2005 REGISTRATION

FALL TERM

September 19--November 11, 2005

(Description of Courses on following pages)

Enrollments Shown as of Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Collecting & Recording Oral Histories Marie Gery

Enrollment 10 Max 12

Mondays 9:30 – 11:30 am Northfield Retirement Community,

Parkview West, Community Room

Program Music: From Beethoven to Richard Strauss Bill Child & Ron Ronning

Enrollment 17 Max 18

Tuesdays 9:30 – 11:30 am Northfield Community Resource Center, Room SS 106

Tragedy and Utopia: Two Responses to Suffering and Evil Walter Stromseth

Enrollment 15 Closed

Tuesdays 1:30 – 3:30 pm Village on Cannon, Community Room

Europe versus the United States Hartley Clark

Enrollment 17 Section 1 Closed Wednesdays 9:30 – 11:30 am Northfield Community Resource Center, Room SS 106

Section 2 Enrollment 17 Wed 1:30 – 3:30 Village on Cannon, Community Room

What are the concerns about stem cells? Ross Shoger

Enrollment 15 Max 15 Closed

Wednesdays 1:30 – 3:30 pm Northfield Community Resource Center, Room SS 106

The Early to Mid-Renaissance in Umbria and Tuscany Reidar Dittmann

(Lecture Course)

Enrollment 56

Wednesdays 6:30 - 8:30 p. m St Olaf, Dittmann Center, 3^rd Floor, Lecture Room

An Archaeological Search for Jesus Ruth Hansen

Enrollment 18 Closed

Thursdays 9:30 - 11:30 a. m Village on Cannon, Community Room

Modern Irish Short Story Stan Frear

Enrollment 21 Closed

Thursdays 1:30 – 3:30 p. m Northfield Retirement Community, Parkview West,

Community Room

Astronomy–An Ageless Science Duane Olson

Enrollment 16 Closed

Fridays 9:30 -11:30 a. m Northfield Community Resource Center, Room SS 106

2005 REGISTRATION

CVEC Fall CLASSES

September 19, 2005-November 11,2005

To Register for classes you may copy and Complete the form below and mail or bring to:

Cannon Valley Elder Collegium, 1651 Jefferson Parkway, Northfield, MN 55057

PLEASE NOTE FIRST COME REGISTRATION

You may register by mail or at the Northfield Senior Center, beginning August 9, 2005. All registrations must be accompanied by a check unless financial assistance has been requested.

REGISTRATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED ON A FIRST COME BASIS

Please register by August 30, 2005. If the class for which you register is oversubscribed, you will be notified as soon as possible so you may register for another course. After August 30, 2005 the Registration Book will be at the desk in the Senior Center for classes with space available.

REGISTER EARLY TO AVOID BEING DISAPPOINTED

The Cannon Valley Elder Collegium;

its vision, purpose and program:

Our Purpose: To provide a content-oriented study experience for elder students with senior faculty.

Our Program:

· CVEC focuses on the need for life-long learning.

· The courses of study are selected to provide rich academic experiences in the liberal arts.

· Most of these studies will take a seminar format, with learners actively participating in research and dialogue.

· CVEC welcomes younger registrants (under 50) on a seat-available basis.

· Previous formal education is not a requirement.

Our Policies:

· Class size is generally 15.

· Most classes will meet 8 times, once/week,

· 2 hours/session.

· Financial assistance is available for registrants who can’t afford the fee. See Registration Form.

· Students may withdraw from a course before the 2nd class meeting and request a refund.

