We’re pleased to offer eight classes for the Fall 2025 session of ESI College. These programs are open to all lifelong learners aged 60 and older in our community.
This fall, along with some of our longtime favorite instructors, we’re delighted to welcome two new voices:
- John Flowers, reporter for the Addison Independent since 1990, will reflect on his decades of covering local news and the many changes in journalism over that time.
- Elise Shanbacker, Executive Director of Addison Housing Works, will discuss the challenges and opportunities in creating affordable housing in Addison County.
Registering for courses is quick and easy! You’ll find a link to our online registration page below.
To keep our program accessible, we continue our pay-what-you-can approach, rather than a regular fee, with a suggested payment for each course.
Please note that some classes will be held at Elderly Services, while others will take place at The Congregational Church of Middlebury.
We hope you’ll find classes that spark your curiosity and join us this fall. Come on your own, bring a friend, or make new ones along the way!
Kira Winslow
Jeff Rehbach
Kristin Bolton
Register for Courses!
Click on the link below to register for Fall 2025 courses.
Registration for Fall 2025 ESI College
We use an online registration system called “Wufoo” that provides an easy-to-use form to select your classes.
- Please sign up at least 48 hours in advance so we can be in touch with you about the class.
- Some classes have limited enrollment; others have readings.
- Each person in your household must register separately. If you share the same email address, simply fill out a separate form for each person.
- The registration system calculates the amount you have agreed to pay on a per person basis. The total cost for your classes will be listed when you complete your registration.
- Some courses may require books that will be available at the Vermont Book Shop at a discounted price.
- After you submit your form, you will receive an automated email confirmation from “Elderly Services-ESI College <no-reply@wufoo.com>.”
Please feel free to call Kira Winslow, 802.388.3983, ext. 201, if you would like help registering for any course, or if you have any questions.
Payment Options
You may pay by check. Please send it (within a week of registration) to:
Elderly Services-ESI College
P.O. Box 581
Middlebury, VT 05753
Or, you may make a debit/credit card payment via PayPal, as you complete the online registration form. You do not need a PayPal account to use this feature.
Course List for Fall 2025
- Click on the highlighted course titles to see more information.
Course | Instructor | Dates & Times | Location | Suggested Cost (pay what you can)
A Musical Miracle: How the American Songbook Came to Be | Richard Hawley | Tuesday, September 16, 1:30-3 p.m. | The Congregational Church of Middlebury | $20
Three Enjoyable Novels with Indefatigable Women Protagonists | John Berninghausen | Tuesdays, September 23, 30 & October 7, 10-11:30 a.m. | Elderly Services | $60
Politics in the Age of Trump: A Coming Republican Majority? | Matthew J. Dickinson | Friday, October 3, 10-11:30 a.m. | The Congregational Church of Middlebury | $20
With a Song in His Heart: The Double Miracle of Richard Rodgers’ Contribution to American Song | Richard Hawley | Tuesday, October 14, 1:30-3 p.m. | The Congregational Church of Middlebury | $20
A Reporter’s 35-year Journey through Addison County | John Flowers | Thursday, October 23, 1:30-3 p.m. | The Congregational Church of Middlebury | $20
Einstein in a Nutshell | Rich Wolfson | Tuesdays, October 28 & November 4 | 10-11:30 a.m. | Middlebury Regional EMS | $40
Historical Geology of the Champlain Valley | Will Amidon | Tuesdays, November 11 & 18, 10-11:30 a.m. | The Congregational Church of Middlebury | $40
The Rent is Still Too Darn High: Exploring Local Challenges and Solutions to Addison County’s Affordable Housing Crisis | Elise Shanbacker | Wednesday, November 12, 10-11:30 a.m. | Elderly Services | $20
A Musical Miracle: How the American Songbook Came to Be
Date: Tuesday, September 16
Time: 1:30-3:00 p.m.
