By Jill Goetz

More than 5,000 people -- from preschoolers to senior citizens from as far away as Singapore -- will take classes in everything from experimental organic chemistry, oceanography and thermodynamics to landscape painting, Russian culture and sports arbitration this summer on the Cornell University campus or in Cornell-sponsored programs at distant locales.

They'll be participating in Cornell Summer Sessions, which have come a long way indeed since they began with a handful of summer science courses offered back in 1876.

One of the highlights of Summer Sessions 1996 will be a series of lectures with the theme of "Fathers," which will address the changing perceptions and expectations of fatherhood. Free and open to the public, the lectures are Wednesday evenings, from June 26 to July 31, at 7:45 in Kennedy Hall's David L. Call Alumni Auditorium. They are as follows:

June 26: Michael S. Kimmel, a sociology professor with the State University of New York at Stony Brook and author of Manhood in America: A Cultural History; his lecture is titled "Are Fathers Men?"

July 10: Richard Brookhiser, author of Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington, and senior editor of National Review;his lecture is titled "Founding Father."

July 17: Patricia Bosworth, who has written a book about her father, Bartley Crum, a lawyer who worked for Robert F. Kennedy and President Harry Truman; "Looking for My Father: A Daughter's Reflections on Writing about Bartley Crum."

July 24: Dr. Yvonne S. Thornton, director of the Perinatal Diagnostic Testing Center at Morristown (N.J.) Memorial Hospital and author of The Ditchdigger's Daughter, based on her parents' struggle against racial prejudice; "The Ditchdigger's Daughter: From Poverty to Prosperity in One Generation."

July 31: Syndicated columnist Saundra Smokes; "Father Figuring: The Essential Equation."

Members of the Cornell and Ithaca communities may also attend the popular free concerts on the Arts Quad. Scheduled to perform at 7:30 p.m. (except where noted) are:

June 28: Groovelily Band, high-energy dance music featuring Valerie Vigoda on electric violin; rain location is Kennedy Hall's David L. Call Alumni Auditorium.

July 3: Cast in Bronze Mobile Carillon, a special Independence Day concert featuring Frank DellaPenna playing 35 cast-bronze bells accompanied by keyboard, drums, bass guitar and even the Cornell chimes; concert is at 8 p.m., canceled if heavy rain.

July 5: John Rossbach and the Wood Shed Quartet, square and contra dancing; rain location is the Memorial Room in Willard Straight Hall.

July 12: Rising Sign, Caribbean, Brazilian and Latin dance music; rain location is conference room G-10 of the Biotechnology Building.

July 19: The Jazzabels, original mix of folk, blues, Tex-Mex and Zydeco; rain location is David L. Call Alumni Auditorium, Kennedy Hall.

July 26: Squonk Opera, blend of classical, jazz, funk and Indian influences with dance, puppets and other props; rain location is David L. Call Alumni Auditorium, Kennedy Hall.

August 2: PANGAIA Steel Band: traditional and contemporary music from Trinidad and Tobago; rain location is the Memorial Room in Willard Straight Hall.

Other performances can be enjoyed this summer on Tuesdays (except where noted) at 7:30 p.m. in the Proscenium Theatre of Cornell's Center for Theatre Arts:

June 25: Ithaca Ballet, performing "Summer '96: Dances from Repertory."

July 2: Steve Brown Jazz Quartet, with the award-winning guitarist performing pieces from his new release "Night Waves."

July 8 and 11: Apollo Ensemble, John Hsu conducts the chamber orchestra in two different performances of Haydn's symphonies; concerts are on Monday and Thursday.

July 16: Music for Piano Trio and Voice, featuring Judith Kellock, soprano, accompanied by Blaise Bryski, fortepiano, Brian Brooks, violin, and Stephanie Vial, cello, in "Songs and Trios of Haydn and Beethoven."

July 23: New Zealand String Quartet, performing pieces by Beethoven, Bartok, Debussy and Juliet Palmer.

July 30: Ithaca Opera Chorus Ensemble, whose 25 members will perform selections from the operas of Strauss, Mozart, Verdi, Donizetti and others in "The Light and Dark Sides of Humanity."

The Cornell University Summer Session actually includes three class sessions: one lasting three weeks that began on May 29 and runs through June 21; an eight-week session that began June 10 and runs through Aug. 6; and a six-week session from June 24 through Aug. 6. Some 2,000 people, most of them Cornell University students, are expected to register for the summer courses, according to Cathy Pace, registrar of the School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions.

"The summer student body is amazingly varied," said Charles W. Jermy Jr., the school's associate dean and director of Summer Session. "Our school opens the university's doors to traditional and nontraditional students in the summer. A Cornell undergraduate may have a retired corporate executive sitting on one side and a high school junior on the other."

Some 750 high school students are expected for Cornell's Summer College, and approximately 150 adults and 100 youngsters will take noncredit seminars each week during July through Cornell's Adult University, which includes four one-week sessions on subjects ranging from writing and theater to natural history.

"CAU attracts singles, couples and families," said Lynn Abbott, CAU's associate director. "Many people come to campus year after year to participate. Bruce Bailey '29 will be joining us for his 20th consecutive summer." She also noted that a number of participating families will be represented by members from three different generations.

In addition to Summer Session classes and Cornell's Adult University, 1,600 individuals will be enrolled in a variety of special and professional programs offered by the school. Highlights include:

The International Business Program, June 2 through July 27: 16 Cornell students from a range of fields, including history, economics and electrical engineering, have signed up for this new program, which includes visits to Corning, Borg Warner and other companies.

Computer Policy and Law, Aug. 6 through 8: This new program is designed for attorneys, judicial officers, technology administrators, public relations directors and others working at colleges and universities; it will include sessions on copyright in cyberspace and on-line privacy.

Several intensive language study programs, on English as a Second Language, African languages, Asian Languages, medieval Latin and other languages.

Archaeological study programs, at an Etruscan settlement site in La Piana, near Siena, Italy, and at the Neolithic and Classical site of Halai, in Theologos, Greece.

For more information on any Cornell summer program, contact the Summer Session office at 255-4987. The public is also invited to a welcome reception sponsored by the School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions on Monday, June 24, from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Memorial Room of Willard Straight Hall. The Cayuga Jazz Ensemble will perform, and free ice cream will be served.