Our Funding:

The difference between CVEC’s $50 student fee and our $75 per student cost has mainly been bridged by grants. Because many volunteer their time our administrative costs have always been minimal. Grants have been reduced or eliminated. Thus contributions from CVEC Friends are needed. Your tax-deductible gift of any amount is greatly appreciated

CVEC Funded by: Minnesota Humanities Commission, Hoeft Family Foundation and Contributions From Members

Director: Bill Carlson (507-645-9642)

Associate Director: Teresa Ballentine

(507-663-6093)

Operations Director Lori Stanley (5057-645-9790)

Web Site: www.cvec.org

2005 FALL TERM -- COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Collecting & Recording Oral Histories

By now most of us hold at least three generations of family stories: our grandparents' stories, our parents' stories, and our own. Add the stories of our children and our grandchildren, and we're up to more than 150 years of stories. Now is the time to move these stories along in a form where they can be relished by our families. Our family has Aunt Marie's dogs: all of them named Zeke; her shoe bag that went on all her trips; the spittoon in my father's office; my mother's menus - - and on and on. Bring your stories. Let's go!

Marie Gery is a world famous story teller and interpreter of oral history (at least in Northfield). She has thrilled and delighted many previous Collegium courses.

Program Music: From Beethoven to Richard Strauss

In contrast with absolute music, program music comes with a text, ranging from a few words to a complete story to be associated with the music. This course will pose questions such as: What are the ways in which music can link to text? and Does a text truly enrich one’s experience with music? Our case studies will include Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, Berlioz’s Fantastic Symphony, and the tone poem, A Hero’s Life, by Richard Strauss. While program music may link to a story, it is usually structured along the lines of a traditional form, such as sonata allegro form. The course will analyze the structures of the musical examples with the help of scores and charts.

Ron Ronning taught instrumental music and humanities courses for many years at Burnsville High School and is one of the founders of the Elder Collegium. Bill Child is retired from Carleton College and has enjoyed music as an avocation. The two have collaborated in teaching five courses in orchestral, choral, and chamber music for the CVEC.

Tragedy and Utopia: Two Responses to Suffering and Evil

The course will examine ancient sources and expressions as well as modern examples of tragic and utopian perspectives. In comparing the two, we will seek to assess the strengths and limitations of each as responses to the pervasiveness of suffering and evil in human life. We will discuss selective readings from Plato's Republic, Sophocles' Antigone and Oedipus Rex, the Biblical books of Job and Isaiah, Freud's Civilization and its Discontents, Marx's Early Manuscripts, Camus' The Plague, and Skinner's Walden Two.

Walter Stromseth is a Professor of Philosophy emeritus at St. Olaf College. He studied theology and philosophy at Yale University where he received B.D and Ph.D. degrees. His interest in tragedy stems from his undergraduate years when, as a physics-math major, his turn to the humanities resulted from courses in Greek Tragedy and Greek Philosophy.

Europe versus the United States

With a population fifty percent greater than the United States and a gross national product to match, the European Union has grown from its founding six nations to twenty five nations. It has reached such standing that the United States finds it cannot act decisively internationally without cooperating with this union.

Because of the newsworthiness of third-world wars and calamities, the American press has left the American people innocent of the rise of Europe. In this course one should gain a grasp of that rise during the last half century and of the situation in which the United States finds itself in relation to this union. The course will rely on reading material provided by the European Union and distributed free to participants. Three similar recent books discuss Europe versus America and each is available from Amazon for $10 or less: Jeremy Rifkin, /The European Dream /(400pp); T. R. Reid, /The United States of Europe /(300pp); and Mark Leonard, /why europe will Run the 21st century/ (150pp).

Prof. Hartley Clark taught international relations at Carleton College from 1955 until 1991 when he retired as the Frank B. Kellogg Professor of International Relations. His teaching background includes the History of International Relations, International Law, and International Organization in connection with which he led groups of twenty-five Carleton students nine times to study the European Union in its dispersed headquarters in Brussels, Luxembourg, and Strasbourg. Clark is author of the book, The Politics of the Common Market.

What are the concerns about stem cells?

There are multiple sources for stem cells, but cells from all these sources are not necessarily equivalent. Research is inconclusive and incomplete. However, preliminary experimentation strongly suggests that human stem cells may be of great value in treating several types of chronic diseases such as diabetes, Parkinson's disease, heart diseases and bone marrow diseases. Moreover, stem cells could provide information concerning why some chronic diseases develop. However, the government has set limits on stem cell research for ethical, moral, religious and political reasons. In addition to discussing the biology of stem cells, we will explore and discuss the ethical, moral and political reasons limits were and are being placed on stem cell research. Selected readings and videos will be utilized.

