Fall 2009 Class Schedule

Courses run September 25 to October 30

except as listed in the course descriptions.

Fall 2009 Registration Form

Morning Classes

10:00AM - Noon

Afternoon Classes

1:00 – 3:10 PM

Course: HOW THE MAINE LEGISLATURE WORKS

Description: Members of our state’s Legislature will tell us how bills become law, and the key role played by the Appropriations Committee. Classes will focus on issues that are currently much in the news, such as the new tax reform bill, same-sex marriage, transportation and school consolidation. Speakers will include Sen. Joe Perry (District 32, Bangor), Sen. Dennis Damon (District 28, Trenton), and Sen. Peter Mills (District 26, Skowhegan).

Maximum 35, minimum 12. Morning. Bangor campus.

Instructors:Hugh Morrison was a legislator in the Maine House, 1992-1996, serving on the Appropriations Committee. He’s now serving on the Curriculum Committee for Penobscot Valley Senior College. Lola Bullion also is a member of the Curriculum Committee.

Course: ICE AGE AND THE PEOPLING OF MAINE

Description: After the ice covering Maine melted, people appeared on the scene some 11,000 years ago and managed to live in a very different environment from what we know now. As the landscape changed over the centuries, people continued to adapt. In this course we will learn about Maine’s changing environments and how Native Americans lived. Artifacts will be passed around in class and lectures will be illustrated with slides. Classes will meet Oct. 2, 9 and 16, with an all-day field trip on Oct. 23 to view geological and archaeological sites (some walking will be required. There is an added $20.00 fee for the field trip). Total tuition for this course is $50.00.

Maximum 40. Morning. Orono campus.

Instructors:Harold Borns, emeritus professor at the University of Maine, is an expert on the glaciation of Maine and has conducted years of field research in Antarctica and northern Europe. In the 1970s he founded the Institute for Quaternary Studies (now the Climate Change Institute) at UMaine. David Sanger, also a UMaine emeritus professor, has conducted archaeological fieldwork in Maine and surrounding areas for four decades. His most recent book (2006) details the Archaic period of northeastern North America.

Course: INTRODUCTION TO DUPLICATE BRIDGE

Description: This is a class that has been requested but never offered before by Penobscot Valley Senior College. Geared to the beginning bridge player, the class will cover the basics of bidding, play of the hand and defending. We hope students leave the class filled with the excitement of the game, enthused about having made new friends, and fascinated with the possibilities of bridge.

Maximum 16, minimum 8. Morning. Bangor campus.

Instructors: Jacquie Sullivan has been playing duplicate bridge for 30 years. She is an American Contract Bridge League Certified Director and Life Master. Jean Martin has been playing duplicate bridge for 15 years and is on the board of the Maine Bridge Association and a Life Master.

Course: PERSONAL JOURNAL WRITING

Description:We will write on a wide variety of topics – our experiences, wishes and dreams, some serious, some funny. Sharing what you write is optional. All are welcome, both experienced and new journallers.

Maximum 15, minimum 5. Morning. Bangor campus.

Instructor: Molly Duplisea-Palmer is a retired teacher who has led many journal writing days and weekends.  She creates a safe space where people can write from their hearts. 

Course: THE SHORT FICTION OF EDITH WHARTON

Description: A best-selling author in her lifetime, Edith Wharton’s works continue to be read 72 years after her death. She was a woman of many talents – house designer, gardener, linguist, as well as writer. She traveled widely and was known for her travel books as well as her fiction. Her output was enormous, yet she often suffered from illnesses and depression. This course will provide background on Wharton’s life, and we will read a selection of her short fiction.

Maximum 25, minimum 5. Morning. Orono campus.

Instructor: Nancy MacKnight’s literature classes have been popular with Penobscot Valley Senior College members since PVSC began in 2002. Retired as associate professor of English at the University of Maine, she has served on the boards of the Maine Humanities Council, the University Press, and Friends of Dr. Edith M. Patch.

Course: SPINNING A YARN: THE STORY OF FIBER IN MAINE

Description: This course weaves together art, agriculture and history in an investigation of fiber production and processing in Maine. We’ll meet fiber artists, visit a fiber farm, explore the long and impressive history of textiles in Maine, examine ancient and modern fiber processing tools and try our hands at turning raw fiber into beautiful finished products through spinning, weaving, dyeing, felting and other techniques. Most classes will be in the Page Museum, with a field trip to a fiber farm in Bangor on Oct. 16.

