Sarah Lawrence College invites Bronxville-area adults 55 and older to a free evening of mini-lectures, wine and cheese on Wednesday, Sept. 30.
The event, billed as "Meet the Provost & Faculty," runs from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Barbara Walters Campus Center, 1 Mead Way. Attendees will meet Provost and Dean of Faculty Kanwal Singh, mingle with Extension Course instructors and sample two short lectures.
The event is free.
Cultural historian Jim Cullen will present "Cinema History: Image as Reality," drawing on his work exploring American history through film. Cullen has taught at Harvard, Fordham and Sarah Lawrence and authored more than a dozen books on American cultural history.
Lyde Cullen Sizer, a history faculty member whose research focuses on gender, race and 19th-century American culture, will deliver "A Brief Introduction to The World of our Mothers." Sizer won the Avery O. Craven Award from the Organization of American Historians for her book on Northern women writers during the Civil War.
The evening is geared toward the college's Signature Learning Community, a membership program for adults 55 and older that launched in January. Members get discounted access to extension courses, the chance to audit undergraduate classes, invitations to campus events and library borrowing privileges. No prior college experience or connection to Sarah Lawrence is required to join.
The expanded lifelong-learning push is led by James Stakenburg, executive director of lifelong learning. "Today's learners are looking for flexibility without sacrificing depth, and that's exactly what the Signature Learning Community provides," Stakenburg said in a January announcement of the program.
Extension courses are non-credit and open to any adult 18 or older. Most six-week courses cost $480, and single lectures run $50. Classes cap at 45 students. Cullen's full six-week cinema history course begins Oct. 28 and meets Wednesdays from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. through Dec. 9.
An online information session about the Signature Learning Community is also scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 23, from noon to 12:45 p.m.
Upcoming at Sarah Lawrence
- Sept. 23: Online info session on the Signature Learning Community, noon to 12:45 p.m.
- Sept. 30: "Meet the Provost & Faculty" evening, Barbara Walters Campus Center, 5 to 7 p.m. Free.
- Oct. 28: Jim Cullen's six-week cinema history course begins, Wednesdays 7 to 9 p.m.
