“Great Monsters of the 20th Century” such as Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin. “Outsiders’ Effects on Native Americans.” “Outline of the MexicanPast.” “The Story of the 1958 National Championship Oak Ridge Football Team.”
These are a few of the history classes being offered in person for the fall term of the Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning (ORICL). Most of the smorgasbord of 59 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 RidgeBranch Campus, 701 Briarcliff Ave.
The fall catalog is posted on ORICL’s www.roanestate.edu/oricl website. The registration form and calendar are also posted there. Online registration opens Tuesday, Aug. 3.
The fall term runs from Monday, Sept. 13, through Dec. 3. The registration fee for three terms (fall, winter-spring and summer) is $125; by paying it online or by a check included with the mailed paper form, you will become an ORICL member for a year. Mail your form and check to ORICL, RSCC, 701Briarcliff Avenue, Oak Ridge, TN 37830. For more information, contact the ORICL office at 865-481-8222 or at oricl@roanestate.edu.
Science classes will include a pontoon boat tour of the Watts Bar Reservoir, a review of the Tellico Archaeological Project and an evening Zoom course on potential solutions to the climate crisis proposed by Project Drawdown.
In-person medical classes will deal with aging, becoming a medical advocate, traumatic brain injury, esophageal disorders and the Free Medical Clinic of Oak Ridge.
In-person religion classes address descriptions of the Jesus of history, the Biblical books of Amos and Hosea and spiritual practices. The Lovingkindness class will be online.
If you enjoy participating in book groups, ORICL has online courses on nonfiction, mystery and classical literature books. The technical books group will meet in-person. The fiction book group will be hybrid (in-person and online).
Other literature classes are devoted to reading Shakespeare plays and “The Aeneid” out loud (Zoom), memoir writing (hybrid), children’s books and George Singleton’s short stories (both in person).
Another history course of interest is the first in a series of a three-part course on “The History of Home,” which focuses on residential architecture, interior design and decoration, as well as furniture of the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. Additional history courses address the American experience and Oak Ridge’s Secret City stories.
If you want to strengthen body and mind, consider taking courses such as Body Menders (fitness class costs $5 and meets at the Children’s Museum) and cryptic varietal crossword puzzles (Zoom), sign language for beginners (in person, $6) and tarot (Zoom).
If you wish to make money and pay less tax, you might want to sign up for the “stock investing for income” course or classes on “taxes after the pandemic.” If you want to keep peace in the family, consider taking the class on mediation.
For music lovers, Great Courses videos featuring the “30 greatest orchestral works” will be presented. And Elza Gate(Bob Cushman and Pat Parr) will play and sing the bluegrass music of The Country Gentlemen.
ORICL offers art classes for a fee at theOak Ridge Art Center on jewelry making, loom weaving, creative journaling and the Art a la Carte film series. Art classes at Roane State include the world’s greatest paintings (Teaching Company), bookmaking and the Zentangle® method, a meditational art form.
Students can attend in-person classes on how to speak Russian and how to improve their Latin translation skills.
The traditional Friday Lecture series, which often addresses scientific topics for a lay audience, will be in person.
CUTLINE: An ORICL course this fall will explore Zentangle®, a fun, easy-to-learn,relaxing method of drawing beautiful images with structured patterns. As ameditational art form, every Zentangle stroke is mindful rather than mindless,like doodling.
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