Summer is a time to open your windows, open your doors, and open your mind to new experiences. You’ll find dozens of enlightening classes in the Summer Catalog published by the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of Continuing Studies, ranging from personal enrichment to professional development.
Continuing Studies is offering another Lifelong Learning Giveaway in the Summer Catalog, which will appear in the April 14 edition of Isthmus. Enter by May 13 to win up to $100 off on a Continuing Studies class. Ten randomly selected winners will be notified no later than May 27.
The 2016 Summer Catalog offers face-to-face classes, online classes, multiple-week classes, and one-day classes. There are also conferences, workshops, institutes, and educational travel experiences. You can sign up for a language class that involves eating culturally relevant food, or a drawing class that involves open-air sketching in the UW-Madison Arboretum. No matter what your interests, the catalog will have an affordable, accessible course that’s right for you.
“I encourage you to view our Summer 2016 offerings as the opportunity to find your best self,” says Jeffrey Russell, dean of Continuing Studies and vice provost for Lifelong Learning. “Perhaps that means trying an art class when you’ve not picked up a brush since grammar school. Or exploring a language from a culture that’s always intrigued you. Or earning a certificate that moves you to enlightenment or opportunity in your career.”
Choose your adventure
The Summer Catalog’s personal enrichment classes range from art to music to writing to dance to languages. New courses this summer include Screenprinting: Mixing Ink and Imagery; Yoga Philosophy: Uniting Your Physical and Mental Practices; Italian Gastronomy; and Singing and Dancing on the Silver Screen: Movie Musicals at the Birth of Sound Film.
The catalog features two special Shakespeare events to mark the 400th anniversary of the Bard’s death. On August 12-14, Shakespearience Weekend promises an immersion in Shakespeare’s plays and ideas in Spring Green, Wisconsin, with lectures by UW-Madison faculty and productions at American Players Theatre. And on July 19, Holding History welcomes participants to the UW-Madison Memorial Library to handle archival Shakespeare materials.
As for career development, the Summer Catalog offers courses for educators, health professionals, managers, counselors, and life coaches, among others. New courses include An Introduction to Geriatric Mental Health Care; Nursing Home Administration; Leadership Lessons for Today: Learning from Ernest Shackleton 100 Years Later; Clinical Psychology Summer Institute; and Taking the “Difficult” Out of Difficult Conversations at Work.
Those searching for a job or considering a career change can participate in the Job Search Support Group or the workshops Career Change 101 and Tools for Purposeful Career Change.
The Summer Catalog also proves that you don’t have to stay in Wisconsin for a UW-Madison experience. Travelers can sign up for educational trips to Myanmar, Charleston’s Spoleto Festival, and the Santa Fe Opera.
Check out the catalog in Isthmus or the complete list of classes online, and begin planning a summer’s worth of lifelong learning.
“No matter which courses you select, the focus should be on you,” Russell says. “Your best opportunities. Your best self. Starting right now. We hope to see you this summer.”