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Duke's Osher Courses Available for Fall Semester

An ethics class that joins students of different generations in discussions will be repeated this fall.  Photo courtesy Betsy Alden
An ethics class that joins students of different generations in discussions will be repeated this fall. Photo courtesy Betsy Alden

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Duke will offer more than 100 11-session courses during the fall semester beginning on Sept. 9 at locations across Durham. Registration opens on Aug. 13.

For a nominal membership fee, adults can join campus life, registering for courses that touch on the fine arts, mastery of an iPad or Duke sports history./p>

OLLI at Duke's fall offerings range from "An Exploration of Art and the Brain" to "Africa 2013." For the full list of September-December courses, click here.

It's part of a national network of more than 117 campus-based chapters. Instructors share their expertise and passions in courses without.tests, papers or grades. The classroom environment is casual and relaxed.

Betsy Alden and Melissa Mills will lead an exploration of different generations' perspectives on ethical issues relevant in the world today. Duke undergrads will partner with OLLI "overgrads" to share perspectives on current issues.

Alden, founding coordinator for service learning at Duke's Kenan Institute for Ethics and now adjunct faculty in the Program in Education, says there is usually a waiting list of undergrads eager to take "Intergenerational Ethics,: which comes with a full half academic credit. There are spaces for eight Duke students and eight OLLI members.

"We often get a difference of opinion," Alden said, on topics from health care access to romantic relationships. "It is a terrific model, with undergrads benefiting from the wisdom -- and often real mentorship -- of their elders and the overgrads grow in their appreciation of young people's perspectives on the topics."

The emphasis of the course is on "Who am I becoming?" rather than on "What's the right thing to do?" Alden said "People tell very poignant stories – an adoption, a child who went to prison for drugs -- and relate how that has informed their perspective," Alden said.

The intergenerational course originated more than a decade ago as an initiative of the new Kenan Institute for Ethics, which was trying innovative ways to help students focus on ethics. It was the first-ever Osher (then DILR)-Duke 'house course," with Mary Semans, Rose and Saul Boyarsky, and Pelham Wilder among the students in the first class.  The instructors were then-Kenan director Elizabeth Kiss and Julian Harris, then the undergraduate president of the Honor Council and later a Rhodes Scholar.

Today, the mixing of people and ideas is enhanced with a couple of potluck meals and opportunities for participants to get together beyond the Sunday afternoon classes to hear campus speakers and take in other activities. Relationships are strengthened by teaming the over-and under-grads as they prepare and present their assigned topic each week.

Also this fall, Ruth Caccavale will lead '20th Century Modern Art: After Matisse and Picasso," one of five art and architecture classes. Caccavale plans to examine the innovations introduced by early modern masters and look at artists working to further social change. Visits to local museums and galleries may be included.

Chris Page, who has taught on many facets of the Middle East, will lead a class on "A Cultural Walk Through Islamic Art."  [The Nasher Museum this fall will also feature an exhibit on Islamic art from the Doris Duke collection.]

One course will use Nicholas Taleb's latest book, 'Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder -- A Blueprint for Living in a Black Swan World" to discuss how to thrive in an uncertain world.  OLLI veteran Allen Parker will teach.

Daryl Coston and Gary Duncan return to teach 'The Future of Medicare and the Affordable Care Act," a seminar addresses changes affecting Medicare and how Obamacare will affect the health care system.

Lewis Bowling, author of several books on fitness and sports, kicks off his teaching career at OLLI with 'Duke Sports History." Expect an initial concentration on basketball and football, using class discussions, guest speakers, video presentations and more. Bowling will cover such events and people as the 1942 Rose Bowl, Wallace Wade, Eddie Cameron, Ace Parker and national basketball championships.

Janice Ching continues her long-running Shakespeare series, shifting the focus to 'The Tempest: Internal and External Storms" as a companion to the PlayMakers' November production of the play, the last play wholly written by Shakespeare.

Lex Silbiger, a lifelong musician and recent chair of the Duke Music Department, will teach 'Concerto Conversations" with guided listening and discussion of pieces by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Bartok and others.

In addition to the classes, OLLI sponsors social events, guest speakers, short trips and a host of special interest groups, ranging from two book clubs and a photography group to the New Horizons Band and Chorus. Former Gov. Bev Perdue will speak at the fall convocation on Sept. 8.

For more information about OLLI course offerings, go to http://www.learnmore.duke.edu/olli/.