Middlesex Community College has shared three programs will take place in March: The opening session of a new Middlesex Institute for Lifelong Education for Seniors (MILES) program; an interdisciplinary weekend focusing on Asia Today; and the first of the college’s A World of Music 2014 spring concert series, Crosscurrents of Chinese Music, a multimedia event. See you soon at MCC!
Middlesex Community College to Host Free MILES Opening Session
Middlesex Community College will host the spring Opening Session of the Middlesex Institute for Lifelong Education for Seniors (MILES) at 2 p.m. Thursday, March 20, in the Bedford Campus Center’s Café East, 591 Springs Road. The event is free and open to the public.
MCC’s MILES program offers stimulating, interactive daytime seminars and workshops with no term papers, tests or grades for active, older adults. This informational and entertaining opening session provides community members an opportunity to learn more about MILES and the courses being offered, and is a good opportunity to meet instructors and peers. Light refreshments will be served.
The MILES Opening Session will feature a keynote address by Robert Thorson, Professor of Geology at the University of Connecticut. Thorson is also author of Thoreau Country Landscapes: The View from Walden’s Shore. His book examines Henry David Thoreau as a writer, philosopher, political activist, proto-ecologist and a remarkably skilled physical scientist with a special interest in how his Concord landscape came to be.
Thorson’s presentation will include Thoreau’s thoughts on fieldstone walls, climate change, the origin of life, and his habit of collecting mineral specimens. Copies of Thorson’s book will be available for purchase, signing and inscription.
The spring session of MILES runs from March 20 through April 24 on the Bedford campus. The two-hour study groups meet from 2 to 4 p.m., in one-, two-, or five-week sessions, and are facilitated by individuals with expertise in their field, including some MCC faculty and staff. The workshops and seminars focus on a variety of topics, including movies, computer skills, literature, technology, health and environmental issues, religion, history and music.
“The goal of MILES is two-fold,” said Marci Barnes, program manager of Community Education and Training. “The first is to enrich lifelong learning for active, older adults through our varied and interesting programming. The second goal is simply to provide personal enrichment and social interaction with like-minded members of the community.”
Each MILES course is $15. All MILES participants enjoy free use of the MCC Fitness Center and library. For the complete schedule of MILES courses, contact Chris Lindsey at 781-280-3570 or visit https://www.middlesex.mass.edu/careertraining/miles.aspx. To register for MILES courses, call 1-800-818-3434.
MCC Explores Asia Today for Interdisciplinary Weekend 2014
Register now for “Asia Today,” a unique two-day Interdisciplinary Weekend course, to be held Friday and Saturday, March 28 & 29, at Middlesex Community College. This one-credit course will explore the intersections of cultures and communities in Asia today, through art and literature, history and philosophy, economics and science, music, dance and food.
The two-day course, which is designed to have the feel of a conference, begins on Friday afternoon with a guided tour of the Asia collections found in Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, followed by a thematic meal in Boston’s Chinatown (included).
Saturday sessions begin with a keynote address, titled “China Learns Capitalism” by MCC Professor Peyton Paxson. Concurrent sessions and exhibits follow the keynote, and students can choose which topics they would like to explore.
Topics include: “Intro to Chinese Language,” “South Asian Women Writers,” “China’s Impact on the Global Economy,” “Tàijíquán,” “Doing Business in China,” “Cambodian Poetry of Protest and Hope,” “China and Its Neighbors: The Silk Road,” “Artists’ Stories from the Cultural Revolution Until Now,” “Asia’s Environment,” “Eat, Drink & Be Wary: Conflict in Chinese Film and Fiction,” and “Cambodian Pottery.”
Interdisciplinary Weekend 2014 concludes with a special musical performance, titled “Crosscurrents of Chinese Music,” a lecture/recital/multimedia event that features traditional Chinese music, a new composition written expressly for traditional Chinese instruments, and a composition by a Chinese composer, which combines Eastern and Western influences.
To participate in Interdisciplinary Weekend, students must be eligible for English 101 and MAT 080, or have completed Math Ramp-Up Modules 1-8, or obtain permission from instructor. For more information about “Asia Today,” contact Dona Cady, Dean of International Education, at [email protected]. To register for Interdisciplinary Weekend 2014 (IDS 105), call 1-800-818-3434.
MCC’s Free Spring Concert Series Begins with Crosscurrents of Chinese Music
A World of Music, Middlesex Community College’s 2014 spring concert series, begins with “Crosscurrents of Chinese Music,” a multimedia event featuring traditional Chinese music, a new composition written expressly for traditional instruments, and a composition by a Chinese composer which combines Eastern and Western influences. The program will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday, March 29, in the MCC Concert Hall (Building 6), on the Bedford campus, 591 Springs Road. The concert is free and open to the public.
Co-sponsored by “Asia Today,” MCC’s 2014 Interdisciplinary Weekend, the program will open with Wang Guowei, artistic director of the ensemble Music from China and noted erhu soloist, performing traditional Chinese music.
Then a video will be shown of the 2013 world premier performance of “Es for Erhu, Yangqin, Pipa and Guzheng” by MCC faculty member Richard Chowenhill, performed by Music from China. The event will conclude with “Four Memories of Watercolors for Piano” by Tan Dun, played by MCC Music Department Chairwoman Carmen Rodriguez-Peralta.
Other events in MCC’s free A World of Music spring concert series include MCC faculty member/violist Mark Berger and Friends in concert at 8 p.m. Friday, April 11, in the MCC Concert Hall, Bedford campus; MCC faculty member/classical guitarist Adam Levin will perform at 8 p.m. Friday, May 2, in the MCC Concert Hall; and Three Cellos at 8 p.m. Sunday, May 18, in the MCC Concert Hall.
About Middlesex Community College: MCC is one of the largest, most comprehensive community colleges in the state. We offer more than 75 degree and certificate programs, plus hundreds of noncredit courses, during the day, evening and weekend, on our Bedford and Lowell campuses, and online. Middlesex – a great place to begin your future!
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