The mission of Senior College is to provide high-quality educational opportunities for seniors. Courses cover a wide variety of topics in the humanities, sciences, and the arts and are taught by emeritus and current University of Iowa faculty members and others.
Senior College is run by a committee of retired UI faculty and staff members. The volunteer committee works in cooperation with the Association of Emeritus Faculty and the University of Iowa Retirees Association and contracts with the UI Center for Advancement to host this webpage and handle registration.
Ten different courses are being offered from August through November. Most courses meet for four 2-hour sessions for a $30 fee. Some of this fall's courses will meet in person, some will be offered by Zoom videoconferencing, and others will be hybrid (offered both in person and by Zoom). Information on Zoom can be found in the Zoom Guide (PDF).
Please review all courses before registering. Detailed information about each course and instructor can be found by clicking on the "More" arrow in the gray box and is also available in the course catalog (PDF).
Once you have made your selections, use the "Register Now" button. After you register, you will receive a confirmation email within 24 hours.
If you have questions about course registration or would like to receive email updates for future sessions of Senior College, please contact the UI Center for Advancement at 319-335-3305 or 800-648-6973 or via email at alumni.seniorcollege@foriowa.org.
INSTRUCTOR: Timothy Hankewich
Dates: Thursdays, August 18, 25; September 1, 8
Time: 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Location: Zoom
Registration Deadline: Registration is now closed
While exploring the many reinventions of one of the 20th century's greatest composers, we will examine Stravinsky's journey from Russian nationalist to European cosmopolitan to American patriot.
INSTRUCTOR: The 2022-2023 season marks Timothy Hankewich's 17th year as the music director of Orchestra Iowa. Recent guest appearances have included performances with the Jacksonville and Victoria (Canada) Symphonies as well as a tour throughout the Czech Republic and Slovakia with the Moravian Philharmonic and the Slovak State Orchestra. Previously Hankewich was the resident conductor of the Kansas City Symphony.
Registration for Course 1 is now closed.
INSTRUCTOR: Kent Foulker
Dates: Wednesdays, August 31; September 7; Mondays, September 12, 19
Time: 10:00 a.m. - noon
Location: Walker Homestead, 3867 James Avenue SW, Iowa City
Registration Deadline: Wednesday, August 24
Class Limit: 60
The fermentation of sugar to alcohol has colored our lives from the dawn of human history, bringing pleasure and enhancing enjoyment of food. Meeting at a working winery, we will observe modern wine production, including grape harvesting and processing, and will make virtual visits to other vineyards and wineries. We will study the history and production of four great wine styles—Burgundian table wines; Champagne; the fortified wines of Spain and Portugal; and Cognac and Armagnac, the spirits of France—and learn to appreciate their unique sensory characteristics by tasting three or four examples each week, paired with classic food samples. Fee for this course will be $80.
INSTRUCTOR: Kent Foulker, general manager at Walker Homestead Farm and Winery, is the 2022 Iowa Wine Growers Association Winemaker of the Year. His wines and spirits at Cedar Ridge Winery and Distillery received multiple international gold and double gold awards. He has taught wine, beer, and spirits in Kirkwood Community College’s culinary arts program, of which he is a graduate.
Session 2 is now full. If you would like to be added to a waiting list for this course, email the course number, your name, and your phone number to Senior College at alumni.seniorcollege@foriowa.org or contact the UI Center for Advancement at 319-335-3305 or 800-648-6973.
INSTRUCTOR: Anna Barker
Dates: Wednesdays, September 7, 14, 21, 28; October 5
Time: 3:30 - 5:00 p.m.
Location: Zoom
Registration Deadline: Wednesday, August 31
Join us for this literary examination of French revolutionary history and reconnect with the most memorable characters of French literature—Jean Valjean, Fantine, Cosette, Thénardier, and Inspector Javert. In this five-week course, we will explore the role of Napoleon, the revolution of 1789, the Bourbon Restoration, and the revolutions of 1830 and 1848 in the personal and creative life of Victor Hugo as we discuss the five books of the novel and commemorate the 160th anniversary of this international masterpiece. The Penguin edition of the novel is recommended (translation by Norman Denny). Iowa City Book Festival events celebrating Les Misérables (a film screening, a public reading) are in the planning stages!
