重口味SM offers a variety of personal enrichment programs. To register for online or print your transcript, visit the Center for Continued Learning's online registration website.
SS United States Discussion
- Date: Wednesday, April 29 from 2-4 p.m.
- Location: 2nd floor of the Henry Student Center
- Cost: Free and open to the public. Registration is required.
Larry Bulanda
The SS United States is an ocean liner that is often referred to as 鈥淎mericas Flagship鈥�. She broke the world speed record for a trans-Atlantic crossing in 1952 on her maiden voyage to England, a record which stands to this day winning her the Blue Riband, an award which went to the fastest liner. The ship was the pride of America because she bested speed records set by such European liners as the Queen Mary, the Queen Elizabeth and the Normandie. Those ships were world renowned in a time when sailing was the only way for travelers to cross the Atlantic.
Despite her superb design and fame, her life was short lived since commercial air travel took over the trans-Atlantic market. She was taken out of service in 1969 and sat for years waiting for potential buyers. The ship was stripped of furnishings and other items and was finally towed to Philadelphia where it was moored for 30 years, owned by the SS United States Conservancy. During that time several investors showed interest in acquiring the ship but nothing materialized. Following a legal battle the ship was sold to Okaloosa County, Florida where it will be sunk as the world鈥檚 largest artificial reef in April 2026.
The instructor is Larry Bulanda. Larry is a retired electrical engineer with both a Bachelors and Masters degree in electrical engineering. His 42-year engineering career included employment with major defense and communications corporations. He closed out his career with a ten-year engagement with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel Maryland. His work assignments included several highly classified projects as well as working on nuclear reactor plant design for the Nimitz class aircraft carriers, the aviation systems of the Ford class aircraft carriers and finally, interplanetary spacecraft.
His interest in the SS United States began back in 1981 when he was employed by Newport News Shipbuilding, the shipyard that built the SS United States in 1949-1952. Pride in the ship was significant among employees due to the ship鈥檚 storied accomplishments and its revolutionary engineering. Since his retirement, Larry has continued his research on the SS United States and is now engaged in educating others about the ship.
Non-Credit Adult Classes
RACE: THE STORY OF THE WORLD鈥橲 MOST DANGEROUS MYTH
Date: Tuesdays & Thursdays, July 21-August 13 from 11 AM-12:15 PM
Location: 重口味SM, classroom TBA
Cost: $100
Instructor: Chris Kovats-Bernat, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Africana Studies
Many people assume race is a biological fact鈥攕omething encoded in our DNA that allows the sorting of humanity into natural categories. It is not. Race is a relatively recent idea and one that is the product of human invention. This course traces the evolution of the race concept from its origins in ancient philosophy, to the colonial encounter and the Atlantic slave trade, through scientific racism, eugenics, and IQ testing, to the way racial categories continue to organize access to resources, wealth, security, and dignity today. Participants in the course will engage with critical and timely questions: Where did racial categories come from? Who made them, and why? If race isn鈥檛 biologically real, why does it have such real consequences? How did science get recruited to make racial categories look natural and inevitable? If racial categories were invented, why can鈥檛 we uninvent them? This is a course about one of the most consequential ideas in human history, and we will examine where it came from, how it has been used, and why it persists long after the science that invented it has been thoroughly discredited. By the end of the course, participants will have a clear, evidence-based account of the race concept. No academic background is required鈥攐nly a willingness to question what you thought you knew about race.
Week 1 鈥� Before Race: How the Ancient World Organized Human Difference
Week 2 鈥� Colonialism, Slavery, and the Need for a Cover Story
Week 3 鈥� Scientific Racism: From Linnaeus to The Bell Curve
Week 4 鈥� The Racial Contract: White Supremacy as a Social System
Week 5 鈥� Unmaking Race: Toward and Anti-Racist Society
Can It Happen Here? Understanding Earthquake and Natural Hazard Risk in Pennsylvania
Date: Tuesdays, June 2-June 23 from 6-8 PM, optional field class on Sunday, June 28
from 1-4 PM
Location: 重口味SM, classroom TBA
Cost: $100
Instructor: Bobby Karimi, Associate Professor Earth Systems Science
While Pennsylvania is not widely known for major natural disasters, the region is still vulnerable to earthquakes, landslides, subsidence, and flooding. This course explores the science behind these hazards and explains how scientists assess and monitor risk. Participants will learn how and why earthquakes occur, why sinkholes and landslides form, and how human activities such as mining influence ground stability. The course also introduces modern tools, including satellite monitoring and geospatial analysis, that help scientists identify and monitor hazard-prone areas. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of the risks present in their region and how these risks are evaluated.
Weekly Outline
Week 1: Earthquakes 鈥� causes, measurement, and regional risk
Week 2: Landslides, subsidence, and landscape instability
Week 3: Flooding and environmental hazards in Pennsylvania
Week 4: How scientists monitor hazards using satellites and GIS
Week 5: Optional Field Component: Identifying landscape features related to hazard risk 鈥� landslides at Shickshinny and sinkholes in Luzerne, PA.
Pages and Possibilities: Introduction to Journaling
Date: Tuesdays, June 16-July 7 from 1-2:30 PM
Location: Online
Cost: $100
Instructor: Gina Harrison, Assistant Professor Graduate Nursing
This five-week, online (or in-person) course is designed for adult learners seeking to explore journaling as a tool for reflection, creativity, and growth. The sessions will include guided prompts, interactive exercises, and supportive community.
