We’re pleased to offer seven classes for the Winter 2026 session of ESI College. These programs are open to all lifelong learners in our community who are 60 and older.
Whether you want to savor the music of J.S. Bach, dive into film noir, unpack the ties between religion and politics in American history, explore what drives the direction of our democracy, gain an insider’s view of Vermont’s corrections system and how we can foster meaningful change, or reflect on the insights and joys of “old age,” you’ll find engaging opportunities here.
Registering for courses is quick and easy! You’ll find a link to our online registration page below. Note that some courses are held at the ESI campus, 112 Exchange Street in Middlebury, while others are held at The Congregational Church of Middlebury.
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.
We hope you’ll discover something that excites you this winter and take part in our learning community.
Kira Winslow
Cheryl Whitney Lower
Kristin Bolton
Register for Courses!
Click on the link below to register for Winter 2026 courses.
Registration for Winter 2026 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.
- 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 Winter 2026
Course | Instructor | Dates & Times | Location | Suggested Cost (pay what you can)
J.S. Bach’s Dance Music: Moving the Body and the Soul | Larry Hamberlin | Tuesday, January 20, 10-11:30 a.m. | The Congregational Church of Middlebury | $20
Only in Later Life: A Condition Like No Other | Richard Hawley | Tuesday, January 27, 1:30-3 p.m. | The Congregational Church of Middlebury | $20
Only in Later Life: Wonders and Surprises | Richard Hawley | Tuesday, February 3, 1:30-3 p.m. | The Congregational Church of Middlebury | $20
The Disconnection of Community in Corrections | Heather Newcomb | Tuesday, February 10, 10-11:30 a.m. | Elderly Services | $20
Is the U.S. a Christian Nation? Religion and Politics in American History and Today | James Calvin Davis | Wednesdays, February 18 & 25, 10-11:30 a.m. | The Congregational Church of Middlebury | $40
What Ethical Lodestar Determines the Direction of Our Democracy? | Bill Schubart | Tuesdays, March 3 & 10, 10-11:30 a.m. | Elderly Services | $40
A Greater Appreciation of Film Noir | Ron Monroe | Wednesdays, March 11, 18 & 25, 9:30-11:30 a.m. | Elderly Services | $60
J.S. Bach’s Dance Music: Moving the Body and the Soul
Date: Tuesday, January 20
Time: 10-11:30 a.m.
Location: The Congregational Church of Middlebury
Cost: Pay what you can ~ $20 suggested
Description: Join Larry Hamberlin, Professor Emeritus of Music at Middlebury College, for an exploration of the lively dance rhythms of keyboard music by the eighteenth century’s greatest musical genius, J.S. Bach.
Instructor: Larry Hamberlin taught music courses at Middlebury College for two decades. The author of The Curious Listener, Tin Pan Opera, and An Introduction to America’s Music, he has given presentations at several national and international conferences on music history.
Only in Later Life: A Condition Like No Other
Date: Tuesday, January 27
Time: 1:30-3 p.m.
New Location: The Congregational Church of Middlebury
Cost: Pay what you can ~ $20 suggested
Description: F. Scott Fitzgerald famously stated “there are no second acts in American lives.” Fitzgerald himself did not live to test the hypothesis, but this class will challenge it with argument and evidence. In the first five or six decades of life, we are necessarily preoccupied with making our material mark and forging sustaining relationships. When those developmental challenges are behind us, we become, if we allow ourselves, liberated to ask and answer the greater question: What has it all meant?
Instructor: Richard Hawley, Ph.D, is a lifelong teacher, writer, and musician. He has published 30 books and dozens of articles, stories and poems. Over the past 14 years, he has published six volumes of his ongoing project, On My Way Out, a sustained consideration of what, in his words, “later life has to say.”
Only in Later Life: Wonders and Surprises
Date: Tuesday, February 3
Time: 1:30-3 p.m.
