When you’re an intellectually curious resident who walks into the Dotti Shelton Great Room at the start of a Southminster Studies session, anything is possible. You could be entranced by a fair damsel, dragon or knight in shining armor. You could be swept away by the heroic exploits of a poem like Beowulf or chase the Golden Fleece with Jason and his Argonauts. Not long ago, when the Southminster Studies series plunged into an exploration of these “Great Myths in History and the Life Lessons They Teach Us,” participants found themselves surrounded by thought provoking and legendary literary heroes.
The Great Myths topic generated one of the most surprising turnouts that Dave Burns, Chair of Southminster’s Life Enrichment Committee, had seen — for good reason. “Myths are how society transmits its highest values,” he said. Southminster Studies Co-Leader Bill Claytor cites “Remembering JFK” as another of the most popular topics in the campus’s continual learning series. “Almost every Monday, the house was packed,” Claytor said, “because most of us had lived it, and we wanted to see it again and hear it again and think about whether we remembered it all in the same way at that different stage of our lives.”
The Great Paintings. Great Trials in America. Greatest Geological Places on Earth. Residents are amazed at what they can learn week after week from the courses that Claytor and Burns facilitate. As the study leader who focuses on history, Burns selects from more than 60 Great Courses, all taught by the world’s greatest professors and experts on history, science, religion, health, travel, and more. “We try to choose courses where the professor is dynamic and in love with the subject. Someone who is captivating in his own right,” Burns said.
Learning What People Like
Opportunities to engage in continual learning at Southminster are divided into four video-based series throughout the week – Monday and Friday afternoons for independent living, Thursday mornings for Embrace Health residents. On the first Wednesday of each month, there is also a History Lovers offering. Burns gives residents 24 choices of video-based Great Courses topics near the end of a year. They rank and choose 12 of them, one per month for the following year.
Claytor said two things go into his topic selection for Friday sessions: what topic has the most interest among residents and which ones have closed captioning to assist those with hearing loss. A 30-minute video and discussion are part of each session.
Resident-Led Learning
The Life Enrichment Committee also encourages the formation of resident-led small interest groups. We have 16 of them now,” Burns said. “They range from Poetry Lovers to Genealogy Lovers. The fact that residents lead the groups speaks well of our community’s collective ability to inspire and organize continual learning. Engaging your brain really is all about just showing up. Those who join in are not just a faithful remnant but represent the large number of people who are willing to suit up and show up to learn at any age.”
Communications and Public Relations Manager Susanne Shaw explains how the community works to offer the right amount of variety. “Our Life Enrichment team is very intentional with events, courses and activities, striking a balance between social clubs, educational sessions, pure fun, and movement-generating activities like beanbag toss or the Tuesday afternoon game room get-together. It offers something for everyone.”
Resident Ted Lucas, who attends the Southminster Studies series as often as he can, says he has enjoyed learning about the women in history, and the series on Winston Churchill. “Continuing to learn is an open door. It’s a positive choice that people have here.” Resident Diana Pinckney adds “personally I learn a great deal about people and subjects I knew nothing about, or I learn new things about people or subjects I thought I knew a great deal about!” Pinckney, who is a published author of poetry, also enjoys the Poetry Lovers Group. “Some of us are poets, and others just come because they love poetry. We share poems by master poets, or poetry we found on the internet from poets who are unknown to us. It’s a real learning experience!”
Never Lose Your Desire to Learn
Burns attributes his zest for lifelong learning to Ada May Harrison, who was chair of the Economics Department and head of the Phi Beta Kappa chapter at Carlton College when he was a student there. Even though as a junior, he didn’t qualify for the oldest academic honor society in the U.S., Ms. Harrison came to him toward the end of his senior year and rocked his world in 10 words: “We are going to induct you into Phi Beta Kappa.” He reminded her that his grades weren’t that good. “We definitely all know that, but the faculty believes you show the capacity to never stop learning.” She then pointed her finger at him and added a caveat: “And don’t you let us down!”
“I spent more than 40 years at CPCC, where the mantra is Lifelong Learning,” Claytor said. “They go beyond degree students and offer the outside community all kinds of courses from small engine repair to line dancing. Southminster shares that same kind of commitment. To my knowledge, there is no other life-plan community in Charlotte where residents have access to the kind of continual learning programs we have. We are exceedingly fortunate to be able to sustain our programs and grow our audiences. I am particularly impressed with the way Southminster supports everything we do and helps us consider ways to make it better.”