Over 50? St. Thomas has a course for you

Last fall, the University of St. Thomas asked David Schultz, a professor at rival Hamline University, if he'd like to teach a special course about this year's election.

The result is "A Political Junkie's Guide to the 2016 Elections" — one of a series of classes designed just for the over-50 crowd who miss the excitement of being on a college campus.

St. Thomas has been offering dozens of such courses, for no credit, for decades through its Selim Center for Learning in Later Years. This spring, some of the offerings, which range in cost from $15 to $80, seem destined to be especially popular.

One is Schultz's six-part course on this wild primary season. When he started drafting the course last semester, he admits, he had no idea how Donald Trump would upend the presidential campaign.

"The biggest content adjustment will be trying to somehow explain the Trump phenomenon," he said. "Little did I know, when I wrote this last fall, that it would become quite the circus that it [is] now."

Schultz, a political scientist and author of more than 30 books, has been teaching American politics for 28 years. He created this class, which runs for two hours a week Thursday mornings from April 7 to May 12, especially to appeal to a seasoned audience.

The first session, for example, is devoted to "politainment" — a word he helped coin when writing about Jesse Ventura's turn as Minnesota governor. "It's about the merger of politics and entertainment," he explains. It seems even more relevant this year, he points out, with Trump's campy campaign.

Jan Viktora, director of the Selim Center at St. Thomas, says that history and current events are typically among the most popular subjects. But this spring's offerings span a spectrum of the liberal arts, such as "Arcane Mysteries: A Study of World Mythology," "The Science of Natural Disasters," a music sampler series and "The Tudors: Monarchs and People in 16th Century England."

The courses are open to anyone age 50 and older — no special connection to St. Thomas is required. The university sees the program as "a nice way to connect" with the community at large, Viktora said.

Occasionally, some classes have waiting lists, Viktora says. But most, including the Political Junkie's course, are offered in the O'Shaughnessy, a spacious auditorium on the St. Paul campus, which can accommodate up to 700 people.

Advance registration is required, however. A list of the spring courses, along with registration information, can be found at www.stthomas.edu/selimcenter.