April 13 - May 20, 2010
Classes meet Tuesdays or Thursdays, 3:30 - 5:30pm or Thursday evenings, 6:30 - 8:30pm.

Tuesday Afternoon Classes

Beginning Birding

This course will cover all you need to know to ease into birding, whether you just want to understand what visits your yard or you want to turn birding into a lifelong hobby.  Classes will cover how to select things you’ll need, how to improve the habitat around your home, how to discourage predators, and recommendations for feed & feeders. We will cover identification of the more common birds of Skagit County.  Weather permitting, interested students can participate in field trips to find & identify some of the local birds. Class meets Tuesdays, 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm.

Instructor: Joe Halton

Joe Halton has been teaching birding courses for the Skagit Audubon Society & the Senior College since moving to Anacortes from Texas in 2001.  Joe has had over 20 years of birding experience throughout the West & Southwest.  Included in his birding activities are writing & photography, some of which can be viewed at his birding blog:  joehalt.blogspot.com

Coastal Navigation

Classes will cover coastal navigation useful for all boaters.  Covering the basics is important to understanding the presentations on Chinese navigation in the 15th Century and Polynesian navigation – both fascinating!  There will be class participation. Class meets on Tuesdays (note: This 5-session course starts April 20th)

Instructor: Lin Folsom

Lin has boated all her life and has taught basic coastal navigation for the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary for 10 years.  She is particularly fascinated about how people have navigated before GPS.

Intro. To Calligraphy

During our twice-weekly meetings (Tues and Thurs), students will learn the structure and construction of the Old English letters (also known as the German Text), both upper & lower case.  This is a hands-on course, with the instructor providing the lecture, worksheets, & individual help during the sessions.  Students are required to purchase two fibre-tip pens ordered by the instructor (c. $6 – 10). Class meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Instructor: Joseph Vitovec

Joseph Vitovec is a graduate of Texas Christian University with a degree in History and Art, and from the Univ. of Texas with a degree in Government. While serving with the U.S. Air Force, he was an instructor in Pol. Science at Tarrant Co. College in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Joy of Science

Science is an ongoing effort to understand our natural world better.  To gain this understanding requires knowledge of the basics of science that have led to our concepts of nature and to the technologies in which our lives are immersed.  We will look at scientific methods, the movement of energy throughout our world, the continuity of living systems, and the relationships among all of the elements of our natural world.  In this pathway of understanding lies the joy of science. Class meets on: Tuesdays.

Instructor: Jim Ford, Ph. D.

James Ford earned graduate degrees from Oregon State University (Master’s in Ecology, Ph.D. in Cell Biology and Genetics). He taught biological sciences at Bellevue High School, Skagit Valley College, and Western Oregon University. Later he became Dean of Instruction, then President of Skagit Valley College (18 years). He continues studies in science, keeping up-to-date in recent developments in his major fields. Dr.     Ford authored a very successful college biology textbook – Living Systems.

Thursday afternoon classes

Conversational Spanish

This is an ongoing class in Conversational Spanish, open only to previous students. Text: Communicating in Spanish. Class meets on Thursdays.

Instructor: Ruth Vitovec

Ruth Vitovec graduated Magna cum Laude from Texas Christian University, in 1989,with a BS in Education.  She taught in the Fort Worth School District & joined the staff of Tarrant County College as an instructor in Remedial English. In 2000, she and her husband Joseph moved to Anacortes. A native Spanish speaker, she has been involved in tutoring ESL/ELL students both privately and through the Skagit Literacy Center.

Poetry of the Romantic & Victorian Periods

A look at some of the elements of poetry of the 18th & 19th Centuries with readings & discussion.  Class participation, but writing is optional.  Students should bring a favorite poem to share with the first class.  The text costs c. $8) -- Immortal Poems of the English Language. Class meets on Thursdays.

Instructor: Yvonne Olson

Class meets on Thursdays
Yvonne has a lifetime teaching credential and taught poetry for several years. She raised a family of 5 (all grown now, one becoming the Solicitor General of the U. S.), then returned to college to earn a BA in English and her teaching credential.  After working on a Master’s degree, she served as a substitute high school teacher and taught poetry in an adult education program in Palo Alto, California.  Yvonne & her husband moved to Anacortes in 2003.

A History of Money

This course will cover how societies, from ancient times, have one thing in common – the exchange of value.  Whether it is “the root of all evil” or “what makes the world go around,” money will just wear different costumes as the world turns.  By unveiling the past with a bit of humor, the present & the future may lose some of its mystery.  (Note: This is not a course in finance or investing.) Class meets on Thursdays.

Instructor: Don Black

Don earned a BS from UCLA and a JD from USC.  He practiced law for 34 tears, mostly dealing with security regulations covering financial institutions, markets, & the SEC.  He was National President of the American Board of Trial Advocates.

Industries of Anacortes

A series based on guest speakers representing the major 5-6 industries in and around Anacortes.  Probable inclusions will be Dakota Creek shipbuilding, Cortland/Puget Sound Rope, Shell Oil, Trident Seafood, & the Washington Alder Sawmill. Class meets on Thursdays

The order of topics and presenters will be announced on the first day of class. Moderator: Tom Kuhn (ASC President)

Thursday Evenings  (6:30-8:30)

Islam and the World (5 sessions, April 22-May 20)

This course will consider the basic tenets of Islam and look at history from an Islamic point of view.  The main sources for our analysis will be Tamim Ansary’s Destiny Disrupted and Reza Aslan’s No God But God.  The course should help us to better understand the current world situation and how to cope with it. Class meets on Thursday Evenings  (Note: 5-sessions, from April 22- May 20)

Instructor: William L. Malcomson

“Bill” Malcomson has a Ph.D. from Princeton University in the History of Religions. He has taught religion courses for some years in local senior centers.  He lives in La Connor.

Clashes of Ancient Civilizations

This is a brief overview of the bitter conflict between the Ancient Middle East, dominated by such empires as Egypt, Assyria, and Persia, and the robust but bitterly divided Greek city-states and their more unified and powerful Macedonian neighbors.  Among the topics to be discussed will be the interaction between Semitic and Indo-European peoples, the struggle between Athens and Sparta, the spread of Hellenism, and the withering away of the Classical World.  Hopefully, we can come away with a better understanding of the persistent and seemingly intractable tension between the Middle East and Western Civilization. Class meets on Thursday Evenings.

Instructor : Winston Carter

After 3 years with the U.S. Army in Europe, Winston Carter received a BA in History and Political Science at San Diego State University.  In 1961 he obtained a Master’s degree in History with minors in Pol. Science and Economics from UC Berkeley, concentrating on European Diplomatic History since 1789. In addition, he studied Spanish language & civilization at the Universities of Madrid and Valencia.  After further graduate study he taught Western Civilization at Santa Rosa College and U.S. History at Chabot College, and served as a History, Spanish, & Government teacher with Defense Department schools in Germany and Italy.  Upon retirement, he continued teaching History courses with Western Washington University’s Academy for Life-long Learning.