Home | Grandparents University | Majors

Welcome to Grandparents University!®

Choose a major that best fits your interests. You will remain in the same major for the entire two-day program. Adults must accompany children to majors. Learning experiences, age recommendations and physical activity levels vary by major – please note Instructors requests. Sample Grandparents University® Itinerary.

2013 MAJORS

Composite Materials Engineering - Composites in a Material World

Composites In a Material World with Matt Benson, WSU, Director of Composite Materials Technology Center

Combining two materials to build things has a long history. However, modern new fibers and polymers have created a revolution! Come and learn about how composite carbon fibers have enabled the creation of new building materials with high strength and stiffness, light-weight and corrosion resistance. Through hands-on activities, including a field trip, participants will learn how to make these composites, test them and how they are used to make various products. Students will tour an internationally recognized leader in the manufacture of composites.

English - Our Family Stories

Our Family Stories with Conan Kmiecik, WSU, ELC Program Coordinator

Oh, the stories we have! Would you like to know how your Grandparents spent their childhoods – did they have adventures, special friends, how did they meet? Over the course of a lifetime, we accumulate a multitude of stories about our formative experiences: love, heartbreak, triumph, setback, adventure, or routine. Too often, however, these stories are not shared with or recorded by the successive generations. This course will involve grandparents and grandchildren exchanging stories important to each of them, making a record of the stories, then using a multimedia format to preserve the text for sharing with extended family members – the perfect gift!

Geoscience: Astronomy: Hey, What's Up?

Astronomy – Hey, What’s Up? with Jennifer Anderson, WSU, Associate Professor Geoscience

Have you ever looked up at night and felt a bit lost among the stars? Come and explore the astronomical (and human-made) objects that inhabit our night sky. We will learn about our Sun, the Moon, the planets in our solar system, comets and asteroids, meteors, and satellites. We will use computer programs to help navigate our way around the night sky and identify what’s up. Each student pair (grandchild/grandparent) will build a small, functioning telescope to use for their own future explorations of the night sky. Opportunities for observation of the Sun and night-sky objects will be available using the Geoscience Department’s collection of solar-scopes and telescopes.

Global Studies - Bonjour, French Friends!

Bonjour French Friends! with Jeanine Black, French & English Language Instructor

Prepare to have fun as you make new friends in this two-day interactive program. Some new French friends will be animals, and we will find out their French names, what they like to eat, the sounds they make in French, and how to talk to them. We will get to know French explorers from the 1600s, the first Europeans to meet and talk to American Indians in Minnesota and Wisconsin. We'll also "meet" a few French painters and learn what it would be like to be their friends. Other new French friends will be introduced through music, including Babar the elephant and Pierrot the clown. Bien sûr (of course), you will learn French words and expressions to use with your new friends.
French friends are introduced through multi-sensory and hands-on learning activities, such as:

• Music, singing, and audio-visual activities
• Drawing, painting, and coloring
• Games and puzzles
• A visit to the Minnesota Marine Art Museum
• Creating and performing skits, puppet shows
• Sampling French foods
• Storytelling
• Finding names of French explorers on regional maps

Mass Comm: The Thrill of Digital Photography

Major: Mass Comm

Exploring Digital Photograph

Are you the designated family photographer? Do you have a passion for photography? Find out how you can make better digital photographs with your point-and-shoot or DSLR camera. We'll learn to see things the way photographers see them, figure out how to best use our digital cameras, how to shoot good portraits and other photographs, We'll also have a brief introduction to computer photo editing and photo archiving. No photographic experience necessary. (Note: please bring your digital camera with you to class)

Recreation, Tourism: Outdoor Quest! (kayak/canoe/geocache)

Major: Recreation, Tourism

Outdoor Quest: Kayaking/Canoeing and Geocache with Eric Barnard, WSU, Instructor/Director Outdoor Education & Recreation Center

There is nothing better than summer in Minnesota! Experience the beauty of Lake Winona and the Winona State University campus while learning in a dynamic, interactive environment. Eric Barnard, Winona State’s director of outdoor education and recreation center, will teach Grandparents and Grandchildren introductory paddling skills for kayaking and canoeing and the outdoor treasure hunting game – geocaching!

Experience Winona from a new perspective and learn the proper techniques to enjoy canoeing and kayaking with the entire family. Paddle sports are easy to do and fun for all ages! Expect to see a variety of birds and majestic views of the Mississippi River valley bluff and cliffs as you paddle on Lake Winona.

Geocaching using GPS-enabled devices is a high-tech treasure hunt. You will navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden at that location. After becoming familiar with GPS devices students will then attempt to find a number of geocaches located on the Winona State campus.

Geocaching is a sport you can enjoy around the world.
It is common for geocachers to hide caches in locations that are important to them, reflecting a special interest or skill of the cache owner. These locations can be quite diverse. They may be at your local park, at the end of a long hike, underwater or on the side of a city street.