August 1, 2007
Go back to school with extension courses
O.C.'s bounty of extension courses can broaden your horizons and teach you new skills.
By BRIAN QUINES and MATT DEGEN
SqueezeOC.com
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.
Here's a sampling of some of the 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.
UC IRVINE
Campus Drive and W. Peltason Drive, Irvine, 949-824-5011; uci.edu
Complete listing and details of extension courses: unex.uci.edu
"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.
People who enjoy this class can move onto other courses, including "Wines of the Americas" or "European Wines."
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 61/2-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 film screenings included "The Life of Buddha," "Baraka," and "Milarepa."
"SNEAK PREVIEW"
Cost: $140
Time commitment: Six 3-hour 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, pop quizzes, or a big test. 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."
CAL STATE UNIVERSITY FULLERTON
2555 E. Nutwood Ave., Fullerton, 657-278-2011. fullerton.edu
Complete listing and details of extension courses: www.csufextension.org.
"USING THE '5S' TO ORGANIZE THE WORKPLACE
Cost: $315
Total classroom hours: 9
First class: Oct. 15
Perfect for: People whose desks look like a tornado just hit it.
Learn how to apply the "5S" (sort, set in order, shine, standardize, and sustain) method of organizing your office or desk.
The main purpose of this method is to unclutter your desk by removing junk and organizing necessary files and tools so they're easy to find.
Most people will gain 30 percent of working space after applying the method, said Manny Fernandez, course instructor.
In the class, students will learn how to apply each of the five S's and visit offices and warehouses to determine the best way to improve the work area.
Some students will also be asked to photograph a closet, room, or desk at home so the class can give suggestions on how to apply the 5S method.
"APPLIED INVESTIGATIVE PRACTICES"
Cost: $395
Total classroom hours: 15
First class: Oct. 6
Perfect for: The suspicious spouse.
Got a husband who works a lot of "overtime"? Does your wife frequently leave town on "business trips"? Is your future spouse a convict?
Learn the techniques and tools of a private investigator to answer these questions.
Instructor Jim Biesterfeld said premarital background checks are a large part of the private investigator business. In his class, Biesterfeld will introduce the tools, techniques, and legalities of being a private investigator.
You will learn how public records and court documents can be used for background checks. You'll also learn how to prepare and conduct a stakeout if you want to make sure your spouse is really working that overtime.
Learning skills like interviewing and tracking down lost family members and friends are also part of the curriculum.
IRVINE VALLEY COLLEGE
5500 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine, 949-451-5100, ivc.edu
Complete listing and details of extension courses: www.123getsmart.com/
"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.
"ABC'S 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.
"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, long-term 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.
ORANGE COAST COLLEGE
2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa, 714-432-0202; orangecoastcollege.edu
(Fall semester is full for culinary department; spring semester begins Jan 2, 2008.)
"CULINARY PRINCIPLES 1"
Cost: $124; semester parking pass is $30
Total classroom hours: 112
Perfect for: Aspiring chefs, hard-core home cooks
This college course is not for the faint of heart. Nor is it for casual cooks.
OCC's nationally recognized culinary program is meant for students who want to become professional chefs or otherwise work in the culinary field. This is not an extension course.
In each class of about 20 students, there are one or two older students there simply to perfect their home-kitchen skills. And you cannot beat the bang for the buck.
If the 112 hours of coursework doesn't dissuade you (that's 24 hours of classroom learning, 80 hours in OCC's professional kitchen), and you're willing to put up with all the homework and reading assignments from the 1,000-plus page textbook, "The Professional Chef" (cost: $75), you will learn a ton about cooking over the four months.
You'll also need to purchase a knife set, full chef's uniform, and industrial-grade shoes.
After completing the course, you'll have made everything from chile rellenos to pasta and chicken consommé – all from absolute scratch.
Registration begins a few weeks before the semester starts, and you'll have to also take a 16-week safety and sanitation course as a prerequisite or concurrently to enroll in this class.
"PRINCIPLES OF BAKING 1"
Cost: $94; semester parking pass is $30
Total classroom hours: About 82
Perfect for: Aspiring bakers, hard-core home cooks
Like "Culinary Principles 1," this course is meant for students who want to enter the restaurant industry.
This course, also part of the culinary program, teaches the basics of baking breads and making desserts.
While this course is less hectic than the intense Principles 1, Baking 1 is still no cakewalk. You'll be on your feet for hours on end, and at least once will have to knead bread dough by hand – about a 40-minute, grueling workout. (You'll never again take your Kitchen-Aid for granted.)
This class draws a few more home cooks and casual learners, but the majority of students are still gearing up for a culinary career.
Registration begins a few weeks before the semester starts, and you'll have to also take a safety and sanitation course.
VIRTUAL CLASSROOMS
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 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 institution 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."
More courses will be added in the fall.
Other universities in the consortium include Michigan State, Utah 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 OpenCourseWare. You also won't get complete lecture transcripts or any class discussions.