With our Spring 2025 series of ESI College classes, we are wrapping up the first full year of our return to in-person classes. After being limited to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, we are excited to be back to the format that so many of you have enjoyed for so long.
Please be aware of three changes to our program. First, to make our program more accessible, we are trying a pay-what-you-can approach, rather than a regular fee, with a suggested contribution for each course. Second, due to continuing work on the upgrades to the Elderly Services headquarters on Exchange Street, all ESI College classes will be held at the Congregrational Church of Middlebury. And finally, registration is now fully online; those who need help can call our office.
ESI Focus: Climate Change Conversation
We are in the midst of a year during which ESI College will have a focus on climate change, thanks to an Environmental Justice grant from the Vermont Community Foundation.
As we saw last summer, with the wildfire smoke, wind storms, extreme heat and floods, the effects of climate change are being felt in Vermont. Older people can be some of the most vulnerable to climate crises due to health and technology limitations, and yet are not always part of the conversations at a local level.
The goal of our ESI College “Climate Conversations” is to provide education and engagement on environmental and climate initiatives locally and globally, and to have older voices be heard, from the classroom to the statehouse.
ESI College will also continue to offer classes on past favorite topics, with some of our most respected instructors. We hope you can join us!
Register for Courses!
Click on the link below to register for Spring 2025 courses.
https://elderlyservices.wufoo.com/forms/esi-college-spring-2025
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>.”
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.
We look forward to seeing you!
Kristin Bolton
Susan Payne-Bruce
Jeff Rehbach
Kira Winslow
Course List for Spring 2025
- Click on the highlighted course titles to see more information.
Cole Porter | Robert Wyatt | Tuesday, March 4, 10-11:30 a.m.
King Arthur and the British Empire | Paul Monod | Tuesday, March 11, 10-11:30 a.m.
The Story Behind Vermont’s Pollinator Protection Law | Andrew Munkres. Wednesday, March 19, 10-11:30 a.m.
What’s Driving Vermont’s Rising Cost of Health Care, and What Can We Do? | Bill Schubart | Tuesdays, March 25 & April 1, 10-11:30 a.m.
Vermont Folk Songs and the Helen Hartness Flanders Ballad Collection | Samantha-Grey Solomon | Wednesday, April 2, 10-11:30 a.m.
Alfred Hitchcock: Master of Suspense | Ron Monroe | Wednesdays, April 9, 16 & 23, 9:30-11:30 a.m.
The South China Sea: Hotspot of Conflict? | Jeff Lunstead | Wednesdays, April 30 & May 7, 10-11:30 a.m.
Book Group: Fitzgerald, Hemingway & Woolf | John Berninghausen | Tuesdays, May 13, 20 & 27, 10-11:30 a.m.
The Economics of Climate Change | Julia Berazneva | Tuesday May 20, 1:30-3 p.m.
Cole Porter
Date: Tuesday, March 4, 2025
Time: 10-11:30 a.m.
Location: Congregational Church of Middlebury
Cost: Pay what you can ~ $20 suggested
Description:Dilettante, hedonist, elitist, snob: Cole Porter was called all of them during his glittering yet troubled life. Whatever detractors may have said about him personally, Porter’s reputation as a musical genius has never been questioned. The lecture surveys Porter’s life on Broadway and in Hollywood, covering 40 years that produced 33 stage works and the music for 23 films. Rare archival film clips and recording of original cast members, including Ethel Merman, Fred Astaire, Louis Armstrong, and Bing Crosby are featured, along with Porter himself singing and playing “You’re the Top”—which he was.
Instructor: Robert Wyatt is a Steinway Artist who has performed throughout the United States and internationally, gathering critical acclaim for sensitive and colorful solo and chamber music recitals. He delights audiences with a rare blend of pianistic savvy and engaging storytelling that makes each performance a creative event.
King Arthur and the British Empire
Date: Tuesday, March 11, 2025
Time: 10-11:30 a.m.
Location: Congregational Church of Middlebury
Cost: Pay what you can ~ $20 suggested
Description: In the mid-12th century, the cleric Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote a history of the kings of ancient Britain, centered on the mythical King Arthur, who supposedly conquered a huge empire encompassing all of Britain, Ireland, Scandinavia, France and Italy. In subsequent centuries, Arthur became an example for ambitious kings of England who sought to recreate his so-called “British empire.” Arthur’s reputation lived on into the 18th century, and it left behind the term “British empire” which persisted down to the 1960s. This is the story behind an aspect of the Arthur myth that is today very little known.
Instructor: Paul Monod was born in Montreal, educated at Princeton and Yale Universities, and taught British and European history at Middlebury College for 40 years before his retirement in 2024. He is the author of several books, including the forthcoming Think of England: Nation, People and Race in the English Imagination (Cambridge, 2025), and is co-editor with Susan Amussen of volume 3 of The New Cambridge History of Britain (Cambridge, 2025).
The Story Behind Vermont’s Pollinator
Protection Law
Date: Wednesday, March 19, 2025
Time: 10-11:30 a.m.
Location: Congregational Church of Middlebury
Cost: Pay what you can ~ $20 suggested
Description:What are neonicotinoids? How do they affect pollinator populations? In 2024, the Vermont Legislature passed landmark legislation protecting pollinators, including honeybees. Andrew Munkres was a key witness testifying to the legislature during passage of the bill. He will discuss the research on the effects of neonicotinoid pesticides on pollinator populations and what the new law entails.
