Nations, Creations, Innovations

Written By: Lorna Alexander | Issue: 2016/06 - June

Summertime and the living is easy, fish are jumping and class enrollment is high at the Center for Life Enrichment in Highlands. 

For Arts and Architecture, we’re offering an array of lectures that cover many fascinating subjects from Marjorie Merriweather Post’s Hillwood Estate Museum and Gardens to Pavlovsk Palace which examines the family residence for five generations of Romanovs.  

There’s been a renaissance in Latin American film in the past twenty-five years and we’ll cover it all in “The Rise of Latin American Cinema.” If you’ve never been to the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, this lecture will introduce you to highlights of the permanent collection of more than 5,000 objects spanning the periods from antiquity to the present day.  

We will top off our coverage of the arts with the “Great American Photographic Road Trip,” which will document the fascinating subject of the American spirit through personal journeys of numerous artists and writers. 

Join us for the fascinating life and work of the distinguished potter/pioneer Walter B. Stephen.

For all of you who love to play bridge, we’re offering “Thinking Bridge,” with four sessions that teach you how to become a better thinker at the bridge table.

In the ever-evolving arena of Computers and Technology, we continue to expand our course offerings for Mac users with “iPad Advanced Photoediting,” “iPad PRO” and “SIRI: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know.”

Join in the fun for a Cooking Demo and Lunch at Lakeside on Monday, June 13.

International affairs will take center stage with “Yesterday’s Cold War to Today’s Global Disorder,” followed by “Syria.” “Political Economy of Global Markets” will address classic and contemporary ideas in economic and business strategy. We’ll take on Korea in the “Unending Conflict on the Korean Peninsula” and will offer “FBI-Post 9/11,” which will examine the actions undertaken by the FBI after 9/11. 

Join us for “The Creation of Lexus: A Story of Product, Promotion and People,” “Frederick Law Olmstead and the South: America’s Premier Landscape Architect,” “Japan and the US in the Cold War,” “League of Nations,” “James and Dolley Madison – America’s first “Power Couple,” “Building a Sacred Landscape” and “Mummies and Mysteries of the Peruvian Desert.”

Gardening enthusiasts should join us for “How to Plan a Garden (includes tour),” “Garden Study Field Trip with Mary Palmer Dargan,” “Simply Succulent Gardening” and “Past Perfect: Living with Heirlooms and Antiques.”

“Carnival in the Americas: Trinidad, Brazil and New Orleans” focuses on the influence of African-based cultures and practices on Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago, Carnaval in Brazil and Mardi Gras in New Orleans.

Those who love nature will relish “Southern Appalachians – Salamander Capital,” “Earth’s Ever-Changing Climate,” “A Biomimicry Primer: How Nature Inspires Science” and “Bees Please: Native Bee Diversity in Your Garden and Beyond.”

CLE is offering a delicious tour of Mexico with, ‘Chocolate & Orchids’ in November, which will allow for the opportunity to experience the authentic character, traditions and vast cultural heritage of Mexico that often intersects in the form of cuisine.  

For more information, call the Center for Life Enrichment at (828) 526-8811 or visit clehighlands.com. The Center is located at 348 South Fifth Street, in the Peggy Crosby Center in Highlands.