Tuesdays at Ten | Exploring The Thames

River of the English Heartland

Join us on Tuesdays for socializing and learning something new.

Join us for this 8-week journey with Fred Christensen as he takes us along The Thames River to learn about the sights and surprises around every bend—whether in history, literature, nature, art, music, or archaeology. Each week will be a new topic related to the unique and historic river that flows through the English heartland.

• Sep 6, The Infant Thames: The river begins its journey
• Sep 13, The Youthful Thames: Nature, history and art west of Oxford
• Sep 20, The Thames Near Oxford: Nature, poetry and literature near the dreaming spires
• Sep 27, The Boaters' Thames: Art, scenery and nature
• Oct 4, The Royal Thames: From Hampton Court to Kew Gardens
• Oct 11, The Splendid Thames: Through the heart of London
• Oct 18, The Thames east of London: Charles Dickens' river
• Oct 25, The Thames Estuary: The river reaches the sea

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About the presenter:

Fred Christensen is a former history instructor at University of Kentucky and ROTC instructor at University of Illinois, and spent eight years teaching the Army’s Command and General Staff Course. Fred spent 28 years in the US Army Reserves (including 5 years of active duty), retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1997. He retired in 2007 from the University of Illinois Admissions and Records office where he was in charge of issuing all diplomas for graduates and of maintaining graduate records for PhD candidates. 

Since retirement, he has taught adult-education classes for 13 years at the University of Illinois OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) program. His passion for the study of history and archaeology has contributed to these classes and their content. Other accomplishments include teaching for Parkland College’s Community Education program and serving as president of ECIAS (East Central Illinois Archaeological Society) for the last seven years. His wife Judie is a retired librarian from the Champaign Public Library. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his wonderful son and daughter-in-law and their three amazing grandchildren. 

Adults | Social, Presentation, Discussion

Main Library, Robeson Pavilion Room A & B

The Library is committed to making events accessible for all. To request an accommodation, please complete this form, or contact us by email at librarian@champaign.org, by phone at 217/403-2000, or through chat. Learn more about accessibility at the library.