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courses and semesters
We offer courses and events during three semesters each year:
Fall, Winter, and Spring. Sometime Summer courses are also offered. (NOTE: In the last case, these are available to the public without requiring membership in Senior College.)
Fall and Spring semesters are six weeks long and each course meets once per week. Courses typically meet on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, either in the morning or afternoon. Each class is 2 hours long with a short break in the middle. Morning classes are from 9:30 am to 11:30 am. Afternoon classes are 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm.
Winter semester, known as Winterim, is four weeks long but otherwise has the same schedule.
Students are not graded in our courses. Most instructors structure their classes to be quite participatory and discussions are common. Of course, instructors like to see serious interest in the subject matter and encourage questions.
You need to be a member to take classes. The membership year starts September 1st runs through the following August 31st. Membership is $25/year. You can become a member at any time during the year but your membership fee is not pro-rated.
Course registration is usually secured and paid for online (click on any class description for registration link) however the system can generate an invoice that you can print and mail if you want to pay by check. Make checks out to Senior College at Belfast.
Limited scholarships are available for students or members. Call the office for more information.
teachers
Our courses are taught by our own members, with occasional outside instructors. Sometimes a person is approached by the Curriculum Committee to teach a class which was proposed by someone else. Alternatively a member proposes a class which they would like to teach. If you are inclined to explore being a teacher, for your own class idea, or someone else's, please get in touch with our Curriculum Committee to get your questions answered.
Teachers are given a free Senior College membership for the following year.
We are always looking for new instructors. No previous experience is required.
Propose a course!
Anyone can propose a course to our Curriculum Committee. Usually members propose courses they want to teach based on their interests and experience. There is often a wide variety of subjects. Popular courses are sometimes repeated.
We welcome new and interesting concepts and first time teachers! We are here to answer your questions about developing a course idea. You can also propose a course without being the one to teach the class. We are good at locating just the right instructor.
You can send your idea for a class to curriculum_chair@belfastseniorcollege.org or you can fill out an online proposal at Course Proposal Forms
If you wish to propose and teach a course, be aware there is some lead time required to find a location and arrange other resources.
Questions? Email curriculum_chair@belfastseniorcollege.org