[047] Interfaith Coalition Sponsors "Adventures In Learning"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Aug. 16, 2010
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081

INTERFAITH COALITION SPONSORS “ADVENTURES IN LEARNING”
Variety of Fascinating Subjects Awaits Adults Age 50 and Older Who Yearn to Learn

(MURFREESBORO) – “Adventures in Learning,” the annual mini-school for adults age 50 and above, will take place from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. on Sept. 13, Sept. 20, Sept. 27 and Oct. 4 at First United Methodist Church, 265 W. Thompson Lane in Murfreesboro.
The purpose of the event, which is planned by an interfaith coalition, is to provide a program by and for older adults in which they can share knowledge, talents and skills for lifelong learning and personal growth.
Each Monday features classes from 9:30-10:30 a.m. and 10:45-11:45 a.m. Some of the topics slated for this year’s “Adventures in Learning” include “Our Aging Minds,” “Vital Singing: Why Hymns are Important,” and “Technological Know-How.”
As usual, retired and active MTSU faculty will play prominent roles in the event. A series under the title “A Sense of Time and Place” will feature lectures on Morocco by Dr. Ron Messier, professor emeritus of history; on ancient Egypt by Dr. Dawn McCormack, assistant professor of history; on Mexico by Dr. Christoph Rosenmuller, associate professor of history; and on Radnor Lake by Dr. Doug Heffington, Director of Global Studies.
In addition, Dr. William Windham, professor emeritus of history, will lead discussions on “Reform Movements in Antebellum America,” and Dr. Charles Dean, professor emeritus of English, will conduct classes on “Poetry Then and Now—Now and Then” with analyses of the works of Emily Dickinson, Mary Oliver, Wendell Berry and Robert Frost.
In a class on books, retired MTSU English instructor Lynette Ingram will examine Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann, and Dr. Larry Mapp, former MTSU English professor, will dissect The Thousand Autumns of Jacob DeZoot: A Novel by David Mitchell.
A highlight of this year’s “Adventures in Learning” will be “Mount and Mountain,” a dialogue between Dr. Rami Shapiro, adjunct professor of religious studies and an ordained rabbi, and Dr. Michael A. Smith, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Murfreesboro. This class will be based on the online conversations Shapiro and Smith conducted for nearly two years about the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.

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Registration is $8 before Sept. 2 and $10 after Sept. 2. The cost for lunch, catered by Carolyn’s Creations, is $10 per day or $36 for all four lunches. Mail a check to AIL Treasurer, 1267 N. Rutherford Blvd., Murfreesboro, TN 37130. Please indicate which days you plan to attend and which days you plan to eat lunch. For more information, contact Mary Belle Ginanni at 615-895-6072.
The interfaith coalition sponsoring “Adventures in Learning” includes representatives from Allen Chapel AME; Central Christian Church; East Main Church of Christ; First Baptist Church, East Main St.; First Baptist Church, East Castle St.; First Presbyterian Church; First United Methodist Church; Northminster Presbyterian Church; St. Mark’s United Methodist Church; St. Paul’s Episcopal Church; and St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church.


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With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.