Packed Mini University offers chance to be a student again

This week, a group of 490 students are flocking to campus. And they’re not incoming freshmen.\nMini University is in its 37th year and partners with IU Bloomington Continuing Studies and the IU Alumni Association, according to an IU news release. The program, which sold out in April, offers the chance for anyone 18 and older to choose between more than 100 classes to take for a week.\nClass offerings in the Mini University directory include “Captain Kidd to Columbus: Establishing Marine Protected Areas in the Dominican Republic,” taught by Office of Underwater Science and Educational Resources Director Charles Beeker, “Data Surveillance and National Security: Is Privacy Dead?” taught by IU’s Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research Director Fred Cate and “Turning Big Red Green: The Campus Sustainability Movement,” taught by geological sciences professor Michael Hamburger.\nThe program runs between June 15 and 20 and features a picnic, a faculty reception on Thursday, opportunities for students to mingle and a commencement reception on Friday, according to the news release.