OLLI Central   

This course is the next installment in our romp through world history as we delve into the Reformation, Renaissance and exploration of the world. It begins with the lands and cultures of world empires: China, Japan, Mughals of India, the Ottomans, and the monarchies of Europe. Europeans need trade routes for God, gold and glory. All of this is against the background of religious upheaval in Europe that will open the door to new learning. The culmination is a global interaction that leads to a new ordering of world thought and power.

Our course will be based on the historical fiction novel Canary Girls by Jennifer Chiaverini. We begin at the onset of WWI. Over 3 million women worked in the munitions factories by the end of the war which is why the women played such a vital role in the making of munitions. We explore how the women were recruited with advertisements that made the jobs sound promising: “Munitions factories offer young women steady work, lucrative wages and independence.” As we move through the book, we discover many facets that were not always known. Our author does an excellent job of researching so many interesting pieces of what the women’s lives were like, what was used in the making of the munitions, and what the “Danger Building” was. The impact of women being able to play women’s football is also something that most didn’t really think about when discussing the making of munitions and the dangers involved. It was a wonderful way for them to escape from the daily stresses.

Required: CANARY GIRLS by Jennifer Chiaverini

This is part two of a four-course ensemble extending over four academic periods starting in Fall 2024 and planned to conclude in Fall 2025 or Winter 2026. The courses will focus on issues of inequality and its relationship to capitalism. The primary text, Thomas Piketty's Capital and Ideology, is divided into four parts of roughly 200-250 pages each. The courses will generally follow this structure with additional readings to augment and critique Piketty's arguments. In the Winter 2024 term, we will focus on inequality in the context of slave and colonial societies. In addition, we will continue to examine Piketty’s philosophical premises and philosophical concepts. Piketty employs historical and political analysis augmented by economic data. In one sense his is an intellectual history of inequality and capitalism. In another it is a philosophical critique of contemporary liberalism and neoliberalism. We will critically examine both aspects.

Required: Piketty, Thomas. Capital and Ideology (Belknap Press, 2020). Additional book excerpts and journal articles will be provided by the instructor. Access and ability to use a computer and the internet is extremely helpful.

This “Chatting in Spanish” course builds on the course offered last term. The course is comprised of reading, writing, and speaking Spanish. The objective is that the students learn to have a conversation in a second language. This course starts with Unit 11 of "Practice Makes Perfect-Spanish Verb Tenses." This book has many exercises that help in the memorization and use of all the verb tenses and construction of sentences and questions.

Every class period, the students will have opportunities to practice, ask questions, and read explanations for better understanding. It is difficult to learn another language, and it takes time and a lot of practice. Once a student no longer has to translate in his/her mind, the student is now becoming fluent and a second language speaker.

At 0900 on 28 APRIL, 1986, unusually high radiation levels were detected at the nuclear power plant at Forsmark, Sweden. Tests showed these radioactive particles could only have come from a Soviet nuclear reactor and the wind patterns pointed to Chernobyl. That evening, in a 23 word statement, TASS, the Soviet News Agency, reported an accident had happened to one of the reactors at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Ukraine SSR. This was the first the world knew about it. With the fall of the Soviet Union and the opening of archives in Russia and Ukraine we have a good idea what happened.

This class will use the HBO series Chernobyl as a visual guide to the accident and draw on numerous books and other videos to fill in the details the HBO series left out.

These are 2 of the books I read; MIDNIGHT IN CHERNOBYL, Adam Higgenbotham; CHERNOBYL, Serhii Plokhy. You DO NOT HAVE to read the books.

 

The class will focus on the current cultural and social climate and politics within China’s population of over 1.4 billion people. In comparison, the US has 330 million. China has been strengthening its manufacturing in the tech sector, and trying to become more innovative than the West. But its economy is strained and its young people are restless. Its relations with Russia at war are limited by competing goals with its sometime ally. Its population has been travelling experiencing a variety of open cultures and immigrating into places such as the US, while tourism into China has been dropping. It appears to be an aggressive nation. But all is not well in the Middle Kingdom.

