What has the Pandemic done to our Mental Health? What are so-called Mental Illnesses? And why are there so many stigmas behind these conditions? As seniors, many of us have become more isolated. We humans are social creatures. The isolation and social distancing called for under the Pandemic is resulting in depression and other conditions. Yet, because of the stigmas connected to mental problems, we do not talk about it. We need to talk about it and what measures can be taken to help us.

If you haven’t read poetry since high school, you’re in for a surprise–there’s a lot more to it than “Oh Captain, My Captain.” Learn how to understand and appreciate a wide range of poetry. Read and discuss poems in a relaxed, nonjudgmental atmosphere. Find out what the kinds of poems you like say about you.

Get that old five-string banjo out and learn to play from a professional musician! Bluegrass lovers will explore aspects such as tuning, picking styles, playing chords, and lead lines. Learn how to adjust the banjo neck, hold the banjo, and how picks are used. Practice strumming, finger placement, thumb rolls, and finger exercises as well as picking out simple notes and chords. Bring your banjo and joy for music to class. Handouts provided. Ages 14 and over.

Under the guidance of a Grammy Award-winning musician, learn the basics of how to play the guitar: tuning, basic chords, picking, strumming, note reading, and chord progressions. Ages 15 and over. Purchase textbook at the Clark College Bookstore prior to class.

Enjoy this easy-to-learn instrument! Receive instruction to play and learn songs. Discover how to tune your instrument, and read melodies and rhythms. Practice drills to new and old songs. Bring your ukulele and enthusiasm to class. Handouts provided. Age 14 and over.

Our timeline will border the two great Queens - the Elizabethan Age to the crowning of Queen Victoria. Examine the civil wars between the Cavaliers and the Roundheads, the Jacobites, and their end at Culloden. Delight in the deep cultural background woven through the class, including Shakespeare, Dafoe and Swift. Explore the Restoration and the Enlightenment. Probe into the conquest of the New World and how discoveries will rock the foundations of English corporate greed. Learn about the origins of the Puritans and the Industrial Age.

Introduction to materials, various colored pencils, compatible mediums, and techniques that will have you on your way to creating your own Colored Pencil Art. Drawing is not a requirement for this series of classes. Topic images will be sent to students using their registration email address. Each session will have the opportunity to follow along with the instructor or to work on your own similar project.

Want to communicate in the most widely spoken language in the world? Gain a basic understanding of Mandarin and its phonetics, and be able to communicate and understand simple expressions based around the topics of everyday life. Participate in fun role-playing exercises such as bargain shopping, location direction, ordering food/drink, people introductions, and cultural experiences such as cooking, mahjong, and etiquette.

The course uses a strong communicative approach to prepare students to acquire a wider range of vocabulary, grammatical structures, and phrases to expand their knowledge of Chinese (Mandarin). Students will also be exposed to some cultural topics that will help to broaden their knowledge of Chinese Language as well as their skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing. Recommended to take level I or equivalent knowledge.

Take your writing to the next level! Whether you're writing nonfiction (essay and memoir) or fiction (short story or novel), you'll be working with certain elements. In this class we delve into three main ones: character, setting, and structure and learn how to use them to make your writing deeper, richer, and more engaging.

Anything you see you can draw, and even beginners can become true artists! This course is designed to be an introduction to the basic materials and technical properties of drawing. Focus in this course will be on the formal qualities of drawing and its concepts. Projects include drawing from still life, perspective, landscape, and natural forms. Develop observational skills, perceptual awareness, and expressive capabilities through the exploration of proportional relationships, linear perspective, and composition techniques.

This is a class for those who’ve taken a basic drawing class, and want to learn or further their understanding of drawing heads and hands. You’ll learn general structure, proportions, perspective, and relationships of the head and the hand. We’ll also cover drawing the specific features of the head and hands. Weekly demonstrations, critiques, and exercises in a relaxed and supportive atmosphere will help you to further your drawing skills no matter what level you’re working at.

This class is for the non-objective crowd or for folks wanting to loosen up their realistic paintings and try something new. Learn the different styles of abstract artists, experiment, and free your creative self. Think outside the box with interesting assignments and weekly challenges. The Principles and Elements of Design will be the backbone of this class…learn the rules, then break them!

The First World War was not merely a story of trenches, blimps, and poison gas, but also one of far-flung struggles in remote colonial out-posts, crisis and change in non-European empires that traced their roots back over a thousand or more years, and espionage and technological change that encircled the globe. We will discuss some of the lesser-explored campaigns, technologies, personalities, combatants, of the "Great War" while coming to a better understanding as to why we remember that war - and all history - as we do.

