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Become
a member today !
Become a Senior College Member Now to Get Full Benefits!
Penobscot Valley Senior College’s membership year begins on July 1. Dues continue to be $25/person or $40 for two people living at the same address. We look forward to welcoming both renewing and new members who want to enjoy the following benefits of membership You can send your check
to Penobscot Valley Senior College, 331 Camden Hall, 25 Texas Ave, Bangor, ME 04401. (Download
membership form)
- Two-week
early notice of fall and spring classes
- Invitations
to one-day programs (6-8 each year)
- Annual
FREE members-only luncheon with guest speaker
- Memo for Members occasional newsletter
Affiliated with the statewide Maine Senior College Network and the UMaine Center on Aging, Penobscot Valley Senior College offers non-credit courses and other learning opportunities for people 50 years and over. With “Learning for the fun of it!” as its motto, PVSC provides opportunities for learning, social interaction, and intellectual stimulation with no requirement for college degrees, tests, or grades. Volunteer plan and teach weekly two-hour sessions for six weeks each fall and spring. Membership dues and course fees are minimal.
Established in the fall 2002 at the University of Maine in Orono and affiliated with the UMaine Center on Aging, Penobscot Valley Senior College serves the greater Bangor-Orono region. The college's mission, like that of other senior  colleges, is to offer adults who are at least 50 years old opportunities to learn about a wide array of fascinating topics. The college's emphasis is on enjoyable learning in a relaxed non-competitive atmosphere. Socialization is an important part of all activities and programs. Approximately 200 adults attend PVSC classes during each fall and spring term, and more than 300 were PVSC members during 2007-08.
Senior colleges provide unique educational and social opportunities, and are largely volunteer-driven. Members volunteer to serve on their college's board of directors and committees as well as to plan and present all courses and special programs. Their interests are the foundation of all program planning. PVSC is one of 18 senior colleges in Maine, stretching from York County to Presque Isle and Calais, linked to the Maine Senior College Network, which is located at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Southern Maine.
A college
education is NOT a requirement for admission to senior
college! Senior colleges have no educational admission
requirements, require no tests and assign no grades.
They stress "Learning for the fun of it!" PVSC courses are offered to its own members as well as to members of other colleges in the Maine Senior College Network. Similarly, members of PVSC may also enroll in courses offered by other colleges in the network. Annual membership fees at PVSC are $25 per individual or $40 for two people living at the same address. This fee provides membership benefits for up to 12 months beginning on July 1. (There are no part-year membership dues rates.)
A variety of non-credit courses, with topics ranging from the humanities and the arts to science and technology, are offered in the spring and fall of each year. Classes are presented by volunteer teachers who are experts in their respective fields and enthusiastic about lifelong learning. Courses are scheduled at the University of Maine, Dirigo Pines in Orono, University College of Bangor and at other Bangor area sites for two hours on Friday mornings or early afternoons. Tuition is $30 per person per course and includes all learning materials.
In addition, about 6 to 8 special programs are offered on a regular basis and are announced to members via our newsletter Memo for Members. These programs are held at various locations and generally are FREE OF CHARGE. Field trips requiring a bus charter do have a fee.
We welcome opportunities to make presentations to local civic, social and retiree groups to provide more information about “Learning for the fun of it!” at Penobscot Valley Senior College.
Contact us
by e-mail at seniorcollege@mainecenteronaging.org
or call our message phone at (207) 262-7927. Either way we will respond to your inquiry.
Spring 2009 Class Schedule
Fridays, March 6th
through April 10th
Most classes meet at the University of Maine in Orono. Exceptions are noted below.
Morning classes (10 a.m. to noon)
Constitutional Law: The Current U.S. Supreme Court Term
Issues In Psychology
The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path To Higher Creativity
Wabanaki Hisotry, Culture, And Contemporary Issues
From Mendel To Amazement
The Best American Short Stories Of 2008
What You Always Wanted To Know About The Universe But Were
Afraid To Ask
Afternoon classes (1:10 to 3:10 p.m.)
Ethics And Society
Purpose And Meaning In Our Lives: Guided Autobiography
The Pleasure Of Poetry
Your Courts, Your Law: An Insider’s View Of Our Judicial System
Come, Grow Old With Me– The Best Is Yet To Be Discovered
*UCB - University College of Bangor
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Constitutional Law: The Current U.S. Supreme Court Term |
We will look at what U.S. Supreme Court justices are up to this term – what decisions they have already made, and which ones they’re likely to make. This year we’ll also read the recent book by Jeffrey Toobin, The Nine, which gives a good introduction to these nine very important people.
