Karen Lauseng will demonstrate four Japanese bookbinding techniques, and students will choose one binding to create a book of their own. Karen will include in the presentation a brief history of bookbinding, examples of recent trends in Book Arts, and a discussion of glues and adhesives. As a bonus, students will also make and take their own accordion books. Karen studied Book Arts in Cortona, Italy, and has taught binding techniques to college students, children, and friends. Karen's handmade books are showcased in two recent Lark Books offerings: Echo Books and 500 Handmade Books. Echo Books includes step-by-step instructions for a piano binding that Karen designed.

The world of fine food is aflame. Brash new chefs are taking the standard roast beef-green beans-mashed potatoes-and-gravy fare and asking, "How can I transform this everyday diet into an experience that the diner will remember with pleasure for weeks?" The new wave has gone back to the beginnings, asking about "plating" (appearance of the food on the served plate), service, taste combinations, taste intensity, taste hues, texture, food sources, and nutrition. Something akin to a food revolution is happening. Rob Connoley, chef at the Curious Kumquat and food blogger, is in the thick of the fray. Rob's last WILL course introduced many of us to the most radical culinary trend: molecular gastronomy. With a growing reputation in New Mexico, if not the country, Rob will not disappoint in his newest presentation. No vegetable or beast will be harmed in the production of this course, and total caloric intake will be 0 (maybe).

As we age, our risk of heart problems increases. This course is an American Heart Association class designed specifically for those not in the medical field, but will enable the participants to recognize the signs of heart attack and stroke, and to perform CPR when necessary. Participants will practice on mannequins, which requires kneeling on the floor. Doc Campbell, the instructor, has been teaching CPR for 18 years.

Participants will receive gourd bowls, cleaned and craft ready. After finishing the inside and outside of the bowls, we will learn how to do traditional pine needle coiling on the gourd vessel base using natural pine needles, artificial sinew and small embellishments. This will be an all day class (6-7 hours). Students should bring lunch and a relaxed attitude.

While Karen is furnishing lots of materials, please bring any personal or meaningful items to incorporate into your doll's design. In this 3-hour workshop, participants will create a spirit doll or totem to be used as a ritual or sacred object. The doll can be for growth and healing, for celebrating aspects of one's personality, or for bringing clarity to a life situation. The workshop will begin with a history of spirit dolls/totems followed by a guided meditation for relaxation, bringing personal intention into focus. Then each participant will create a doll. Finally class members will share their new creations. Karen Lauseng is a certified/registered hypnotherapist and an internationally known artist whose work has been exhibited in over 100 shows and in numerous magazines and books. Karen received her BFA and MFA degrees from Kansas State University and has taught a variety of college and community art courses. By facilitating the spirit doll workshop, Karen merges her passion for art and the creative process with her lifelong interest in spiritual healing and growth.

Lordsburg, astraddle a major railroad but distant from everywhere, incarcerated Japanese, Italian, and German prisoners during World War II. Mary Mollie Pressler, who first studied the POW camp for a WNMU graduate-level history class in 1972, will introduce WILL participants to the artifacts and details that she has accrued from her long-term study. She has interviewed former guards and prisoners, and searched the files of the Lordsburg Liberal and the National Archives. After the museum introduction, Mary Mollie will take class members to the grounds where the camp stood. Mary Mollie retired from teaching in Lordsburg and is now secretary of the Lordsburg Museum Society. (It has been suggested that after the tour some WILLites will gather at Kranberry's Restaurant before returning to Silver City.)

Meet Zoe Wolfe at her studio where she creates mixed media and ceramic works. Her large ceramic pieces rank among the most distinctive of any work in a Silver City gallery (she's currently represented by Leyba & Ingalls), and anyone fortunate to have one of her works in his or her house or garden knows that a Wolfe work of art draws admiration from every viewer. Besides seeing the materials and tools that Zoe uses to achieve her arresting art, participants/guests will learn of the motivations that inspire her art. Zoe holds an MFA from the University of Hawaii and has taught art at various local venues, including WNMU.

