May 2013
9 posts
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Separating Reality from Marketing
Part of a blog entry on the Paleo diet written by our instructor Deirdre Earls:
[D]on’t forget that a mountain of evidence now makes clear that popular dietary practices like the so-called “Paleo” and Atkins diets can negatively impact long-term health and longevity. Heavy emphasis upon consumption of meat, especially red meat and processed red meat, may create quick weight loss. But it’s also...
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More photography classes coming up!
We have three photography classes coming up that still have space for enrollments. If you’re wanting to expand your knowledge and boost your skills, check out the following classes!
Digital Photography: Beyond the Basics: Become an expert at camera controls to enhance creativity and expand your photographic vision through good composition, lighting and timing....
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Zumba!
Come dance your way into shape in our next ZUMBA® class! Monica Vazquez will be back again starting June 13 with another session of this exciting, exhilarating, and effective fitness system. Whether or not you can dance, you can get a great workout at this “exercise in disguise” class.
In their course evals, our students wrote:
Class was excellent. It is fun and energizing after a long...
England, the North Country
Have you been thinking of going to England? Joy Owen is an expert in traveling in northern England and will be teaching her course again on June 8. Here are some of the comments about her February class.
IC: How was class overall?
Great!
Good information - pleasant presentation of N. England
Excellent.
Very good - helpful to have website.
Excellent, lots of info sites, books, videos
...
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Digital Photography for Beginners with Carlos...
Carlos’s beginning-level digital photography class is one of our most popular classes, year-round. Remarks on his reviews include, “Carlos is engaging and brilliant,” “enjoyed the class very much,” “Carlos loves photography and it shows,” and “Carlos has a great way of giving the class a lot of information without making it overwhelming.
Student...
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UT Speaker Series - Word for Word
Charles di Piazza finished off our spring UT Speaker Series with his class Art and Architecture in Morocco. Want to hear what his students had to say?
IC: How was the class overall?
Quite fascinating! Great class!
Interesting and educational.
We are always looking to improve our program, as well. Here are some comments about IC in response to the question, “What do you like best about...
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Brian Loflin's Digital Photography-Beyond the...
Brian Loflin (of our fantabulous Nature Photography video) teaches several different photography classes for us - Composition and Light, Macro Photography, Publishing Your Photographs. We asked him to take part in our instructor interview, and we thought we’d share a snippet:
IC: Can you tell us a little bit about your background with photography?
BL: I am a biologist by education. Early...
“Get Hired” Tips for Job Seekers”
– Melissa Martinez added this class to our handful of job-seeker class in the spring, and she’s gotten great reviews. We really hope our students find our classes helpful in their lives, and we appreciate that our instructors aim for the same thing. Comments on Melissa’s class:
IC: How...
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Turn your sleuthing into a career!
April 2013
6 posts
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“Buy a Home - First Time Homebuyers”
– Dawn Rush Dotson took over this class for a long-time IC instructor just this year. We’re glad to have her here teaching the class! Here are some comments from her students from the class last month:
IC: How was the class overall?
Informative.
Smooth and informative. Question...
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Regina Anaejionu's upcoming classes.
Regina is one of our newer instructors, but her classes draw a lot of interest! She is the owner of a small business consulting firm and has years of experience helping people become entrepreneurs through easily understood and practical coaching. She has worked with such clients as DiverseArts, The UT Center for African and African American Studies, and singer Eric Moore. Our student, Victoria...
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Horseback Riding at Informal Classes
One of our students, Janet, has taken horseback riding several times - 3 times, in fact, I believe in preparation to a trip to Big Bend. Actually, I met her when I took Western Horseback Riding in February, and then noticed her name on subsequent rosters. So, I reached out to her to get her take on the class so I could share with you. Here’s what she said:
The riding lessons are...
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Guitar classes
Chad Tracy, our guitar teacher (and former Informal Classes course coordinator!), always gets great comments on his guitar classes. Here are some comments from his last Beginning Guitar II class.
Great instructor!
Great teacher. Passionate about subject.
Loved the class!
The class was wonderful and the perfect level of difficulty/music theory for me.
Was a really good class. Learned a...
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Chocolate is yummy. Or is it?
From the lowlands of Mexico to the modern chocolate shops of Paris, you will explore the history, techniques, flavors, and socioeconomic power of this food of the gods. Learn to recognize what makes “good” chocolate good! You will compare small batch craft chocolate and commercial chocolates, and graduate from CHOCOLATE 101 with maps, tasting guides, a reading list, and tips for finding,...
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March 2013
4 posts
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Hand Drumming Reviewed
Our first African Hand Drumming class, taught by Ibrahim Aminou, ended at the beginning of the month. We wanted to share the enthusiasm!
From our eval form:
IC: How was the class overall? Student 1: Quite fine! Student 2: A lot of fun. Student 3: Fun, interesting. Student 4: Fun, educational for beginner! Student 5: Awesome! Had a blast!
IC: Please provide any more comments or a...
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Our Beginning Harmonica class ended last week! Here are some of the comments from the students:
Mark Hazelton wrote, “Michael’s enthusiasm is contagious. He’s a wonderful teacher who obviously cares about his students and their progress.”
Another student wrote that the class was “fun, a good introduction to the instrument.”
“I learned a lot more...
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Build Your Website/Blog
Regina Anaejionu has been working with us for about a year, offering her classes that focus on helping small business owners make their businesses rock. Her website class, which she teaches with her business partner just ended last night. Here are some of the comments about her and her class:
“The instructors were very personable and knowledgeable,” wrote student Joan Ivy. ...