Maximum 15, minimum 5. Morning. Orono campus.

Instructor: Mary Bird has been a science and environmental educator for 29 years, working with youth and adults in public schools, universities and community settings. She is coordinator for “Fiber Maine-ia,” Maine’s statewide celebration of the International Year of Natural Fiber (2009), and she serves as chair of the Friends of Dr. Edith M. Patch, program committee chair at the Page Farm and Home Museum, and council member for Heart of Maine Resource Conservation and Development.

Course: TREASURES OF BANGOR

Description:

Come meet six nonprofit organizations that enrich life in the Bangor area. This is an excellent opportunity to see close-up how the arts scene works. Sept. 25, Bangor Museum and Center for History, 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. University College of Bangor. Dana Lippitt, curator, to speak on the history and future of the organization. Oct. 2, Maine Discovery Museum, 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. at the museum, downtown Bangor. Trudi Plummer, director of education, to speak on events at the children’s museum. Saturday, Oct. 10, Bangor Symphony Orchestra, 1:30 – 3:30 p.m., café section of Collins Center of the Arts, Orono. David Whitehill, executive director, to speak. Participants may attend all or part of a rehearsal from 2 to 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 15, Bangor Public Library, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. Library Director Barbara McDade and staff members will provide all the latest information on the library. Parking free across the street. Wednesday, Oct. 21, Penobscot Theatre Company, 9:30 – 11 a.m. Joye Cook-Levy, director of education and outreach, will discuss the current play (“Forever Plaid”) and invite the class to observe part of tech week. Class will meet at the theater on Main Street in Bangor. Oct. 30, University of Maine Museum of Art, 9:30 – 11:30 a.m., at UMMA on Harlow Street in Bangor, free parking in front of museum. Gina Platt, education coordinator, will talk about the museum and the development of its collection.

Maximum 18, minimum 8. One class on Bangor campus, the rest on-site. Note various dates and times.

Coordinator: A member of the PVSC’s Curriculum Committee, Maria Kreilkamp has worked for the Penobscot Theatre and the Bangor Public Library.

Course: UNDERSTANDING CONTROVERSIES IN SCIENCE

Description: Beginning with a discussion of the scientific method, how science works, and basic genetics, topics may include biomedical ethics and biosafety, genetic engineering, stem cell research, global warming, and evolution. The course will combine lecture material and discussion. Active class participation is strongly encouraged, with additional topics depending on the interests of class members.

Maximum 30, minimum 12. Morning. Bangor campus.

Instructor: Richard Smith is a retired eye surgeon with extensive research experience at Columbia University, Walter Reed Medical Center, the National Institutes of Health, and Albany Medical College in upstate New York. For the past 16 years he has worked as a research scientist at the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, where he has developed mouse models of glaucoma and retinal degeneration. When he first taught this course in the fall of 2008, he enjoyed the free-wheeling discussions.

Course: WRITE NOW

Description: Is it time to record your special memories or interesting experiences? Do you have information and opinions to share in an op-ed piece? Would poetry or short fiction convey your insights and emotions? If so, welcome to Write Now. In this informal writing workshop, participants share drafts of their works in progress; conversations about development, revision and editing; and celebrations of effective word choices, polished phrases and unique perspectives. Returning and new participants are welcome.

Maximum 15, minimum 5. Morning. Orono campus.

Instructor: Barbara Wicks has taught writing and literature at the University of Chicago Lab Schools, the University of Maine, Husson College (now University), and local secondary schools. She has been generous in sharing her talent with PVSC, teaching Write Now every year from 2003 to the present and The Best American Short Stories of 2008 in spring 2009. In addition, she has helped edit three volumes of Passages, a publication of writings by PVSC members.

Course: BEHIND THE SCENES IN LAW ENFORCEMENT

Description: This class, offered for the first time by Penobscot Valley Senior College, will show you how police officers work in the real world, not TV land. Topics include drugs and how they affect the normal population, explosive ordinance devices and use of a robot, tactical weapons used by the Bangor SWAT team and crime scene investigation and forensics, police technology, Internet scams, training of police at the Criminal Justice Academy, and strategies of the Office of the District Attorney. Some classes will require standing and/or walking.

