Trip to Bountiful ... or the Galapagos Islands: Take courses this summer through ORICL

Carolyn Krause
·3 min read

“Queen Victoria’s England: Social Class and Its Cultural Dynamics” (featuring Fred Bailey’s exceptionally artistic PowerPoint presentations). “Slavery in Native America.” “Marriage in Medieval England.” “Blackbeard” (North Carolina’s only pirate).

“The Age of Benjamin Franklin.” “Significant Events in the American Revolution.” “The Art of Deception in the Civil War.” “History of Science Fiction.” Plus, two classes on early Oak Ridge history, including the first businesses in Jackson Square (the Secret City’s Townsite).

Sally Lightfoot Crabs were among the creatures Kris Harris Light most wanted to see on the Galapagos Islands.
Sally Lightfoot Crabs were among the creatures Kris Harris Light most wanted to see on the Galapagos Islands.

These are most of the history classes being offered in person for the summer term of the Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning (ORICL). Most of the smorgasbord of 57 courses, ranging from art, music, languages and literature to financial planning, health and hobbies, will be presented in person, but a few will be online via Zoom or as hybrid classes (in person and online). ORICL’s in-person and hybrid classes will be held mostly in the Coffey-McNally building on Roane State Community College’s Oak Ridge Branch Campus, 701 Briarcliff Ave.

The summer catalog is posted on ORICL’s www.roanestate.edu/oricl website. The registration form and calendar are also posted there. Online registration opened Tuesday, April 18. Paper registration forms can be sent or delivered to the office now.

The summer term runs from Monday, June 5, through Friday, July 28. The fee for the summer term is $75; you may pay it online or by check included with the mailed paper form. Mail your form and check to ORICL, RSCC, 701 Briarcliff Avenue, Oak Ridge, TN 37830. For more information, contact the ORICL office at 865-481-8222 or at oricl@roanestate.edu.

According to the catalog, ORICL is “an incredible value in lifelong learning programs” compared with many similar but more expensive programs across the nation.

One of the many artistic slides in Fred Bailey’s PowerPoint presentation for his Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning (ORICL) class on “Queen Victoria’s England.”
One of the many artistic slides in Fred Bailey’s PowerPoint presentation for his Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning (ORICL) class on “Queen Victoria’s England.”

If you like travelogues, you’ll enjoy learning about Kris Light’s recent trip to the Galapagos Islands and her observations about its plants, animals and geology.

ORICL’s music classes include a campfire singalong with the Elza Gate duo of Bob Cushman and Pat Parr, a Great Courses video series on the Austrian classical music composer Joseph Haydn, as well as the history and upcoming programs of the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association presented by Régulo Stabilito, the new conductor of the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra and ORCMA music director.

Maestro Régulo Stabilito
Maestro Régulo Stabilito

You can learn about poetry and read Shakespeare out loud through ORICL’s literature classes. If you enjoy participating in book groups, ORICL offers online courses on classical literature, mystery, nonfiction and science fiction and fantasy books. The technical book group will meet in-person, and the fiction book group class will be hybrid.

Galapagos Fur Seals are actually sea lions.
Galapagos Fur Seals are actually sea lions.

This term’s language classes include beginning Ukrainian, Russian and Latin.

Classes are being offered on successful, healthy aging and the human-animal bond, as well as on “Lovingkindness,” an online study of Buddhist philosophy and an opportunity to meditate.

Hobbyists may enjoy ORICL’s classes on crochet, nature photography, birding, favorite local hikes and cryptic varietal crosswords. Other classes of interest to many explore CASA (Court-Appointed Special Advocates) for children, the Tennessee Electronic Library, parliamentary points of order for future board presidents, and the challenges faced by the United Way of Anderson County.

For a fee, you can join group trips to the Flatwater Tales Storytelling events in early June at the Historic Grove Theater in Oak Ridge and “The Trip to Bountiful” play at Cumberland County Playhouse in Crossville. Both trips include dining in a restaurant. Also, for a fee, you can register through ORICL to take art classes in making summer earrings, tribal rattles and magic mugs at the Oak Ridge Art Center, 201 Badger Ave.

This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Trip to Bountiful ... or the Galapagos Islands: ORICL offers classes