Ross Shoger taught animal embryology, physiology, anatomy and reproductive physiology for 35 years at Carleton College. For 26 of those years I was also premedical advisor and was involved in an occasional interdisciplinary bio-ethics course. Retired since 1994, I now volunteer at the local hospital, tutor elementary school students and am active in numerous church activities. In addition, I garden, do home repairs, take photographs and dabble in music.

The Early to Mid-Renaissance in Umbria and Tuscany

A lecture course discussing significant creative trends paving the way for and manifesting the Renaissance spirit. Initially shown in the Umbrian town of Assisi in the exuberant decorative schemes in the style of Giotto illustrating the life and works of St. Francis, it is carried further in neighboring Tuscany, first in Siena and nearby villages featuring works by Duccio, the Lorenzettis, Simone Martini and their followers, contemporaries of Cimabue and Giotto in Florence, with The Renaissance it reached its maturity in the works of Masaccio and his followers: Fra Angelico, Verrocchio, Leonardo, Ghirlandaio, the Lippis and Botticelli.

Reidar Dittmann is a Professor Emeritus of Art History at St Olaf College. He has traveled extensively to study European Art and has lectured extensively.

An Archaeological Search for Jesus

This will be a non-sectarian look at the Roman period (1st Century BCE to 4th Century CE) to see what concrete evidence there is for many of the stories in the New Testament. Each session will begin with a half-hour viewing of a new scholarly documentary video produced by the Biblical Archaeology Review on the archaeology of Jesus' life and times followed by lecture and discussion. We will look at some of the "finds" (the James Ossuary & the John, the Baptist, cave e.g.) that have made headlines in the last few years. Fortunately I have studied under some of the archaeologists involved in both of these disputed claims. We will be reviewing the whole Dead Sea Scroll story and other topics relating to this period.

Ruth Hansen , a graduate of St. Olaf College with a degree in music, was a high school choral director and also director of many church and community choirs. However, after studying in the Holy Land in the summer of 1968 under the auspices of the University of Wisconsin, she became passionate about Biblical archaeology. Ruth returned to the States and took courses at the University in the department of Hebrew and Semitic Studies. Since then she has been in Israel/Palestine nineteen more times and spent one more summer studying at St. George's College in Jerusalem. Week-long seminars with many of the leading archaeologists with the Biblical Archaeology Society has been her routine for many summers. Besides teaching earlier courses for the Elder Collegium, Ruth has lectured at various churches in the Milwaukee area and southwestern Minnesota.

Modern Irish Short Story

This course will utilize 13 contemporary Irish short stories, a short novel and representative contemporary poetry to provide a cross section of Irish life and culture. Ireland has a history reaching back to the Neolithic period, with the oldest still spoken language in the world and a history of 900 years of occupation by a foreign power, England. Ireland is perhaps one of the best known but stereotyped countries in Europe, but is fast becoming one of the wealthiest and progressive countries in the European Union. Readings will provide an insight into Irish life and history, social, political and historical perspectives as reflected in literature of the present century. Texts and resource material will supply all of the background needed in the course. For a country smaller in size and population than Minnesota she has produced four Nobel Prize winners and numerous top echelon writers.

Stan Frear taught literature in the English Department at St Olaf for many years with an emphasis on Irish literature.

Astronomy–An Ageless Science

If you have looked upward at night and with awe and wonder you are not alone. We shall consider some of the questions raised and answers proposed using the naked eye, then the telescope, and finally an array of modern instruments. The story ends with the big bang, black holes and dark matter but the major focus is on how we arrived at this point. (Don’t worry this should be fun; mathematics is required only to do modern astronomy, not to understand it!)

Prof Emeritus Duane Olson taught physics for many years at St. Olaf, with research work in elementary particles, solid state, and molecular physics all of which are relevant to astronomy.