“You’re only a freshman, and you’re going to be teaching all these people way older than you?” – that was the reaction of Leah Guadagnoli’s mother to the news that she would be instructing a six-week mini-course through the Illini Union Board.

“Yep, but I’m not intimidated,” responded the freshmen in FAA.

As spots in her “All About Art” course fill up, and the first day of class, March 12, approaches, Guadagnoli said excitement, not fear, is mounting.

“I’m really hoping that a wide range of people register,” she said. “It will be great for people who have an interest in art but aren’t in the arts.”

The beginner-level approach that Guadagnoli plans to use to introduce her students to the various fields of art – from splatter painting the Quad to touring Renaissance artwork at the Krannert Art Museum – is precisely the method of teaching the IUB hopes will attract students to register for the six mini-courses offered this semester.

Kevin Fritz, director of enriching programs for IUB, said that the recreational environment, the low cost of $20-50, and the minimal time commitment of one hour per week were factors he hoped would encourage students to “add another one on top of all your other courses.”

Along with “All About Art,” this semester’s course offerings include Swahili, belly dancing, Irish dancing, a magic class called “Sleight of Hand” and an introduction to the animation software After Effects called “Motion Effects.” These six were selected from a pool of undergraduate and graduate applicants who submitted syllabi of mini-courses they hoped to teach.

“We had 45 people applying for six spots, and all of them had submitted really great ideas,” Fritz said.

The junior in AHS added that the IUB is looking to expand the program in the future and perhaps add workshop-style courses later this semester that would take place over a weekend.

Fritz said the mini-courses offer students the potential to explore their interests with minimal commitment.

“Unless you’ve been a dancer for 18 years, it’s unlikely that you are going to come to this school and get a chance to learn Irish dancing,” he said. “A lot of RSOs (Registered Student Organizations) are for advanced people. In this class, you can be a beginner and start at an introductory level.”

Michael Chang, a junior in FAA who will be teaching the “Motion Graphics” course, said the mini-course format would not only benefit students but also the instructors. Chang applied to teach a mini-course after seeing the fliers around campus with the idea that the position could be a perfect trial run for teaching professionally.

“I want to teach in the future, probably in China, going back to my home,” Chang said.

His expertise with After Effects has attracted mainly graphic design and art students to register so far. The software is used create special effects and animation in media productions ranging from Hollywood movies to commercials.

Chang’s class is on Saturday afternoons. Just like the other mini-courses, his first session will be next week. The class meets twice before spring break, resumes afterwards and concludes May 2.

“We selected the schedule based on finals. We didn’t want to run too near finals week,” Fritz said.

He said results have been positive so far, and the [email protected] account used to field registration requests had received quite a few e-mails. Students are also stopping by the IUB headquarters at Room 227 in the Illini Union to sign up for mini-courses.

By next fall, IUB hopes the mini-course program will have its own permanent location.

“They are working on redesigning a multipurpose room in the Union, fully equipped with mirrors, tables and the equipment we need to accommodate many students and many different courses,” Fritz added.

He said he’s optimistic about future of the program.

“We offered two mini-courses last fall, now we are up to six, and from here we just hope to keep expanding.”