindful rather than mindless (like doodling). (Submitted photo)
Would you like to learn about fascinating characters in Oak Ridge history and in the Old West, as well as hear the voices of those who shaped the Golden Age of Radio? Are you familiar with the story about the Oak Ridge Wildcats football team that won the national championship in 1958?
Would you like to learn the best ways to research your family’s history and identify potential ancestors? Do you know all sides of the gun issue in our country? Do you wish to hear from a former Oak Ridge mayor and his wife how to run a local political campaign?
These and other interesting topics will be addressed in courses that will be taught during the winter-spring term of the Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning (ORICL), a press release said. Most of the smorgasbord of 65 courses will be presented in person but a few will be online via Zoom or as hybrid classes (in person and online). ORICL’s in-person and hybrid classes will be held mostly in the Coffey-McNally building on Roane State Community College’s Oak Ridge Branch Campus at 701 Briarcliff Avenue.
The fall catalog is posted on ORICL’s www.roanestate.edu/oricl website. The registration form and calendar are also posted there, the press release said. Online registration opened Tuesday, December 7. Paper registrations can be brought to the office or mailed by December 14. The office will be closed from December 15 to January 3.
The winter-spring term runs from February 7 through April 29. The registration fee for the winter-spring and summer terms is $90; by paying it online or by a check included with the mailed paper form, you will become an ORICL member for the two remaining terms of the ORICL year. Mail your form and check to ORICL, RSCC, 701 Briarcliff Avenue, Oak Ridge, TN 37830. To obtain a paper catalog or more information, contact the ORICL office by calling 865-481-8222 or by emailing it at oricl@roanestate.edu.
History courses will include videos on Native American history and on the Natives’ encounter with European newcomers (“Our Foundational Story”), the press release said. Other classes will address the history of World War I and of the home.
Two science classes will be presented by two geologists and a journalist: roadside geology in Tennessee and a discussion of the book “Disappearing Appalachia in Tennessee: A Picture of a Vanished Land and Its People.” The Friday Lecture Series will feature several talks on science topics.
If you want to strengthen body and mind, consider taking courses such as pickleball and Body Menders (fitness class costs $5 and meets at the Children’s Museum) as well as cryptic varietal crossword puzzles (Zoom), sign language for beginners (in person, $6) and tarot for winter and spring holidays (Zoom). Medicine and health classes will deal with telehealth office visits and medical appeals.
Religion and spirituality classes address the Book of Jeremiah, peace and equality from a Quaker perspective, heresy and schism in early Christianity, as well as the words of Buddha. A course on the wisdom in “The Twilight Zone” TV series will be offered, the press release said.
For those who enjoy participating in book groups, ORICL has online courses on nonfiction, mystery, and classical literature books. The technical book group will meet in person. The fiction book group will be hybrid (in-person and online).
Other literature classes are devoted to Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Appalachian short stories, storytelling, reading Shakespeare out loud, experiencing poetry, and writing memoirs.
If you wish to make money, you might want to sign up for online courses on generating income from stocks and on trading the stock market. Two courses on the Windows 11 operating system for personal computers will be taught.
For classical music lovers, the conductor of the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra will speak on upcoming concerts, and Great Courses videos on the operas of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart will be presented, the press release said.
ORICL offers art classes for a fee at the Oak Ridge Art Center on pottery (making vases, candle holders, drinking mugs, casserole, and serving dishes), jewelry making, loom weaving, and the Art a la Carte film series. Art classes at RSCC’s Oak Ridge campus include the world’s greatest paintings (Teaching Company) and the Zentangle method, a meditational art form.
Students can attend three in-person classes (and one Zoom class) on how to speak Russian and how to improve their Latin translation skills. It’s never too late to learn a language to keep your mind active and alert, the press release said.
This press release was submitted by Carolyn H. Krause.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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