Acting and stage combat, holiday gifts made from clay, yoga for menopausal women and Oriental belly dancing: What do these subjects have in common? No, they’re not all guilty pleasures of University President Henry Bienen.
But starting Wednesday, anyone interested in such topics can indulge for a quarter. They’re four of the fourteen new minicourses offered at Norris University Center this fall.
Ranging from pilates to German, minicourses let students and the general public indulge specialized interests. Most courses meet once a week over six weeks, though specifications vary by class. Costs range from $30 to $90 a course, and all Northwestern students and faculty get a $5 discount per class.
“Beyond Basic Bartending” was the first minicourse to fill completely. It doesn’t provide students with the formulas to create delectable Apple-Tinis, but rather with an awareness of the liabilities of serving and drinking alcohol. Students will learn how to prevent over-intoxication at off-campus parties, and how to serve alcohol safely and responsibly, said Jessica Sempek, the course’s teacher and NU’s coordinator of alcohol and other drug education.
The minicourse program has been in existence since Norris opened in 1975. Its coordinator, Chris Tondini, is trying to bring more enthusiasm to the program, he said.
“The image has been a small, dinky thing at Norris no one wants to go to,” he said. “I want to make sure people get the message that these courses are fun and interesting.”
Two of the new minicourses are student-taught. Weinberg senior Jessica Harris leads “Hip-Hop Dance Et Cetera” on Thursday afternoons. Medill senior Malena Amusa teaches “Traditional Dances of West Africa.” Students who take both courses get a discount.
Wine and beer tasting, knitting, fiction writing, ceramics and photography were some of last year’s more popular minicourses, Tondini said. This quarter features the most minicourses in the program’s history. Tondini plans to add at least five more in winter and spring.
Registration ends Wednesday. Learn more at www.minicourses.northwestern.edu.
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