Duke’s Osher Courses Tap Into The Presidential Transition, Duke Chapel History And Bob Dylan’s Artistry

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Duke will offer 154 courses during the winter semester beginning on Jan. 7, including a classes linked to the presidential transition and the popular “Symposia at The Forest at Duke: A (Mostly) Scientific Invited-Speakers Program” featuring Duke faculty. Registration opens on Dec. 6.

OLLI at Duke's other winter offerings range from “Alfred Hitchcock: A Career,” to “Introduction to 3D Printing,” from “Creative Travel Journals” to “Becoming Wise: Delving Into the Mystery and Art of Living.” For the full list of January-March 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 topics such 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.

With student demand increasing, OLLI at Duke is expanding its classroom space with the help of a local congregation, Westminster Presbyterian Church at 3639 Old Chapel Hill Rd.

“We have nearly exhausted our supply of classrooms at The Bishop’s House and JRC (Judea Reform Congregation),” says OLLI director Garry Crites. “This fall we expanded into new space at Westminster as a test, by offering three courses there -- and the response from members has been very positive.”

Retired AP reporter and executive Walter Mears, left, who won the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting, is sharing his insider’s view of national politics as the presidential transition takes place. His course, “From Campaign 2016 to Presidential Transition 2017,” will be “guided by events including the naming of the new cabinet, the composition of the new Congress, the new president’s first State of the Union address and the first months of the new administration,” Mears says.

Duke political science professor Kerry Haynie will discuss the new political landscape on Feb. 1 during a free lunchtime lecture, titled “The 2016 Election: Short-Term Consequences and Long-Term Trends,” part of the OLLI Conscious Aging Series held on Wednesdays from 12:45 to 1:45 p.m. in the Commons at the Judea Reform Education Building. No advance registration is necessary.

OLLI members who take Matt Epstein’s “Think Again: Brain Limitations and Potentials” on 10 consecutive Monday mornings will learn how their brains developed for survival and procreation, not reason and accuracy. “We will study how the brain works and examine differences in brain structure between men and women, and between conservatives and liberals,” Epstein says.

Former broadcaster and Duke communicator Cabell Smith was planning to offer “The Many Sides of Bob Dylan” even before the artistic and cultural icon won the Nobel Prize for Literature this fall. The course, offered on eight Tuesday afternoons, will feature highlights of Dylan’s long career, from the early 1960s up to his recent Nobel selection.

“Building Duke Chapel,” a six-session course covering the design and construction of West Campus’ most iconic building, comes just a few months after the chapel’s year-long renovation and Duke’s celebration of Julian Abele, the African-American chapel architect. Lois Oliver, a former associate clinical professor of pediatrics and associate dean of Duke Medical School, brings to the course her 15 years of experience as a docent at Duke Chapel.

Heather Wallace, a Duke Ph.D. student of philosophy, will lead a series of Nia cardio-dance workouts. Nia workouts combine 52 simple moves with dance arts, martial arts and healing arts, to get participants fit in 60 minutes. “Our activity is motivated by the joy and pleasure of movement, which leads to a great deal of gain without physical pain,” says Wallace.

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, a Duke Continuing Studies program, serves more than 1,950 (2,100) members in the Triangle.

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