Editor's Note: SAGE programs scheduled for the first Friday in both April and May are canceled. More details on rescheduling will be coming soon. Five @ Five lecture series is on hold as of now.

Penn State Lehigh Valley Continuing Education and Outreach provides the opportunity to community members to explore several areas of personal growth through no-stress and noncredit courses, lecture series and more.

Senior Adults Gaining Enrichment

Senior Adults Gaining Enrichment (SAGE), an outreach program of Penn State Lehigh Valley for adults ages 55 and older, has announced the schedule for its spring 2020 four-part lecture series. Each SAGE session is held on the first Friday of the month and begins with coffee at 10:30 a.m.*, a talk by the featured speaker at 11 a.m., and lunch at noon. All SAGE lectures are held in Room 135 at Penn State Lehigh Valley, located at 2809 Saucon Valley Road in Center Valley, Pennsylvania.

Spring 2020 lecture schedule

March 6: Ed Meehan, executive director of the Dorothy Rider Pool Health Care Trust, will discuss the history and changing landscape of Lehigh Valley health care through the lens of the legacy of Leonard Pool.

April 3: Peter Iorio, elder law, Fitzpatrick Lentz & Bubba, P.C. will discuss the "Top Ten Estate Planning Mistakes."

May 1: Annie Brinckman, wealth adviser, Capital Planning Wealth Management, will discuss a critical component of retirement: social security

June 5: Chris Karfakis, photo historian, "The Evolution of Photography and How the Wars Changed Photography."

*Please note: The June 5 event starts one hour earlier at 9:30 a.m. 

The cost per lecture is $20, or attend all four for $60. Lunch is included. For more information, contact Donna Reed at dmr6022@psu.edu or 610-285-5009. 

Five @ Five Lecture Series

The Five @ Five Lecture Series features five one-and-a-half-hour lectures on a given subject in order to provide an in-depth look at the topic. This educational program highlights the research and talent of Penn State Lehigh Valley faculty members, and is open to the community.

Spring 2020 topic: The Crusades

David M. Longenbach, Penn State Lehigh Valley history faculty member will present the spring lecture series titled, "The Crusades.” In this five-part series, Longenbach will explore the military, political, religious and geographic expansion of Islam and Christianity’s attempts to hold back the tide.

The five-part series will explore:

April 2: The 1st to 3rd Crusades: The Liberation of the Holy Land?

April 16: The 4th to 8th Crusades and those in Europe itself

April 23: The Northern Crusades

April 30: The Reconquista: The Liberation of Spain and Portugal

May 7: Legacy?: The Ottoman Wars and the fate of Europe

Lectures will be held from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on the following Thursday evenings: April 2, 16, 23, 30 and May 7, 2020 

Cost is $59 per person, $89 for two people of the same household. Registration is required for all of these lifetime learning opportunities. Contact Donna Reed at dmr6022@psu.edu or 610-285-5009.