Course Catalog OLLI@UGA
January through June 2016 Conversations on Race, Diversity and Equality Race, diversity and equality will be the focus of several classes planned for OLLI’s spring semester.
Support for Un(der)documented Students: U-Lead Athens. The organization was formed following the Georgia Board of Regents’ banning undocumented immigrants from attending state universities. U-Lead Athens helps these students achieve their dreams of a college education.
Today widespread security surveillance and cell phone cameras are almost everywhere, and Americans regularly view videos of interracial killings and confrontations with police on television news and social media. While racial tensions seem to be rising, vital national and local conversations on how to address these challenges are taking place.
Classes involving current issues are scattered throughout the curriculum that offers 176 courses with 296 sessions in 24 categories including health, nature, education, government and politics, hobbies, humanities, technology, philosophy, personal enrichment and finance. Development of the spring 2016 curriculum—the largest and most comprehensive in the history of OLLI@UGA--was facilitated by a new computerized tracking system designed by OLLI member Les Shindelman.
“OLLI members have a great interest in civil rights, social justice and the historical basis of the culture we live in,” says Penny Oldfather, curriculum co-chair with Jim Marshall. These topics will be addressed through a variety of disciplines, including history, literary fiction, biography, music and art, as well as through local tours and personal interviews. Marshall, who notes that February is Black History Month, says that he and Oldfather wanted to include classes “to present information that historically and directly affects Southern communities.” He will teach a class on Harper Lee, Race and Memory that will “attempt to understand the ways in which racial tensions are represented” in Lee’s novels, To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman.
There are also nine luncheon programs. One that is sure to be a hit with the OLLI demographic is a presentation by Hugh Ruppersburg and Bob Burton on iconic songwriter Bob Dylan, followed by a sing-along. Advice on Keeping the Pro in Professional will be given by Monica Kaufman Pearson, the first woman and first African-American to anchor the 6 p.m. television news in Atlanta, where she worked with WSB-TV from 1975 until she retired in 2012. Special Interest Groups and travel opportunities are also on the OLLI agenda. “Penny and I and the committee wanted to set a large buffet of subjects for the OLLI membership,” Marshall says. “Some courses will be more attractive to people than others, and we hope they find some things that they like.”
What’s Inside? Course listing by Category
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Alphabetic listing of presenters
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Also of special interest will be Betty Jean Craige’s interview with Mary Frances Early, who became the first African-American to graduate from UGA in 1962. African-American art will be emphasized in artist Peter Loose’s discussion of American Folk Art and participants will have the opportunity to see Loose’s art collection.
Alphabetic course listing with descriptions
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JoBeth Allen will tackle the controversial subject of Athens
Monthly Calendar with courses
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Special Interest Groups
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Alphabetic course listing with schedule
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OLLI@UGA – Membership Form
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OLLI@UGA – Maps
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