One of the miners who discovered silver in San Vicente de Ciénega (later called Silver City), Richard Hudson helped establish Silver City as a "modern American town" from the early 1870s into the 1880s. Throughout his residency, Hudson acted personally and publicly to make Silver City a center of commerce and social activity for southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona. Liz will begin with contextual information about the Silver City area before the town's founding. She will then answer how Hudson's contributions helped shape the fledgling town and show how his influence can still be seen nearly 150 years later. Although her background is in science with degrees from Berkeley and Yale, Liz Mikols, in her retirement, has come to love New Mexican history. Besides taking courses at WNMU, she is a volunteer researcher for the Silver City Museum and an exercise instructor at Billy Casper's Wellness Center.

Tour Bayard's Historic Mining District, traveling along Highways 356 and 152 in a Corre Caminos bus. Learn Grant County mining history (which was more than copper), view historic head frames, and take in the Santa Rita open-pit mine from the overlook with Bayard historian Terry Humble. Terry worked in some of the underground mines that he discusses, and he peppers his talk with stories and facts you can get only from a person with first-hand experience.

It all started with the bedraggled Churro sheep that Spaniards brought with them to the new world. Walnut shells and cochineal bugs and mineral mordants followed. Then came the carding, spinning and weaving processes that both American Indians and Spaniards had employed with their separate methods for ages. From this New Mexican mix have emerged masterpieces of textile art. Hosana Eilert, a master weaver from Northern New Mexico who now has a shop on Texas Street, will explore the history and the current art of southwestern weaving. She will touch on the traditions of the Spaniards, the Navajo, and the Hispanic Americans of Chimayo. Hosana learned her art from Irvin Trujillo, a National Heritage Fellow of the National Endowment for the Arts in 2007, and during her two class meetings with us, both her background and enthusiasm will inspire class participants.

Learn about the role of fire in the Silver City area and the implications for people living near fire-prone areas. Combining classroom and field discussions, the course will focus on forest conditions and area plant species as well as on their typical fire severity. Facilitators Wendel Hann and Cecilia McNicoll will lead field trips to view sites that had recent fires, discuss their effects, and present ways to make homes more defensible to fire. The importance of fire as a natural process will also be discussed. Wendel and Cecilia are consultants on landscape ecology for a local company. Both are retired from the US Forest Service. Wendell earned a Ph.D. in forest, range, and fire ecology from the University of Idaho, Moscow. Cecilia earned her MS in forest and wildlife ecology from the University of Montana, Missoula.

Marriage and family therapist Bina Breitner, who is in private practice in Silver City, will provide an overview of identity issues that appear when people retire from work and roles that they may have had for decades. She will then lead the class in a discussion of how to respond to those issues. Bina had a private practice in Boston before moving back to the Southwest where she grew up. She had worked for 20 years as a professional musician (viola) and taught at the Longy School of Music, also chairing their Mind/Body Department. She is especially interested in the subtle shifts in our relationships — and sense of ourselves — that accompany us over time.

Elizabeth Warren arrived in Silver City in 1882. By her death, she had become New Mexico's first insurance woman, a building contractor extraordinaire, and a major real estate investor. Doc Campbell, a Ph.D. historian and volunteer for the Silver City Museum, will don late 19th century clothing to lead a tour of the southern part of Silver City's historic district. No one can better tell us about Mrs. Warren's contributions to our town than Doc. Last year Doc did the walk north of Broadway.

The Islamic rulers of Spain had learned from their North African forebears how to transform a patio with a trickle of water that softens the desert heat. In New Mexico, Arabic hydrology was added to the knowledge of the Indian civilizations about trapping and managing scarce water. At desert's edge in Silver City and nearby, residential ponds and streams can represent life for birds and mammals and can add a meditative atmosphere for humans. Alex Munoz, a master pond builder, will take the class to an outstanding southwestern pond so that he can explain how everyone can build a pond. He will discuss liners and pumps and filters, and answer questions about fish and water plants. Alex is the coordinator for an informal group of Silver City pond enthusiasts and has taught inexperienced amateurs how to build successful water features. The course will meet at the pond site.

Gail Stanford, Carol Osborn, Maryann Finn, and Cindy Neely take participants on four natural-setting hikes around Little Walnut, Ft. Bayard and Pinos Altos to acquaint them with some great experiences they can repeat by themselves. Each hike lasts from 2 to 2 ½ hours and is easy to moderate in difficulty. All hike masters are seasoned trail walkers.