INSTRUCTOR: Anna Barker is an adjunct assistant professor of Russian and comparative literature at the UI. Her interests include Russian cultural history, Russian literature, and 19th-century European literature, art, and music. She has organized several literary celebrations, including public readings of Don Quixote, Moby-Dick, and War and Peace, and curated a UI Main Library Gallery exhibition focused on Dostoevsky.
INSTRUCTOR: Kim Marra
Dates: Tuesdays, September 13, 20, 27; October 4
Time: 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Location: Zoom
Registration Deadline: Tuesday, September 6
Humans are increasingly spending time in virtual reality, accessed only via eyes and avatars. Yet in the Age of Horsepower, by contrast, horses and their huge, powerful bodies profoundly shaped human identities. Focusing on New York and Iowa City, this course will consider different strategies of remembering the history of human-equine relationships through performance on various social, theatrical, and archival stages. Course materials will include the instructor's original documentary film The Pull of Horses in Urban American Performance, 1860-1920 and digital records of the related 2020 UI Main Library Gallery exhibit about life alongside horses in Iowa City's and the nation's past.
INSTRUCTOR: Kim Marra is professor emeritus of theatre arts and American studies at the University of Iowa, where she was also affiliate faculty in the Department of Gender, Women's and Sexuality Studies and taught theatre and performance history. She is a lifelong equestrian and former competitor in the cavalry-derived sport of three-day eventing.INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Mahi Ashwath
Dates: Wednesdays, September 28; October 5, 12, 19
Time: 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Location: Zoom
Registration Deadline: Wednesday, September 21
Lub—dub—lub—dub. Join us for an overview of heart disease, the number one cause of death in the United States and the world. Discussions will cover the variety of heart diseases, including heart attacks, congestive heart failure, and arrhythmias. We will learn to recognize and understand these conditions as well as current options for treating and managing them, from lifestyle changes and medications to advanced imaging and procedures.
INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Mahi Ashwath is a clinical professor of internal medicine and radiology in the UI Carver College of Medicine. Currently she is president of the American College of Cardiology, Iowa Chapter and has hosted several of the group's cardiology conferences.
INSTRUCTOR: Kevin Hanick
Dates: Thursdays, October 6, 13, 20, 27
Time: 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Location: Students may attend on Zoom or in person at Coralville Public Library Room A/B, 1401 Fifth Street, Coralville.
Registration Deadline: Thursday, September 29
In-Person Class Limit: 60
This course will examine the ancient and widespread phenomenon of the human desire to collect. It will cover the psychology and history of collecting, various kinds of collections ranging from objects to experiences, and the care and legacy of personal collections. Illustrations will play a large role in class presentations, and students will be encouraged to share some of their own collections with the class. Before the course begins, the instructor will send a questionnaire to students to survey their collecting adventures and intentions.
INSTRUCTOR: Lifelong collector Kevin Hanick, founder of Urban Acres Real Estate and lead singer for the Recliners, has been active with the Iowa City Preservation Commission, The Housing Fellowship board, and Summer of the Arts. He earned an MA in English from the University of Iowa, where he has taught literature.INSTRUCTOR: Ben Kieffer
Dates: Tuesday, October 18; Wednesdays, October 26; November 2, 9
Time: 2:30 - 4:30 p.m.
Location: Coralville Center for the Performing Arts, 1301 Fifth Street, Coralville
Registration Deadline: Tuesday, October 11
Class Limit: 175
The political landscape heading into the 2022 midterm elections is unlike anything we could have imagined just a few years ago. Since the January 6 U.S. Capitol riot, ruminations about civil war are not uncommon. It's clear that the very foundations of our democratic system, including fair elections, are being tested. In the context of the country's extreme partisan divide, this course will examine the key races and major issues surrounding the 2022 elections. Sessions will feature conversations with guest political scientists, video clips of political news and interviews, as well as lively in-class discussions.
