W E DN E S DA Y, A U G U S T 6, 2008 TH E VA N COUVER CO URIER
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ou don’t stop learning when you grow old; you grow old when you stop learning. This has been the motto for the Seniors Program at Simon Fraser University for decades. Learning is widely recognized as an important factor in keeping a person’s mind active and agile. Brain experts believe that active learning helps maintain brain health by preventing loss of brain function and cognitive skills such as memory, reasoning and judgment. Increasing numbers of older adults are enrolling in various forms of continuing education in Canada. At SFU alone, enrolment among mature students (age 55 plus) increased dramatically from 297 in 2000 to more than 2,500 in 2007. “These seniors are getting a chance to explore topics that they may have not had an opportunity to learn about when they were younger,” explains Julian Benedict, coordinator of the SFU Seniors Program. While seniors are welcome to enroll in the regular academic program at the university, there are also 20 non-credit academic courses available at the Harbour Centre campus that are tailored towards a more mature audience. “We chose this campus (Harbour Centre) because it’s easily accessible by transit,” says Benedict. “People also tend to make a day of it. ey might go shopping downtown after the class is over.” The courses, which begin as early as Sept. 8, cover a wide range of topics including: “How Culture determines Great Art,” “Symphonic Music of the Romantic Era” and “Ideology and Politics,” and range in price from $70 to $125. Also starting in the fall is a series of free Saturday forums in the Fletcher Challenge Canada ea tre (Room 1900) at Harbour Centre. These once a month lectures/discussions on topics of broad general interest are open to everyone. Each talk is about 45 to 50 minutes long, with time for questions and discussion afterwards. No reservation is required and seating is on a first-come first-served basis. Each forum begins promptly at 2p.m.
Photo courtesy: SFU
Sharp Minds
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e topic for the first session, Sept. 13, is: “The Islamic Sharia: Is it a threat to Canada?” For more information on the Seniors Program at SFU (www.sfu.ca/seniors) you can contact Julian Benedict at 778-7825212 or email seniors@sfu.ca.