The Creative Retirement Institute of Edmonds Community College is offering a number of programs/lectures starting the first full week of January.

The institute, a self-supporting organization whose mission is to provide educational opportunities for adults, has scheduled the following programs in early January.

• Colonial America: The First Century – What happened after the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock? The course will explore the development of American colonial society from 1607 to 1700. Jan. 7-28 (Tuesdays) from 10 a.m.-noon, Edmonds Senior Center. $44
• The Crowded Cosmos – Astronomers are rapidly discovering thousands of planets circling stars other than our sun and that is just in our galactic backyard. Jan. 7-28 (Tuesdays) from 1:30-3:30 p.m., Cristwood Park Activity Center. $44
• Art Crime – The FBI estimates that art crime, including theft, fraud and vandalism, results in billions of dollars of losses every year and Art Crime will delve into this seamy underworld. Jan. 8-22 (Wednesdays) from 1-3 p.m., Edmonds Conference Center. $42
• The Poetics of Heaven: Dante’s “Paradiso” – The course will engage in reading and discussion of the third and final volume of Dante’s “Divine Comedy,” the “Paradiso,” in which Beatrice, the embodiment of Divine Love, reveals the secrets of Empyrean Heaven to Dante the Pilgrim. Jan. 9-30 (Thursdays) from 1-3 p.m., Edmonds Conference Center. $44
• “The Oresteia” of Aeschylus, Part 2 – In completing the presentation begun in fall quarter, the course will consider the issues of conflicting systems of justice and the possibility of divine intervention in human legal systems which led to the balance of the Democratic system of government in 5th century Athens. Jan. 10-31 (Fridays) from 10 a.m.-noon, Edmonds Conference Center. $44.

Registration for courses is by mail, fax or walk-in only. Early registration is recommended due to limited space. For more information about classes and registration go to www.edcc.edu/cri.

Register in person at the Edmonds Conference Center, 201 4th Ave. N. in Edmonds. Office hours are Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. To receive a catalog with a registration form call 425-640-1830. No registration is accepted over the phone.

The decision to run or cancel a class is made about one week before the class is scheduled to start. If there are not enough students enrolled to cover the costs of the class, it may be cancelled. Registering or coming into class on the day it is scheduled to start will not save it.

You don’t need to be a CRI member to enroll in classes, but CRI members receive priority.