August 9, 2007

CONTINUE LEARNING
Here are a few upcoming courses that may interest you.
BY BRIAN QUINES AND MATT DEGEN / FOR IRVINE WORLD NEWS

IVC COURSES “TWO-DAY HOLLYWOOD FILM SCHOOL”

Cost: $389

Time commitment: Two 16-hour classes.

Perfect for: Future filmmakers.

Spend two days on a real Hollywood lot and learn the business behind making an independent film with less than a $1 million budget.

Big names including Quentin Tarantino, Will Smith, Queen Latifah and Baz Luhrmann all took this course to learn about the planning, budgeting and promotion of an independent film.

There is no filmmaking involved in this class. This is strictly business.

During your two days in Hollywood, each student will be given 38 blank checks (fake ones, of course) to pay for a mock movie. Students will write checks for a filming location, hiring a crew, renting a camera, purchasing film, advertising, and 33 other transactions that will give you a complete crew.

Students will also learn how to secure cash so those checks don’t bounce, whether it’s through partnerships with studios or investors.

“ABCS OF CHARTING THE MARKETS”

Cost: $59

Time commitment: One 3-hour class.

Perfect for: Analytical types who love money.

This crash course analyzes the markets technically, instead of fundamentally like most other stock market classes.

Technical stock market charting looks strictly at closing numbers (those confusing green or red arrows and numbers you’ll see running across the TV screen). Closing numbers are charted to recognize trends for either long-term investments or some quick cash.

This course is meant to be an introduction into technical analysis of the markets. Students should take follow-up classes before making their own investments or playing the market.

The instructor, Don Jarrett, owns his own investment business. Jarrett has worked for various stock brokers and investment firms since 1982. Jarrett specializes in long-term investments. He has charted some commodities back 80+ years to find trends that span decades.

“FINANCIAL AWARENESS FOR WOMEN”

Cost: $40 for individuals; $50 for two people.

Time commitment: Three 3-hour classes.

Perfect for: Women who want to be more independent.

Men shouldn’t be the only financially savvy people in a house. It’s the 21st century!

This crash course in finance will introduce women to nearly every financial aspect of their lives: insurance, taxes, longterm investments, estate planning, and more.

The concepts taught in the course aren’t women-specific. Instructor Don Jarrett created this course to foster a comfortable environment for women to learn about finances.

Most of the women in the class are widowed, divorced, or single.

UCI COURSES“FUNDAMENTALS OF WINE STUDIES”

Cost: $240 plus $50 material fee.

Time commitment: Six 3-hour meetings.

Perfect for: Potential wine connoisseurs.

You can finally get a buzz in class and not have to worry about getting detention.

This introductory wine course covers the three basic senses needed to understand wine: sight, smell, and taste. Instructor Peter Brown will bring six types of wine to each class to compare the look, smell, and taste to differentiate between a good and bad wine. You’ll also learn about the difference in grapes, how climate can affect a wine’s taste, and how to pair wines with food. Brown, a former wine taster for Trader Joe’s, has taught wine courses at UCI for over 20 years.

“BUDDHISM IN FILM AND TRAVEL”

Cost: $75

Time commitment: Two 6 1 /2-hour classes.

Perfect for: People looking for inner peace and serenity. Buddhist ideas are everywhere – in film and in the minds of people you pass on the street.

In this class, you will learn the ideas and concepts of Buddhism by watching films that showcase Buddhist beliefs. Each class will also feature a guest speaker who will talk about his or her experiences traveling through Buddhist countries.

Last semester’s screenings included “The Life of Buddha,” “Baraka,” and “Milarepa.”

“SNEAK PREVIEW”

Cost: $140

Time commitment: Six threehour meetings.

Perfect for: Movie lovers and braggers who want to say they saw the film first.

Watch independent and feature films before the world gets to see them. This “class” meets at Edwards University Town Center 6 and feels like you’re watching a movie at a film festival.

Each film screening is followed by a Q&A with someone involved in the film – anyone from actors to a production assistant will answer the students’ questions.

You won’t have to worry about assignments or tests. Class instructor Michael Berlin wants his students to enjoy the film and, if not, understand why the film didn’t connect with the audience.

Berlin will discuss how cinematography, dialogue, and other parts of filmmaking can affect an audience’s reaction.

Films previously shown in this class include “Hotel Rwanda,” “Finding Forrester,” and “Thirteen Days.” The films and Q&A guests are kept secret until the day of each class.

Berlin is a former screenplay writer who wrote for television shows including “Miami Vice” and “Cagney and Lacey.”

UCI CONSORTIUM

Can’t make the commitment to attend night classes every week? Prefer independent study to group interaction?

You can sit in on college-level courses without paying a single dime or attending one class. Well, sort of.
The OpenCourseWare Consortium (ocwconsortium.org) allows anyone in the world to access lecture notes, syllabi, assignments, and exams to thousands of courses offered by more than 100 colleges and universities in nearly two dozen countries.

UC Irvine is the first on the West Coast to join the consortium. Only half a dozen UCI courses are available online now: “California Subject Examination for Teachers,” “Capital Markets,” “Financial Planning,” “Spa Operations,” “Human Resources Development” and “E-Marketing.”

Other universities in the consortium include Michigan State, Notre Dame and MIT.

Yes, you can dive into MIT courses, including “Bioinformatics and Proteomics” and “The Neural Basis of Visual Object Recognition in Monkeys and Humans.”

The OpenCourseWare site was launched in 2002. Nearly 2 million people visit the site every month.
No certificates or credits are earned through Open-CourseWare. You also won’t get complete lecture transcripts or any class discussions.

UCI EXTENSION

In Orange County, we are surrounded by renaissance people.

Mountain bikers who paint. Skateboarders who manage huge corporations. Punk rock musicians who teach science at local colleges and universities.

If you don’t have that broad range of knowledge or variety of hobbies, extension courses offered at local colleges and universities are a good place to start learning a new skill or expanding your artistic horizons.
Whether you’ve been thinking about a career change or simply want to get more out of your new digital camera, there’s an extension course for you. We found classes about Buddhism, being a private investigator, wine tasting, film appreciation, and more.

UC Irvine offers about 4,000 extension courses every semester. Cal State Fullerton offers more than two dozen extension course certificate programs and adds a few programs each year.

The classes are cheap and convenient, too. Most classes are under $300 and many meet at night. Some classes can even be taken online in the comfort of your home.

Learn about some constructive (and some crazy) extension courses available in Orange County.
And don’t wait too long to register for classes. Popular courses fill up quickly.