INSTRUCTOR: Ben Kieffer is the award-winning host of Iowa Public Radio's daily talk show River to River, which he also helps produce. Kieffer previously worked in Europe, where he reported on the fall of the Berlin Wall and covered the Velvet Revolution in Prague. Kieffer is a Cedar Falls native and UI graduate.
Session 7 is now full. If you would like to be added to a waiting list for this course, email the course number, your name, and your phone number to Senior College at alumni.seniorcollege@foriowa.org or contact the UI Center for Advancement at 319-335-3305 or 800-648-6973.
INSTRUCTOR: John Westefeld
Dates: Thursdays, October 27; November 3, 10, 17
Time: 10:00 a.m. - noon
Location: Students may attend on Zoom or in person at Coralville Public Library Room A/B, 1401 Fifth Street, Coralville.
Registration Deadline: Thursday, October 20
In-Person Class Limit: 60
This course will examine a number of current issues related to mental health and mental health delivery in the United States. Topics will include how to find a therapist, the process of psychotherapy, myths about psychotherapy, the portrayal of psychotherapy in the media, several diagnostic categories (depression, anxiety, couples counseling, eating disorders, substance abuse, and bipolar disorder), and current resources both nationally and in Iowa City. We will watch videos related to some of the topics. Students' participation and questions will be strongly encouraged.
INSTRUCTOR: John Westefeld, professor emeritus of counseling psychology, is a board-certified psychologist. At the University of Iowa, his work focused on training psychotherapists at the doctoral level. Throughout his 44-year career, his primary research and practice interests have been suicide and suicide prevention, as well as educating the public about mental health issues.
INSTRUCTOR: Edward Agran
Dates: Mondays, October 31; November 7, 14, 21
Time: 10:00 a.m. - noon
Location: Coralville Center for the Performing Arts, 1301 Fifth Street, Coralville
Registration Deadline: Monday, October 24
Class Limit: 150
E. M. Forster wrote that Sinclair Lewis lodged "a piece of a continent in our imaginations." Lewis had just published Babbitt, two years after stunning the nation with Main Street in 1920. Three more powerful novels followed: Arrowsmith, Elmer Gantry, and Dodsworth. Lewis became the first U.S. writer to receive the Nobel Prize in literature, yet most literary scholars have assessed him, not always favorably, outside of his historical context. This course will consider his relevance to the formation of middle-class ideology from a historical perspective.
INSTRUCTOR: Edward Agran, professor emeritus of history at Wilmington College, retired to Iowa City in 2016. The author of "Too Good a Town": William Allen White and the Emerging Rhetoric of Middle America and Herbert Hoover and the Commodification of Middle-Class America: An American Promise, Agran is the recipient of numerous teaching awards.
INSTRUCTOR: Greg Newmaster
Dates: Tuesdays, November 1, 8, 15, 22
Time: 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Location: Coralville Center for the Performing Arts, 1301 Fifth Street, Coralville
Registration Deadline: Tuesday, October 25
Class Limit: 150
The San Francisco sound created by the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Santana, and many other musicians was a driving force for the counterculture of the mid-1960s to the early 1970s. Using music, archival photos and videos, and poster and album art of the period, we'll consider the cultural significance of this music as we examine profiles of the major bands and of impresario Bill Graham, who set the standard in presenting rock concerts for the burgeoning music scene; the work of poster artists and photographers; and the role of Rolling Stone magazine and FM radio personalities in amplifying the voice of the counterculture.
INSTRUCTOR: Music enthusiast Greg Newmaster has photographed over one hundred major recording artists in live performance and maintains a large archive of music memorabilia. He holds a BA in communication studies from the University of Iowa and worked for 15 years in corporate communications as a writer and producer of video presentations.
Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires an accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact the UI Center for Advancement in advance at 319-335-3305 or 800-648-6973.
Emil Rinderspacher, Chair
Tom Rocklin, Vice Chair
Warren Boe
Gayle Bray
Holly Carver
Kelley Donham
Lesanne Fliehler
H. Dee Hoover
George Johnson
Frank Mitros
Mary New
Pam Willard
Nancy Williams