Coastal Senior College, serving midcoast Maine from Wiscasset to Camden, is offering nine Winter Courses this season, six of them on zoom, making them accessible to all from home. Registrations began on Dec. 10. Courses will also be offered in person in Newcastle, Bremen and Rockland.

Three of the zoom courses draw our attention to our history. On Thursdays from Jan. 16 to Feb. 20 (10-11:45 a.m.), Arnold Aho will teach “Of Wattle, Thatch, and Half-Timbers: the Folk Architecture of the World.” Mr. Aho describes his class as “A visual exploration of … building forms throughout the world: from the crannogs of Ireland to the Shinto  shrines of Japan, from the stave churches of Norway to the family chapels of the Black Forest, from the farmsteads of Estonia to the village churches of Hungary. This course focuses on the small but fascinating traditional structures built using ‘architecture without architects’.”

On Wednesdays from Jan. 15 to Feb. 20 (1:30-3:30 p.m.), Jayne Gordon will teach “The Dilemmas of Democracy: Creating a New Country.” Ms. Gordon says, “Our focus will be on the issues raised, debated, and resolved (or were they?) by the founders of the new nation, and by the ordinary people whose experiences, observations, opinions, and voices contributed to the political discussions and decisions. What did people wish for and worry about? What were their hopes and fears in birthing this new country? What were the alternatives that had to be considered? … how do we know about what folks thought about … in that fragile period when the new Republic was forming and beginning the experiment that continues to this day?”

On Tuesdays from Jan. 14 to Feb. 4 (10 a.m. to noon), Dr. Timothy Barrows will teach “Space, What Are They Up To Now?” Dr. Barrows says, “The year 2024 has had a level of space activity that has not been seen since the height of the space race of the 1960s. Significant events are expected in the Artemis program to send astronauts to the moon and eventually to Mars. New developments in the business of space either have been or are about to be revealed, including new rocket companies, privately trained astronauts, and private space stations. Solar sailing has long been recognized as an efficient means of space propulsion. A NASA mission is now demonstrating a small solar sail.”

Vigorous class discussions in Coastal Senior College Courses offer an opportunity to learn and connect with other students who are primarily 50 and older.

Information about Coastal Senior College and the Winter Courses can be found at coastalseniorcollege.org.