New Location: The Congregational Church of Middlebury
Cost: Pay what you can ~ $20 suggested
Description: This second class about the nature of later life explores the kinds of experiences that can only be experienced in later life. Shakespeare’s King Lear and other masterworks have chronicled the inevitable decline and losses experienced in later life, but those very losses can open up—make room for—depths of feeling and understanding previously impossible. Beyond decline and loss, later life reveals insights and offers pleasures too little remarked in the larger culture’s consideration of “old age.”
Instructor: Richard Hawley, Ph.D, is a lifelong teacher, writer, and musician. He has published 30 books and dozens of articles, stories and poems. Over the past 14 years, he has published six volumes of his ongoing project, On My Way Out, a sustained consideration of what, in his words, “later life has to say.”
The Disconnection of Community in Corrections
Date: Tuesday, February 10
Time: 10-11:30 a.m.
Location: Elderly Services
Cost: Pay what you can ~ $20 suggested
Description: Drawing on eight years at Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility and her experience with the legal system, Heather Newcomb exposes how prisons create systemic barriers for people they are charged to rehabilitate. Most incarcerated individuals are released with high expectations but little training, re-entry planning, or structural support, while institutional practices complicate housing, employment and stability. In Vermont, 40-45 percent of people leaving prison are reincarcerated, making recidivism a predictable outcome rather than an exception and underscoring the need for legislative reform. This class offers an inside look at our system and how we can contribute to meaningful change.
Instructor: After becoming employed at a local non-profit and discovering how meaningful work motivated her own recovery, Heather Newcomb developed a commitment to helping other women overcome life’s obstacles. As Program Manager for Inclusive Workforce at Vermont Works for Women, she now helps women recognize their own strength and shape the next chapter of their lives with confidence and purpose.
Is the U.S. a Christian Nation? Religion and Politics in American History and Today
Dates: Wednesdays February 18 & 25
Time: 10-11:30 a.m.
Location: The Congregational Church of Middlebury
Cost: Pay what you can ~ $40 suggested
Description: Is the United States a Christian nation? In this course, we will consider different ways to answer that question. We will look at the early history of the American republic, exploring various responses the founders had regarding the relationship between “church and state.” We will review the range of answers the U.S. Supreme Court has given to that question in the last hundred years. And we will examine demographic changes and debates in our time, especially as they feature the resurgence of Christian Nationalism as a political force.
Instructor: James Calvin Davis has taught religion and ethics at Middlebury College for 25 years. He is the author of the forthcoming book, The Character of a Nation: John Witherspoon and the Moral Foundation of the United States (Bloomsbury, 2026).
What Ethical Lodestar Determines the Direction of Our Democracy?
Dates: Tuesdays, March 3 & 10
Time: 10:00-11:30 a.m.
Location: Elderly Services
Cost: Pay what you can ~ $40 suggested
Description: Is it the common good? Is it wealth and personal power? Is it religion or racial identity? Is it global politics and trade? Or is it the health of planet earth, our current home (the Gaia hypothesis)? Our two sessions will be a shared exploration about the appropriate philosophical drivers of our democratic government. Is it one or is it a mix? If so, what is the right mix? Where are we today? Where would we like to be?
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.
A Greater Appreciation of Film Noir
Dates: Wednesdays, March 11, 18, & 25
Time: 9:30-11:30 a.m.
Location: Elderly Services
Cost: Pay what you can ~ $60 suggested
Description: Sometimes regarded as its own genre, other times thought of as simply a particular style of artistic expression, film noir is an important moment in Hollywood’s film history as the form derived from a combination of coincidental circumstances. Through viewing of noir classics such as The Maltese Falcon and Double Indemnity along with the lesser known B noir film Detour, we will consider the historical, cultural, and artistic impacts of this oft-debated film category all the while enjoying (we hope) these films as the entertainment they are intended to be.
Instructor: With a degree in Psychology from Bates College, Ron Monroe spent most of his 44-year career teaching American and English literature and film at the Kingswood Oxford School in Connecticut. Recently retired, he lives in Middlebury.
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