Maximum 32, minimum 8. Afternoon. Bangor campus, but two classes to meet at police headquarters on Summer Street in Bangor

Coordinators: Paul Reagan is president of the board of directors of Penobscot Valley Senior College. His son, Tom Reagan, is a lieutenant in the Bangor Police Department, a 20-year veteran in charge of robots. He travels frequently to teach drug recognition techniques.

Course: ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS

Description: Experts on gardening, beekeeping, chestnut trees and vernal pools will share their knowledge with us. Sept. 25, Gordon Moore, Vernal Pools. Thursday, Oct. 1, Julie Beckford, Your Garden in the Web of Life: The Role of Native Plants, at Rogers Farm, Bennoch Road, Orono. Oct. 2, Laura Wilson, Rain Gardens: A Beautiful Way to Treat Storm-Water Runoff, at the Hampden Town Office. Oct. 9, Carol Smith, Dealing With Invasive Plants. Oct. 16, Matt Scott, Beekeeping. Oct. 30, Glen Rea, Bringing Back the American Chestnut Tree.

Maximum 30, minimum 8. Afternoon. The two classes that are field trips (Oct. 1 and 2) will meet at 1:30 to allow participants time for lunch. The other four classes will meet at 1:10 on the Bangor campus. Note that one class will be held Thursday, Oct. 1, and there will be no class on Oct. 23.

Instructors: Lola Bullion is a member of the PVSC Curriculum Committee. Gordon Moore is district forester for the Maine Forest Service, in vernal pool woods management. Julie Beckford and her husband Peter have raised organic perennials for 20 years at their Rebel Hill Farm in Clifton. Laura Wilson works for Maine Cooperative Extension. Carol Smith is program chairman for the Brewer Garden & Bird Club, chairman for native plants, endangered species and invasive plants for the Garden Club Federation of Maine, and master gardening consultant for National Garden Clubs. Matt Scott is past president and a founder of the Maine Beekeepers Association. Glen Rea is president of the Maine Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation, and has been nominated as chair of directors of the American Chestnut Foundation.

Course: INTRODUCTION TO BASIC ELECTRICITY

Description: A hands-on approach using the CASTLE curriculum developed in the early 1990s for use in high school physics classes will involve capacitors, batteries, light bulbs and wires for a guided discovery of the concepts of electricity. The course will be to a large extent self-taught and self-paced, using materials given out in class, with lectures kept to a minimum.

Maximum 16, minimum 6. Afternoon. Orono United Methodist Church.

Instructor: Fred Otto is a graduate of the University of Maine with a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Connecticut. He has taught college-level physics and electrical engineering for 28 years and has worked as an electrical engineer for 10 years.

Course:THE MAKING OF A WRITER – TOBIAS WOLFF

Description: Exploring how a writer develops, we will read two memoirs by Tobias Wolff, This Boy’s Life and In Pharoah’s Army. While these memoirs depict Wolff’s coming of age, they also suggest ways in which Wolff found his direction as a writer. In addition, we will view the film “This Boy’s Life,” and compare it to the book.

Maximum 20, minimum 5. Morning. Classes will meet on Wednesdays. Eastern Maine Community College

Instructor: Bob Whelan taught literature from the Vietnam War for Penobscot Valley Senior College in the fall of 2006 and myths in the stories and films of Stephen King in the fall of 2007. A graduate of Bowdoin College, he has been a teacher and administrator at the University of Maine since retiring from a career in the military, which included teaching English at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Course: PLANE TALK: AVIATION FOR THE ARMCHAIR PILOT

Description:The objective of this course is to give participants an overview of what flying and aviation are all about. The scope of the class will be similar to a ground school class for obtaining a private pilot certificate, but the depth and technical detail will be reduced and the focus will be more on topics for the curious. Topics will include aerodynamics, aircraft and instruments, air traffic control and communications, airspace, aviation services, licensing and federal aviation regulations, navigation and aviation weather.

Maximum 15, minimum 5. Afternoon. Orono campus. There will be no class on Oct. 9; to make up for that, a class will be held Nov. 6.

Instructor: Rick Eason is an associate professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of Maine. He got his private pilot certificate over 30 years ago from money earned by gold mining in Alaska during summers in college. He has since earned a float plane rating, an instrument rating, a commercial certificate, and is now a Certified Flight Instructor.