No maximum. Morning. At University College of Bangor.
With a law degree from George Washington University, Solomon Goldman has been a lawyer in Maine since 1980. He has taught a variety of law classes at Beal College, Husson University and the University of Maine since 1989. His favorite place to teach, however, is (and always will be) Penobscot Valley Senior College, where he has taught constitutional law courses in 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008.
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Issues in Psychology |
Students will be free to raise any issue of importance to them, and the instructor will use that as an opportunity to provide a deeper understanding of psychological principles. We will discuss disturbed interpersonal relationships and optimal interpersonal relationships, as well as optimal personal growth and functioning, the basic meaning of life, and how to fulfill that meaning.
Maximum 20, minimum 5. Morning.
Dr. Hammer taught graduate and undergraduate courses in the Psychology Department at the University of Maine from 1961 to 1989. He has served as part-time clinical director of the Houlton Mental Health Center and has written a number of books and articles in the field of psychotherapy. His popular psychology courses have been offered a number of times at PVSC.
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The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path To Higher Creativity |
The Artist’s Way is an empowering program for aspiring artists. Based on the book by Julia Cameron, it leads you through a 12-step program to recover lost creativity from a variety of blocks, including limiting beliefs, fear, self-sabotage, jealousy, guilt and addictions. A goal of the program is to recover the artistic enthusiasm you had at age nine, when you knew you could do anything you dared.
Maximum 15, minimum 6. Morning.
Since his retirement in 2000 from the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at UMaine, Fred Irons has been working on his long-neglected liberal arts career. He started taking trumpet lessons at age 70 and is playing in two community bands. He was the volunteer chess coach at Orono High School for eight years. He has written and published one real and five print-on-demand books since retirement. He is offering this class, his first for PVSC, because it really works.
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Wabanaki Hisotry, Culture, And Contemporary Issues |
Description
An overview of the tribes that make up the Wabanaki Confederacy – Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Maliseet and Micmac – with information about their history, culture, philosophy and creation stories will be provided in this interdisciplinary class. To put the tribes in context, a brief account of Canadian, U.S. and Maine Indian history will be provided. If possible, every class will begin with a story appropriate to the day’s topic.
Maximum 25, minimum 10. Morning.
An accomplished storyteller, John Bear Mitchell is associate director of the Wabanaki Center and Native Programs Waiver Coordinator for the University of Maine System. He has offered this popular class to his PVSC “grandparents” in the spring of 2006 and 2007.
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From Mendel To Amazement |
In the 1860s, with no knowledge of microscopes or DNA, Gregor Mendel discovered the basic principles of heredity. Now, a hundred-plus years after the rediscovery of his work, genetic engineering has allowed us to map the human genome and is seeking ways to understand and compensate for defective genes. In this course we will discuss Mendel’s discoveries and look at the structure and function of the DNA molecule. We will also consider the many agricultural, legal, and medical applications of current genetic knowledge, as well as some of the related ethical issues.
Maximum 25, minimum 10. Morning.
Dee Virtue retired after more than 20 years as a biology and physical science teacher at Orono High School, Dee Virtue’s clear, informative and lively science classes have been offered at PVSC in the fall of 2004 and the spring and fall of 2005. She also has presented a workshop on the genetics of cats.
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The Best American Short Stories Of 2008 |
What do The Best American Short Stories of 2008 tell us about our culture, ourselves? What do they ask of us? Considering these and other questions, we’ll read several selections from the anthology guest-edited by Salman Rushdie. Responding to the range of voices, topics and styles, we’ll discuss reader generated responses, observations, and questions to find meaning on, between, and beyond the lines.
Maximum 20, minimum 5. Morning.
Barbara Wicks has taught writing and literature at the University of Chicago Lab Schools, the University of Maine, Husson College, and local secondary schools. She has been generous in sharing her talent with PVSC, teaching Write Now every year from 2003 to the present. In addition, she has helped edit volumes
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What You Always Wanted To Know About The Universe But Were
Afraid To Ask |
How did the universe come to be? How did the solar system form? What are the odds there are other Earthlike planets and other life forms out there? Starting with how the ancients saw the universe up to the most modern concepts of dark energy, string theory and multiverses, we will look at how astronomers, cosmologists, and even astrologers view the universe. This will be a non-mathematical presentation.
No maximum, 8 minimum. Morning.