February 2013
4 posts
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Martha Randall is amazing.
It is so amazing to read the reviews for Martha Randall’s classes! One of her Spanish I classes just ended - wanted to share some comments.
Our student Anne Livingston wrote: “Martha’s clase is fantastico! I learned more Spanish in Martha’s class than I have in any other Spanish class I’ve ever taken. She is energetic and an excellent teacher.”
Another...
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Catch up with Go Native U!
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Go Native U and Lunchtime Webinar Springtime classes start March 5 Don’t wait! Sign up now for “Sex in the Garden,” a lunchtime webinar about, guess what, plant reproduction taught by Botanist and Austin Community College Professor Flo Oxley. Only $15 for non-members and $10 for members on Wednesday March 6 at 12:00 p.m. central time....
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January 2013
4 posts
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Zumba!
Four of us in the office have signed up! http://bit.ly/VBJdhX
November 2012
17 posts
3 tags
Feminism and Pornography in American Society
Dr. Robert Jensen has participated in our Odyssey program with gratifying enthusiasm. He offered an Odyssey course last spring, Beyond Race, Gender, and Class: Social Justice and Systems of Power, then provided a free lecture in May, Journalism is Dead! Long Live Journalism?, and then offered yet another course in the fall, “Freedom’s Just Another Word for …: Conflicting Concepts of Liberty in...
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Word for Word Sneak Peek
Faculty across campus take time out of their busy schedules to provide our Odyssey lectures and classes. One of the coolest options in our Odyssey program is the Word for Word series, which is one night out of the week, four to eight weeks in a row, with a different topic and presenter featured each night. We have some very cool classes lined up for Word for Word for the winter/spring term,...
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Take Your Real Estate Business to the Next Level
Returning instructor Jennifer Rodriguez will be teaching How to Become a Top Leasing Agent here at Informal Classes next term.
Course Description: Becoming a leasing agent in the apartment industry can be a lucrative part-time or full-time job for anyone interested in property management. People often ask, even experienced real estate professionals, “How can I become a leasing agent?” If you...
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Mastering a Monologue - Sneak Peek
Abigail Flynn is a professional actress and monologue/audition coach from NYC whose stage career in musical and non-musical theatre has taken her around the world. Her performance highlights include the national/international tour of “The Sound of Music” and appearances in “CATS”, “Cabaret”, “The Elephant Man”, and “A Chorus Line”. She...
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New Creative Writing Workshop!
It was a sad day around here when we realized IC instructor Susannah Raulino wouldn’t be able to teach her Writing Fiction class any more! Imagine our excitement when Tatiana Ryckman came forward with a course proposal for a Creative Writing Workshop!
Tatiana Ryckman has an MFA in Creative Writing, with an emphasis in Fiction from Vermont College of Fine Arts and has published works of...
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Texas Music →
Margaret Moser will be teaching two other classes for Informal Classes next term. In addition to chronicling the Sex Pistols’ tour in Texas and its aftermath, she’ll be enlightening us on the life of Doug Sahm and on Texas Rock and Roll, in general! Don’t miss your chance to sign up for these two one-night lectures. Her first class, Home at the Armadillo, sold out fast.
1, 2,...
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Sneak Peek - Investing for Women
Sara Glakas is a returning instructor for us, having taught several sessions of Investing for Normal People in the past. Next term she will be teaching that class again, as well as a new course, Investing for Women.
Sara says, “80-90% of women will be solely responsible for their finances at some point in their lives, but fewer than 20% of us feel like we’re prepared to make those...
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Literature in the Middle Ages →
Dr. Janie Zackin will be teaching an Odyssey course for us in the spring called Philosophers, Poets, Apostates and Pranksters in Medieval Judeo-Hispanic Literature. What does that mean? Read below for a peek at her course description, and be sure to visit our website on December 3rd to register and see the other new classes we’ll be offering.
Course Description: Have you ever wondered...
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Social Media as an Informal Class!
This spring, Fran Harris will be teaching two courses for us, Mobile Marketing Madness and Social Media Marketing Madness, both must-takes for small business owners or anyone looking expand their marketing in new directions. Here’s your sneak peek at the two course descriptions!
Mobile Marketing Madness Course Description: There’s one thing most of us never leave home without - and...
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Sneak Peek - From Here to Eternity
UT Professor Dr. Volker Bromm will be one of our lectures in our popular Word for Word series. The series features 6-10 single lectures on a variety of topics. Dr. Bromm’s lecture is From Here to Eternity-A Short History of the Universe.
Course Description: This class is an overview of the fascinating subject of cosmology, which is our attempt to understand the entire history of the...
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September 2012
1 post
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August 2012
16 posts
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Upcoming Odyssey courses: What About Opera →
Dr. Robert DeSimone is the Director of the Butler Butler Opera Center here at UT. He’s also the Associate Director for External Affairs at the Butler School of Music. Let’s just say, he keeps busy! A protégé of Norah Quarrie of the Sadler Wells Theater in England, he spent four years training in the tradition of England’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, with other training in...
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Digital Photography for Beginners
We tend to have an overwhelming demand for Digital Photography for Beginners, so I am very pleased to let you know that we are opening three new sessions of it! Please follow the links below to register!
October session – Monday nights, 10/2-10/30, 6-9pm: http://bit.ly/RJatyn
November session 1 – Monday nights, 11/12-12/3, 6-9pm: http://bit.ly/NNV6yD
November session 2 – Tuesday...