Instructor: Andrew Munkres is a beekeeper and a beekeeping instructor in Green Mountain College’s Sustainable Agriculture program. From his treatment-free apiary, Lemon Fair Honeyworks, located in Cornwall, he sells raw honey and honeycomb, nucleus colonies and queens. Vice president of the Vermont Beekeeper’s Association, he is a sought-after speaker at local and national conferences.
– Climate Conversation
What’s Driving Vermont’s Rising Cost of Health Care, and What Can We Do?
Date: Tuesdays, March 25 & April 1, 2025
Time: 10-11:30 a.m.
Location: Congregational Church of Middlebury
Cost: Pay what you can ~ $40 suggested
Description: Vermont now has the highest costs for healthcare and for health insurance in the nation. We’ll explore together the drivers of these costs and what efforts are underway in Vermont to rein them in. We will review Vermont’s statutory regulators, the Green Mountain Care Board and the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation, and explore what legislative and citizen initiatives are under way to address the issue, with the common goal of population health to create quality, access, and affordability for Vermonters.
Instructor: Bill Schubart has lived in and written about Vermont for decades. He has served as board chair for numerous Vermont organizations, including Vermont Public, UVM Medical Center, Vermont Digger, and the Vermont Board of Libraries. He has published several novels set in Vermont and regularly contributes to local print and radio media.
Vermont Folk Songs and the Helen Hartness Flanders Ballad Collection
Date: Wednesday, April 2
Time: 10-11:30 a.m.
Location: Congregational Church of Middlebury
Cost: Pay what you can ~ $20 suggested
Description: Are you interested in the story of Vermont folk songs? Have you ever imagined how they may have sounded a century ago, or where they came from? In this course, participants will explore folk song transmission (how songs have traveled and changed) across Vermont in the 1930s and 1940s, to uncover how historic singers and instrumentalists shared local Vermont stories through the lyrics and recordings housed in the Helen Hartness Flanders Ballad Collection at Middlebury College.
Instructor: Samantha-Grey (SG) Solomon ’25 is a senior music major at Middlebury College. Her upbringing in rural North Carolina gave way to a deep fascination with local ballads and folklore. Over the past two years, her research has centered on the Helen Hartness Flanders Ballad Collection, an archive of New England folk songs and fiddle tunes. Outside of academia, she plays banjo with Middlebury-based bands Strings Attached and Soop Spoons. She sings with the Middlebury College Choir and directs and sings in her student vocal quartet, Cantorum.
Alfred Hitchcock: Master of Suspense
Date: Wednesdays, April 9, 16 & 23
Time: 9:30-11:30 a.m.
Location: Congregational Church of Middlebury
Cost: Pay what you can ~ $60 suggested
Description: Within a career that spanned six decades and more than 50 films, Alfred Hitchcock’s artistry had a lasting influence upon 20th century culture and filmmaking. We will explore the development of his signature use of suspense through the study of three of his films from three different decades: The 39 Steps, Notorious and Rear Window.
Instructor: With a degree in Psychology from Bates College, Ron Monroe spent most of his 44-year career teaching American and English literature at the Kingswood Oxford School in Connecticut. After studying Alfred Hitchcock in graduate school, he integrated film into the last 20 years of his teaching. Recently retired, he lives in Middlebury.
The South China Sea: Hotspot of Conflict?
Date: Wednesdays, April 30 & May 7
Time: 10-11:30 a.m.
Location: Congregational Church of Middlebury
Cost: Pay what you can ~ $40 suggested
Description: China and six other countries have overlapping territorial disputes in the South China Sea, through which one-fifth of world shipping moves. The U.S. insists on freedom of navigation and sees the dispute as part of its building struggle with China. Can the issue be peacefully resolved or will it lead to open conflict?
Instructor: Jeff Lunstead is Diplomat in Residence at Middlebury College. Previously a Foreign Service Officer for the Department of State, he served in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia and as U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives. He also served as State Department Afghanistan Coordinator after 9/11.
2025 Marks a Major Literary Centennial: Three Influential Works of Fiction by Fitzgerald, Hemingway & Woolf
Date: Tuesdays, May 13, 20 & 27
Time: 10-11:30 a.m.
Location: Congregational Church of Middlebury,
Cost: Pay what you can ~$60 suggested
Description: This year completes a full century since first publication of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway and Ernest Hemingway’s breakthrough early collection of short stories, In Our Time, all published in 1925. For each of the three sessions, we will read and discuss one of these three works of fiction and what we think it meant in its era, what each one might mean now and how all three have stood the test of time.
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.
The Economics of Climate Change
Date: Tuesday, May 20
Time: 1:30-3 p.m.
Location: Congregational Church of Middlebury
Cost: Pay what you can ~ $20 suggested
Description: What does economics have to do with global climate change? In this lecture, we will discuss relationships between climate and economic activity, why economic theory predicts climate change is a hard problem to solve, and the economic view of some potential solutions.
Instructor: Julia Berazneva is Associate Professor of Economics and affiliate faculty in the Environmental Studies program at Middlebury College. Julia’s research interests focus on the intersection of development economics and resource and environmental economics, with particular interest in human-environment interactions, sustainable development, and climate change. She teaches courses in microeconomic theory, environmental and climate change economics, and development economics.
– Climate Conversation
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