Lifelong Wonders

submitted by Joan Gaughan, Adult Learning Institute

If success is defined as viewing the world as a miraculous place, then the kaleidoscopic array of fall classes offered by the Adult Learners Institute (ALI) offers the opportunity to stimulate your intelligence, fire your imagination, challenge your ideas, and arouse your curiosity. Classes meet once a week from early September until late November at sites in the Chelsea-Dexter area and are generally for a one to three-or four-week span. Tuition fees range from $10 to $30 depending on the number of meetings and there is a $10 registration fee, which is accepted throughout the semester as long as space is available.

ALI’s  Fall semester begins this month with four classes. On September 9, there is a two-hour class on coping with stress which might be helpful for the upcoming football season. Beginning September 16, and continuing for the next three Monday afternoons, is a four-part class on Renaissance Art, Architecture and Humanism. On September 10, an evening class on Apron Strings at the Chelsea District Library shows how clothing is linked with status, gender, and socio-economic status. The music of the Civil War and the Paris Exposition of 1900 will be highlighted on Tuesday afternoons, September 10 and 17, and on September 25, a class on Russia will take you on a 5,000-mile journey across that country with stops in Mongolia and Siberia on the fabled Istanbul Orient Express. On September 27, a class on World War I will feature the story of a 21-year old Chelsea farmer of German descent who found himself fighting his own cousin in World War I. Farther from home, but nonetheless intriguing, is a class on the architecture of Ann Arbor’s downtown and old West Side offered on all four Thursday afternoons in September.

Bulletins with full descriptions of the fall classes can be found at the Manchester District Library and the Community Resource Center. Registration is by mail only and the forms can be found within the bulletins as well as online at www.adultlearnersinstitute.org. You may also call to request a catalog at (734) 292-5540.

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.