Location: The Congregational Church of Middlebury
Cost: Pay what you can ~ $20 suggested
Description: This class explores the intertwining musical genius of four pillars of American song: Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin and Cole Porter. Biographical and historical background will be punctuated by a piano tour of some of the composers’ greatest songs. These distinctive composers shared not only a historical moment but an admiration for each other’s work. They were more friends than competitors. Together they created a kind of collective musical nervous system that would inspire the greatest flowering of song in musical history.
Instructor: Richard Hawley, Ph.D., is a lifelong teacher, writer and musician. For four decades he taught, coached, and counseled boys at Cleveland’s University School, serving for 17 years as the school’s headmaster. He has published 30 books and dozens of articles, stories and poems. Also a lifelong piano player, he has performed in jazz clubs and other venues across the country including, currently, a regular Friday night gig at East Middlebury’s Waybury Inn.
Three Enjoyable Novels with Indefatigable Women Protagonists
Date: Tuesdays, September 23, 30 & October 7
Time: 10-11:30 a.m.
Location: Elderly Services
Cost: Pay what you can ~ $60 suggested; books, purchased separately, are available for a discount at the Vermont Book Shop
Description: We will read and discuss The Dearly Departed by Elinor Lipman (2001), The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson (2019) and The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradel (2019). Set in three different regions of the U.S.—small town New Hampshire, Eastern Kentucky Appalachia and the Twin Cities of Minnesota—memorable females successfully cope with differing sets of challenges.
Instructor: After earning his Ph.D. at Stanford, Professor Emeritus of Chinese John Berninghausen established Middlebury College’s Department of Chinese Language and Literature. Along with teaching Chinese, he led popular seminars on Western and Asian literature. An avid reader, he collects Chinese paintings and is a world traveler.
Politics in the Age of Trump: A Coming Republican Majority?
Date: Friday, October 3
Time: 10-11:30 a.m.
Location: The Congregational Church of Middlebury
Cost: Pay what you can ~ $20 suggested
Description: Donald Trump is a symbol of extraordinary change in American politics, affecting political parties, voting coalitions, the media and institutions of higher education. We examine the sources of that change, including Trump’s role, and speculate about what will happen when he leaves office, including the potential for an era of Republican dominance.
Instructor: Matthew J. Dickinson is professor of political science at Middlebury College. He is author of Bitter Harvest: FDR, Presidential Power, and the Growth of the Presidential Branch (1999), the co-editor of Guardian of the Presidency: The Legacy of Richard E. Neustadt, and has published numerous articles on the presidency, Congress and the executive branch. His current book is titled Clerk or Leader? The President and the White House Staff. He also hosts a weekly politics luncheon open to the public.
With a Song in His Heart: The Double Miracle of Richard Rodgers’ Contribution to American Song
Date: Tuesday, October 14
Time: 1:30-3 p.m.
Location: The Congregational Church of Middlebury
Cost: Pay what you can ~ $20 suggested
Description: This class explores the forces that shaped the American Song Book, focusing on Richard Rodgers’ two great collaborations. With lyricist Lorenz Hart, he created classics such as Manhattan, My Funny Valentine, Blue Moon, Where or When, and many more. After Hart’s death in 1943, Rodgers partnered with Oscar Hammerstein II for two decades, producing Broadway treasures including Oklahoma, South Pacific, Carousel, The King and I and The Sound of Music. Historical background will be paired with a piano tour of these works.
Instructor: Richard Hawley, Ph.D., is a lifelong teacher, writer, and musician. For four decades he taught, coached and counseled boys at Cleveland’s University School, serving for 17 years as the school’s headmaster. He has published 30 books and dozens of articles, stories and poems. Also a lifelong piano player, he has performed in jazz clubs and other venues across the country including, currently, a regular Friday night gig at East Middlebury’s Waybury Inn.
A Reporter’s 35-year Journey through Addison County
Date: Thursday, October 23
Time: 1:30-3 p.m.
