A Quarter Century of January Programs Shows This Is No Time to Hibernate

For twenty-five years, MHC women have braved the New England winter to be part of the January Program, learning skills from welding and auto mechanics to cooking and juggling, hearing speakers including astronaut Sally Ride and writers Maya Angelou and Ntozake Shange, and studying everything from The Art and Science of Running a Political Campaign to Conversational Norwegian. The number and focus of January activities have changed over the years, but the month remains "a time for creative intellectual challenge, experimentation, exploration, and stimulation," according to archives librarian Patricia Albright. She organized an exhibition about MHC's January programs on display through February 3 in the College archives lobby.

<<< As in years past, January brings snow and studies

The first January Program was held in 1972, and until 1986, students were required to take two winter term courses before graduating. Luckily, there were plenty of interesting topics to choose from: The Nits and Grits of Solar Hot Water Heating, for example, or Body Language: A Participation Sport. In 1975 students helped reassemble a skeletal replica of Megatherium cuvieri, a large ground sloth active 50,000 years ago. In 1980, a class in magazine production wrote and published its own magazine, Blue Stocking. Among the writers was Priscilla Painton '80, now a senior editor at Time magazine.

Over the past quarter century students have traveled to the former Soviet Union, France, Guadeloupe, and several African countries; staged productions of operas, musicals, and plays; sent musical groups to Central Europe, Spain, and Great Britain; mounted a medieval banquet; and commemorated the life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr. Last year, opportunities to perform community service were added to the January roster (a week-long project and eleven day community service projects are planned this year), and Career Exploration Projects are increasingly popular.

Among this year's sixteen courses for credit are some intriguing options. The description of The Economics of Higher Education asks potential students, "So you want to be a college president?" and A Little Music of the Night gives students a survey of musical theatre. Noncredit options include Introduction to the Baha'i Faith, glassblowing, and Scottish Country Dancing. So don't hibernate this January; participate.