Continuing Studies offers up diverse lineup of spring courses

Continuing
Studies offers up diverse lineup of spring courses
…………………………………………………………………

BY
DOTTIE ROARK
Special to the Rice News

Rice Board of
Trustees Chairman E. William Barnett and President Malcolm
Gillis are two of the distinguished speakers presenting
“A University So Conceived: The History of Rice University”
on Monday evenings, Feb. 19 through April 9, for the School
of Continuing Studies.

John Boles,
the William Pettus Hobby Professor of History; Frank M.
Fisher, professor of biology; Stephen Fox, adjunct lecturer
in architecture; and Melissa Kean, postdoctoral research
associate in history, will join Barnett and Gillis to recount
Rice’s dramatic rise to become a university of world
stature.

More than 40
Rice faculty members will lecture in Continuing Studies’
spring courses.
Noncredit courses are offered in history, philosophy, psychology,
literature, religion, the arts, music, science and more.
Most classes begin mid-February. Courses in eight foreign
languages start April 2.

Rice faculty
and staff and immediate family members receive a discount
of 50 percent off the published fee for most lecture courses
and 20 to 25 percent off for most creative writing, photography,
studio art, professional development and foreign language
courses.

Other history-related
offerings include “Critical Decisions in the History
of America,” “Irish History Since 1800: A Story
of Revolution and Evolution” and “A Sense of Place:
Historic Houston Neighborhoods.”

Three courses
are offered in conjunction with exhibitions at the Museum
of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Houston Museum of Natural
Science and one course in connection with the De Lange Conference,
a national symposium on neuroscience that will be held at
Rice March 5-6.

Participants
of “Mysteries of the Mind and Brain: Breakthroughs
in Neuroscience” will attend the keynote lecture of
the De Lange Conference and hear a series of lectures by
faculty from Rice and the Texas Medical Center.

“A Changing
Landscape: Impressionism in French Art, Music and Literature”
will provide an interdisciplinary background for the Museum
of Fine Art’s “Monet, Renoir and the Impressionist
Landscape.” The course will view the historical context
of the Impressionist movement along with the interactions
among the musical, artistic and literary worlds. The course
includes a tour of the museum exhibition. “Beauty and
Function: Design in Our Time” is a companion course
to the MFAH’s decorative arts exhibition, “Design
of Our Time.”

“Forbidden
City: The Many Faces of China’s Imperial Palace”
reviews the history and culture of the Chinese imperial
court as background to the Museum of Natural Science spring
exhibition, “Secret World of the Forbidden City.”

All museum companion
courses include guided tours of the exhibitions.

Lifelong students
of philosophy and psychology can choose from “Great
Philosophers,” “Giants of Psychology,” “The
Psychology of Love,” “Exploring the Meaning of
Life,” “Shapers of Christian Thought” and
“Optimal Living: A Guide to Energy, Peace and Purpose.”

A new career
development course will be led by veteran media personality
and communications expert Sandy Rivera. “Image Making:
A Workshop on Personal Communication Strategies” is
offered on two Saturdays, March 3 and 10.

Old favorites
returning include “Growing Your Houston Garden,”
“Your Dream Home: A Guide to the Design, Building and
Remodeling Process” and “Basics of Interior Design.”

The new “Afternoons
at Rice” series returns with four courses, including
a new course by psychologist Roberta Diddel, “Our Families,
Ourselves.”

To register,
contact the Rice University School of Continuing Studies,
(713) 348-4803, ext. 218, or visit the Web site, <http://scs.rice.edu>.
Seven instructor interviews in streaming video currently
are featured on the Web site.

For faculty
and staff registering on the Web, indicate that you are
Rice faculty or staff in the “Comments” section.

— Dottie
Roark is the marketing director for the School of Continuing
Studies.