Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

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Fall 2009 Courses

African American Sacred Music: Historical Settings and Singing Styles

Explore the rich heritage of African American sacred music and experience the joy of singing together. We will be introduced to artists who have adopted the cultural style of the praise music, examine a variety of accompanying styles and learn from each other as we discuss, sing and make music, using examples from older traditional music to more contemporary African American gospel music styles. All OLLI members are welcome to participate in making a joyful noise with a truly outstanding choral director and accompanists. You need not have voice or music experience; we will sing as if no-one is listening... bring your best shower voice!

Instructor: Willie T. Summerville taught choral music in Urbana schools for over 35 years. During his tenure with the Urbana Schools, his choirs sang at many venues, including Carnegie Hall, the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, D. C., the Lobby of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Willie received many honors throughout his teaching career, including being named Hometown Hero in Education by President Clinton in 1999. His passion for music is contagious!

Assisting Willie in the class are: Clarence Todd Taylor, at the keyboard. Todd is a choral teacher at Urbana High School, organist and choir director for Salem Baptist Church and the Church of the Living God, and director of the ML King Community Choir. Mark McKnight, playing drums & bass guitar. Mark has played with many jazz greats, including Dave Brubeck, and Ellis and Wynton Marsalis. He was a featured artist at a Jacksonville Super Bowl sanctioned event honoring Bob Hayes and The World of Nations Celebration.

Semester: Fall 2009
Day and Time: Mondays, 6:30 - 7:45 pm
Duration: : 8 weeks, beginning September 14
Location: OLLI at the Research Park, 2021 South First Street, Champaign
Course Fee: $25

Archaeology at the National Historic Landmark Site of New Philadelphia Illinois

In 1836 a freed African American by the name of Frank McWorter established the town of New Philadelphia, Illinois just 25 miles from the slave markets in Hannibal, Missouri. New Philadelphia thrived as an integrated town where African and Euro Americans owned land and raised families until the 1930's. The University of Illinois, in collaboration with the Illinois State Museum, DePaul University, and the University of Maryland, has conducted extensive archaeological research at New Philadelphia. This course offers a fascinating look at the ways in which archaeological science discovers clues to cultures in general, as well as the specific issues surrounding New Philadelphia: the search for freedom by New Philadelphia's founder, Frank McWorter, the Underground Railroad, institutional racism, race relations in Antebellum Illinois, consumer choice in the Illinois frontier, and the use of the internet to interact with the descendant population of New Philadelphia.

Instructors: George Calfas is an Archaeology Graduate Student from the University of Illinois' department of Anthropology. As an archaeologist, George's research is focused on the African Diaspora and the use of non-intrusive measures to archaeology. Prior to attending the University of Illinois George served as an Airborne Ranger in the United States Army and finished his career as the Chief Military Instructor at Fort Bragg, NC.

Kathryn Fay is an archaeology graduate student in the Department of Anthropology. Her research focuses on Historic and African Diaspora archaeology in the United States, museum and heritage studies, and issues of gender and material culture. Kathryn has been involved in the New Philadelphia Archaeological Project since 2004, and has also worked on several other historic and prehistoric archaeological sites in Illinois.

Semester: Fall 2009
Day and Time: Tuesdays, 9:00 am - 10:30 am
Duration: 8 weeks, beginning September 15
Location: OLLI at the Research Park, 2021 South First Street, Champaign
Course Fee: $25

The Brain in Society

The University of Illinois has some of the best scholars in the world working to uncover the mysteries of the brain. In this course, they will share their latest research and discuss with us the societal implications of research and practice. We will learn about the factors influencing our brains, some of them under our control (diet and exercise) and some of them beyond our control (genetics and evolution). Our brain health also impacts society, particularly when we consider the economics of health care and the ethical issues surrounding brain research.

