Online and In-Person
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A-American Poems of Place: North of Boston
In-Person: NEC Lyons Building Rm 103 & outside
Mondays, 10 – Noon | July 10 – 31
Instructor: Don Melander | Facilitator: Alice Nye
When Don Melander was the Open Door Theatre dramaturge, he adapted a number of Robert Frost’s poems into a dramatic
dialogue among early 20th Century denizens of New Hampshire. Melander will provide the class with copies of his play, and the members of the class will “play” the characters and discuss the poems, the process of adapting the poems into a play, and the interactions among the characters.
(Optional: Participants may continue the discussion after a lunch break)
Don Melander is a retired Professor of English and Humanities Emeritus at New England College, where for more than 50 years he taught literature, humanities, poetry workshop and team-taught courses in Shakespeare, philosophy, history, and the creative process. He holds a PhD from Syracuse University, with a dissertation, “Wallace Stevens’ Meditations on Being: A Heideggerian Study.”
B-Biophilia in Action
On Zoom
Tuesdays, 10 – Noon | July 11 – Aug 1
Instructor: Eric Simon | Facilitator: Amanda Marsh
This course continues LINEC’s exploration of our love for the natural world. A detailed presentation on the February 2023 LINEC travel course to Tanzania will be followed by discussion of other biodiversity hotspots and biology-themed travel opportunities throughout the world.
Eric Simon is a Professor of Biology at New England College and a writer of many textbooks crafted for all levels of education.
C-The Stage Shapes the Play and the Play Shapes the Stage: How Shakespeare’s Plays Reveal Themselves Through Production—Henry V
In-Person: NEC Lyons Building Rm 103
Tuesdays, 1:30 – 3:30 PM | July 11 – Aug 1
Instructor: Glenn Stuart | Facilitator: Don Melander
We will share and discuss two auteur film versions of Henry V : Laurence Olivier’s in 1944 and Kenneth Branagh’s in 1989. To expand our vision of Shakespeare’s great history play and lead to a deeper understanding of his work, we will also screen Dominic Dromgoole’s Globe Theatre production featuring Jamie Parker as well as scenes from a more theatrical and contemporary staging of the play at the Barn Theatre in Cirenchester—a production casting fewer than three women and five men live-streamed in 2020.
Glenn Stuart is a Professor of Theatre Emeritus at New England College where for 38 years he taught, designed 125 theatre and dance productions, and was founding director of the Open Door Theatre for which he designed and directed 20 productions including King Lear, Hamlet, The Winter’s Tale, The Merchant of Venice, Much Ado about Nothing, As You Like It, and The Tempest. He holds an MA in Theatre from SUNY Albany, where he studied with Roger Herzel, Jack Burian, and Judith Barlow.
D-Women Artists – Modern to Contemporary
Disclaimer: First line in the description to read: A copy error mistitled this class. The correct descriptive title should be The Art of Textiles. To register for this class, select D- Women Artists.
On Zoom
Wednesdays, 10 – Noon | July 5 – 26
Instructor: Gail Smuda | Facilitator: Mindy Fitterman
Learn about fiber, performance art, and site specific work as well as more traditional painting and sculpture in this four-part class—covering most of the 1970s art scene to many artists creating today.
Gail Smuda has been an exhibiting artist for over 40 years, exhibiting in 48 states, and has received two individual Artist Grants from New Hampshire. Retrospective exhibitions have been mounted at the University of Massachusetts/Lowell and at Southern NH University. Her works have been reviewed in Boston Voyager, Artscape and Fiber Arts magazines. She retired from a decade of teaching art history at Southern NH University but had been teaching art at various venues since her college days.
E-Reading Group: Booker Prize Novels
Tucker Free Library, Henniker
Wednesdays, 1:30 – 3:30 | July 5 & Aug 2
Leader and Facilitator: John McCausland
For the last five years LINECs offerings have included a popular American novel reading group. This summer, we shift the focus of what someone characterized as “not a normal book group.” Going forward, we will select a book each month from Britain’s prestigious Booker Prize lists; works written in English and published in the UK or Ireland, formerly by Commonwealth authors but now open globally.
Join us for informal, fun discussion as we read:
- July – V. S. Naipaul’s A Bend in the River, the 1979 story of a merchant of Indian descent in mid-century post-colonial Africa.
- August – Salmon Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children, a 1981 work set in India at the end of the Raj.
John McCausland has taught LINEC courses on the Bible, Chaucer, and the American novel. An Episcopal priest and one-time lawyer, he loves history, literature, theology, teaching, and learning.
F-Supreme Court Review
In-Person: NEC Lyons Building Rm 103
Wednesday, 1:30 – 3:30 PM | July 12
Instructor: John Graebe | Facilitator: Dick Hesse
This review of the Supreme Court’s 2022-23 term will include a discussion of the most significant cases.
John Graebe is a Professor of Law at the UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law. He teaches Constitutional Law and directs the Warren B. Rudman Center for Justice, Leadership and Public Service. He also writes a Concord Monitor column periodically on Constitutional Connections as well as articles for more than a dozen professional and academic journals.
G-John Gfroerer Presents Two Documentaries
In-Person: NEC Lyons Building Rm 107
Thursday, 10 – Noon | July 6 & 20
Documentary Film Maker: John Gfroerer
Facilitator: Dick Hesse
Each session will be a presentation and discussion of a documentary film:
- Powerful As Truth: William Loeb & 25 Years of New Hampshire, John Gfroerer’s film of William Loeb’s rise to powerful influence in New Hampshire.
- Island Winter, John Gfroerer’s film of the Penobscot Bay community of Vinalhaven.
John Gfroerer is the owner of Accompany Video Production. In addition to “Powerful as Truth” and “Island Winter,” he has produced over 40 documentaries, which have been seen on Maine and New Hampshire Public Television. Topics include Amy Beach, a history of the NH Presidential Primary, life in NH during World War II, and profiles of communities along the Maine coast.
H-Film Seminar: All That Jazz
In-Person: Science Building Rm 113E
Fridays, 10 AM – 1 PM | July 7 – Aug 4
Leader: Don Melander
We will view and discuss these films:
- July 7 | Paris Blues (1961; Martin Ritt) featuring Duke Ellington
- July 14 | Bird (1988; Clint Eastwood) featuring Charlie “Bird” Parker
- July 21 | Miles Ahead (2015; Don Cheadle) featuring Miles Davis
- July 28 | Round Midnight (1986; Bertrand Tavernier) featuring Dexter Gordon and Herbie Hancock
- August 4 | What Happened, Miss Simone? (2015; Liz Garbus) featuring Nina Simone
Don Melander has been leading film discussions, often along with Mary Lee Sargent, for almost a decade: Alfred Hitchcock, Preston Sturges, Women Directors, Noir, Best Westerns.