Ciao a tutti! Have you ever wanted to travel to Venice, Rome, or Naples? Perhaps learn the language of your grandparents? This course will get you started, focusing on proper pronunciation, essential phrases, and the many English and Italian words that share a common Latin origin.

In 1922, Rainer Maria Rilke created a poetic masterpiece in a cycle of fifty-five poems dedicated to Orpheus, the god-like figure of ancient legends whose song enchanted the creatures, faced the anguish of loss, and sought to restore harmony to a disordered world. Rilke meant these poems to do the same for us: they invite us to turn from the hurried world of “acting without vision,” reminding us how we might inhabit our own lives with spaciousness and hope. This course will focus primarily on these poems, drawing on a newly published version by the workshop leader. It is meant for those who “desire the change,” as Rilke put it in one of these poems. Open to all—beginners and seasoned readers of Rilke—regardless of familiarity with the poet’s work.

Do you have a story idea but aren't sure how to begin? Do your friends say you write well, but you're not sure how to get started on that first book? Do you have a manuscript, or parts of a manuscript, and need to know how to polish it for publication?

In this course, you'll explore all the topics a writer needs to create a successful manuscript, including story structure, plot, character, dialogue, setting, suspense, conflict, action, viewpoint, tense, and even how to get published. Each lesson includes an assignment that will help you develop or polish your manuscript. You will explore the essential techniques that are often overlooked in a clear, step-by-step fashion. After completing this course, you will never look at fiction writing the same way again!

Designed for beginners, we will have you speaking and reading Spanish in no time. You will practice the basic building blocks of the language and common idiomatic expressions. You will know enough vocabulary and grammar for simple conversations, and you will learn how to ask and answer questions.  Whether you speak some Spanish and need a refresher or no Spanish, you will complete the course with the skills to communicate in Spanish.

CEUs/ILUs: 3.2

Length (in hours): 32

Two-Month Course, quarterly starts

Everyone has a story to tell. Writing your memoir helps you reflect on the varied experiences that impacted your life and helped shape who you are today. This course looks at a variety of digital tools, available through any digital device, that make the process of memoir writing more fun and a little less daunting. You will explore several unique approaches to research, learn strategies for gathering and storing materials in one easily accessible place, and delve into ways to illustrate your memoir even if you are not an artist. Polishing your work for publication and presenting it in a public format are other video topics. You will leave the course well equipped to begin your writing adventure.