We’re in full-on holiday shopping season, so allow me to sell you on one of the best gifts you can give yourself: free knowledge! Yes, I’m talking about classes in the Division of Humanities and Fine Arts at Vol State, where, if you are 60 years or older and live in Tennessee, you can audit classes for “no maintenance charge” (no tuition, in other words). Auditing means you attend the class and benefit from the activities, but you don’t receive a grade, so there’s no pressure on tests and assignments.
A healthy number of senior citizens take classes in our division this way, and we adore having them. They are, to a person, excellent models of the value of lifelong curiosity, of trying new things, of being brave and rejecting boredom. Senior audit students often raise the tenor of discussions and provide alternative perspectives that everyone in the class benefits from.
Importantly, I think, our senior students often do more than faculty can to convince traditional-age students that their ideas and opinions are valuable and worth sharing. Unlike faculty, senior students have no professional obligation to take classmates’ comments seriously, so when they do, it’s a boost that can empower those classmates to see themselves as emerging professional peers.
Now, the fun part: classes in the division that I know are particularly welcoming to senior audit students:
Spanish 1010, 1020, 2010, 2020: Vol State offers a sequence of four introductory Spanish courses in which students learn both language and culture. A 2024 paper published in the Journal of Psycholinguistic Research showed that the feeling of “subjective satisfaction” senior learners get from language classes can promote “welfare and successful aging.” Basically, that means that even if you’re bad at pronunciation, grammar or vocabulary, there’s still material benefit to learning a foreign language in a class setting as a senior citizen.
Art: This is probably the most popular option currently for senior audit students. Drawing, Ceramics, Introduction to Photography, Art History and Painting are all common hosts to students of every age and ability. We have a section of Drawing I offered Monday and Wednesday from 4-7 p.m. this spring that’s specifically looking for senior students and non-majors who want to learn to think artistically. (Note: Studio art classes usually entail a lab fee for all students that helps cover some supplied course materials.)
Entertainment Media Production: if you’ve ever wanted to learn more about one of the main industries that fuels Nashville, this is the department for you: video production, audio production, podcasting, television and every combination thereof, taught by professionals still working in the industry. Classes are hands-on, and students use industry-current equipment to make extremely cool and interesting projects. For example, one of our current senior audit students wants to bounce a song off the moon. More to come on that one soon, I hope.
Philosophy: Do you like to think Big Thoughts? Introduction to Philosophy, Introduction to Ethics and Philosophy of Religion might be the classes for you. The Philosophy Department is also offering an interesting special topics class in the spring: Philosophy of Death and Dying Tuesday/Thursday, 9:35-11 a.m.).
Literature: If you love to read and want a book club that meets twice a week and WILL talk about the book, English classes are for you. The department offers classes on American, World and African American literature. We also offer Introduction to Film and Creative Writing classes.
A few administrative details: spring classes start January 20. If you’re interested in registering, simply submit an application at volstate.edu/apply-for-admissions. You can also call the Admissions office at (615) 230-3688 and let them know you’re a senior audit applicant, and they’ll be happy to walk you through the process. Tell them Erin sent you: they’ll be the same amount of nice to you either way, but I’ll get into their good books.
The full schedule for Vol State’s spring semester is available at volstate.edu/students under the link Class Schedule. Or give us a call in the Humanities and Fine Arts division office at (615) 230-3200. We’ll happily talk to you about our offerings and begrudgingly connect you to other divisions to discuss theirs (kidding — we’re delighted to direct inquiries of all sorts). Happy learning and happy holidays!
