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Barbara Geehan
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Phone: (240) 895-3073
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St. Mary's City, MD 20686
Learning is Lifelong
St. Mary's Takes College to the Community
by Kathy Grimes, Assistant Vice President for
Lifelong Learning and Professional Development Programs
Southern Maryland resident John Horton personified lifelong learning. After an illustrious career with the CIA which took him and his family to the far-flung corners of the world, Horton and his wife, Grace, settled in St. Mary's County, building their own house by hand on the Patuxent River near Sotterley Plantation and becoming active in a variety of environmental and civic organizations for many years.
Three years ago, having entered their 80's and relocated to Asbury Retirement Community in Solomons, the Hortons found that many Asbury residents shared their desire for more opportunities for intellectual enrichment. After completing a needs assessment and looking at existing programs offered elsewhere, they approached St. Mary's College of Maryland about the possibility of professors teaching non-credit courses at Asbury. The rest, as they say, is history! More accurately, "American Diplomatic History" – the first course that St. Mary's offered at Asbury. Taught by retired professors Tom Stevens and Herb Winnik, the class was an immediate success, and demand for additional courses quickly followed.
The success of the Asbury experience encouraged the College to expand the program offerings to a second site at Wildewood Village. A few months before John Horton died in 2007, the College named the Asbury and Wildewood programs The Grace and John Horton Explorations in Learning to honor their tireless efforts to initiate these offerings to the adult community in Southern Maryland.
Recent classes have explored Chinese history and the role of China in the modern world, the U.S. presidency, and aesthetics. The six-week courses are offered both during evening and morning sessions to accommodate the schedules of working adults. Some classes are approved for employer payment by the Patuxent River Naval Air Station, and the Wildewood classes are open to adults of all ages. The China classes were taught by retired world history professor Frank van Aalst, who also led an associated group trip following the Silk Road through China. "Learning does not stop when you pick up your high school diploma or your college degree," says van Aalst. "With this program, you can get St. Mary's academic quality at bargain prices--and there's no homework or exams! These are purely academic courses to broaden your horizons, a chance to take those classes you missed in your youth. I have spoken to adults who are saying 'I wish I had taken an art appreciation class, or I wish I had had a chance to study more history.'"
Offerings under consideration for 2008-2009 at Wildewood include the following: "World Religions," "An Afghan View of World History," "Understanding India--Classical India," "Understanding India--Democratic India," "Parties & Politics," "Liberalism and Conservatism in American History," and "Poetry, Religion & War."
Check the St. Mary's Web site at www.smcm.edu/continuinged/lifelonglearning.html for course updates and registration information.
