Classes with some class
Liberty offers a variety of new special interest courses for the spring semester
This semester Liberty University students have the opportunity to participate in special interest courses including Intro to Scuba, Wilderness First Aid and Karen Kingsbury’s Writing and Publishing Fiction.
Liberty students and the general public can learn how to scuba dive under the teachings of J.D. Emerson, a Virginia native and Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) master scuba diver trainer.
DIVING IN — Students took an intro to scuba class in the pool at the LaHaye Student Union.
Photo Credit: Joel Coleman
The one-day class will give novice divers the chance to see if a full scuba certification is something they want to explore.
The adjunct professor is no stranger to Liberty.
In 2009, Emerson taught a two-week scuba certification course, but the course was not accredited.
“The classes that have been held since then have been 32-hour hands-on contact credited classes … giving each student a PADI Open Water Certification that can be used anywhere in the world,” Emerson said.
Emerson has 53 years of diving experience and said that while not everyone is suited for scuba diving, it opens a lot of doors to specific forms of work.
“Some students want to complete underwater welding, and this class sets them up for that certification,” Emerson said.
Students in the criminal justice major may enjoy Emerson’s background in underwater crime scene investigation and Black Water Diving.
Intro to scuba costs $59, and students can register for the class on Liberty’s website at the Center for Professional and Continuing Education (CPCE) webpage.
Emerson advocates for students who regularly hike or camp to take his Wilderness First Aid course.
According to the CPCE, students will explore the field of limited resource emergency care, including map reading and emergency care with biological hazards.
Emerson believes the course will equip someone for emergency situations while camping, hiking, trails, and any incident that may occur while in the wilderness.
The Wilderness First Aid course lasts four weeks and costs $159 for Liberty students.
“While I’ve been teaching at Liberty for seven years, it has been a pleasure working with the students helping them develop skills they can use for the rest of their career,” Emerson said.
Another opportunity for students through the CPCE is Kingsbury’s online class which covers her entire fiction writing process.
The course is currently unavailable but will be reopened in the next few months.
The course is comprised of eight one-hour classes.
Liberty’s CPCE is purposed to enrich student’s education through out-of-the-box classes and workshops.
There are classes offered for both residential and online student, with participants receive Continuing Education Units (CEU) for the hours they spend in these special classes.
According to the CPCE website, “CEUs may be applied toward teacher licensure renewal as professional development activity points.
They may also be used as ‘Professional Studies’ CEUs for ACSI Certification.”
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