Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers were right: learning can be fun. With Wisconsin Union Mini Courses, students can attend a wide variety of grade and stress-free classes in cooking, food and wine appreciation, dance, fitness, languages, arts and crafts and self-help.
Despite their small-sounding name, Mini Courses are anything but miniature. With multiple sessions available each semester, Mini Courses provides approximately 120 to 150 course titles, with some classes having multiple dates and times.
Mini Courses have no registration deadlines and participants can register up until the day of class, with no benefits or fees for early or late registration. Students can register online, by phone or at the Mini Courses office in room 509 of the Wisconsin Union. Mini Courses also sets up a table in Memorial Union for two weeks at the beginning of each semester.
Although Mini Courses have remained popular since the program's inception in the summer of 1972, Jay Ekleberry, director of Mini Courses, said the program was most popular five to 10 years later, when disco dancing classes made up more than 25 percent of the mini courses offered.
\The most successful period was in the late 1970s and early 1980s and if you know history and think back, that was when disco dancing was all the rage,"" Ekleberry said. ""Many of the fitness and dance teachers taught disco dancing.""
The course schedule centers around the UW-Madison calendar to accommodate the high number of student participants, who make up 50 percent of those enrolled. Wisconsin Union members and UW-Madison faculty comprise the other 50 percent. As an added bonus, no class occur during scheduled final exams.
While classes vary widely in price, most classes with five-week sessions cost between $29.50 and $59.50.
""[The price] really varies by class,"" Ekleberry said. ""The least expensive is $9.50 and the most expensive is African drum-making. It's $299 but it includes all materials and you could end up with a $400 drum.""
Although course popularity changes depending on current trends and fads, some classes have always been popular such as fitness courses, ballroom dancing, calligraphy, photography and wine appreciation.
""Right now yoga classes are really popular and the Latin dancing classes like salsa and tango are also popular,"" Ekleberry said. ""The perennially popular classes are pottery and woodworking. Digital photography is also growing; people are moving in from traditional photography.""
Mini Courses also offers many eclectic classes with one meeting like ""Protecting Against Identity Theft,"" ""How to Awaken the DIVA Within"" and ""Traveling Alone and Loving It!"" Ranging from very specific interests to more broadly popular topics, mini course topics are never boring.
""Elvish 101 is another popular class now,"" Ekleberry said. ""We're really lucky to have the primary consultant to the 'Lord of the Rings' movies for the Elvish language as the teacher. That's been popular since we set it up and has filled up each time.""
Between classes, work and social lives, students remain incredibly busy. So why should students add another activity and take a Mini Course?
""Because there's more to life than classes,"" Ekleberry said. ""Primarily, I think the role our program plays is to show people they can determine what happens in life, what to be interested in and what to do. Formal education tells us what to learn ... With non-credit programs like Mini Courses you can decide, 'Oh, I've always thought stained glass is interesting and I can take it.'""
Mary Hoddy, staff education and training coordinator at the UW-Madison Union, has been taking yoga through Mini Courses for eight years, but has also taken courses on cooking, nature, wine appreciation and a class called Travel for Singles.
She agrees Mini Courses are an important way for students to reach beyond their normal realms to meet people and become involved with a new subject.
""I absolutely encourage students to take the dance, yoga or fitness classes,"" Hoddy said. ""They can balance your academic life and bring balance to life on campus ... You might take a mini course and find a love for a future career or vocation and it's not a big risk, it's just a mini course.""
Courtney Oftedahl, a UW-Madison graduate student and Yoga at Noon instructor for Mini Courses, took her first yoga mini course five years ago and became one of the teachers for the class three years ago.
""I really modify everything to all ages and difficulty levels and it fits for everyone,"" she said. ""It's always something different. I teach Kundalini yoga and we might work on digestion one class, then fat-burning the next, then for meditation or relief from headaches.""
Oftedahl said Mini Courses are popular because of their variety in subject and the opportunity they provide for all participants.
""A lot has to do with broadening horizons,"" she said. ""They offer a lot of classes and the new year is a great time to [broaden horizons] ... There's always something someone will like.""
Selecting classes can be daunting, according to Hoddy, when the pool of subjects has so many intriguing options.
""When I get the Mini Courses catalog each time it's like looking through a candy store,"" Hoddy said. ""I see all kinds of classes that grab my interest that I didn't even know I was interested in. It gives me neat ideas for all kinds of things to learn about.""
Despite busy class schedules, students taking Mini Courses learn a lot from them, not just about the course itself but about life in general.
""You could meet someone who becomes your future husband or wife and you can determine your own learning and growth and become a better person,"" Ekleberry said. ""Mini Courses are social for people. It's a much more different interaction dealing with people if you both have an interest in common ... There's a much greater opportunity to get to know people and make friends and that's part of the reason we're here.""
