Continuing Studies summer registration begins May 18

The Stanford Continuing Studies Program will offer more than 75 courses this summer. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. Monday, May 18; most classes begin the week of June 22.

Lectures, workshops and special programs focus on the liberal arts, the sciences, creative writing, and professional and personal development. Courses are primarily taught by Stanford instructors and are open to all members of the community.

Stanford employees who work at least half time may use Staff Training Assistance Program (STAP) funds to pay for tuition and registration fees.

Summer courses offer the opportunity to travel within the classroom in such offerings as Paris Transforming, Lost Civilizations and Lost Peoples, The Art of India and South Asia and Great Revolutions. Beginning-language courses are offered in Chinese, French, Italian and Spanish. Science courses include Geology of the National Parks of the West, A User's Guide to the Brain, Medicine and the Ancient World and The History of Genetics. Also among the seasonal offerings are Picasso, Lincoln, Movies and the Great Depression, Clean Tech Entrepreneurship and Web 2.0 and Its Business Applications.

Taught by former Stegner Fellows and created in close partnership with the Stanford Creative Writing Program, online creative writing courses are practical tools for students looking to improve their craft. Additionally, in collaboration with the New York Times, Continuing Studies is offering two online creative writing courses: Writing Fiction with The New York Times and Writing Creative Nonfiction with The New York Times. Online courses have filled up quickly in previous sessions, so early registration is encouraged.

This summer marks the 11th season of the Stanford Summer Theater Festival, a joint project with the Classics Department and Drama Department, the School of Humanities and Sciences, the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, the Stanford Institute for Creativity and the Arts, and Continuing Studies. "The Electra Festival" will explore one of the great mythic heroines through theater and film. The festival will offer a major production of Sophocles' Electra; staged readings; a film series; and an all-day symposium that includes readings, talks and performances, and a Greek outdoor lunch. For tickets and more information, visit http://summertheater.stanford.edu.

The summer also will see the return of the very popular Outdoor Science Talks at the Cantor Arts Center on four Thursday evenings (June 25, July 9 and 23, and Aug. 13). Wander through the art museum, buy dinner at the Cantor Center's Cool Café or bring your own picnic, then settle on the lawn outside to hear informal lectures about cutting-edge research from four of Stanford's most esteemed professors. Families with children high school age and older are welcome. The outdoor talks, on the lawn adjacent to the center, are free and open to the public.

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