National Osher Online
Osher Online was created by the Osher National Resource Center (NRC) at Northwestern University, to expand member access, institute collaboration, sharing of resources, and ensure the legacy of over 120 Osher Institues. These classes are delivered by the Osher NRC, and its staff will provide moderator and technical assistance.
Osher Online classes are $70 each, and available to OLLI members only.
Space is limited. Registration will open November 25, 2024 and close on January 1, 2025.
We hope you enjoy the opportunity to learn from premiere instructors along with OLLI members from across the nation!
First Class: A History of the Post Office in the United States
Tuesdays, January 14–February 18, 4:00–5:30 p.m.
Description
What comes to mind when you think of the post office? Is it the unique beauty of a stamp, the thrill of an awaited delivery, or an iconic blue collection box? Do you equate the post office with obsolescence, or do you think of recent coverage of controversial austerity measures? As the country's second-largest employer, the US Post Office has a fascinating history that showcases the best and worst of American society. In this course, we will explore what precipitated the creation of the Post Office, its role in fostering and hindering democratic communication, and numerous examples of innovation over the centuries up to the present-day USPS. We will conclude by considering what the future of the post office might look like, with a renewed appreciation for the democratic ideals for which it stands.
About YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Caroline Nappo, PhD is an independent scholar with interests in the history of public information institutions, information as a public good, and the political economy of information. She has taught as an adjunct lecturer for graduate students and previously taught an OLLI course on the history of the public library in the United States. She holds a master's and PhD in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois and has published and presented on postal history.
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Transparent Eyeballs: The Transcendentalists and Their Worlds, 1803-Present
Tuesdays, January 14–February 18, 10:00–11:30 a.m.
Description
Transcendentalism is an umbrella term that refers to a complex and profoundly influential philosophical, spiritual, and literary movement that emerged in the 1820s and 1830s. The intellectual, social, and political ideas generated by Transcendentalist thinkers, writers, and activists transformed Americans’ understandings of nature, God, and the rights and responsibilities of the individual to themselves and to society in ways that continue to reverberate across US politics and culture in our own times.
This course will examine the ideas, writings, political activism, and legacies of contributors to the Transcendentalist movement including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman, Herman Melville, and beyond. Our investigations will aim to help each of us actualize Emerson’s definition of freedom as “an open-ended process of self-realization by which individuals [can] remake themselves and their own lives."
About YOUR INSTRUCTOR
A New England native (and self-described “New England Transcendentalist”), Dr. Anthony Antonucci teaches history and American studies at Cal State Pomona. His passion for Transcendentalism is rooted in his experience as an avid hiker, mountain climber, vagabond traveler, and lover of wild nature and poetry. He earned multiple graduate degrees in US history and culture including a PhD in US History from the University of Connecticut under the direction of Bancroft Award-winning-historian, Dr. Robert Gross. Antonucci’s work as a scholar of US social and transnational history has earned numerous awards, including a Fulbright Research Fellowship (Italy), and fellowships through the Massachusetts Historical Society, the American Antiquarian Society, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Buddhist Philosophy, Meditation, and Ritual: In India and Beyond
Tuesdays, January 21–February 25, noon–1:30 p.m.
Description
This course introduces the key philosophical concepts (meditation practices, and rituals) that have defined Buddhist traditions in India and beyond. We will analyze central Buddhist teachings and their relationship to these three important domains, which interweave theory and practice. First, we will explore the historical figure of the Buddha. We will then examine the three phases of Indian Buddhist traditions: (1) Theravāda, which emphasizes ascetic ideals and monasticism; (2) Mahāyāna, which prioritizes compassion, wisdom, and the ideal of the bodhisattva; and (3) Vajrayāna, the tantric tradition that claims the human body as central to enlightenment and explores the relationship between each living being and the cosmos. We will explore the contrasts among the meditative and ritual practices across these three traditions and analyze how these practices reflect varying philosophies. We will discuss Buddhist iconography, ritual objects, and art.
About YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Eileen Goddard is a lecturer and PhD student at the University of California Santa Barbara. Eileen’s dissertation research focuses on the 16th century Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava tradition and comparatively analyzes Indian religious constructions of “perfected” minds and bodies. Eileen’s broader research interests include comparative Indian philosophy, Sanskrit literature and poetics, devotion (bhakti), perception, and gender and sexuality. Eileen completed her MA in Religion at Rutgers University and BA in Philosophy at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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Reclaiming Native Ground: Native America Since 1900
Wednesdays, January 22–February 26, 2:00–3:30 p.m.
Description
This course will explore Native American history in the late 19th and 20th centuries, a time punctuated by the violence of American expansion and consolidation, the boarding school systems that sought to erase Native cultures, and the effects of imperialism, which conspired to keep Native people in a subordinate status compared to their white neighbors. Yet, at this time, Native Nations began to rebuild and reclaim the United States as Native ground, drawing on ancient traditions to revitalize communities and fight for their rights in the American court system, the political system, and the court of public opinion. Together, we will explore how, in this history, Native peoples have proven themselves to be resilient and powerful.
About YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Matt Jennings, PhD is on faculty at Middle Georgia State University. His research includes Native American history, early American history, and the history of violence. He has studied Thomas Paine’s interactions with Native Americans and the roots of John Brown’s ideas about violence. He is currently studying the relationship between Native American peoples and the mounds at Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park, and the intertwined history of tourism and archaeology at the site. He has published several books including New Worlds of Violence, The Flower Hunter and the People, and Ocmulgee National Monument: A Concise History with Field Notes.
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Wisdom
Thursdays, January 23–February 27, 10:00–11:30 a.m.
Description
Wisdom is the ability to apply knowledge in the real world in a constructive way—to enrich our individual lives and to make the world a better place. Wisdom is often found at the intersection of theory and experience. How does modern expertise benefit all of us, and how can we convince the general population to value it? How does life experience create wisdom? In this course, we will explore the biological, philosophical, social scientific, and experiential aspects of wisdom and analyze what ancient and contemporary sources have to say about it.
About YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Dr. David E. Smith grew up in the world of fundamentalist religion. As an adult he gradually moved away from that worldview and became a religious progressive/skeptic. After earning an MA in philosophy of religion, he received a second MA and a PhD in religious studies from Temple University. Formerly a philosophy and religious studies faculty member at Central Washington University, he now offers independent seminars and personal consultations in comparative religion and philosophy. He has published widely in these areas, and his mission is to empower people to think well for themselves about things that matter.
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The Next Generation’s Legacy of the Holocaust
Thursdays, January 23–February 27, 2:00-3:30 p.m.
Description
How does one honor the legacy of parents who survived the Holocaust while at the same time recognizing the ripples of the inherited trauma they experienced? Growing up in the shadow of the Holocaust, the adult children of survivors are striving to find ways to keep their parents’ stories alive. Using their unique intergenerational lens, authors of the recent award-winning anthology, The Ones Who Remember: Second Generation Voices of the Holocaust, will reveal the variety of ways in which their parents' history of survival seeped into their souls and affected their lives as children and adults.
The goal of this course is to explore the challenges that resulted from this trauma and the gifts that came forth – gifts of resilience, tolerance, fortitude, and compassion. Each week our instructors will explore and share reflections around themes of their lived experience.
About YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Ruth Wade is a retired training and development executive, a speaker and docent at the Florida Holocaust Museum, and leadership committee chair of Tampa Bay Generations After. Wade assists her father, a Holocaust survivor, with his Holocaust presentations at schools and his book Sevek and the Holocaust: The Boy Who Refused to Die.
Joy Wolfe Ensor, PhD is a retired psychologist whose clinical, teaching, and leadership activities over 45 years centered on the social determinants of health and the multigenerational legacy of trauma. She is active in the Michigan Psychological Association, of which she is a Fellow and past president.
Rita Benn, PhD is a clinical psychologist and was University of Michigan faculty for 20+ years where she taught integrative medicine and published numerous academic papers and chapters. As a founder of Michigan Collaborative for Mindfulness in Education (MC4ME), she trains educators and professionals in mindfulness meditation practice.
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Storytelling and Self
Thursdays, January 23–February 27, 4:00–5:30 p.m.