This hike follows the long, narrow ridge forming the crest of a part of the Pinos Altos Range. The trailhead is on NM 15 about 8 miles north of Pinos Altos. The hike is of moderate difficulty with an ascent of about 1,500 feet over 3 miles on a well-maintained trail. The round trip will be at least 5 miles. This hike through the pines and burned-out districts offers stunning views to both south and north. Hike master Doug Dexter discovered the magic of Tadpole aboard a horse. He's a devoted hiker, a member of Back County Horsemen, and a talented advocate for southwestern New Mexico trails.

Facilitators Tim O'Donnell, Lee Stockman and Angela Flanders have wide experience in scrambling over hiking trails between the Black Range and the Chiricahuas, between Reserve and Hachita. Tim and Lee are also proficient in map reading and use of a compass and Garmin GPS. All three have consulted their hiking buddies and have collected information through GPS profiles and pictures to cull out the best hikes. The first session will cover what one needs for successful hikes and ways to avoid getting lost. Other sessions will be descriptions of several hikes: location of the trailheads, how to get there, what to expect, topography, length of time, and level of difficulty. Because hikers feel strongly about their favorite trails, this course may feature some lively class participation.

Songwriting is a unique craft that requires a successful union of two skills: musical composition and wordsmithing. This course will begin with looking at the concepts and structures (or lack of them) involved in songwriting. By the end, each student will have written at least one song. Participants and facilitator Wally Lawder will analyze successful songs, possible song structure, "make or break" song components, motif, arrangement, the Muse, whether a song is lyric- or music-driven, and, finally, performance. Beginning or intermediate songwriters are welcomed (Stringed instrument players can bring their own; a keyboard will be provided if needed). Wally is a singer-songwriter based in Silver City. He has performed his original music on three CDs and regularly performs over 60 original compositions, both locally and in Arizona and California. Wally, first place winner in the Gila River Festival songwriting contest, was a national finalist in the Tucson Folk Festival songwriting competition. Pulitzer prize-winning poet Stephen Dunn says, "Wally Lawder is both a romantic and a social critic, and his quiet lyricism heightened by his gifts as a guitarist gives me great pleasure."

This class will view five superb foreign films: Roman Polanski's Knife in the Water (1962), Francois Truffaut's The 400 Blows (1960), Larisa Shepitko's Wings (1966), Akira Kurosawa's High and Low (1963) and Mohsen Makhmalbaf's Kandahar (2001). These films are from key directors who, except for Makhmalbaf, invested their work with a personal tone. All are subtitled and except for Kandahar are in remastered, glorious black and white. Seeing these movies again, WILLites may discover how much wiser they are now. Facilitator Ted Pressler taps into some of that wisdom by having chosen films certain to provoke opinions and discussion.
Films:
Feb 3 - Knife in the Water (Poland)—Roman Polanski's debut is a psychological thriller that tells the simple story of a hitchhiker who joins a couple on a weekend yachting trip. Bad things happen. It is a study of fear, humiliation and aggression.
Feb. 10 - The 400 Blows (France)—Francois Truffaut's classic recreates the director's difficult childhood, portraying aloof parents, oppressive teachers, petty crime and meaningful friendship.
Feb 17 - Wings (Russia)—Suffocated by life in 1960s Soviet society, a severe school headmistress recalls her glory days as a World War II pilot. Director Larisa Shepitko achieves a stunning naturalism as she contrasts a closed society with a free mind.
Feb. 24 - Kandahar (Iran)—Mohsen Hakhmalbaf weaves an epic tale of hope and courage inspired by the true story of a woman's attempt to enter Afghanistan.
March 3 - High and Low (Japan)—Based on Ed McBain's detective novel, King's Ransom, this Kurosawa film tells the harrowing story of a wealthy industrialist whose family becomes the target of a cold-blooded kidnapper.

Understand a sense of growing up for young women around the globe. Course participants will watch and discuss four coming-of-age movies in a cross-cultural context. Facilitator Alexandra Todd has selected the films - one each from Senegal, Iran, South Korea and the US. She will lead an exploration of the universal as well as the culturally unique aspects of growing up female in different worlds today. Alexandra has loved and studied films for most of her adult life and is active in the Silver City movie scene.