We will discuss the prior week’s news in the first hour. In the second hour, a topic that is current will be determined by the facilitators and articles will be sent out for that discussion. The facilitators of this class express a progressive point of view on American politics, especially during this election year. They welcome conservative or other points of view and encourage discussion as part of a learning experience.

This Current Events course will be discussion- based addressing issues that are topical at the time the course is offered. Issues will be international, national and local with the broad outlines determined by class members. Likely issues will include: wars in Middle East/Israel and Ukraine, migration and immigration, threats to democracy, results of the 2024 US elections, healthcare, “culture war” issues, free speech and social media, K-12 education, homelessness, housing affordability, tax policy and crime. Issues to be discussed in each class will be preceded and previewed by 2 or 3 readings from national and local publications distributed electronically so that each class will have a common basis for discussion.

We will discuss the prior week’s news in the first hour. In the second hour a topic that is current will be determined by the facilitators and articles will be sent out for that discussion. The facilitators of this class express a progressive point of view on American politics, especially during this election year. They welcome conservative or other points of view and encourage discussion as part of our learning experience.

Tom is interested in the events shaping our community and policies that may make for a more robust and fulfilling society. We will discuss events each week that have either come to our recent attention or that may represent issues of recurring interest. Tom is looking for OLLI members to register for the class who are open-minded, value lively and respectful discourse, and are looking to share ideas.

No class 2/19 and 2/26

The foreign film class will start at 12:45 each Wednesday and end at 3:00. The class will view and then discuss a different foreign film each week. The facilitator will pick films different from those he picked in previous years. Prior to each class, pertinent articles will be emailed to each class participant.

This class is a discussion class, so all students are expected to stay until the discussion component of the class is concluded.

Join us for a journey through the fascinating history of investing. We'll embark on a historical adventure and explore how humans developed new approaches to building wealth and managing risk through financial innovations - with booms and busts along the way. We’ll begin with the bonds and stocks in the 17th century and move on to the evolution of stock markets, pooled investments, modern portfolio theory, and the new frontier of cryptocurrency.

Recommended: Devil Take the Hindmost, Chancellor, Edward, 

Great Decisions is a program of the Foreign Policy Association which deals with eight new topics each year. High quality educational materials are prepared and provided to discussion groups in cities and universities throughout the United States. On each topic, there will be a chapter describing the current issues around the selected topics supplemented by a video of background information and relevant interviews with world leaders and scholars.

Great Decisions text and video disk.

Great Decisions is a program of the Foreign Policy Association, which is new each year. High-quality educational materials are prepared and provided to discussion groups in cities and universities throughout the United States. On each topic, there will be a chapter describing the current issues around the selected topic and a video of background information and relevant interviews with world leaders and scholars.

Required Book: Great Decisions 2025 Briefing Book, available from the Foreign Policy Association. Registered members, please order.

Energize your desire to make a lasting impression with your story in print. Explore the must-know basics for all genres, whether non-fiction, fiction, poetry, story collections, or technical/inspirational texts. Sessions have both an insider publishing segment and a fun, interactive writing exercise directly applicable to individual projects. Whether your project is just the kernel of idea, a few pages, or a longer work already in progress, come with notes of project concept and scope use to share. Tap into my viewpoint from my own independent publishing track, job as a competition book judge, and manuscript editor. Expect to learn from all participant projects as well as facilitator presentations. Several presentation pdfs are available for download.

Recommended: Story Engineering and Story Physics.

Jesus of Nazareth and the Buddha are two of the most influential figures in world history. Their lives and teachings have inspired millions to live richer, fuller, more meaningful lives. And, while there are striking parallels between their teachings, the contrast between their ideas is also quite illuminating. This course will work to first understand the significance of each figure in his own historical context and then, only after this foundation has been laid, will we then explore both their similarities and significant contrasts.

