Duke’s OLLI Courses Span History, Arts, Tech
The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Duke will offer more than 85 courses during the spring semester beginning April 13, including the popular Scientific Excursions and Diversions Symposia featuring several Duke faculty speakers. Registration opens April 3.
OLLI at Duke's other spring offerings range from “An Auction House View,” to “Inspired Philanthropy,” to “MuRhythmics for Senior Adults.” For the full list of April-May courses, click here.
It's all part of a national network of more than 119 campus-based chapters. Volunteer instructors share their expertise and passions in courses spanning such diverse topics as art, finance, film, health, politics, music, dance, history, technology, writing and more. There are no tests, papers or grades. The classroom environment is casual and relaxed.
OLLI director Garry Crites says the institute’s goal is to develop a well-balanced curriculum reflecting the intellectual standards of credit courses taught at Duke.
“In some cases OLLI members and instructors from the community independently propose courses that they believe will be of interest to the membership,” he says, “but we also have a large curriculum committee that actively recruits instructors in the various areas of study.”
Richard Hill, an alumnus of Davidson College and Duke who taught world history to Durham high school students for three decades, will teach “Durham, the Bull City (1865-1915).” All six sessions will take place at different local historic sites, including Bennett Place, which in April marks the sesquicentennial of the Confederate surrender at the end of the Civil War.
Bruce McLaren, an archaeologist who has excavated at sites across the Middle East, will bring a historian’s perspective to the Syrian civil war in his new course, “The Syrian Crisis.” The course promises a virtual tour of Syria, with an examination of many of the often-ignored factors that play into the four-year-old conflict.
“We will examine the vast span of Syria’s history, ancient and modern, as well as its political and religious history, and the manifold racial and ethnic entities that make Syria such a diverse land,” McLaren says.
OLLI members with an urge to build their own websites can learn to use a free tool for Windows and Apple in the six-session class, “Creative Sharing With Weebly.” Raymond Conroy, who retired as a consultant with IBM, will teach the class at the Smith Warehouse Computer Lab.
Melanie Crain, who has devised three progressive levels of iPad courses for OLLI this year, will offer “Investigating iPad Apps” beginning April 16. This advanced course will integrate class input and research, along with instructor guidance. At least five app categories will be examined, more if time allows.
Durham naturalist and OLLI regular Riverdave Owen returns with a new course, “Tree Camp: Exploring the Historic Neighborhood Alleyways Surrounding the Bishop’s House.” Owen says he will guide participants in “merrily botanizing” -- studying both native trees and challenging exotics -- on walks through the urban forest of downtown Durham.
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. OLLI at Duke serves nearly 1,800 members in the Triangle.
For more information about OLLI course offerings, go to http://www.learnmore.duke.edu/olli/.
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