Summer Camps for Adults

CNN.com's travel section has an interesting article today about adult summer camps. Instead of singing "Kum Ba Yah" around the campfire, you can pursue interests such as photography, acting, archaeology and music. (And, you don't have to stay in a tent, either.)

In a few weeks, I'll be heading to a similar experience: Mini University on the IU-Bloomington campus. The program has classes on everything from Shakespeare to sexuality--about three classes per day for a week.

As you might imagine, many of the classes at Mini University are geared toward retirees, who don't have to worry about using up a week of vacation. Thus, there's "Hypertension and Salt Intake" and "Rx for Watching Drug Ads on TV."

But there's plenty to keep younger campers engaged, too. I'm looking forward to "The Literary Hoax: Real Fakes and Inauthentic Others," "The Archaeology of Piracy," "Religion and Sex in America" and "Early Modern Racism (Or Not?) in the Plays of Shakespeare," among others.

Compared to other continuing education programs, IU Mini University is surprisingly affordable: only $250 per person for a full week of classes. You'll pay extra for accommodations and a few optional field trips and meals (unless, like me, you can just crash on your sister's couch).

Unfortunately, this summer's program is sold out (as usual). Registration usually begins in March for the coming summer; when I enrolled toward the middle of March, I snagged one of the last few spots. So, start planning ahead for next year. Meanwhile, look for my dispatches from Bloomington in a few weeks.