We will travel back in time to the dawn of film in Japan and travel to the present while exploring the cultural, historical, technical, and sociological factors behind the intriguing, dynamic, and changing world of Japanese cinema – both live action and “anime,” or animation. We will also survey the topic in terms of cinema being one of the most well-known of Japan's cultural exports and a major part of that country's rise as a cultural world power - especially within the last fifty years.

When many of us in the West think of Japan, we often visualize such disparate mental images as the urban tech jungle of the Akihabara District of Tokyo side by side with more tradition-bound images of castle-towns and Shinto festivals relating to the past. This course will set these images into proper historical context and tell the epic 150-year story of warriors, artists, philosophers, generals, peasant-soldiers, business men, and regular men and women, who created the modern Japanese nation of today. The ideas and political, cultural, and geo-political predicaments that such people faced and the outcome of the controversies, upheavals, and transformations of which they were also a part provide the backdrop for a look at the ways in which their lives fashioned a new nation and a different, non-Western, version of what it means to be "modern." Through lecture and discussion and through examination of documentary and audio-visual sources we will discover how both change and continuity have catapulted Japan, within the last century and a half, from a comparatively peripheral player in Asian or world geopolitics to one of the world's largest economies and a nation with a surprisingly influential and increasingly exportable "soft-culture" in the bargain.

Are you planning an upcoming trip to Italy? Or just interested in learning the basics of Italian? This course is for the traveler (or future traveler)! Build your Italian language skills and confidence for your trip to Italy. Learn how to speak independently in the present tense and get a glimpse into la dolce vita while learning how to order your four-course meal and ask directions to the Trevi Fountain.

Located between the Alps and the Mediterranean Sea, there are eight provinces in Northern Italy, Valle d'Aosta, Piedmont, Liguria, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Veneto, Trentino-Alto Adige and Fruili Venezia - Giulia For centuries they have been strategically positioned along the major trade routes that link the Mediterranean Sea with Northern Europe. Trade remained of vital importance to the cities of Northern Italy, not only for the large communities, Milan, Venice, Bologna and Genoa but also numerous smaller towns and villages. The accumulation of wealth in this region resulted in a phenomenal flowering of the arts. Europe’s best painters, sculptors, architects, writers and poets circulated among the Northern Italian courts, leaving behind their masterpieces. Explore their creations, but also take time to marvel at the scenery, a region of towering snowcapped mountains, alpine forests and crystal-clear lakes and rivers. Venture off the tourist paths and discover the secrets of Northern Italy.

A beginner's course focusing on how to converse in Spanish. Focus on real-life situations using common words and phrases and learn about the vibrant culture. Great for travelers!

Continue to improve your Spanish language skills! Practice dialogues complemented by grammar and pronunciation. Course is tailored to individual needs including those traveling, watching TV, planning to live or work in a Spanish speaking country, and speaking Spanish on a daily basis at work. Prerequisite: Spanish I or previous language instruction.

Advance your knowledge of watercolor in a relaxed and supportive atmosphere. Learn to compose and work from photographic references. Discover and explore various methods of under painting, color combinations and mixes, and fun techniques. Utilize various watercolor friendly mixed media that will expand your options and assist with any needed corrections. Weekly demonstrations and critiques will be given to help you express your creativity. Prerequisite: a beginning watercolor class.

Wildfire Writing has a 23-year history of creating transformative writing. Now we’ll use distance learning to take our imagination to even greater heights. Tap into the process that replaces internal criticism with achievement. Learn how to cultivate your natural instincts for storytelling while you develop confidence in your unique, creative, powerful voice. Compose pieces to start a book, launch a blog, or build into a short story collection.

Have an idea for a mystery, but not sure how to turn that idea into a full-fledged novel? Multi-published mystery novelist will help you craft a plot with twists and red herrings, populate the story with engaging characters and rich setting, and prepare the novel for publication.

In this online course, you will learn how to sign basic phrases and then expand to complete sentences. Learn how to put it all together, so you can introduce yourself and start a conversation. This course is taught using the best practices of the industry with a minimum of audio support. Throughout, you will be immersed in silence, so you will gain an understanding of the perspective of Deaf people and sign language.

You really can make money with your writing. Whether you want to create your own business, add to your income, supplement your retirement, or boost what you're earning as a writer, you'll find the how-to’s here. You'll learn secrets, methods, and tips to help you generate income with your writing. This online class includes all the practical information that so rarely gets taught in writing classes.