Community Classroom Series
The William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education, described since its early days as the “citizen’s classroom,” offers the public a variety of short courses—the Community Classroom Series.
Each course costs $60 and meets at the Friday Center, UNC-Chapel Hill's premier facility for continuing education. The Friday Center offers free parking, easy access, and comfortable classrooms. Class sizes are limited, so register early.
Spring 2013 Courses
- Retirement Planning Today™—This course is full
- Alexander the Great Revisited
- Digital Photography Basics Plus
- Digital Photography for Realtors—This course has been cancelled
- Landscaping 101—This course is full
- You Can Do It!—Registration is closed
- Write Your Life—This course is full
Course Descriptions
Retirement Planning Today™
This course has two sections:
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Section 1: Tuesdays, 7–9 pm, March 5, 12, 19. Course # 2932.—This section is full. If you would like to be added to the waitlist, contact Jill Conrad, conradj@email.unc.edu.
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Section 2: Wednesdays, 7–9 pm, March 27, April 3, 10. Course # 2933. —This section is full. If you would like to be added to the waitlist, contact Jill Conrad, conradj@email.unc.edu.
The days of the “normal” retirement are over. Today’s retirees and those retiring in the next generation will face uncertainties and challenges never seen before. This class is designed for both pre-retirees as well as those recently retired; it covers the basic elements of a successful retirement strategy. The course combines essential life-planning concepts with more traditional retirement-planning strategies. We will consider questions such as: How will inflation negatively affect your portfolio and financial goals? Will your pension or Social Security be there for the rest of your life? How will new tax laws impact your retirement income? Do you have a plan to cover the staggering cost of long-term care? Is your estate plan updated to take advantage of current estate tax laws? Are your assets allocated in a manner in which they will last through your life expectancy and support your lifestyle goals? Bring your questions to this exciting and eye-opening class. Included with your class fee, as a resource, you will receive a notebook with a significant amount of financial content.
Ben Birken, who will teach the Tuesday course, is a Certified Financial Planner™ at Woodward Financial Advisors, an independent wealth management firm in Chapel Hill. His specialties include retirement planning, investment management, and working with UNC employees.
James R. Miller, who will teach the Wednesday course, is a Certified Financial Planner™ and president of Woodward Financial Advisors, an independent wealth management firm in Chapel Hill. He has taught this course at UNC since 2008, as well as similar financial-planning and investment courses at local colleges and universities. His specialties include retirement-income planning, investment-management techniques, and estate planning.
Alexander the Great Revisited
Wednesdays, 7-9 pm, March 13, 20, 27, April 3. Course # 2934
Earlier courses have focused on the campaigns of Alexander the Great. This course will target related issues including Alexander’s divinity; his administration of empire; the many Alexandrias he founded, especially Alexandria in Egypt; and Alexander’s portrayal in art, literature, music, and cinema.
W. J. McCoy is associate professor emeritus of history and adjunct associate professor of peace, war, and defense at UNC-Chapel Hill, where he has taught courses in ancient Greek history, military, and culture for forty-two years. He was also adjunct associate professor of classics. From 1981 to 2010, he directed the annual UNC-Chapel Hill Summer Study Abroad program in Greece; he continues to lead adult tours of the Greek mainland and Crete.
Digital Photography Basics Plus
This course has two sections:
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Tuesdays, 7-9 pm, April 2, 9, 16, 23. Course # 2930
- Wednesdays, 7-9 pm, March 13, 20, 27, April 3. Course # 2935. This section is full. If you would like to be added to the waitlist, contact Jill Conrad, conradj@email.unc.edu.
All new course—totally revamped! Now there are two separate study tracks, one for point-and-shoots and one for DSLRs—separate in-class and homework assignments.
You will learn about your camera and lenses, how to properly upgrade lenses and cameras for your type of photography, and the correct settings for program, aperture and shutter priority shooting under all lighting conditions. You will learn how to optimize exposure, freeze action, and control depth of field for enhanced storytelling. We will review homework assignments in class to learn from one another. Photo assignments will include portraits, sports, performing arts, action, landscapes, flowers, and more. Q&A sessions make it easy for you to get specific answers for your photography questions.