If you can hold a pencil, you can learn to draw. Learn how to use graphite pencils for drawing. Jean Hatfield will help participants draw light and dark shadows and use basic compositional techniques in creating their pictures. Give in to the urge to sketch and let Jean break out the artist in you. She is a long-time teacher who has studied art both here and in Florida. Her pictures hang in several Silver City galleries, and her work has been accepted in a number of juried shows.

Towards the end of the 19th century, Harvard Professor, Francis J. Child collected 305 traditional folk ballads. So thorough was Child that only a handful have been discovered since. Patricia Sterling will lead discussions on how the oral tradition modifies ballads as they travel through time and space. The class will pay special attention to Child Ballad 200, known as "Gypsy Davy" as it was passed about the British Isles and to the United States. The song changed to accommodate new generations of singers and new locations, including the American West. The class will also take a close look at several riddle ballads, including the widely known "Scarborough Fair." Pat has a Ph.D. in English and was a professor at Colorado's Western State College for 27 years. She has had an interest in folk ballads since the 1960s and taught a semester length course on them at Western State.

Beginners will learn to draw, while more advanced students will improve their drawing skills. Participants will learn all of the basics and some extra tricks that will enhance drawing techniques. Pencil, charcoal, pastel and color pencils will be the media with all materials supplied. Rita Sherwood has taught other highly successful WILL art and art history classes. She has a bachelor's degree in fine arts and continues her graduate studies.

This class introduces the fundamentals of modern and jazz dance techniques that form the basis for an inventive and evolving art form. Warm-up exercises are designed to raise a dancer's sensory awareness, to build the body's core strength, and to ground the body through proper alignment and articulation of joints. This is a great class for non-dancers and dancers alike who want to increase strength, explore new dance forms, or have fun moving freely through space. Judith Lawrence was trained in Rhode Island and New York City in ballet, modern, and jazz dance. She performed with a Rhode Island dance company in the 1990s. Her performance days now over, she stays fit and flexible with dance, yoga, and outdoor activities. No prior dance experience is necessary; although some training in Pilates, yoga, or martial arts is helpful.

Learn how to isolate parts of your body, shimmy and dance with a veil. Learn a simple choreography. Have fun exploring the essence of Middle Eastern dance. Both men and women welcome. Zoe Wolfe has performed the art of belly dancing for more than 30 years. She is a trained teacher of movement and can assure a safe workout while encouraging personal expression. Zoe emphasizes having a great time.

T'ai chi ch'uan is many things: an intense physical and mental exercise, an expression of traditional Chinese philosophy and medicine, and among the most effective of the Asian martial arts. It's both a challenging physical practice and, paradoxically, a calming and relaxing internal meditation. T'ai chi enhances postural strength and balance, mind-body awareness, and serenity under stressful conditions. Participants will learn the beginning of the authentic and original 81-movement Yang Long Form. John Dye learned the Yang Long Form from Master Tung Kai-Ying, grandson of Yang's most respected student. John is a 12-year student of Master Tung of Los Angeles as well as a 16-year practitioner of Iyengar-style yoga. He taught yoga and t'ai chi and earned his Ph.D. from the University of California-San Diego Department of Neurosciences. Anna Dye began her t'ai chi career as a student of Rami Salo, one of Tung Kai-Ying's most successful European teachers. A member of the Tai Chi Chuan Association of Helsinki, Finland, since 1996, she now regularly attends Master Tung's special classes and camps in the U.S. and Europe. John and Anna led last term's T'ai chi course.

When Norman Cousins got a disastrous prognosis for an autoimmune disorder that had confined him to bed, he bought a stack of old movies by the Marx brothers, B. Keeton and C. Chaplin, and proceeded to laugh himself well. Laughter helps to disarm tension and dispel loneliness. It can prompt closeness, bonding mother to infant, mate-to-mate and friend to friend. WILL members can now move from giggles to guffaws to a big healthy payoff as they practice letting go of stress. You will move around some during class. A few people may have medical restrictions against participation. Mary Ann Finn and Jackie Frank are certified laughter leaders and work seriously to improve Grant County health. Mary Ann has been conducting laughter clubs in Silver City for two years.