Description
In this course, we will explore the internal stories we tell ourselves and the external stories we tell others. Our internal stories define us, and our attitudes and emotions toward ourselves. Our external stories are outward-focused and lean toward a conversational resume, to some extent. We will consider our life as a series of chapters, or phases, and spend time investigating what our current story/stories are. We will also explore how we envision our future story. Our course will be interactive and discussion-based, and by the end of our six weeks together, participants will have a future story to share.
About YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Jennifer (Jen) Baker, PhD is an expert in the interdependence of communication theory and practice. She has been teaching communication courses for over 20 years, starting at the University of Texas at Austin, then the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and now at Columbia College Chicago and Northwestern University. Baker has worked at a marketing company, an engineering firm, and a variety of educational institutions. She teaches practicum courses where she can champion both the theory of communication and the practical nature of interactions through the experiential learning model. Baker has been awarded a Distinguished Teaching Award and has been called the happiest professor that a student has ever known.
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My Native Land in Memory: Stories of a Cuban Childhood
Fridays, January 24–February 28, 10:00–11:30 a.m.
Description
Using Dr. Espín’s memoir of childhood and adolescence, which was the recipient of the San Diego Book Award in 2021, we will discuss the Cuban political landscape in the mid-20th century. This memoir recreates a world that no longer exists: pre-revolutionary Cuba in the 1940s and 50s. Cuba’s fraught history and political instability are interwoven with a personal story to create a web of history, family, and cultural analysis. This is a young woman’s individual struggle for identity and independence against the background of the country’s national struggle. Family photographs and site photographs will illustrate the details of the story. We will also explore the process and meaning of memory and memoir for authors and readers. Reading some excerpts will illuminate the narrative. It is not necessary to have read the memoir in advance.
About YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Oliva M. Espín is Professor Emerita in the Department of Women’s Studies at San Diego State University and the California School of Professional Psychology of Alliant International University. Espín was a pioneer in the practice and theory of feminist therapy with women from different cultural backgrounds, particularly immigrants and refugees. A native of Cuba, she received her BA in psychology from the University of Costa Rica and her PhD from the University of Florida. She did post-doctoral work at Harvard University with a fellowship from NIMH. Espín held the 2010 Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Gender Studies at the University of Klagenfurt, Austria. Her most recent book is My Native Land is Memory: Stories of a Cuban Childhood, winner of the 2021 San Diego Book Award.
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Huck Finn’s America
Mondays, January 27–March 3, 10:00–11:30 a.m.
Description
Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is often misunderstood as a boy's adventure book or merely a dialogue on race. Instead, this classic novel addresses youth violence and bad boys, schools and parents, and civil rights and minstrel shows. The novel, banned in New England, needs to be read and discussed anew for a better understanding of America, then and now. Join this course for a new and fresh analysis of this highly criticized and misunderstood novel.
About YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Jeffrey Walker, Emeritus Professor of English at Oklahoma State, authored a critical study of the Revolutionary poet and traitor Benjamin Church, edited collections of essays on Fenimore Cooper, co-edited the first scholarly edition of Cooper’s 1821 bestseller The Spy, and is completing an edition of Cooper’s unpublished letters. A Fulbright lecturer in Norway and Belgium, he won the Phoenix Award for outstanding graduate teaching, the A&S Outstanding Professor Award, and the Regents Distinguished Teaching Award. His teaching interests include American literature, Dickens, the history of the book, textual editing, comedy, mystery, and film.
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Immigrants in America: Stories of Jazz, Blues, Rock, and Popular Culture
Mondays, January 27–March 3, 2:00–3:30 p.m.
Description
In this course, we will document the fertile interaction between minorities that transformed not only 20th century music but the entire entertainment industry. We will examine how minorities significantly impacted American popular culture and explore their contributions to various musical genres, record labels, booking agencies, venues, innovations, and production. With strong support from audiovisuals, anecdotes, and the instructor's decades of experience as a concert promoter working with some of the biggest names in the industry, we will learn about Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Benny Goodman, Stan Getz, Norman Granz, Bob Dylan, Milt Gabler, Leonard Cohen, Lou Reed, Al Kooper, Adam Sandler, Avishai Cohen, Kiss, and many more.
About YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Emanuel Abramovits, MBA, is a mechanical engineer and has also been a concert promoter for over two decades. He is directly involved in events by international artists like Itzhak Perlman, Gustavo Dudamel, Sarah Brightman, Roger Hodgson, ASIA, Journey, Kenny G., and many more. Abramovits has designed and staged many original orchestral events, including an Event of the Year winner and several world premieres. He served as the cultural director at Union Israelita De Caracas from 2008 to 2019, releasing books and organizing film cycles, concerts, and art exhibits. He consistently teaches online and in-person across the US.
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Color and Symbolism in Art History
Mondays, January 27–March 3, 4:00–5:30 p.m.
Description
Artists use color to create an array of symbolism, emotions, and sociopolitical meanings within the context of the time period in which they created their works of art. Additionally, within these works, artists utilized their knowledge of color to portray mood, light, depth, and point of view. Progressing through the colors of the rainbow each week, we will discuss a variety of paintings throughout art history to understand the artists’ intention and the stories behind the paintings within their respective color spheres. We will also discuss the histories of color, their meanings in various societies and cultural contexts, and the materials and processes used to make colors.
About YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Eleanor Schrader is an award-winning educator, lecturer, and author. She lectures and leads tours worldwide on art and architectural history. She has been named a distinguished instructor at UCLA Extension, where she teaches history of architecture, interior design, furniture, and decorative arts. She is a Professor Emeritus of Art and Architectural History at Santa Monica College. She has completed graduate work in fine and decorative arts at Sotheby's Institute in London and New York. She has served as a design review commissioner for the City of Beverly Hills.
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Modern War: What is it Good For?
Tuesdays, January 28–March 4, 8:00–9:30 a.m.
Description
Vietnam, viewed by many as a turning point between old and new approaches to war, raised many questions about the role of superpowers, asymmetrical resources, and counterinsurgencies on the world stage. In this course, we will look at the wars in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Ukraine, and Gaza. All of these wars are asymmetrical, but what else do they have in common, and how are they informed by Vietnam? We will discuss how superpowers are central players in these conflicts by way of their supplies and support. In this course, we will examine human ways of evaluating the politics and strategies, particularly what happens when three vectors cannot agree: the public, politicians, and the military.
About YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Jeff Rice received an undergraduate degree from Northwestern University then pursued graduate work in African Studies at the University of Edinburgh. He completed a dissertation entitled "Wealth Power and Corruption: A Study of Asante Political Culture." He returned to Northwestern to teach history and political science and became a Weinberg College academic adviser. He is currently an Emeritus Senior Lecturer in political science, specifically West African history, US history of the 60's, Marx & Weber, African politics, military strategy, the politics of famine, and student protest and free speech.
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A Tourists Tour of the Wider Universe
Tuesdays, January 28–March 4, 2:00–3:30 p.m.
Description
For more than two years, the James Webb Space Telescope, orbiting a million miles from Earth in the deep freeze of space, has sent back remarkable information and dramatic images of the faint heat rays that come from objects in the universe. The Hubble Telescope continues to observe some of the same stars and galaxies with visible light. Never before have we had images of the cosmos so rich in color and detail. In this profusely illustrated course, we will be taken on a guided tour of the wider universe as astronomers understand it today. Fraknoi will cover this information in everyday language and without any math. We will look at star birth and star death, the organization and structure of the Milky Way, cosmic mergers and collisions, and the great web of galaxies that gives us clues about the beginning and development of our cosmos.
About YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Andrew Fraknoi was the Chair of the Astronomy Department at Foothill College. He was chosen as the 2007 California Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Endowment and has won several national prizes for his teaching. He is the lead author of OpenStax Astronomy, a free, electronic textbook, which is the country’s most-used introductory text in the field. He has also written books for teachers, children, and the public. He appears regularly on local and national radio, explaining astronomical ideas in easy to understand terms. The International Astronomical Union has named Asteroid 4859 Asteroid Fraknoi to recognize his contributions to the public's appreciation of science.
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The Secret Lives of Familiar Birds
Wednesdays, January 29–March 5, 8:00–9:30 a.m.