Coordinator: Professor Donna Korol, Department of Psychology, Neuroscience Program, and Institute for Genomic Biology. Professor Korol's work focuses on the neural mechanisms of learning and memory under various hormonal states and across the lifespan

Semester: Fall 2009
Day and Time: Tuesdays, 11:00 am - 12:30 pm
Duration: 8 weeks, beginning September 15
Location: OLLI at the Research Park, 2021 South First Street, Champaign
Course Fee: $25
Course schedule by week (PDF)

Contemporary Issues in International Security

This course presents a range of topics that will help participants understand and interpret today's international security issues. Each week a different faculty member will present on a particular issue and facilitate discussion. The first presentation will offer a framework for understanding the overarching global security environment and especially the role of the United States. Subsequent presentations will address the topics of terrorism, energy security, nuclear proliferation and the nuclear posture of the United States, peacekeeping operations, Russia's foreign policy, and the current role and direction of NATO. The topics are all presented by faculty affiliated with the Program in Arms Control, Disarmament, and International Security (ACDIS) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Coordinator: Colin Flint is Director of the Program in Arms Control, Disarmament, and International Security (ACIS), and an Associate Professor of Geography and Political Science at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. His research interests include geopolitics, world-systems theory, just war theory, and the spatial analysis of conflict. He is editor of Spaces of Hate: Geographies of Hate and Intolerance in the United States (Routledge, 2003) and The Geography of War and Peace (Oxford University Press, 2004). He is the author of Introduction to Geopolitics (Routledge, 2006) and co-author, with Peter J. Taylor of Political Geography: World-Economy, Nation-State and Locality (Prentice Hall, 2000).

Course schedule by week (PDF)

Semester: Fall 2009
Day and Time: Mondays, 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
Duration: 8 weeks, beginning September 14
Location: OLLI at the Research Park, 2021 South First Street, Champaign
Course Fee: $25

Dark Sky Legacy: The World of Astronomy

The stars hold a special fascination for human beings. In this course, we will have an opportunity to see sky phenomena at the Parkland Planetarium, and then, in a series of lectures at OLLI, we will learn about astronomy's impact on history and culture. The series is loosely based on the 1989 book of the same name by educator George Reed. During the first session at the planetarium, we will see the sky in a primitive way, using only our eyes. Subsequent sessions at OLLI will examine how what we see is incorporated into our myths, misconceptions, and culture.

Instructor: Dave Leake, coordinator of the William M. Staerkel Planetarium at Parkland College, and Associate professor, Natural Sciences. Dave has been sharing the night sky with school children at the Staerkel Planetarium since 1989. He also teaches physics and astronomy in the Department of Natural Sciences. As one of the founding members of the Champaign-Urbana Astronomical Society, you can often find Dave outside with a telescope looking at the real sky.

Semester: Fall 2009
Day and Time: Tuesdays, October 13, 20 and 27; November 3, 10 and 17. 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Duration: 6 weeks, beginning October 13
Location: October 13 at the Planetarium, subsequent sessions at OLLI at the Research Park, 2021 South First Street, Champaign
Course Fee: $25

Economic Policy Issues and Some Weird Stuff

We have been reminded over the past year that nothing impacts our lives in quite the same way as economics. Yet this is an area that most of us don't understand. Several current and emeritus faculty members in the Departments of Economics and Finance have agreed to unravel these mysteries for us. In a series of presentations, we will have an opportunity to learn about how economics (and the economy) works and affects our lives. In presentations ranging from policy to practice, faculty members will discuss the consequences of such things as tax policies, health care reform, investment in education, and the mortgage crises, and we will hear about the state of the economy at the national, state and local levels. In addition, there will be a couple of weird stuff sessions.

Coordinator: Case Sprenkle, Emeritus Professor of Economics, was Chair of the Department of Economics at the University of Illinois for four years, and is an expert in monetary theory. He was the Founding Director of the University of Illinois/University of Warsaw MBA Program.

Semester: Fall 2009
Day and Time: Wednesdays 1:30pm - 3:00pm
Duration: 8 weeks, beginning September 16
Location: OLLI at the Research Park, 2021 South First Street, Champaign
Course Fee: $25
Course schedule

Europe's Heartland: The Palatinate in Modern History

This class will look at German and European history from the viewpoint of a single region. Germany's scenic Palatinate province- die Pfalz- is a land of castles and vineyards, with close ties to America-as a homeland of the "Pennsylvania Dutch," and as today's location of the largest US military community in Europe. For the last three centuries the Palatinate has been at the stormy center of European history. Its location on Germany's border with France has made it a crossroads of armies, merchants and ideas. The class will use instructor-made films to portray eighteenth-century baroque palaces, emigration to America, Napoleon's 1804 visit, the 19th-century struggle for freedom, the World Wars and Nazi rule, postwar recovery, and today's US military bases.

