Participants take notes during Baskin’s “Wisdom in Israel” course

Earl calls the Insight Seminars “the definition of community connections.” In developing the program, he and Carpenter met with interested faculty and community members on a weekly basis to discuss what the community really needed and wanted, what kinds of classes would work, and the logistics of location and timing.

After a year, they were ready to begin offering classes. At first, Earl was the only professor, donating huge amounts of his time in order to help get the program on its feet. However, he knew if he was to attain his goal of establishing a self-sufficient adult education college, he would need to expand the staff.

“It can’t be associated only with me,” he says.

Today, the six-month series revolve around themes such as “Ancient Wisdom” or “Peace and War.” UO professors from various disciplines within the humanities — including English, Religious Studies, and East Asian Languages and Literature — have stepped forward to give participants a broader perspective.

Conquering one challenge, however, has only led to more ambitious goals. “Now we’re at a crossroad, I think,” says Earl. “I can now invent the six-month series and I can sell them out instantly ... but that’s not what I want. What I want is the whole community.”

Typical seminars are two and a half hours, but each winter, Earl begins with a special, four-hour opening session. “It’s meant to bring people in and give them such an intellectual jolt that they’ll realize what it’s all about,” Earl explains. “People walk out of these introductory sessions just high as a kite.”

This ebullient atmosphere was more than apparent in February’s series, “Wisdom in Israel.” Participants arrived early and began discussing the reading before Professor Baskin, director of Judaic Studies, had even arrived, bringing invaluable perspective to the work: “These people are well educated and have a lot of experience,” Earl notes. This life experience was evident in their reactions to course material, such as the legendarily depressing Ecclesiastes and Job. One participant thought it was fairly dismal, but another woman felt there was “gold in there.” Her friend replied, “Yeah, but you’ve really got to work for it.”

Earl claims this unique, challenging approach is why the program is so successful. “Our goal from the start was that we would not be offering anything like what usual adult education is. It was to be absolutely distinctive. We offer real college work.”

Whatever the secret is, it appears to be working. In three years, Earl has not had a single participant drop out, despite such challenges as reading War and Peace in a week. Professors balance these reading-heavy classes with equally intensive close readings, such as an entire month devoted to Shakespeare’s Henry V. There are no grades and no written work (except for a specific class on “Life Writing”), but a great deal of reading and high-level discussion. “What they want is to return to the intellectual excitement of the college classroom.”

Currently, the program is taking flight — literally — with a field trip to Spain and a $10,000 gift from a private donor. After last April’s “Culture of Tolerance,” participants asked Earl to lead a trip to Cordova and Granada to further explore the history and literature of Jews and Muslims in medieval Spain. Such activities are wonderful stepping stones to Earl’s real vision: an adult education college with a full-time administrative and professorial staff to complement the undergraduate and graduate programs at the UO. After all, he points out, most participants come out of the introductory seminar saying, “This is why I moved to Eugene, this is what I always wanted.”

—AP