Vol. 38, No. 18

11-1-2006
By: Julia Harris

Learning program at Marion allows seniors to take classes

With some projects it takes a village to succeed, but with others it only takes the persistent work of a motivated individual. Carol Bostic, a 35-year Marion resident, is credited with helping start Ohio State Marion’s new Learning Enrichment Institute, a program for adult learners.

Designed to provide lifelong learning opportunities for adults over the age of 50, LEI offers a variety of enrichment experiences such as watercolor, digital photography and yoga for people over 50.

“Twice a year for five weeks at a time, my sister was so busy with classes she was taking in Miami (Ohio) that I couldn’t get in touch with her,” Bostic said. “I’ve never been that excited about anything going on here.”

Bostic approached OSU Marion in 2005 with the idea of doing something similar. Even though she was met with initial reservations, she kept coming back to press her case.

It wasn’t until she teamed up with a pair of equally gung-ho women at Marion Technical College — Terri Martin and Tami Galloway, both with MTC’s Center for Workforce Development — that the initiative began to gather steam. A planning board was formed that included Karen Ream, director of Community Relations and Development at OSU Marion, and the LEI offered its first classes this fall.

Class instructors, who include current and retired OSU faculty and community members, donate their time, which helps keep costs down. For only $50 per term, participants can take as many courses as they want. Class locations vary, from sites on the OSU Marion campus to community sites.

This fall 16 courses were offered and enrollment was sufficient to permit 14 of them to go forward. A brown bag luncheon series, which meets weekly, brings in speakers from community nonprofits who discuss how people can get involved in causes like Habitat for Humanity and the Marion Area Humane Society.

Approximately 60 people enrolled in LEI classes.

Variety and flexibility in course offerings are key, considering only 11 percent of Marion residents have bachelor’s degrees — a statistic Bostic said is roughly half the state average.
Given that demographic, it might seem overly ambitious that one of the initiative’s goals is to offer classes at a level consistent with first-year college courses.

“We wanted them to be something other than fluff courses, something that you actually care about learning,” Bostic explained.

Part of “de-fluffing” the courses means bringing in instructors like Hassan Aly, associate professor of Economics. Aly taught the most popular LEI offering, Middle Eastern Culture, which drew more than 20 applicants for its 15 slots.

Many students enrolled in his class because of 9/11 and the ongoing tensions in the Middle East, Hassan said. The first session covered what he called “trivia” about the region: which country has the largest Muslim population, what countries comprise the Middle East and what are the two main threads that tie the Arabs together. Class discussion also veered into an exploration of Islam and its pillars, and how extremists are violating them. Not an Islamic scholar, Aly admits to being more comfortable with the second session, which addressed his area of expertise — economic development.

“We compared the Middle East to the United States, and students were surprised to learn that all 22 Arab countries together only represent the equivalent of 8 percent of the American gross domestic product,” Aly said. “They were also surprised to learn how small many of these countries are — United Arab Emirates, for example, has a population of 3 million, but 2 million of those are foreign nationals.”

Aly’s students were so engaged that even though the class is officially over, they’ve persuaded him to take them on a day-long tour Nov. 4 of Islamic landmarks, such as the Islamic Center in Toledo, the Arab American Museum in Dearborn, Mich., and a mosque in Detroit.

Bostic shares Aly’s sense of accomplishment and looks forward to next term. Class offerings are still being fleshed out, but suggestions are plentiful and include a session on journaling personal histories, discussing current events and art or opera appreciation.

“It’s been a learning experience, trying to figure out what people are interested in learning,” Bostic admitted. “But so far I’ve been very pleased, and I’m so appreciative of OSU Marion and Marion Tech because they do the lion’s share of the work and make the volunteers look really good.”

For more information about the Learning Enrichment Institute, call (740) 725-4014.

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