KINGSPORT (Sept. 17, 2021) –The Kingsport Alliance for Continued Learning (KACL), in partnership with East Tennessee State University at Kingsport, will offer a series of informal in-person and virtual class options beginning Tuesday, Oct. 12, focusing on a variety of subjects from science, local history and government to world travel and healthy living.
This six-week series of non-credit courses is open to anyone. There are no homework assignments, grades or tests. Classes will continue through Thursday, Nov. 18, and will be held at the Kingsport Center for Higher Education (KCHE), 300 W. Market Street. The cost to participate is $30 and covers all KACL fall courses. Some events, such as field trips, require additional fees.
The fall series kicks off Tuesday, Oct. 12, at 10 a.m. with David Morin, director of Holston Medical Group Clinical Research, discussing “COVID-19 Vaccine Facts and Fiction.” Morin will discuss new vaccine technologies, vaccine myths and vaccine alternatives.
In another lecture, “Thomas Wolfe – His Life and Works,” on Oct. 19, ETSU’s Fred Sauceman, senior writer and associate professor of Appalachian studies and news director for WETS-FM/HD, focuses on this regional novelist and contemporary of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway.
Wednesdays from Oct. 13-Nov. 17 will feature “Wisdom Literature by The Great Courses: Proverbs and Job” facilitated by Dave Petke. The study is a video series with Fr. Joseph Koterski, associate professor of philosophy, Fordham University, and will take an in-depth look at these inspiring books for new insights into our own wisdom as taught by these ancient writers.
The fall series will continue into November as poet and retired Eastman chemical engineer Howard Carman shares “Experiences with The Poetry Society of Tennessee” on Nov. 2. On Tuesday, Nov. 9, “Your Personal Security and Highlights of a Career in the U.S. Marshals Service” will be presented by ETSU criminal justice and criminology adjunct faculty Rebecca J. Marshall. She will present personal security suggestions as well as highlights from her career as a U.S. Marshal.
An overview of “The ETSU Eagle Camera Project and The George L. Carter Railroad Museum” will be shared on Nov. 10 by Dr. Fred Alsop, a retired ETSU professor. On Nov. 16, Calvin Sneed, broadcast journalist, history buff and researcher, will present two discussions, “The History of African Americans in Kingsport, Tennessee” and “Bridges: A Love Affair with the Iron and Concrete Wings of America.” Sneed will explore how Black people lived “separate, but equal” lives in Kingsport, the “Model City,” as well as take a look at the history of truss and arch bridges.
In “The Quest to Invent – Let’s Make Something Useful!” on Nov. 18, Dr. John Gilmer, a King University professor, will describe how to become a successful inventor. Gilmer will highlight some of his own inventions.
The KACL was established in 1993 with ETSU at Kingsport to provide adults, regardless of educational background or age, opportunities to attend stimulating courses, lectures and special events. For fall 2021, KACL participants will be expected to follow health and safety guidelines and provide their own face coverings.
To pay the membership fee and register or for more information, including a full list of fall 2021 classes, call 423-354-5200 or visit kingsportlearning.org. Individuals may attend one class free of charge.
For disability accommodations, call the ETSU at Kingsport Downtown office at 423-354-5200.