Instructor: Popular OLLI instructor Fred Christensen is a former history instructor at the University of Kentucky and assistant professor of military science at the University of Illinois. He has lived in and visited the Palatinate frequently over the last 45 years. He teaches noncredit classes in history and related fields for Parkland College and the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian in Evanston.

Semester: Fall 2009
Day and Time: Wednesdays, 9:00 am - 10:30 am
Duration: 8 weeks, beginning September 16
Location: OLLI at the Research Park, 2021 South First Street, Champaign
Course Fee: $25

Exploring Architecture

In this course, we will examine two ways to understand the significance of the built environment in our lives. First, we will focus on the evolving historical record of buildings in terms of materials, methods and design. Second, we will learn how buildings impact our collective lifestyles and our individual interaction with the environment. Abraham Maslow proposed a universal "Hierarchy of Needs," that appears to be relevant to our interaction experiences. We will consider six needs: physiological, safety, affiliation, esteem, actualization and cognitive/aesthetic.

Instructor: Robert Porter, Adjunct Professor of Architecture, School of Architecture, University of Illinois. Professor Porter has 45 years of experience as an architect, including 18 years as a research architect with the Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) in Champaign.

Semester: Fall 2009
Day and Time: Fridays 9:00 am - 10:30 am
Duration: 8 weeks, beginning September 18
Location: OLLI at the Research Park, 2021 South First Street, Champaign
Course Fee: $25

The Films of Billy Wilder

Like Hitchcock, Billy Wilder is an auteur, that is, he co-wrote and co-edited and later on, produced the films he directed. Unlike many directors who seem to have identifiable styles but whose films are really far more collaborative (since the writers, editors, producers and in some cases, actors all helped to shape the film as well), Wilder films are just that: Wilder films. Wilder's narrative skill is quite astonishing: his films are openly cynical about the vapidity of contemporary life. His dramas have an almost scornful satiric edge at times, and he manages to retain this skeptical and piercingly ironic point of view, albeit in a less overt fashion, in hilarious, amiably romantic comedies that were critically and popularly successful.

Course Films:

Double Indemnity (1944)
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Ace in the Hole (1951) aka The Big Carnival
Stalag 17 (1953)
Sabrina (1954)
Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
The Apartment (1960)

Instructor: Popular OLLI instructor Pat Gill is an Associate Professor, Department of Speech Communication and the Gender and Women's Studies Program, University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign. Professor Gill studies gender and film, popular culture, and interpretive and psychoanalytic theories. She has taught numerous courses in and written extensively on media, film and cultural studies.

Semester: Fall 2009
Day and Time: Wednesdays, 5:15 pm - 8:00 pm
Duration: 8 weeks, beginning September 16
Location: OLLI at the Research Park, 2021 South First Street, Champaign
Course Fee: $25

Course Notes Files for downloading and printing (PDF format).

The Future of the United States: Critical Public Policy Issues

Join professor Robert Rich, popular instructor for OLLI courses on health care policy and the presidential elections, as he focuses on the critical issues facing the United States now and in the future: the economy, health care, energy and the environment, education, poverty and immigration. We will look at the major issues in each of these areas and discuss approaches for reform.

Instructor: Robert F. Rich, Director of the Institute of Government and Public Affairs; Professor of Law, Political Science, Medicine, and Public Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Before joining the faculty of the University of Illinois in 1986, he served on the faculties of the University of Michigan, Princeton University, and Carnegie-Mellon University. Semester: Fall 2009
Day and Time: Mondays, 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm
Duration: 8 weeks, beginning September 14
Location: OLLI at the Research Park, 2021 South First Street, Champaign
Course Fee: $25

How Do We Know What We Know?

What magic do the scientists do to determine what really is going on? How do present measurements indicate past reality? How shaky is the bridge between measurement and interpretation? How do we know what is inside the nucleus of an atom, inside the proton? We can't take a picture. How do we know how far it is to a star? We can't go there dropping seeds along the way. How do we know the universe is expanding in a Big Bang 13.7 billion years old? We weren't there. This class is an attempt to outline the many assumptions we make everyday to interpret reality. What really happened in the past?