A dancer and teacher of dance for decades, Judith Lawrence incorporates into this course basic dance movements as well as exercises to enhance strength, balance, grace and flexibility. Warm-up exercises are given in center floor and at the ballet barre, and are based primarily on ballet, the foundation of most contemporary dance. Music is used to motivate and to suggest movements and positions in space. No prior dance experience is necessary - just a desire to experience the joy of moving with grace to beautiful music. Judith trained in Rhode Island and New York City. She studied ballet, modern dance and jazz. Judith performed with a Rhode Island dance company in the 1990s.

The title could be Bones Are Life. Men and women of every age are beginning to understand the crucial role bone health plays in our well-being. Would you like better posture, stronger bones, improved equilibrium and vitality, as well as freedom from back or joint problems? This course will introduce you to gentle movements, incorporating rhythm and pressure that can help you meet these goals while making you a smart mover. Dixie Dexter has been involved with the Feldenkrais Method® since 1988 and has been a certified practitioner for many years. She is also a certified BonesForLife® teacher.

Study 19th and 20th century quilts and as you examine the techniques for making them, gain an appreciation of the styles that have guided quilt makers over the last 200 years. Maureen Craig collects, appraises and makes quilts. She has taught quilting and appliqué and taught American quilt history for WILL last fall. Maureen is passionate about quilts and looks forward to sharing quilts from her collection, while inviting participants to bring their own quilts at the final class. A special class will be devoted to Sharleen Daugherty's presentation on Amish quilts and Navajo weavings.

In the shadow of the American Civil War and a violent defense by American Indians, the English-speaking settlers in the western frontier formed a heritage riven with conflict and lawlessness. Western historian, Allen Hatley, tells the stories of famous lawmen in New Mexico, Arizona and Texas. He will trace how feuds and "wars" followed their adherents west. A Mimbres resident and retired geologist, Allen has published eight books as well as numerous newspaper and magazine articles about the old West and the Civil War.

This course is a social, political, economic, cultural and military history of Afghanistan from 320 BCE to 2000 CE. The course will address what the United States and its allies face in Afghanistan. What can we learn about Afghanistan that might help us to understand the problems this country faces in the 21st Century? John Lawson brings to his course graduate training in Middle Eastern studies and a lifetime of serious reading. He taught college-level courses about Islam. John led a WILL course on Islam prior to this.

Ancient Egypt spanned 3000 years from founding to absorption into the Roman Empire. To most non-archaeologists, Egypt is mummies, the Great Pyramid of Giza, Cleopatra, Ramses the Great, Tutankhamun and the Sphinx. Ancient Egypt was more than just a sort of dusty Disneyland. It introduced monotheism as a state religion and fostered incredible arts and architecture. Without models to follow, Egyptians developed writing and geometry, centralized government, and great towns. Ted will present more than the elites, portraying how bureaucrats, priests and laborers lived and died. Ted Pressler, who formed a love of things Egyptian as a student of archaeology, will guide a study divided into Old, Middle and New. Old is prehistoric Egypt, the Rosetta Stone, the rise of the Old Kingdom, Sneferu the Pyramid Builder and the Great Pyramid of Giza. Two succeeding classes will feature the First Intermediate Period, the Middle Kingdom and the Second Intermediate Period plus Queen Hapshepsut, Tuthmosis III, Akhenaten, Tutankhamen and the end of Dynasty XVIII. (Part II in the fall 2010 will continue with the New Kingdom and Dynasty XIX / Ramses thru the last Ptolemy-Cleopatra.) Since retiring as an executive of an international firm, Ted has pursued his passions for archaeology and the arts. The Egyptians are the third ancient people that he has introduced to WILL.

Aqui está. This class is a continuation of fall's 2009 Spanish 101. Patricia Cano, who has taught WNMU students for 20 years, received accolade after accolade from her WILL followers. "She made me work," one participant reported, "and I felt lucky to have her as my teacher." Patricia has superior mastery of Spanish patterns, pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary and can spot where every student needs practice. Fall participants have early signup preference. If any spaces are left, others with at least a moderate command of Spanish, will be permitted to register.

