It's back to school time-and not just for the kids!  Tempe Connections is pleased to partner with ASU Osher Lifelong Learning Institute for our third year of Academic Connections.  Intellectually stimulating short courses are taught by ASU Emeritus faculty, community college professors and career professionals and offer the opportunity to expand your knowledge and meet new friends in a relaxed environment.  Here's what one student has to say. . .

"I have enjoyed the courses I have taken at Tempe Connections.   They do not demand much of your time, as there is no responsibility for memorizing things for a final exam.    However, the real appeal of these courses seems to be that people are interested and engaged. This is not like college when you have to check off a list of required classes.  Class members come from all types of life and work experiences.  A bonus for me was meeting so many people my age!  Folks are not shy about bringing their own opinions to class and we may have lively discussions between class members or with the instructor.

The two classes I was in were fairly good examples of the variety of course experiences  in this program.  One class was more like a seminar.  It was a class on King Lear, taught by an ASU emeritus professor who had specialized in Shakespeare and Renaissance literature.  I was an English major in college and was very pleased with the way the class was taught:  the prof. went through the play over the four weeks of class.  The class concentrated on the themes of Lear's madness and pride, and I felt as if we had had an excellent exposure to a great play at the end of the course.  It didn't hurt that the professor was also active in community theatre, and could give Lear's speeches very convincingly!

The other class I had was a course on literary themes in the Bible.  This class was taught by an emeritus professor who was interested in connections between images and symbols in the Christian Bible and similar themes in other world religions.    He had done research on this subject and used a number of handouts and photos to illustrate his discussion.  Setting Christian themes in an historical framework of world religions is not a new approach in teaching religious studies as an academic topic, but for this class it resulted in some very spirited discussions.   I did enjoy the course because it made us focus beyond our usual perspective in reference to religion."

Check out the offerings for Fall 2009 in the "Learn" section of the website.  We hope to see you in class!