Choral, ragtime and jazz music, tai chi, Cold War politics and Islamic culture are all on the menu for this summer's Elderhostel program at University Park. Conferences and Institutes is offering the series of weeklong courses as part of Elderhostel, a nonprofit educational organization that offers short-term academic experiences for people 55 and older.
Elderhostel programs include:
* July 410: "Join the Chorus of Fred Waring's America," Warnock Commons. Singers will learn to sing the "Fred Waring way." Waring, who spent 69 years in the music industry, is known as "the man who taught America to sing." The program will conclude with a concert.
* July 1823: "Ragtime, Jazz and Tai Chi." This three-part program includes "The World of Ragtime, Early Tin Pan Alley and Dixieland Jazz" with Tex Wyndham, a leading authority on and performer of this style of music; "Jazz: An American Creation that Gives Us Pride" with Roger Munnell, member of the Tarnished Six jazz ensemble; and "Experience Tai Chi" with Amalia Shaltiel.
* July 2530: "Enemies from Within and Without: Cold War Extremism." This three-part program includes "Spies, Lies and the Invasion of the Body Snatchers: Cold War and Popular Culture" with Christine White, associate professor of history; "From the Berlin Blockade to the Collapse of the Empire" with Robert Maddox, professor emeritus of American history; and "America in Crisis: Extremism in the 20th Century" with Philip Jenkins, professor of religious studies and history.
* Aug. 16: "Islam, Past and Present." Arthur Goldschmidt, professor of Middle East history; Janina Safran, assistant professor of history; and Timothy Gianotti, assistant professor of religious studies and history, will discuss the culture, beliefs, practices, institutions and achievements of Islam.
For more information and to enroll, contact Nancy McCord, program specialist, at (814) 865-2581 or by e-mail at nam5@psu.edu.
"The Knox Mine Disaster," a grim day in Pennsylvania's industrial history when 12 men died, is the topic of a Friday, June 25, presentation at the Penn State Harrisburg Eastgate Center.
The free, noon talk will discuss the causes and consequences of the Jan. 22, 1959 tragedy that exacerbated the decline of Pennsylvania's once-mighty hard coal industry. Subsequent state and federal investigations into the accident revealed that the mine had been illegally dug under the Susquehanna River at the direction of the Knox Coal Co.
Robert Wolensky and Kenneth Wolensky, authors of The Knox Mine Disaster: The Final Years of the Northern Anthracite Industry and the Effort to Rebuild a Regional Economy, will present their findings that show the mine company conspired with the United Mine Workers of America, along with organized crime, to ignore mine safety rules.
Registration is necessary to ensure adequate seating. To register, call the Eastgate Center at (717) 772-3590.
A "Community Conversation on Alcohol," featuring the Alcohol 101 program, will take place from 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday, June 22, in the Commons Athletic Center at Penn State Delaware County. Pat Meehan, Delaware County district attorney, is the keynote speaker.
The event will bring together a wide variety of people from Delaware County whose professional or personal lives are affected by college students' use or abuse of alcohol, and will provide a forum for the community.
Alcohol 101, an interactive CD-ROM program, allows the audience to make decisions in a "college party" atmosphere, and shows potential consequences of those choices.
For more information, call Barbara Daniel at (610) 892-1457.