Recommended: Muesse, Mark. Four Wise Men. Cascade, 2017

With powerful new telescopes, such as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), scientists are making observations that challenge our theories of the cosmos. Today’s telescopes have enabled scientists to peer back over 13.5 billion years to see the first galaxies formed out of the darkness of the early universe, and to make current observations that challenge our theories of the early cosmos. JWST’s high-resolution and high-sensitivity instruments allow it to view objects too old, distant, or faint for the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and have revealed surprising discoveries. In this class, we will explore these recent discoveries and discuss how they support or disrupt our view of the universe. Prior knowledge of cosmology is not required, as we will review the underlying cosmological principles at an introductory level.

Rossetti, Holman Hunt, Mallais, Burne-Jones, Morris, and Ruskin were among an avant-garde group of painters and writers who resisted the industrialization and moral absolutes of Victorian England. Naming themselves the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (1848) in order to emphasize their allegiance to a Medieval and pre-industrial England, their paintings are sensual and aesthetic. Much of their poetry might also be described as “painterly.” William Morris features the myths of King Arthur and Christina Rossetti infuses “Goblin Market” with fable-like mystery. They intertwined their lives and female models and wives in scandalous ways, while also creating painting and poetry of lasting beauty. Join us as we study the painting and poetry of these gifted artists and learn more about the Victorian world they were resisting and influencing.

Required text or equivalent: The Pre-Raphaelites from Rossetti to Ruskin, Diane Roe, editor, Penguin Classics paperback. 2010. ISBN 978-0-141-19240-6. Recommended: art books from personal or public libraries.

What is the UN doing these days… with ongoing wars in Gaza and Ukraine; Russian and Israeli leaders accused of war crimes; humanitarian disasters in Gaza, Sudan, and Haiti; existential threats of climate change; intransigent poverty, and periodic pandemics? Are the UN’s founding values and its multilateral approach still relevant? In 1945, 51 nations signed the UN Charter, committing themselves to avoid another world war through collective security and respect for human rights. There are now 193 UN Member States, dozens of UN agencies, and 131 UN country offices. What are these agencies; do they work together; what impact do they have collectively? Will anything come of the growing demand for Security Council reform? Each week the course will focus on a specific aspect of the UN’s work through lectures, videos, and discussions.

Thirty thousand years ago, an agricultural peoples revering Woman as the life-giving symbol of the creator Goddess lived in and around Mesopotamia. However, invaders from the north with their violent world view and male God came to conquer. By 2000 BCE the Goddess and women had lost all status. This class will travel through ancient Mesopotamia, the Bible, and Greek Mythology, where misogyny by the Middle Ages, calcified into the “Essential Evil of Women.” By the14th Century, women began to retake a foothold in society, meeting in their own communities, questioning the male gaslighting of their world. They began to think and write openly, arguing against a male culture that did not know what to do with them, creating “The Woman Question.” Not until the Feminist Movement of 20th Century do women begin to wonder what came before. This class wrenches those voices from the past.

Most Americans are curious about, if not interested in, some kinds of American Indian art. But art goes beyond just a painting or a piece of jewelry. When most Americans are asked “What do you know about American Indian art?” they often answer “Not much.” However, American Indian art dates back thousands of years when designs of animals and various objects were carved on stones known as petrographs. American Indian art has evolved over thousands of years resembling all kinds of beautiful and interesting art that is found on pottery, weavings, clothing, sand paintings, kachina dolls, fetishes, paintings, and jewelry-just to mention a few examples of art given to us by the skills and talents of American Indians. Come learn about many aspects of American Indian art through PowerPoints, DVD’s, and written articles and share your own during “show-and-tell” time.

Written in the aftermath of World War II, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was created over seventy-five years ago in the United Nations. Its founders included Eleanor Roosevelt, Charles Malik (Lebanon) Peng-chun Chang (China), Rene Cassin (France), and Alexei Pavlov (Russia). They represented a broad variety of cultural, religious, and national traditions. Conflicts were confronted and compromises were made while maintaining the philosophical differences and a document emerged that remains a standard internationally. While it was written in response to a world of sovereign conflicts, it survives in our very different world. We will explore contemporary issues of seeking equal justice, equal opportunity, and equal dignity without discrimination through the lens of the UDHR.

Recommended: A World Made New. - Mary Ann Glendon