Coastal Senior College, serving Midcoast Maine from Wiscasset to Camden, is offering 11 winter courses this season, eight of them on Zoom, making them accessible to all from home. Courses will also be offered in person in Damariscotta and Newcastle. Registrations will be accepted beginning on Dec. 16. Classes begin the week of Jan. 13. Find more information about CSC Winter Term classes at coastalseniorcollege.org.

Winter is a time when one can see the bare bones of the landscape. “Form in Nature and Design” takes advantage of that view. Instructor Arnold Aho says, “The world is not a random clutter, an accident. To the discerning eye all things appear as inventions and variations from a finite number of basic patterns. The beautiful spiral nebulae, the eddies in a stream, and the nautilus shell share a common theme. So too do meanders, radiations, branchings, as well as linear and circular systems. But why do these archetypal patterns occur? This course investigates the interactions of matter and energies in three-dimensional space as the underlying origins for these primary natural forms. If then, our material culture - what we make and what we build - are also compositions of materials and energies in space, perhaps these archetypal patterns also form the foundations for what we call harmony and beauty in man-made form as it does in nature.” 

Arnold Aho A.I.A has taught architecture and basic design for more than 40 years. He has many publications on materials and energies in design, vernacular (folk) architecture, and the relationships between natural and built environments. 

Class discussions in Coastal Senior College courses offer an opportunity to learn and connect with other students who are primarily 50 and older.

Professor Aho’s class will be held on Zoom. Seven other classes will be offered online. Information about Coastal Senior College and the Winter Courses can be found at coastalseniorcollege.org.