With a doctorate in science education, Clair Wood has been in education for over 35 years, teaching chemistry, physics and introductory astronomy. He has taught at the University of Maine in Orono, Husson College (now University), and Eastern Maine Technical College (now Community College). He has written a monthly astronomy column for the Bangor Daily News since 1976.
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Ethics And Society |
In recent years our business, financial, political, military and religious institutions have been guilty of gross ethical failures that have had major economic and human costs. We have all been affected. Why have our leaders repeatedly failed to act ethically, and what changes would help? After a brief introduction to four moral theories often used as a basis for ethical reasoning, we will discuss approaches to reducing unethical behavior. Essays by a variety of authors and a booklet on ethical reasoning will be used to focus our discussions.
Maximum 18, minimum 7. Afternoon.
John Alexander has had a long-time interest in the importance of ethics to business and political decisions, and last taught a class on the subject for PVSC in the spring of 2007. He has taken several ethics courses and taught professional ethics to undergraduate engineering students for over 25 years. With a Ph.D. in civil engineering from M.I.T., he has served as vice president for academic affairs and provost at the University of Maine.
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Purpose And Meaning In Our Lives: Guided Autobiography |
We all have stories from our lives, small stories and big stories, funny, outrageous, sad, quirky, beautiful stories. Our stories have plots, themes, characters. We know about love, hate, disappointment, success, failure, illness, joy and faith. In this class we will guide you to new discoveries about the directions your lives have taken with specific questions, handouts and exercises. Through this process you will learn where you have been, where you are now and where you are going.
Maximum 12, minimum 6. Afternoon. At University College of Bangor.
Heidi Crosier and Pamela Gross
An independent clinical social worker, with an M.S.W. from Boston College, Heidi Crosier has provided assessment, diagnosis and treatment in private practice to adolescent and adult clients since 1990. Pamela Gross has been minister of the Unitarian-Universalist Church of Belfast since 2000 and expects to receive her master of
divinity degree from Bangor Theological Seminary in May.
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The Pleasure Of Poetry |
Are you guilty of writing poetry? Or guilty of wanting to but not doing it? If either is the case, this peer-led class may be for you. It is not a class on how to publish, taught by a poetry expert. Rather, in an encouraging atmosphere, we will share, learn and explore together the pleasure of both writing and reading poetry.
Maximum 10, minimum 6. Afternoon.
Christina Diebold, peer facilitator
Christina Diebold has enjoyed writing poetry for about 10 years and has benefited from working with a couple of other poets. She taught a class on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice for Penobscot Valley Senior College in the spring of 2006 and has taken numerous PVSC courses.
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Your Courts, Your Law : An Insider's view on our Judicial System |
This course will address a variety of topics, including criminal law, ethics, state constitutional law, freedom of speech and Maine courts. It will be presented by Maine Supreme Judicial Court Justice Andrew M. Mead, with guest presenters from the bench and bar, in a lecture/discussion format. Input from class members will be encouraged.
No maximum. Afternoon. At University College of Bangor.
Justice Mead has been a Justice on the Maine Supreme Judicial Court since March 2007 and a Justice of the Maine Superior Court since 1992. He was the first judge of the newly established Penobscot Tribal Court in 1979, where he served until 1990. He earned his law degree from New York Law School, and is a graduate of the University of Maine. |
Come, Grow Old With Me– The Best Is Yet To Be Discovered |
With a nod to Robert Browning, this psychology course will explore possibilities for the development and fulfillment of the older person, taking advantage of recent burgeoning interest and focus on how a sense of meaning and a positive perspective can add enrichment to the later years of one’s life.
No maximum. Afternoon.
Robert L. Veon
With a doctor of ministry degree from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Dr. Veon has taught at Beal College, where he is director of the Social and Human Services Assisting Program, and is an adjunct on the faculty of Kennebec Valley Community College. He
has served as visiting scholar at Union Theological Seminary in New York and was part of the Teaching Church at Princeton Theological Seminary.
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Officers and
Directors
President
Paul Reagan
Vice President
Dair Gillespie
Secretary
Lois Soule
Treasurer
Elsa Sanborn
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Committee
Chairs
Curriculum
Committee
Madeleine Freeman
Elaine Gershman
One-day Events
Diane Cutler
Bobby Ives
Member Services
Jan Klitch
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Directors
at large
Mel Braverman Connie Kelsey
Marge Paul
Hank Metcalf
Ann Weisleder
Lenard Kaye ex officio UMaine Center
on Aging
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Administration
Executive
Director
Patricia Kontur
Administrative Assistant
Margaret Russell
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