Communiversity gives courses on variety of topics
Monday, August 27, 2007 4:01 PM CDT
LINCOLN — Lincoln College leaders say its new community education program is part of a broader effort to strengthen the college’s role as a resource to the Central Illinois region.
Dubbed Communiversity, the collection of noncredit evening courses provides opportunities for adults to learn about topics as varied as President Lincoln’s role in regional development to picking the best wine for dinner.
Registration for the fall offerings begins today.
“One of my goals has been to open the campus up more to the community … as a resource for the whole region,” said John Hutchinson, Lincoln College president.
Expanding opportunities for learning is part of the college’s purpose, and it builds on the interdependence between a college and its surroundings, he said.
“We should be standing shoulder to shoulder and growing together,” he said of the campus-civic connection.
The Communiversity program will starts with two programs:
-- “Abraham Lincoln and Logan County.” This comes as the nation prepares to celebrate in 2009 the bicentennial of the birth of our nation’s 16th president. Besides helping save the Union from destruction during the Civil War, Lincoln also played an integral role in creating Logan County.
-- “Corks & Forks: A Wine and Food Experience.” This course finds the college pairing up with Mason City restaurateurs John and Peggy Means, who own Jack & Joe’s Steakhouse in Mason City. The course aims to broaden one’s understanding of what wines go best with particular foods.
Lincoln College administrators created the Communiversity program based on feedback from focus groups. The concept is similar to other community programs, such as ones offered through Heartland Community College and Illinois State University in Normal.
Fun with educational content
The courses offer people not enrolled at the college a chance to have some fun while tackling significant content, said Hutchinson.
Creating a course on Abraham Lincoln for the kickoff seemed an obvious choice, he said. Lincoln College is the only higher education institution in Illinois named for the president, and it is in the only city named for Lincoln before he became president.
The five-week Lincoln course will meet Tuesday evenings, starting Sept. 18.
The wine course will meet a variety of evenings throughout October and November.
For more information visit www.
lincolncollege.edu/communiversity or call Jean Ann Miller, the college communications director, at (217) 732-3155, ext. 251.
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