Sally Anderson, a deaf educator for over 20 years, will introduce the class to American Sign Language (ASL) and sign systems. She will give a brief history of ASL, a survey of the deaf cultural community, ASL arts, and the first 100 signs. After the first class, participants will turn off their voices to optimize the ASL-learning potential. In the final session, the course will look at adult onset hearing loss.

Come, ride the waves with Odysseus as he sails home from Troy, escaping scrapes that would defeat Indiana Jones (who is actually a pop culture copy of the Big O). On his journey, Odysseus meets the one-eyed Cyclops, the Sirens, Aeolus, who keeps the winds, and the fetching temptress, Circe. Meanwhile, back in Syracuse, on Sicily, waits Penelope, the wife of Odysseus, keeping insistent suitors at bay. Homer's poem is an account that lives with an urgency and appeal unmatched in 2,800 years. It became a foundation for modern literature (think James Joyce). Participants can use any translation, but will be expected to read about 100 pages a week. This is a lecture course with little discussion. Philip (Pep) Parotti, a retired professor of English at Sam Houston State University and a novelist who has retold Trojan days, will introduce the backgrounds of the Trojan War and Epic poetry before leading WILL participants on this legendary journey.

Over the past few decades, Scandinavian countries have produced a number of internationally renowned mystery writers. Almost all write police procedurals with magnetic main characters, such as Wallander, Henning Mankel's brooding hero, recently featured on Masterpiece Theatre. Typically, these Nordic writers embed their stories in issues that roil current Scandinavian culture: Ennui and alienation in prosperity; the aftermath of World War II; emigration and colonialism; alcoholism; and the myth of the perfect Nordic society. Each author has approached these topics somewhat differently, but all squint at society with a slightly jaundiced eye and often with wry humor. The class will read and discuss four novels while covering other works in the genre. Authors to be considered include Per Wahloo and Maj Sjowall, Peter Hoeg, Henning Mankell, Jo Nesbo, K.O. Dahl, Haakan Nesser, Yrsa Sigurdsdotir, and Karin Fosum. Facilitator Mary Hotvedt is a family therapist with Scandinavian roots and a deep anthropological understanding of culture and cultural study techniques.

People who seek out villages far from the Marriott or who read writers describing such places lead interesting lives. WILL now gathers those who forsake the interstates for county gravel roads. They may have stayed in Paris' St. Moritz, but they want to tell you about some little town in Oaxaca. Silver City's most inclusive and fun book group will read (for March) The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America by Bill Bryson, the 20th century answer to Mark Twain. Bryson chronicled his 13,978-mile trip around the United States in the autumn of 1987 and spring of 1988. At the first meeting, members will suggest the next two selections, which should focus on traveling to out-of-the-way places. Participants will also be encouraged to share stories about going to such locales. Ilese Levitt is an artist, gourmet cook, photographer, blogger, raconteur, avid reader and book club groupie who has traveled to places off the beaten path like Hilo, Hawaii; Bethel, Alaska; and Shelbourne, Nova Scotia.

A chance to have a common experience that we can share, reflect on, and talk about. This book is available to participants without cost. The facilitators are Felipe de Ortego y Gasca, Ph.D. in English literature, WNMU scholar in residence and the chair of the Chicano and hemispheric studies department; and Gilda Ortego, Director of WNMU Miller Library who will enable participants to explore outstanding literature by some of the best writers of 20th century Mexico. This book was created expressly for The Big Read, a National Endowment for the Arts effort to increase reading. A chance to have a common experience that we can share, reflect on, and talk about. This book is available to participants without cost. The facilitators are Felipe de Ortego y Gasca, Ph.D. in English literature, WNMU scholar in residence and the chair of the Chicano and hemispheric studies department; and Gilda Ortego, Director of WNMU Miller Library who will enable participants to explore outstanding literature by some of the best writers of 20th century Mexico. This book was created expressly for The Big Read, a National Endowment for the Arts effort to increase reading.

