Opportunities for learning enrich the lives of retirees

Retirees in search of intellectual stimulation can tap into two programs supported by the University.

The Center for Learning in Retirement (CLIR) is Storrs-based; the Adult Learning Program (ALP) serves Hartford-area residents.

Both are membership organizations offering mini-courses and seminars on a variety of subjects, strictly for learning enrichment.

No credits. No tests.

UConn's Center for Continuing Studies handles administrative functions for each group.

The University provides meeting space for the CLIR in Windham cottage at the Mansfield Depot campus but not for the ALP, which meets at the Seabury Retirement Community in Bloomfield.

Seabury gives members classrooms, meeting space, and the use of equipment, in exchange for offering its residents a discount on tuition fees.

Here's a closer look at both programs.

Center for Learning in Retirement
Established by the Board of Trustees in the 1990s, CLIR began at a time when the concept was catching on at universities across the country.

"There was a group at Harvard originally affiliated with Elderhostel (the educational travel tour organization) and our associate dean of continuing education, Morris Fried, invited them to speak to us," recalls Elliot Wolk, a math professor who became a founding member of the UConn group that formed after that meeting.

CLIR's purpose is "to provide meaningful and serious intellectual activities for retired men and women from all walks of life, conducted in an informal and relaxed atmosphere."

The group has nearly 300 members, primarily retired professionals living in the Storrs area. Two-thirds are women.

"I think it's important for us to be doing both physical and mental exercise," says CLIR president Mary Rogers, a retired Eastern Connecticut State University astronomy professor.

The sessions typically contain seven to 12 mini-courses lasting two to 10 weeks and some special events.

In addition to a $25 annual membership, there's a $12 per session fee, which allows you to take as many classes as you wish.

Retired UConn modern languages professor Gene Barberet, a long-time CLIR member, sees the academic offerings as "a wonderful way of getting an introduction to a discipline.

"Then you can go on and develop it all you want," he says, "which I have done time and again."

Wolk, an octogenarian, heads CLIR's curriculum committee, lining up volunteers to lead several academic sessions each year.

Perennial favorites include "The Memoir Writing Club," and "Exotic and Educational Travel," where members show slides taken on trips.

"We try to work in science courses," says Wolk, "but they're not so popular."

Among this year's fall offerings are "Notable Ninths," an exploration of Ninth symphonies by Beethoven, Schubert, Mahler, and other composers, taught by Bruce Bellingham, a UConn professor emeritus of music; "The Book of Genesis," which Wolk teaches; and "Entangled Minds and Matter," an examination of how humans relate to the environment, presented by David Lindorff, a Jungian analyst and UConn professor emeritus of electrical engineering.

Special events include "Health Care Issues in Aging," with state senator Edith Prague; and "Stewards of God's Earth," with retired United Methodist minister Donald Hoyle.