We will discuss how profound conclusions are built by a million little steps along the way with concrete examples. Elementary particle physics, meteorology (global climate change), creationism, and astronomy provide interesting examples of logical chains which can be broken or led astray by unwarranted assumptions along the way. Is reality non-linear enough to prevent us from predicting future reality?

Instructor: Charles Jordan teaches physics and mathematics as an adjunct professor at Menlo College, Foothill College, San Jose State University, and UC Santa Cruz in California. His research group at Stanford Linear Accelerator Center was awarded the Nobel Prize for the indirect detection of quarks. He started up two companies involved in scientific instrumentation for energy research and managed an advanced R&D laboratory for a Japanese company, Yaskawa Denki, in robotics and high temperature superconductivity. He was also involved in New Technology Trends analysis for Yaskawa and for a Belgian State Investment firm, GIMV.

Semester: Fall 2009
Day and Time: Thursdays 9:00 am - 10:30 am
Duration: 8 weeks, beginning September 17
Location: OLLI at the Research Park, 2021 South First Street, Champaign
Course Fee: $25

Humanity in the Midst of War

Most victims of war wear neither a uniform nor carry a gun. They are civilians, including women, children and the elderly. International Humanitarian Law and the Geneva Conventions exist to protect them during times of armed conflict, along with wounded and sick combatants, and prisoners of war.

Join Harley Jones and his colleagues as they discuss the complex history and development of humanitarian practices during armed conflicts around the world. They will share with us some case studies, including those from Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and we will explore the consequences and repercussions of actions taken under "rules of engagement."

Instructor: Harley Jones is Director of Emergency Services for the American Red Cross and an adjunct history instructor at Illinois Central College. He coordinates Red Cross disaster services, service to Armed Forces, and international services programs. Nancy Gilbert-Gulczynski is Chair of the Illinois State Disaster Consortium, and Bob Wiltz is a psychologist and Red Cross mental health volunteer and instructor.

Semester: Fall 2009
Day and Time: Tuesdays, 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Duration: 8 weeks, beginning September 15
Location: OLLI at the Research Park, 2021 South First Street, Champaign
Course Fee: $25

Human Reproduction: Advances, Opportunities and Daunting Problems Associated with Our Mechanism for Survival

This course will cover topics in human reproduction where emerging technological advances, as well as health-related problems associated with human reproduction, are having acute economic, social and/or ethical impact. These consequences raise daunting challenges to health care systems and also to government, social and religious institutions. We will look at issues related to the aging male, the postmenopausal woman, brain sex, human cloning, stem cells, the sexually transmitted disease HIV/AIDS, global population dynamics, and environmental endocrine disrupters that impact human reproduction. The course will draw upon faculty from four academic units that are research-training mentors in the internationally renowned University of Illinois Reproductive Biology Training Program.

Coordinator: David Sherwood, coordinator of this class, is professor and former director of the University of Illinois Reproductive Biology Training Program. Dr. Sherwood began his research career with the pharmaceutical company CIBA (now Novartis), where he first isolated the hormone of pregnancy named relaxin. Throughout his 36-year-tenure on the faculty of the University of Illinois, Dr. Sherwood has examined the physiology of relaxin during pregnancy in several species.

Topics and faculty

Semester: Fall 2009
Day and Time: Thursdays 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Duration: 8 weeks, beginning September 17
Location: OLLI at the Research Park, 2021 South First Street, Champaign
Course Fee: $25

Medical Genetics: The New Genetics and Your Medical Care

The last few decades has seen an explosion of human genetic information, leading to the appreciation that essentially all human diseases have a genetic component. We now know that understanding an individual's genetic makeup may be important for the prevention and treatment of all diseases including common disorders such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease. This has resulted in the availability of many genetic tests, generating considerable discussion - and some controversy - regarding their impact on individuals, society, and medical practice. In this course, University of Illinois faculty will discuss their research on various aspects of genetics and we will explore the implications for us and our medical care.

Coordinator: Judith Miller worked in bacterial genetics before deciding to switch to human genetics, and to work with people. After receiving a master's degree in Genetic Counseling from Northwestern University, Judy was employed as a Genetic Counselor by the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Peoria and then in Urbana-Champaign. She provided clinical services at Carle Clinic, where she established the Clinical Cancer Genetics Program.

