Mini U promotes lifelong learning

From June 16-21, those with a thirst for knowledge and a limitless desire for learning have the opportunity to experience a week of up to 15 non-credit courses through Mini University. In its 30th year and with courses in the arts, business and technology, domestic issues, health, fitness and leisure, human growth and development, humanities, international affairs and science, Mini U participants can choose from over 90 courses taught by IU faculty who voluntarily donate their time and expertise.\nOne of Frommer's Travel Magazine's top nine campus learning vacations in the nation, Mini U is sponsored by the IU Alumni Association and the Bloomington Division of Continuing Studies. The educational vacation is open to anyone interested in lifelong learning and attendees need not be IU graduates to attend.\n"We've had everything from high school students, college students, all the way up to retired people attend," said Nicki Bland, assistant director for the IU Alumni Association. "(The program) is at a very reasonable cost, it's a wonderful educational experience and it's held right here on the Bloomington campus."\nMyrna Oliver, a past attendee of Mini U wrote of her experience for Indiana Alumni Magazine.\n"My head spun a few times today, taking me back to September of 1960, when I was frantically going through freshman registration not knowing what I was doing," she wrote. "As of 38 years ago, I finally signed up for a full complement of classes, gathered up my notebook and held my breath."\nThose who register to take courses through Mini U pay a fee of $175 with lodging and meals not included. Throughout the week, Bland said participants attend morning, afternoon and evening classes but also partake in a number of other activities. Students are welcomed with a pasta bar, attend an Alumni picnic, take a trip to the Brown County Playhouse, meet informally with faculty members at a reception and finally, they participate in a commencement ceremony at the conclusion of their learning vacation. \nSpecial tours are also included in the package to such places as the Musical Arts Center, Lilly Library and the Fine Arts building.\n"It's like a very short version of college all smushed together in a week," Bland said.\nClass subjects include Tax Laws, Dead Men Do Tell Tales, Sex and Humor, Animating Japan's Past, Richard Rodger's 100th Birthday, The Rise of Islamic Revivalism, Medieval Women and the Church, Human Evolution and many more.\nJeanne Madison, assistant director of Lifelong Learning and Mini University Bloomington Division of Continuing Studies, said through this wide array of classes, students get a better feel for the world around them.\n"We are offering the participants the opportunity for a better understanding of the world in which they live both globally and locally," she said. Madison also noted that this year, there will be approximately 400 participants in the program that promotes lifelong learning "by connecting students with samples of the best scholarship from excellent teaching faculty and thereby encouraging them to continue their learning."\nThough registration deadlines have already passed for Mini University 2002, more information concerning this award-winning establishment and the many courses it has to offer can be found online at www.indiana.edu/~alumni/learn/miniuni.html.