Midcoast Senior College

05/27/2026

It was a full house at today’s MSC Summer Wisdom Speaker Series event featuring Dr. Andrew Rudalevige on the topic: The New, New Imperial Presidency. Big thanks to Thornton Oaks Retirement Community, Brunswick, Maine for their generous support of this series. Didn’t make it to the event? You can watch it, here!

Midcoast Senior College Summer Wisdom May 26 2026

05/25/2026

What implications for present and future governance lie in the post-Watergate efforts to reboot the “imperial Presidency”? Will we see a renewed effort to rein in executive authority, or the permanent expansion of presidential power?

Dr. Andrew Rudalevige has been the Thomas Brackett Reed Professor of Government at Bowdoin College since 2012, and a fellow at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center and at University College London’s Centre on U.S. Politics. He studies American political institutions, with an emphasis on the modern presidency, and is the former chair of the American Political Science Association’s Presidents and Executive Politics section. His books include By Executive Order, Managing the President’s Program, and The New Imperial Presidency.

05/18/2026

Cheryl Hamilton, a native of Lewiston, is an award-winning storyteller and the founder and executive director of Stellar Story Company, which she founded after directing programs for local, national and international non-profits that focused on employment, education, and migration. She has coached more than 1,500 people from 80 countries. For Cheryl, her storytelling work has deep local roots and we are fortunate that she will share with us the impact on her professional storytelling work of living and working in Lewiston in 2001 during the beginning of Somali migration. JOIN US!🌟

05/12/2026

The entrance to Midcoast Senior College is beautiful right now with daffodils of many varieties in bloom. And, thanks to the green thumbs of volunteers Bonnie Studdiford (l) and Judy Loranger (r), our planter, which was donated to MSC by Coastal Enterprises Inc., will burst with color and life! Grateful for the contributions of so many!

05/08/2026

Today, members of Midcoast Senior College traveled to the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine - HHRC at University of Maine at Augusta— and it was an experience that will stay with us for a long time.

Through powerful exhibits, personal stories, and thoughtful discussion, we were reminded that history is not just something to study — it is something we are called to remember, and learn from.

We are grateful to the HHRC staff for creating such an impactful experience—and give special thanks to MSC Board Member, Freda Bernotavicz for organizing this memorable MSC Summer Excursion.

05/06/2026

Today is the last class of our popular "Brain Repair" course taught by Donald Stein. An excellent course and a big shout-out to Michael Koleda (left) who brought in his digital projector each week allowing students to get a better picture of the class slides. Not pictured is another class helper, Betty Robinson. Betty put out the class name cards and collected them each week. MSC students are the best!

05/04/2026

Join us, TODAY for our Summer Wisdom Speaker Series!

Ambassador Larry Butler spent 40 years in diplomatic service, working in twelve countries including Afghanistan, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Finland, Iraq, Kosova and Serbia. Prior to serving as President Clinton’s National Security Council staff lead on securing the Northern Irish peace accord in 1995, he was the lead at the American Embassy in Belgrade (then in Yugoslavia) supporting Richard Holbrooke’s achievement of the 1995 Dayton Accords that ended the war in Bosnia.

The talk will deal with international conflict management, using the speaker’s personal experience and citing case examples from Afghanistan, Bosnia, Iraq, Libya, and now Venezuela. Intervention from the United States led to perversely unexpected outcomes, such as boatloads of refugees from those countries coming to our shores, massive expenditure of human and financial resources, and loss of American influence overseas.

05/03/2026

We have a few seats left on the bus.🚌Join your fellow MSC friends and sign up, today!

Our Summer Excursion to Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine - HHRC is coming up soon. Sign up, today!

04/29/2026

Curious seniors who have questions about the world around us know that MSC is a place to find the answers... Join a class, attend an excursion like our upcoming May 7 one to the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine - HHRC, and attend our free Summer Wisdom Speaker Series on Tuesdays like yesterday's with Vince Capone on Mines in the Strait of Hormuz. All this and more on our website: www.midcoastseniorcollege.org

04/28/2026

Today at 1:00 at Brunswick United Methodist Church our FREE Summer Wisdom Speaker Series topic is "Closing the Strait of Hormuz: A Historical and Contemporary Tactical Perspective." Vince Capone, M.Sc., FN-89 will explore the unique geography and immense commercial importance of the Strait of Hormuz. More details here: https://midcoastseniorcollege.org/project/summer-wisdom-2026/ Doors open at 12:30! Summer Wisdom is possible through the generous sponsorship of Thornton Oaks Retirement Community, Brunswick, Maine - thank you!

04/27/2026

Our Summer Excursion to Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine - HHRC is coming up soon. Sign up, today!