Members of the Institute for Continuing Learning at Young Harris College in Georgia studied The Meaning of Freedom last month. They examined thinkers as diverse as John Locke and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and discussed such controversial issues as the right to privacy, free speech and the need for a democracy set up along the lines of the New England town meeting.

During June members of the Lifelong Learning Society at Christopher Newport University in Virginia studied three very interesting topics. The first, Aristotle: An Overview had members exploring topics in Aristotle’s philosophy and science. The second, Julius Caesar: A Roman Memoir saw members studying one of history’s most intriguing figures. Finally, The Gilded Age transported members back to a unique time in American history using Mark Twain’s satirical work by the same name.

Lifelong Learning at Coastal Carolina University in South Carolina has some interesting summer programs lined up. On Mondays members will meet to discuss the book Sweet Home Carolina by T. Lynn Ocean. Wednesdays will find them studying Herbal Infusion, All That Jazz and Star Shine: Performance Training.

The Lifetime Learning Institute at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale recently offered members a chance to study Gilded Age Washington: Corruption, Bribery, and Falsehood. If remembered at all, the period of United States history from 1870 to 1910 remains forever tarnished by scandal, corruption and intrigue. Unregulated economic expansion generated enormous fortunes controlled by an upper class that delighted in overt, lavish displays of their wealth. Meanwhile, beneath the “gilded’ surface, distrust, dissatisfaction and disease festered within a growing underclass brutalized by oppressive working conditions and punishing poverty. Members explored the life and events of this time.

Can Ya Dig It? – Update on Archaeology in Israel and Jordan, is the title of a course being given this month at Senior Academy at the University of S. Florida, Sarasota. Discussion will include some of the recent archaeological discoveries in Israel and Jordan. This series will include a look at the findings from the first season of the new excavation being conducted by Trinity Southwest University at the Dead Sea in Jordan, which is believed to be the fantastic Biblical city of Sodom.