While King Henry IV rules, his wayward heir, Prince Hall, the future Henry V, crawls through taverns and carouses in brothels with fools, wenches and scoundrels, the largest of whom is Sir John Falstaff, Shakespeare's great comic figure. ("Discretion is the better part of valor.") The prince matures into one of England's most astute rulers, the victor at Agincourt, as Falstaff mixes low comedy and scorching sentiment. Through discussion, reading and videos, the class will explore this amazing relationship. Frost McGahey has pursued her Shakespeare scholarship with zeal, and WILL has been a beneficiary of her knowledge. Frost wrote the quick-witted Cakes & Ale with Shakespeare for last year's Lunch and Learn and is at work on a novel about Shakespeare.

Richard Felger, a renowned botanist, has had an illustrious career investigating human culture and other life in arid places and writing about what he found. He now proposes to undertake a review of his research and experiences, starting with the Gila region forest and the Gila River that arises in the Mogollon and heads west toward the Colorado River. Richard will consider the people of the arid Southwest and the plants that they depended on. He will discuss new global arid land crops, a topic of increasing importance. He will speak of the relationship of population, sustainability, war and peace. Richard has contributed significantly to knowledge in each of these areas.

Most of us probably considered sundials to be moss-covered English garden gadgets. How many of us realized that sundials can introduce the mechanics of our universe... or at least of our solar system? Simon Wheaten-Smith, town council member, special deputy, and second in command of the Grant County Sheriff's Reserve, ranks among the world's experts on sundials. He proposes to pull the universe's threads together as he explains how sundials of different configurations measure time's passage. He will summarize the operation of basic hour dials, polar dials and horizontal dials. Simon will also take the class on a field trip to see dials working (or to see the sun working and the dials taking advantage of it).

For those who wish to discover a brief insight into Zen meditation but who have little or no knowledge of Buddhist practices, this course introduces learning to stop, to observe clearly and to practice listening. Zen can be learned by anyone regardless of his or her religious beliefs and can be a guide or pathway into contemplative spirituality and lifestyle. Zen differs from many other Buddhist practices as it stresses simplicity, form as an opening to liberation and the use of the breath to quiet the mind. Paul Stuetzer, founder of the Silver City Zen Center, has been a Buddhist priest since May 2005, when he was ordained by the Rev. Kojun Jean Leyshon, Sensei, at the Hokoji Zen Center in Taos. He is also a physician practicing Oriental and alternative medicine. He studied at the San Francisco Zen Center, Green Gulch for 13 years and was lay ordained by Abbott Tenzin Zenki in 1988.

We live next-door to the 3 million acres of the Gila Wilderness, one of the most potent, alive landscapes in North America. We also live in a culture that promotes insensitivity, indifference and separation, a lack of understanding that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. There is vastly more mystery, power, wisdom and healing available to us if we choose to look with different eyes, if we choose to think and feel outside our learned cultural frame, to drop hierarchy and separation and perceive the world directly. This class focuses on learning to live our life with full awareness of the livingness and intelligence of Gaia and all our relations, to know and own our place in the circle of all life and find ways to be a part of, rather than apart from the natural world. Julie McIntyre is of Norwegian and Mohawk descent. She is a medical herbalist, ceremonialist, writer and an ordained practitioner of the Church of Gaia. She has taught classes on human bonding with the Earth, led vision quests, sweat lodges and healing ceremonies. Her work focuses on healing the wounds from our families of origin, our culture and creating a life of authenticity and wholeness.

Improve the energy flow and harmony of your house and your environment. Join Paula Geisler as she introduces this ancient art. Feng Shui practitioners assert that geomantic forces associated with 9 directions form an imaginary octagon around an individual and his or her home - past, present and future - connecting each of us with the vastly more powerful energies of the cosmos. Properly trained, we may manipulate the energies/forces/powers associated with the directions to create and maintain a harmonious SPACE. Paula Geisler was born to be a psychologist of space, a curator of art, serving as an invisible presence behind art that is seen. Paula has taught art appreciation, life drawing, and other art courses at WMNU, while directing the university art gallery during part of that tenure. (Her latest contribution to WILL was a provocative segment of the Deconstructing Art class.) Paula brings to her classes traditional learning heavily enriched by awareness of how the land lays, how the surroundings feel. Now retired, she is producing videos in which she tries to convey the wisdom of the compass.