Description
We share the earth with birds who live among us, yet they remain mysterious. In this course, we will examine the fascinating characteristics, habits, and lives of North American birds including how they keep warm; how they fly; when, why, and how they sing; and more. Our classes will be broken down into these categories: bird ancestry and anatomy; diet and nesting; flight and migration; threats; behavior and songs. We will cover birds of prey, songbirds, waterfowl, and the common loon. Join this interesting exploration of how birds live, move, breathe, and think.
About YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Elizabeth Burnette attended Cornell University for a BS in engineering physics, then worked on Space Shuttle experiments at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She then obtained a master's degree in Astrophysics from the University of Pittsburgh. Burnette has been teaching astrophysics, physics, and science for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Pitt and is a returning Osher Online instructor.
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The World of Musical Satire
Wednesdays, January 29–March 5, 4:00–5:30 p.m.
Description
Satire is one of the oldest forms of humor. Adding music seems to make it even more powerful. In early Germanic and Celtic societies, people who were mocked in songs would break out in boils and even commit suicide. In this course, we will explore the art of musical satire in a variety of genres, cultures, and eras, especially America since 1950. This multimedia course covers Yankee Doodle, Gilbert and Sullivan, the Gershwins, the Marx Brothers, Monty Python, Saturday Night Live, South Park, and Key and Peele. We will also cover a bountiful bevy of B’s: Leonard Bernstein, the Beatles, Bo Burnham, and Bugs Bunny. Because satire is often dependent on social and historical events, this course is as much cultural history as music appreciation. And while words are preeminent in musical satire, we will also discuss the music and its interactions with lyrics. But please—no students who are prone to boils.
About YOUR INSTRUCTOR
David Misch is a former stand-up comedian, screenwriter (Mork and Mindy, Saturday Night Live, and The Muppets Take Manhattan), author (Funny: The Book, and A Beginner’s Guide To Corruption), teacher (his own courses on comedy at USC and musical satire at UCLA) and lecturer at Yale, Columbia, the Smithsonian, 92Y (NYC), Oxford University, Trinity College Dublin, University of Sydney, VIEW Cinema (Italy), and Raindance Film Festival (London), Austin Film Festival, American Film Institute, Writers Guild of America, Sony, DreamWorks, Lucasfilm, Disney, Second City, Actors Studio.
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Science Everyone Needs to Know
Thursdays, January 30–March 6, noon–1:30 p.m.
Description
Evolution. Vaccines. Global Warming. Regardless of one’s choice of news media, it is nearly impossible to navigate today’s information-heavy world without coming across stories on evolution, vaccines, and global warming. Each of these topics is the subject of various conspiracy theories and misinformation campaigns. How do we make sense of what we hear on the news when so much information comes from unvetted and non-neutral sources, such as the Internet and the media? This course is a non-technical introduction to these three critical matters in modern science. We will examine what scientists know, how they know what they know, how certain they are, and why there is such a disconnect between scientific understanding and the public’s perception of the science.
About YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Kjir Hendrickson, PhD is a teaching professor in the School of Molecular Sciences at Arizona State University (ASU). They hold a PhD in chemistry and authored the textbook Chemistry in the World. As an erstwhile quantum chemist, their academic work focuses on science communication, the reciprocal relationship between science and society, matters of workplace climate, and matters of DEIJ in STEM. Hendrickson is an associate researcher with the ADVANCEGeo Partnership and is pursuing research on functional scientific literacy in partnership with OLLI at ASU.
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Whole-Person Health and Well-being: Innovative Care from the Osher Collaborative for Integrative Health
Fridays, January 31–March 7, noon–1:30 p.m.
Description
This course provides a unique opportunity to learn from the experts in the Osher Collaborative for Integrative Health, an international group of eleven academic health centers funded by The Bernard Osher Foundation to study, teach, and practice integrative healthcare.
The eleven Osher Centers are located at highly respected medical schools and medical centers and emphasize integrative healthcare approaches to promote health and well-being. Each Osher Center focuses on whole-person health and wellness using healing strategies such as acupuncture and East Asian Medicine, Ayurvedic medicine, yoga, massage, meditation, physical activity, and nutrition.
In this course, Osher Collaborative practitioners, researchers, and educators will discuss the science behind integrative healthcare remedies and explain its impact.
About YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Each session will be taught by a different expert in the field.
