By Donald Gilpin

Liberal arts education may be in jeopardy, as colleges around the country announce the elimination of degree programs and massive cuts in faculty positions, but Princeton Adult School (PAS), ready to launch its 85th year with catalogs in the mail this week and fall course registration underway, is bucking the trend. There are 298 courses available for every possible interest.

Want to study sewing literacy and “Get to Know your Sewing Machine”? How about “No Limit, Texas Hold ‘em Poker”?  Or maybe start “Your Second Career: Becoming a Flight Attendant”? Or, on a more scholarly note, “Shakespeare’s Falstaff and Henry IV: the Love-Hate Triangles of Fathers and Sons” or “Nudes: The Naked Truth in Art”?

Language courses, walking tours, fly fishing, computers, media, gastronomy, health, and a host of other traditional fields are also available at PAS.

Or maybe you’ve always wanted to “Discover Ancient Egypt” or “Learn to Read the Tarot”?  Or get on your feet and learn “Ballroom Dance Basics” (waltz, foxtrot, rumba, tango, cha-cha, swing, and more) or experience “An Introduction to Sketch Comedy”? How about exploring “The Power and Pleasure of Fragrancy” and learning about the world of modern perfumery or “Understanding Personality Styles and How it Can Improve Your Personal and Business Relationships” or “Introduction to Glassblowing”?

“You name it, we will go after it,” said PAS Executive Director Anne Brener, noting how the 31 PAS board members are constantly searching for and finding new course possibilities. “We’re always looking.”

Brener, who has led the organization for the past 30 years, discussed the success of PAS, which is based at Princeton High School. “It’s not only an opportunity to learn something bright and new,” she said. “It’s an opportunity to mingle with different people. That’s what I love, the connectivity. I will walk out of the high school at night and see people who don’t know each other well walking to their cars together, making connections to other students or to the teacher.”

She continued, “That’s the kind of connectivity you love to create, and the adult school quietly does that.  We don’t have our own building, no place to hang out, but we have wonderful teachers, and we work hard to create this connectivity, and I hope this is something we can expand.”

As part of the 85th anniversary celebrations, two special events will take place this fall as part of the PAS Conversation series. In October, two Princeton natives, Jenny Carchman, acclaimed documentary film producer and director, and Mark Mazzetti, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist for The New York Times, will “unveil the enthralling, sometimes challenging, aspects of their media careers,” according to a PAS press release.

In December, “Glitz, Glamour, and a Look into the Dark Side: a Conversation on Celebrity” will be the subject of the second special event, featuring Landon Jones, former editor of People magazine and author of Celebrity Nation; William Gleason, Princeton University professor of English and American studies; and Marilyn Marks, journalist and former editor of Princeton Alumni Weekly.

At its inception in 1939 the PAS was known as the Princeton Leisure Hour School, the creation of two Princeton women, Ruth Schleifer and Laura Peskin, whose registration process required spreading out and alphabetizing 500 index cards in the Schleifer living room on Jefferson Road.  Early encouragement and support came from the presidents of Princeton University and the Princeton Theological Seminary and the supervising principal of the Princeton Public Schools.

“Difficult economic times and a world on the brink of war were reflected in the course offerings,” according to the PAS website, and in addition to a lecture series on world politics, there were courses in literature, music, art, French, boiler repair, dressmaking, typing, and modern homemaking.  There was a focus on providing those struggling through the Depression a chance to improve their job skills so they could return to the workforce.

The PAS had to shut down for two years during World War II, but since then it has continued uninterrupted and grown significantly, with thousands of students now attending every year. During COVID-19 most PAS courses were able to transition rapidly to Zoom. Some courses continue on Zoom, which has enabled the PAS to have a widespread geographical presence, but most classes take place in person at PHS on Tuesday nights. 

“It’s terrific to see adults come streaming in in the evenings,” said Brener, “sometimes straight from work, sometimes from helping their kids with their last bit of homework, whatever.” 

She noted how a meeting in a PAS dance class once resulted in a wedding. “I always say, ‘Maybe you don’t get rich, but you meet a lot of good people,’” she said. “Many people talk about how they met their best friend when they took a course in arts or crafts or something else. We hope to create that connectivity between people.”

Look for the PAS catalog in the mail later this week, and visit princetonadultschool.org for more information and registration.