Semester: Fall 2009
Day and Time: Thursdays 11:00 am - 12:30 pm
Duration: 8 weeks, beginning September 17
Location: OLLI at the Research Park, 2021 South First Street, Champaign
Course Fee: $25

The Music of Stravinsky

Igor Stravinsky is the iconic composer of the 20th century. This class will help us to enjoy and understand Stravinsky's music and its place in the social and historical setting in which Stravinsky lived and worked. Born and trained in Russia, he studied with Rimsky-Korsakov and was deeply influenced by Russian traditions. After his success writing for the Ballets Russes, he lived in Paris for some 25 years before emigrating to the United States. Many listeners have commented on the apparently radical stylistic shifts during Stravinsky's long career, but his music always retains certain rhythmic, formal and tonal features that give it a logical unity for all its superficial changes of course. In addition, the class will consider the role of ritual and theater throughout Stravinsky's music, even in works not expressly written for the stage.

Instructor: Peter Michalove holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Composition from the University of Illinois, and has composed extensively for orchestra and chamber and vocal ensembles. He is particularly interested in music of the classical period (Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven), and the 20th century. He has given numerous lectures on various aspects of music, and was the popular instructor for the OLLI course on Beethoven in fall 2008.

Semester: Fall 2009
Day and Time: Tuesdays, 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm
Duration: 8 weeks, beginning September 15
Location: OLLI at the Research Park, 2021 South First Street, Champaign
Course Fee: $25

Introduction to Taiji and Qigong

Join Mike Reed, popular OLLI instructor, as he teaches traditional Taiji and Qigong. The course will be based on traditional routines but will also include new elements developed through the work which Mike has been doing with OLLI Scholars over the past two years. The elements are: Taiji Fundamentals, a series of exercises designed to cultivate balance, control and awareness of lower body movements that are the building blocks of the Taiji form; Qigong/Meditation, the development of a quiet, inward focus through sitting and standing postures and imagery borrowed from multiple meditative traditions; moving Qigong, traditional and original exercises, which are designed to promote mind/body connection and relaxed and fluid movement; an 8 movement Taiji form combining forms from both Yang and Chen style traditional routines, which are practiced widely throughout the world; and finally, Taiji Stick, a series of traditional exercises using the Taiji Stick (provided for in-class practice) which will encourage and expand range of motion and flexibility in the wrists, elbows, shoulders and upper torso.

The first 8-week course introduces the fundamental concepts of Taiji and Qigong, and an optional second eight-week session will include the eight movement Taiji form developed specifically for this course. (The introductory class could be taken as a stand alone eight-week course, but it is designed to be followed by the additional eight weeks of instruction.)

Instructor: Mike began his study of Taiji in 1998 and has been practicing and teaching continuously since then in a variety of settings. He was directly involved in the design and implementation of Taiji and Qigong research in the Department of Kinesiology at the U of I and has co-authored several papers based on the results, which demonstrated numerous benefits for individuals over the age of 50. He is committed to making these ancient practices accessible and fun for OLLI students.

Semester: Fall 2009
Day and Time: Mondays, 11:00 am - noon
Duration: 8 weeks, beginning September 14
Location: OLLI at the Research Park, 2021 South First Street, Champaign
Course Fee: $25

Theatre in Context: Performing Realism

This course incorporates classroom lecture, performances, and post-show discussions to give participants an insider's view of how theatre works while exploring the context and background of modern theatrical art. Paralleling the Department of Theatre's 2009/2010 season, the course examines the development of modern Realism as both a literary and theatrical movement from an audience's perspective. Recognizing that theatre must be experienced live on stage to be fully understood, Professor Davis will present historical background and critical issues surrounding each play and conduct interactive talk back sessions after each performance with various theatre artists to enhance participants' understanding of the productions and the rise of Realism in the twentieth century.

Instructor: Amy Stoch (listed on imdb.com as Amy Stoch-Poynton) is a professional actress with over 30 years of experience in film (among other roles, she was the mother in "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure), in television (where she was a series regular in "Dallas" and "Days of Our Lives" and was featured in numerous other series and movies), and on stage, in many productions, including musical theatre. Currently, she is a PhD candidate in Theatre History. She brings to OLLI a unique understanding of theatre through her years as an actress and her work as a graduate student.

