OLLI at DU South   

Tom Hanks is known for his comedic and dramatic roles, making him one of the most popular and identifiable film stars worldwide. His films have grossed over $16 billion globally. He has been the recipient of countless awards including two back-to-back Best Actor Oscars, a feat not accomplished since Spencer Tracy. Other awards include the Kennedy Center Honor, the French Legion of Honor and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. During this term we will view eight movies, including three Tom Hanks regards as his favorites, and four often judged as his finest performances. The last film will be chosen by the class. Please join me in observing some of Tom Hanks’ talented productions. There will be class discussion of each movie. The facilitator will email trivia questions to class members in advance of each class about the upcoming movie. The facilitator will also provide an explanation of why experts view the four movies as Hanks’ best works.

“There is nothing so confining as the prisons of our own perceptions.” William Shakespeare

Are you not talking with friends or family? Could it be that your perception of your own story is a self-made prison? This interactive class offers a suggestion to reduce having “a winner/correct vs loser/errant” mindset. We will learn more about ourselves rather than pointing out the other person’s issues. How important is it to know why you feel so strongly about an issue?

We will discover how to ask focused questions. We will learn how to better listen to such an extent that strangers will thank us for taking time to chat. We will use a three-vowel system: AEO (assumptions, expectations, observations).

“Critical Perspective Workshop” helps you see how to benefit from diverse viewpoints. We will explore quotations and books we have read to shade light on how our stories have developed differently than others.

"Huck Finn is a masterpiece. This retelling just might be, too."NYTimes. In James. Perceval Everett's new, Pulitzer-listed, bestselling novel, Huck's enslaved sidekick, Jim, tells the story. This shift redirects the focus from a white boy's adventure to the harrowing experiences of a runaway. Through Jim's eyes, readers realize the mistreatment he endured in Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In James, Jim sheds his fearful, subservient identity to reclaim his freedom and manhood as James. Everett deftly maintains humor and page-turning drama throughout. Everett's James:

• reveals the racism of philosophers influencing the Founding Fathers;
• explains why African-Americans switch language or dialect based on social or conversational context, code-shifting;
• explores the blackface minstrel tradition; and
• reveals the sexual exploitation of enslaved women.

Facilitator presentations will delve deeper into these topics providing scenes from Twain's Huck with racial slurs redacted. Join us to decide if James is a new masterpiece and if Huck remains one?

We will explore seven operas available to Denver area residents in the forthcoming season. They include three Metropolitan Opera Live in HD productions of operatic masterpieces: Offenbach’s fantastical The Tales of Hoffmann, Puccini’s searingly dramatic Tosca, and Verdi’s Aida, the grandest of grand opera. They are joined by the Met’s HD production of Jeanne Tesori’s Grounded, a 21st century work addressing the ethical quandaries and psychological toll of today’s remote-controlled warfare.

A guest from Opera Colorado will speak to us during one week on their 2024-25 offerings: Donizetti’s rollicking The Daughter of the Regiment; Puccini’s beloved tale of youthful tragic love, La Boheme; and Verdi’s Il Trovatore, a drama of romance, jealousy, and fateful vengeance.

Please join us whether you are an experienced operagoer, new to the art form, or somewhere in between. If you plan to attend any of these performances, our classes will be an excellent prelude to your opera experience.

Severe income inequality. Powerful corporations that reject regulations or taxes but expect government support for infrastructure. Immigrants and people of color filling low-wage jobs. Think these are recent issues? Let’s look at the Gilded Age.

The “Gilded Age” refers to the boom in U.S. industrialization and prosperity between 1870 and 1900. It witnessed the rise of self-made men, powerful corporations, unimaginable wealth, and a sizable middle class.

This phenomenon was characterized by innovation, get-rich schemes and laissez-faire attitudes and policies that enriched the few. But did the country as a whole benefit?

Wages increased. But rapid urbanization and industrialization caused new social problems ignored by the powerful. These detrimental effects of the economic boom led to reform movements to lessen inequality.

We will consider the belief that the Gilded Age birthed modern America, with ideas and ideals that are debated today. We will be guided by an excellent Great Courses curriculum, handouts and class discussion.

Join Anne and Bill as they look behind the curtain of our modern food supply system. Questions to be explored:

• How do supermarkets seem to always be filled with tasty looking food?
• Why is the arrangement of food similar in different locations?
• Why buy what we do?
• How far does food travel to reach us?
• What is lifelike for an 18-wheel long-haul truck driver carrying your groceries?
• Is our food supply safe?
• Why does the seafood department shut down for such a long time?
• What happens to supermarket food during a power outage?
• What percent of our food is wasted?
• What is a food desert?
• What is monoculture and organic farming?
• How much of our food is local?
• What happened to all the small farms?
• What is community supported agriculture?
• How does a food co-op work?
• What effect will climate change have?
• Is our food system sustainable?
• ow much of our food is ultra-processed?
• What do food additives do?
• Are they safe?

Are you shy? This class offers the first steps to explore overcoming the fear of talking to new people. Learn to be comfortable at a reception, luncheon, church social, in waiting line, or in a lobby waiting to check in. How important is it to know that YOU can converse with any person willing to reply “Hi” or “Hello” back to you? We will discover how to ask simple questions. We will learn how to be interested in the other person. We will use a system based on A.E.I.O.U.: Assumptions, Expectations, Issues/Information, Observations, and Understand. These vowels are the keys to opening an informal chat connection with new people. “The Vowels of Science Workshop” will explore quotations and books that help us better appreciate the diverse reasons WHY people do what they do, not WHAT or HOW! We will enjoy the journey of being interested (vs. interesting) in our chats.

So what created this mess? William Faulkner wrote: “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” This class will dive deeply into Palestine’s past and how it has contributed to, and ultimately shaped, the current-day tragedy in the Holy Land.

We will begin with 3000 BCE:

• Who were the Canaanites and where did they come from?
• How did the Israelites end up in Palestine?
• How did the series of conquerors and rulers shape the country? '
• How did the religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam influence Palestine?

We will explore the last 150 years:

• Where did the Zionist movement begin and why was it so successful?
• Why did Great Britain support the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine?
• Why did the newly formed United Nations advocate a two-nation solution in 1948?
• Why did the Jews win the wars of 1948 and 1967 so decisively?

And finally, what is the situation today?

This is an eight-week course that will include lecture, videos, and a lot of discussion. The class will be offered both in person at OLLI South and on-line. Each class will be limited to 35.

In this class we will investigate the skills necessary for responsible decision making. We will look at 10 different strategies we employ to avoid making the important decisions that affect our lives. We will investigate how our current understanding of justice and guilt handcuffs our abilities to make free and open decisions. Kaufmann will provide us with a guide to develop a new integrity / morality based on a set of virtues that he feels will replace our current fascination with justice and equality. We will then take the Kaufmann model and integrate it with some of the challenges presented by a few modern feminists and develop a working model for a 21st century worldview.

Veteran journalists and political observers Bob Steele and Dennis Ryerson will lead this four-class discussion of the twists and turns, the drama, the lowlights, and the highlights during the final weeks leading to the November 5th vote plus the day after post mortem. For the first three weeks class participants will discuss a wide range of election topics: The candidates’ jousting and punching, the contentious issues, the final polls, the TV commercials, the media coverage, the unexpected, and more. We will get insights and commentary from political pundits and expert observers. Dennis and Bob will send out weekly emails with articles and prompt questions to help frame the class discussions.

Our final class on Wednesday November 6th will be the morning-after reactions to the election results or possibly the contested vote count. Bring your caffeine, your scorebook, and your huzzahs, lingering hopes, or your shattered dreams.