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Lifelong Learning Institute Offers Variety of Fall Courses

Partnership brings continued education to members of Westminster-Canterbury

Course at Westminster-Canterbury
University News | October 3, 2018

The adventure of learning continues at Westminster-Canterbury on the Chesapeake Bay, a Virginia Beach life-care community for active retirees. This fall, members can once again engage in Virginia Wesleyan University course offerings in religion, history, political science, and more through the Westminster/Wesleyan Lifelong Learning Institute.

The partnership was formalized in 2017 and was renewed this week by Virginia Wesleyan President Scott D. Miller and President/CEO of Westminster-Canterbury Ben Unkle. The Lifelong Learning Institute continues to bring non-credit courses, taught at both VWU and at Westminster-Canterbury, to members at no cost to them. Those living at Westminster-Canterbury also receive free admission to the University’s facilities, plays, concerts, lectures, and regular season athletic events. Programming is coordinated by Ben Fraser, Westminster-Canterbury Fellow for Religious Studies and Lifelong Learning.

VWU President Scott Miller and Westminster-Canterbury President CEO Ben Unkle“Our goal is to provide the best educational experience possible for the Westminster-Canterbury community on a variety of educational subjects,” noted Fraser. “Critical thinking and intellectual growth is important to mental well-being and physical health at any age.”

Fraser also noted that the opportunity for Wesleyan students and Westminster-Canterbury members to interact in a classroom setting benefits both populations, integrating two communities that bring unique perspective and knowledge to the learning experience. Fraser is teaching a 12-week course at Westminster-Canterbury this fall titled, "Mere Christianity and the Adventure of the Christian Life," exploring the classic text by the famous Oxford scholar C.S. Lewis.

VWU Associate Professor of Political Science Leslie Caughell taught in the program last semester and will offer courses on women in politics this fall.

"Bringing academic knowledge to this audience has been a very rewarding experience," she said. "I've really enjoyed engaging in dialogue with another generation of learners at Westminster-Canterbury, and I can talk about people like Walter Cronkite and not have to explain who he was. Those in my courses there seem to love sharing their experiences and opinions."

Westminster/Wesleyan Lifelong Learning Institute: Fall 2018 Course Offerings

Courses at Westminster-Canterbury

Rhythm & Blues Tore Down the Walls of Segregation
(Presenter: Steve Buckingham, music producer, studio musician, and record company executive)

Mere Christianity – and the Adventure of the Christian Life
(Presenter: Dr. Benson P. Fraser, Westminster-Canterbury Fellow for Religious Studies and Lifelong Learning)

Humor in scripture
(Presenter: Dr. Terrence Lindvall, C.S. Lewis Endowed Chair in Communication and Christian Thought and Professor of Communication)

World War I: One Hundred Years after the Great War
(Presenter: Dr. Sara Sewell, Executive Director of The Lighthouse: Center for Exploration and Discovery, Executive Director of the Quality Enhancement Plan and Professor of History)

Women in Politics and the 2018 Election
(Presenter: Dr. Leslie Caughell, Associate Professor of Political Science and Chair of the Political Science Department, Chair of the International Studies Program)

Brain Health Matters
(Presenter: Dr. Scott Sautter, Board Certified Neuropsychologist and Adjunct Professor at Virginia Wesleyan University)

Detective Stories
(Presenter: Dr. Dennis Bounds, Writer, Author, and Adjunct Professor at Virginia Wesleyan University)

Playing Games Leads to Academic Success – Screen time Is Making Kids Moody, Crazy and Lazy” or Purchasing Educationally Stimulating Materials for Young People
(Presenter: Dr. Jayne Sullivan, Associate Professor of Education/Special Education)

Courses at Virginia Wesleyan University

See Jane Run: “Liberals and Conservatives Running for Office in 2018's "Year of the Woman”
(Presenter: Dr. Leslie Caughell)

Nexus Interfaith Dialogue: “Gender Roles and Religion”

The American Civil Rights Movement and the Women Who Started It
(Presenter: Dr. Charles Marsh, Commonwealth Professor of Religious Studies and Director of the Project on Lived Theology at University of Virginia)

Imagining the Scandal of the Cross through Comics and Graphic Novels
(Presenter: Dr. Elizabeth Coody is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Morningside College)

The Norfolk Seamstress Who Said “No”: The Political Legacy of Evelyn T. Butts
(Presenter: Kenny Alexander,  Mayor of the City of Norfolk and a Ph.D. student in the Leadership and Change program at Antioch University)

Nexus Interfaith Dialogue: “Trans Identity and Religious Faith”

 

Learn more about the Westminster/Wesleyan Lifelong Learning Institute.