Semester: Fall 2009 / Spring 2010
Lecture Dates: Thursday, Oct. 8, 2009, 5:30 pm - 6:45 pm
Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009, 5:30 pm - 6:45 pm
Thursday, Feb. 11, 2010, 5:30 pm - 6:45 pm
Thursday, Apr. 1, 2010, 5:30 pm - 6:45 pm
Location: OLLI at the Research Park, 2021 South First Street, Champaign
Course Fee: $25

Performance Dates:
Buried Child, Friday, Oct. 9, 2009, 7:30 pm, Studio Theatre, KCPA
The Crucible, Friday, Oct. 30, 2009, 7:30 pm, Studio Theatre, KCPA
Killer Joe, Friday, Feb. 12, 2010, 7:30 pm, Studio Theatre, KCPA
He and She, Apr. 2, 2010, 7:30 pm, Studio Theatre, KCPA
Location: Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, 500 South Goodwin Ave, Urbana
Cost: $14-15 per performance. Studio Theatre is limited to 250 seats.

Viewing Dance: Enriching the Audience Experience

To appreciate contemporary dance, it helps if we understand its language. In this combination of Lecture, Concert Performance and Talk Back with the Artists, we will gain insight into the processes of dance making as practiced by some of UIUC Dance Department faculty members and degree candidates. Kate Kuper, Lecturer in the Department of Dance, will guide us as we learn to look for the elements of dance and historical precedents in the context of choreography and performance. Kuper will focus on background information specific to the work we will be seeing, in order to frame each concert experience. Participants will learn how dance artists think about their work and the audience/performer relationship. Join us in this unique adventure

Instructor: Kate Kuper has been recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts for her choreography and by the Illinois Alliance for Arts Education for her contribution to the field of education. OLLI members who took her course on dance in fall 2008 and spring 2009 raved about her knowledge and teaching ability. She is a Visiting Lecturer in the Department of Dance where she focuses on educational outreach, a Kennedy Center Workshop Presenter, and a Teaching Artist in Illinois schools. Visit her at www.katekuper.com.

Semester: Fall 2008/Spring 2009
Lecture Dates:
Friday, Nov. 6, 2009, 1-2:30pm
Friday, January 29, 2010, 1-2:30pm
Friday, March 5, 2009, 1-2:30pm
Thursday, April 16, 2010, 1-2:30pm
Location: OLLI at the Research Park, 2021 South First Street, Champaign
Course Fee: $25

Performance Dates:
November Dance: Friday, Nov. 13, 2009, 7:30 p.m.
February Dance: Friday, February 5, 2010, 7:30 p.m.
Studio I, Friday, March 12, 2010, 9:00 p.m.
Studio II, Friday, April 23, 2010, 9:00 p.m.
Talk Back with the choreographers immediately following the performances
Location: Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, 500 South Goodwin

World War I - Why? ... And Was It Really Significant?

This course will explore the origins, military conduct and significance of WW I. In the first three sessions, we will examine the origins of the War, including a discussion of the 19th century as context, the responsibilities of various countries and the general "environmental" factors creating the possibility (probability?) of war, as well as the question of inevitability. In the fourth and fifth sessions, we will focus on the strategies and conduct of the war: why did it last four years and result in 10 million fatalities and 20 million wounded? In the final three sessions, we will review the significance of the war. Here, the Versailles settlement, colonial empires, the role of the League of Nations, the impact on Germany and the rise of Hitler, as well as the attitude of the major powers toward war and Germany will provide focal points.

Instructor: Walter Tousey graduated with his Bachelor's degree from West Point. A four year military tour in Germany piqued his interest in German History, and he received his PHD in European History with an emphasis on 19th Century German history from the University of Illinois. During his tenure as Associate Provost at Illinois, Walt taught courses in higher education in the College of Education, and the second half of the Western Civilization sequence offered in the Department of History.

Semester: Fall 2009
Day and Time: Thursdays 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm
Duration: 8 weeks, beginning September 17
Location: OLLI at the Research Park, 2021 South First Street, Champaign
Course Fee: $25

Past Semesters