Materials fee of $15 is additional, payable to instructor, for course materials, workbook, software and more.
Professional photographer Ted Salamone has captured images in six continents. Ted enjoys utilizing and teaching the technical and artistic aspects of digital photography. He photographs architecture, weddings, sports, portraits, and editorial and commercial assignments. Ted also conducts field workshops and is the photography editor for Raleigh Downtowner magazine and its website.
Digital Photography for Realtors
Tuesdays, 7-9 pm, April 2, 9, 16, 23. Course # 2936
This course has been cancelled.
This course is specially designed for realtors who need quick solutions to generate more leads per listing, sell homes faster, or rent residential, commercial and business space faster! Curb appeal has been replaced by web appeal – and the only way to enhance web appeal is through better photos. You will learn how to maximize the quality of your photos using your existing camera, plus you will also learn what equipment is needed to get the best images possible.
You will learn how to best use point-and-shoots, DSLRs, external flash units, wireless systems, booms, and more. You will also learn how to download, resize, and crop your images. Don’t pay someone to take your photos—get them yourself!
Materials fee of $15 is additional, payable to instructor, for course materials, workbook, software, and more.
Professional photographer Ted Salamone has captured images in six continents. Ted enjoys utilizing and teaching the technical and artistic aspects of digital photography. He photographs architecture, weddings, sports, portraits, and editorial and commercial assignments. Ted also conducts field workshops and is the photography editor for Raleigh Downtowner magazine and its website.
Landscaping 101
Tuesdays, 7-9 pm, April 2, 9, 16, 23. Course # 2937
This course and the waitlist are full. If you would like to be added to the Professional Development and Enrichment Programs listserv, contact Jill Conrad, conradj@email.unc.edu.
If your thumbs are even somewhat green, you may want to pursue the design, installation, and caring for decorative gardens as a highly rewarding career, side-job, or simply as a way to relax and find comfort. Tune into the rhythm of the sun, the seasons, even as you transform the landscape around you into something more and more beautiful. Use this course as a unique opportunity to learn “the secrets of the trade” from a professional landscaper.
Some of the areas we’ll cover include: creating top-notch topsoil, planting, transplanting, fertilizing, mulching, tilling, pruning, choosing the right plant for the right place, choosing the right tool for the job, garden design, installing various types of paths, building trellises, working with stone, learning what a “room” is in landscape design and how to create it, and more. We are guaranteed to have a wonderful, fun time; after all, what better way to become calm and happy than to commune with the natural elements in your garden?
Barry Feiler is a professional landscaper currently working in the Chapel Hill area. He has designed, installed, and tended gardens for the last thirty-five years. He received his training by taking courses at Harvard University and doing hands-on work in workshops at Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum. Another element of his education included working in landscape companies in Boston and Amsterdam. He headed landscape design projects in New York and India. Among the types of gardens Barry has designed and installed are: English cottage gardens, Japanese gardens, formal commercial gardens, and sculpture gardens. A high honors graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, Barry is also a professional artist, working in the media of sculpture and drawing. He brings his artistic skills to bear in each of his landscape projects. Barry’s great love is passing on all his knowledge from his years of experience in these two fields—landscaping and art—to enthusiastic students.
You Can Do It!
Tuesdays, 7-9 pm, March 12, 19, 26, April 2. Course #2939
Registration is closed. If you would like to be added to the Professional Development and Enrichment Programs listserv, contact Jill Conrad, conradj@email.unc.edu.
This course will be held at the Hampton Inn and Suites, Chapel Hill: I-40/Exit 273; 6121 Farrington Road, Chapel Hill, NC 27517. Phone 919-403-8700.
Are you going through a transition in life or in your career? Need strategies and support to take charge of your life so you can move forward and grow? In this course you will learn ways to handle a life and/or job change that promote resilience and the positive power you need to move forward. This upbeat course gives you a set of tools to help you recognize your strengths, identify your priorities, explore options and take small-but-steady action steps to move from where you are now to where you want to be!