Location: The Congregational Church of Middlebury
Cost: Pay what you can ~ $20 suggested
Description: Join veteran Addison Independent scribe John Flowers as he recounts his experiences covering the people, places and things of Addison County. How does a reporter come up with story ideas? How does one build a rapport with sources? How has journalism changed during the past four decades? The senior reporter of the county’s local paper will also share some of the biggest, most touching and most riveting stories he’s covered since joining the Independent in 1990.
Instructor: John Flowers is a graduate of the Northeastern University School of Journalism. He began his career with The Tab newspaper group in 1985, covering Wellesley and then Newton, Mass. He’s worked for the Addison Independent in Middlebury since 1990, covering a variety of beats that include Middlebury municipal government and schools, human services, legislative issues, the local judiciary, features and health care. He is past president of the Vermont Press Association and has served on the VPA executive board for about 15 years. He has testified before the Vermont Legislature on behalf of the VPA in defense of the Open Meeting Law and government transparency.
Einstein in a Nutshell
Date: Tuesdays, October 28 & November 4
Time: 10:00-11:30 a.m.
Location: Middlebury Regional EMS
Cost: Pay what you can ~ $40 suggested
Description: “It would take an Einstein to understand that” is a common phrase implying that Einstein’s relativity is too challenging for mere mortals. Actually, relativity’s basis is simple and straightforward. Understand that, and you’ll see why surprising consequences follow. This course presents the historical background to relativity; explains how Einstein resolved apparent contradictions in physics; explores relativity’s implications for space and time; and shows how Einstein’s 1905 Special Theory of Relativity led to his General Theory—our current theory of gravity.
Instructor: Rich Wolfson is Professor of Physics & Environmental Studies, Emeritus, at Middlebury College. He taught Middlebury’s first-ever climate course in 1992, and continued to teach climate courses on Middlebury’s Vermont and Monterey campuses from 2001 through the early 2020s. He’s done video courses on energy and climate for the Teaching Company’s Great Courses series, and is the author of the textbook Energy, Environment and Climate, most recently updated in 2023.
Historical Geology of the Champlain Valley
Date: Tuesdays, November 11 & 18
Time: 10-11:30 a.m.
Location: The Congregational Church of Middlebury
Cost: Pay what you can ~ $40 suggested
Description: The geologic landscape had a major influence on settlement and cultural patterns of Native Americans and early European settlers, the effects of which are still visible today. This course will explore the intersection of geology and human settlement, considering such topics as: Paleo-Indians and the Champlain Sea; rivers and lakes as corridors for settlement and war; glacial soils and early agriculture; the early iron industry; the slate and marble industries, and more.
Instructor: Will Amidon, Associate Professor of Earth and Climate Sciences at Middlebury College, teaches classes on environmental geology, climate history, remote sensing, plate tectonics, and geomorphology. A Charlotte, Vermont, native and Champlain Valley Union High School graduate, he earned degrees from Carleton College, UC Santa Barbara (M.S.) and Caltech (Ph.D.).
The Rent is Still Too Darn High: Exploring Local Challenges and Solutions to Addison County’s Affordable Housing Crisis
Date: Wednesday, November 12
Time: 10-11:30 a.m.
Location: Elderly Services
Cost: Pay what you can ~ $20 suggested
Description: What is being done about the housing crisis in Addison County? Explore how Addison Housing Works, a nonprofit affordable housing trust, develops, manages and maintains affordable homes in Addison County, and examine current Vermont housing policies shaping this work. Learn about the challenges and opportunities in meeting community needs, and how state and federal decisions impact local residents.
Instructor: Elise Shanbacker is Executive Director of Addison Housing Works, a provider of more than 750 affordable homes in Addison County. A Middlebury College and Harvard Kennedy School graduate, she has more than a decade of experience in housing policy, and previously worked at the National Governors Association. She also serves on several state and local community development boards.
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