Potomac State College is again offering a wide variety of classes aimed at people who may not want to attend college, but still want to learn cool stuff. Like fine dining, digital photography, yoga, poetry, Internet retailing, and wine and beer making.
The “special interest courses” begin at various dates over the first three weeks of September. They can be taken for one college credit or as a non-graded, non-credit course. The cost of each course is $89. Courses generally run one night a week for two-plus hours, for about six weeks.
“We initiated special-interest courses as a way of offering enrichment opportunities to people in the community, and to share the knowledge and resources of our faculty,” said Debi Swick-Cruse, program assistant in the communications department.  Swick-Cruse said courses are chosen for their appeal to as wide an audience as possible. Especially popular courses include fine dining, selling on the Internet and yoga.
“We have some that are just really big hits, but all of them are fairly popular,” she said.
Local businessman Gary Howell will conduct Introduction to Internet
Retailing, which “teaches individuals how to shop and sell items on-line and how to navigate sites like eBay and other internet retail sites.”
Chef Thomas Vieli will teach “Topics in Fine Dining,” which will focus on the preparation and presentation of gourmet foods, table presentation and serving procedures.
Local photographer Raymond Burner, renowned for his photographs of local sports action, many of which appear in the News-Tribune, will teach introductory Digital Photography, in which students will learn the basics of photo composition and lighting, use of Adobe Photoshop and the mechanics of digital cameras. The course includes a guided photo shoot.
Enjoying Poetry, taught by Jennifer Merrifield, will introduce students to four contemporary American masters: Irene McKinney, Billy Collins, Jo McDougall and Stephen Dunn — winner of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize in poetry who lives in Frostburg. Merrifield said the course seeks in part to dispel some myths about poetry.
  “Despite its bad reputation, poetry is an art meant to be enjoyed.  We don’t have to analyze the chord progressions of a song for it to be our favorite, and we don’t have to understand brush techniques or color theory to be moved by a painting,” Merrifield said. “By reading and listening to poems by these American masters, students will replace their fears and frustrations as they discover how to read poems for enjoyment.”
Other courses include Personal Finance, Yoga for Fitness, which introduces students to the fundamentals of classical hatha yoga, and Putting the Business in Business Meetings, which instructs students in Roberts Rules of Order.
In addition, Stepping into Grapes and Grains — limited to students 21 and over — will address the fundamentals of fermentation, the difference between lagers and ales, and the basic skills needed to establish home production.
Finally, Lawrence Kelly will introduce students to The Follies of Royals: Or Why We Don‘t Have Kings. “From Roman emperors to the Tsars of Russia, various examples of monarchs lacking good sense, competence, or sanity are discussed,” according to the course outline.
To sign up for the classes, visit www.potomacstatecollege.edu/admissions, or call enrollment services at 304-788-6820 or 1-800-262-7332.