Instructor Vicki Field navigated her own career/life transition by designing and teaching “New Directions,” a popular class that she led for eight years. Since then she has continued her work as a coach, workshop leader, Director of Learning and Development, and consultant, helping individuals and organizations to make change in positive ways through challenging times. As the founder of Passage Points, Vicki’s coaching, workshops, and Field Guides reach throughout North America.
Write Your Life
Wednesdays, 7-9 pm, March 20, 27, April 3, 10. Course # 2938. Enrollment is limited to 20.
This course and the waitlist are full. If you would like to be added to the Professional Development and Enrichment Programs listserv, contact Jill Conrad, conradj@email.unc.edu.
This course will be held at the Hampton Inn and Suites, Chapel Hill: I-40/Exit 273; 6121 Farrington Road, Chapel Hill, NC 27517. Phone 919-403-8700.
A famous writer once said, “Listen to your life; all moments are key moments.” In this fun and supportive—yet challenging—class, learn how to draw on the “material” of your life to write and revise whatever you wish to work on, including stories, memoirs, novels, poems, or plays. Working individually, in small groups, and one-on-one with the instructor, take your initial writing and develop and polish it so it is ready for publication. This class is sure to inspire your creativity.
Instructor Richard Krawiec has taught various popular writing courses for many years for Community Classroom Series. His teaching skills and warm demeanor earned him the Friday Center Excellence in Teaching Award in 2009. He has published two novels, Time Sharing (Publisher’s Weekly Recommended) and Faith in What?; and a story collection, And Fools of God. His plays have been produced across the US and Canada. His second book of poems, She Hands Me the Razor (title poem nominated for a Pushcart Prize), was published by Press 53. His first book of poems, Breakdown,was a finalist for a minor award. His poetry and fiction appear in dozens of literary magazines. He has been awarded fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the NC Arts Council (twice), and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. He teaches beginning, intermediate, and advanced online fiction writing for UNC-Chapel Hill. He is founder of Jacar Press, a Community Active publishing company.
Registration
Each course is $60. The fee covers the cost of instruction and course materials. It does not include refreshments. Digital photography courses have an additional fee, payable to the instructor. Payment must accompany registration. Make checks payable to the Friday Center.
There are four ways to register:
Mail: Print out the registration form and mail it to
Campus Box 1020, The Friday Center
UNC-Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill NC 27599-1020.
Fax: Print out the registration form and fax it to 919-962-5549.
Phone: Call 800-845-8640 or 919-962-2643.
If you have special needs to accommodate a motor or sensory impairment, please indicate your needs on the registration form.
UNC-Chapel Hill uses an alternative to the Social Security number called the Personal ID (PID) to aid in keeping records for students and participants. If you do not have a PID, you will be required to enter your birthdate and gender so that we can assign you a PID. We appreciate your cooperation.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is committed to equality of educational opportunity. The University does not discriminate in offering access to its educational programs and activities on the basis of race, color, gender, age, national origin, religion, creed, disability, veteran’s status, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.
Cancellation and Refunds
Full refunds will be given to registrants who cancel in writing one week prior to the first class meeting. No refunds will be made after that date. Substitutions are welcome.
Location
Courses are held at the Friday Center, which offers ample free parking. The Friday Center is located approximately three miles east of the UNC-Chapel Hill campus, just off Highway 54 East (Raleigh Road). The Center is a short distance from Interstate 40 (from Raleigh, I-40 exit 273A; from Greensboro, I-40 exit 273). See Map and Directions to the Friday Center.
Contact
For information, contact:
Jill Conrad (conradj@email.unc.edu), Program FacilitatorProfessional Development and Enrichment Programs
The Friday Center
800-845-8640 or 919-962-2643
The Friday Center
Campus Box 1020
100 Friday Center Drive
Chapel Hill NC 27599-1020
Phone: 919-962-3000
Toll-free: 866-441-3683