Have you consulted an introduction-to-sewing book, but the words described a foreign activity akin to brain surgery? Help is here. Judy Billings, owner of Aunt Judy's Attic, will use the 4-H brochure as a guide, but will translate. Learn how to buy fabric and why the direction the threads are running is important. Discover how to lay out fabric for a pattern and more fundamentally, what kinds of patterns to avoid and how to read that fine print. She will also help you decide whether or not to get a sewing machine and what features to look for if you decide to get one. She will also teach you how to thread a sewing machine. Judy will hold your hand through a simple project and answer every question. Judy is a talented, practiced teacher who is accustomed to taking students from little knowledge to real accomplishment. Depending on your present equipment and what you decide to make, you can spend between $0 and $30

Find out about energy retrofits that could save you money and help Mother Earth. Craig Wentz, Rich Bigelow, and Dan Clements are all professional contractors who help their clients cut energy costs, live comfortably and protect the environment. Find out how they do it and whether or not it's practical to retrofit your house. Three separate Saturdays with three of Silver City's leading green contractors. Silver City is fortunate to have conscientious contractors, many of whom were working green when it wasn't "stylish." Probably no WILL course has inspired as much praise as the Building Green in Silver of 2007. Now Craig and Rich, joined by Dan, have agreed to take us to projects they've done or have underway, to explain the economics and some of the technicalities.

Sharon Scotti, a retired master teacher and trainer of teachers, does not pretend to know all the tricks of wise living. She asks that participants come with questions and a willingness to share. The class will select discussion topics from the following list: 1) Groceries; 2) Affordable healthcare; 3)TV/computer services; 4) Car and plumbing repairs; 5) Cost of insurance for auto/home; 6) Phone costs; 7) Growing your own food; 8) Investments; 9) Giving to grandkids. Sharon works as a private tutor and devotes most of her time to fundraising by selling her handmade jewelry. Last year she bought books for the 6th Street School library. Other topics that Sharon has offered community groups are Yogurt Making Made Easy, Learn to Live Fearlessly, and Using Time Wisely.

Bridge is one of the best ways to practice the "use it or lose it" advice for maintaining mental sharpness in older age. Research has shown that regular bridge playing improves reasoning skills and long- and short-term memory. It can also improve your physical health by boosting your immune system. Other studies have found that people who play bridge regularly are 2½ times less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease. Learn the basic elements: How do you bid? How do you score? Retired teachers Caroline Miller and Margaret Carrillo have been playing bridge for over 30 years.

If your idea of a great trip involves 10-day highlights of Europe, then this is NOT the course for you. If, instead, you would like to form a personal travel philosophy and seek out destinations that are off the beaten track, then check out this discussion course. WILL members are travelers rather than tourists. Do you journey with an open heart and receptive mind? Would you like to travel longer, and with less? Marcia Andre will guide the class through these topics along with ethical travel concepts. She will weave in examples of personal experiences. Participants will be encouraged to share their personal perspectives and experiences throughout the course. Marcia's passion in life is organizing fabulous trips that involve multiple forms of transportation to remote but memorable places. She promotes ethical travel and has organized (or simply advised) many trips for friends and family. Since her retirement from the U.S. Forest Service in 2008, she has planned several exciting adventures.

Cruise travel includes much more than commercial cruise lines and tacky touristy shore excursions. Jim Kelly, besides talking about cruise/tour travel on the "big boats," will also discuss freighter travel, river cruise travel, adventure cruising, eco-cruising, as well as specific destination travel as a part of the total "cruise/tour experience." Do you have cruise experience? Register for this course and share your memories and opinions. Have you never stepped foot on a gangplank? Come and learn the basics. Jim, a retired journalist and man of many parts, has traveled on commercial cruise lines as well as on a French freighter plying the South Pacific. Jim was inspired to offer this course after participating in Andre's Art of Unconventional Travel in the fall.

Mah Jongg may have been around since before the time of Confucius. It has always been a game that brings people together in a unique way. Perhaps it's the click of the tiles and the lively pace of the game or maybe it's because Mah Jongg is so much fun. In any event, Vicki Johnson and Sam Redford have been playing Mah Jongg together for over a decade, and they want to teach more of us how to play. They will be teaching Jewish Mah Jongg, a variant of the ancient Chinese Mah Jongg.