This course is for any level of journaling experience, and no prior experience is required. It is low-pressure course that introduces different techniques and prompts for participants. Each week, participants will be introduced to a new theme with practical tools and suggestions to deepen self-awareness, reduce stress, and spark creativity.
Description:
Journaling is a powerful personal tool for self-discovery, emotional clarity, and creative expression. The course is designed to introduce foundational principles and techniques of journaling. Participants will engage with multiple journaling styles while learning how to overcome common barriers. The course includes weekly themes, guided exercise, and tools to help participants create a personal journaling habit to support their insight and well-being.
Objectives:
1. Develop a personal understanding of journaling.
2. Identify different journaling styles.
3. Explore creative and reflective writing exercises.
4. Apply journaling as a tool for creativity, expression, and intention setting.
5. Develop a personalized and sustainable journaling practice.
Structure:
Week 1: Getting Started
Week 2: Reflection & Self-Awareness
Week 3: Creativity & Expression
Week 4: Intention Journaling
Week 5: Reflection & Sustainability
Witches: Gender, Power, and the Monstrous Feminine in Art History
Date: Wednesdays, June 3-July 1 from 4-5:15 PM
Location: Online
Cost: $100
Instructor: Heather Sincavage, Associate Professor Integrative Media and Director, Sordoni Art Gallery
Why have images of "dangerous women" haunted art history for so long?
From early modern witch trials to the seductive femme fatale, artists have repeatedly portrayed women who exist outside social control as monstrous, mystical, or deadly. This five-week course will explore how the figures of the witch reflect cultural anxieties about aging, sexuality, labor, and power.
Drawing on feminist scholar Silvia Federici's influential book Caliban and the Witch, we'll examine how the persecution of witches coincided with the rise of capitalism and the regulation of women's bodies. Moving through Renaissance paintings and prints, Victorian and Pre-Raphaelite painting, film noir, feminist performance, and contemporary art, participants will discover how artists have both demonized and reclaimed the "monstrous feminine.鈥�
Rather than treating the witch as a fixed image, we'll trace how she shifts across time: from persecuted crone to eroticized seductress, from grotesque body to reclaimed feminist symbol. We'll examine how visual culture repeatedly constructs women outside patriarchal control as monstrous鈥攁nd how artists have reimagined that monstrosity as power.
Participants will acquire skills in visual analysis, feminist art history, and the critical examination of how images influence political narratives and ideologies.
Course Outline:
Week 1: Burn Her: The Invention of the Witch: Capitalism, Labor, and the Aging Body [Witch hunts and primitive accumulation] Core Question: What historical and social conditions lead to the emergence of the witch? Visual Focus: Albrecht D眉rer, Hans Baldung, Illustrations from the Malleus Maleficarum
Week 2: Paint Her as Grotesque: The Grotesque and the Abject: Making the Crone Monstrous Core Question: How does visual culture make aging female bodies unbearable? Key Artists: Francisco Goya, Salvator Rosa, Artemisia Gentileschi (counterpoint)
Week 3- Desire her: The Beautiful Witch: [The erotic threat: femme fatale] Core Question: What if danger looks seductive? Key Artists: Gustave Moreau, John William Waterhouse, Henry Fuseli, Film noir femme fatales Key Figures: Salome, Circe, Medusa, Judith
Week 4: Confine Her: Hysteria, Asylum, and the Medicalization of the Witch [Hysteria and institutional control (the scientific witch hunt)] Core Question: What happens when female deviance becomes medical instead of supernatural? Key Figures & Artists: Edvard Munch, Aubrey Beardsley, Andr茅 Brouillet
Week 5: Reclaim Her: Reclaiming the Witch: Feminism, Ecology, and Radical Power [feminist and contemporary responses] Core Question: Can monstrosity become liberation? Key Artists: Judy Chicago, Ana Mendieta, Kiki Smith, Wangechi Mutu, Cecilia Vicuna
Design and Social Media for Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses
Date: TBA
Location: Online
Cost: $100
Instructor: Ana Perez, Adjunct Faculty Integrative Media
This 5-week virtual workshop is designed for entrepreneurs, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations looking to strengthen their social media presence through clear branding and professional-looking design鈥攚ithout needing a background in design. Over five interactive sessions, participants will learn how to define their brand, create engaging graphics, develop a strategic content plan, and use modern tools, including AI, to streamline and manage their social media more efficiently.
What you鈥檒l learn:
鈼� Branding Foundations for Social Media: Clarify your brand, define your audience, and create a consistent visual identity.
鈼� Design Basics for Non-Designers: Learn essential design principles that make your graphics look professional.
鈼� Canva Workshop: Design for Non-Designers: Hands-on experience designing posts, stories, and templates in Canva for your business.
鈼� Social Media Content Strategy: Develop a content plan that aligns with your goals and engages your audience.
鈼� Content Planning & Automation with AI: Use AI tools and scheduling systems to efficiently create, plan, and publish content.
Pottery
- Dates: TBA
- Location: 重口味SMPottery Studio, South River Street
- Cost: $240
The class is all levels with handbuilding and throwing on the potter's wheel. The clay we will be working with is Laguna #403 Speckled Buff Cone 5 (mid-fire stoneware clay). The glazes will be Cone 5 and will be fired in the electric kiln.
The instructor is . She is an artist who was born and raised in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Being surrounded by nature all her life, it has become an endless source of inspiration for her. She attended Tyler School of Art of Temple University in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Ceramics. She also holds a Teaching Artist certificate from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia.