FALL SEMESTER 2022 - COURSES
FALL 2022 Course Evaluations
Click here to access and submit Course Evaluations.
Browse courses by subject
- ART & MUSIC
- CONTEMPORARY ISSUES & CULTURE
- FILM STUDIES
- HISTORY
- LITERATURE & SOCIETY
- SCIENCE, MEDICINE & MATH
- WELLNESS
The 8-week semester begins on Monday, September 12, 2022
Registration opens on Wednesday, July 13 at 9:00 a.m.
About OLLI Courses:
All courses meet for 8 weeks unless noted in the course descriptions. Fall semester 2022 courses will be offered in three different formats: in-person, online via Zoom, or hybrid. For our hybrid courses, members will register to participate either in person or online.
Our online-only courses will be offered in the Zoom Meeting format. The Zoom Meeting format is the one that most people are familiar with: students are seen on camera in tiles across the screen, and they can control their microphones so they can interact with the instructor and each other. The instructor can share materials with the class.The online component of the hybrid courses will be offered in the Zoom Webinar format for most courses. In Zoom Webinar, students will see the instructor and their materials on the screen, but the students will not be on camera, and their microphones will be muted. The Webinar format offers increased security, fewer accidental interruptions, and larger capacity for registrations (which means no wait lists for courses in the Webinar format). Facilitators will assist online participants with questions for the instructor.
OLLI encourages all members who choose to attend OLLI classes in person to be fully vaccinated and boostered, to wear a mask while indoors, and to physically distance in the classroom.
Zoom-only and in-person courses will have capacity limits, so interested students are encouraged to register early. Courses with low enrollment may be cancelled on August 15, 2022. Early registrations will help avoid cancellations!
We are pleased to present these descriptions of our Fall courses, arranged by subject area. To view and download a flyer of the Fall 2022 Courses please click here.
ART & MUSIC
A History of Photography as seen through my Personal Collection of Photographs
Craig McMonigal
Mondays, 9:30-11:00 a.m.
September 12 through October 31
Location: Osher Classroom & Zoom Webinar
This course will cover the history of photography from its inception to contemporary work. Examples of major genres, and movements in photography will be discussed with Powerpoint presentations, augmented by physical examples from my collection of historical and contemporary images. Most aspects of photography and its applications and techniques will be presented, with an emphasis on art photography.
Instructor: Craig McMonigal received his BFA from Ohio University, and his MFA from the University of Illinois. Craig worked for the University of Illinois, and taught at Parkland College, retiring in 2015 after receiving an award as a Community College Outstanding Faculty for the state of Illinois. His work is included in the collections of several museums. Craig has curated more than a dozen photography and art exhibitions. He taught traditional and digital photography, Studio Lighting, and the History of Photography at Parkland College. Craig has an extensive collection of photographs and a library of over 1600 photography books.
Two Painters, A Choreographer and A Photographer Walk into a Bar... CANCELLED
Wednesdays, 11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
September 14 through October 12 (4 weeks, session I, NO CLASS October 5)
Location: Illinois Classroom
This is a 4-week course that meets during the first half of the semester.
One of four invited artists will be discussing their work, its evolution, process, materials and content during each 90-minute session. These will include Powerpoint presentations. Their talks will be followed by a brief discussion with Professor Schwartz. The last twenty minutes will be reserved for OLLI members to ask questions of each artist.
Instructor: Rosalyn Schwartz has been exhibiting her work for the past thirty years. She has received numerous grants, fellowships, and awards, including an NEA Fellowship, a Bush Foundation Fellowship, and a McKnight Foundation Fellowship. Most recently she had a solo exhibition in 2020 at Devening Projects in Chicago. Schwartz’s work has been reviewed in Artforum, Art in America, and The New York Times among other publications. She received her BFA in painting from Washington University, St. Louis and an MFA in painting from Fontbonne College, St. Louis. In May of 2008, after serving as Professor of Studio Arts at UIUC Schwartz decided to take an early retirement so that she could focus full-time on her studio work. Schwartz also taught painting and drawing at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and West Virginia University in Morgantown.
Big Bands - Alive and Well
Jenelle Orcherton
Wednesdays, 3:30-5:00 p.m.
September 14 through November 2
Location: Illinois Classroom & Zoom Meeting
Since the beginning of jazz and throughout the changing times of music, (bebop, rock and roll, fusion etc) big bands have endured! In this class we will touch on bands that are continuing the excitement, those that are asking what big band is and how the tradition continues.
Instructor: Originally hailing from Montreal QC, Jenelle Orcherton is an active educator and jazz performer, having served on many jazz and community organizations including the Saskatoon Jazz Society, Music Defying Boundaries and most recently the Urbana Public Arts Commission. She is the founder of the CU Jazz Festival, happily in its 8th season. Jenelle has over fifteen years of education experience and is passionate about giving all audiences the opportunity to engage with jazz.
CONTEMPORARY ISSUES & CULTURE
Contemporary Political and Racial Issues
Wendy Tam Cho
Tuesdays, 6:00-7:30 p.m.
September 13 through October 4, 4 weeks (session I)
Location: Zoom Meeting
This is a 4-week course that meets during the first half of the semester.
We will explore some contemporary political and racial issues. We will not discuss politics per se, but will, instead, seek to understand some of the issues that shape the political and racial issues that emerge in the United States. We will also explore how institutional decisions and structures that seem perfunctory and benign can have an enormous impact on the direction of the country.
Instructor: Wendy K. Tam Cho is Professor in the Departments of Political Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Asian American Studies, and the College of Law, Senior Research Scientist at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications. This is her first time teaching an OLLI course.
International Laws of War
Paul F. Diehl
Tuesdays, 9:30-11:00 a.m.
September 13 through October 4, 4 weeks (session I)
Location: Osher Classroom
This is a 4-week course that meets during the first half of the semester.
This course focuses on the international laws that govern war in both the interstate and civil conflict varieties. Specifically, the “rules” associated with when actors can initiate or respond with military force (jus ad bello) and those governing the conduct of war (jus in bello or international humanitarian law) form the core of the course. Mechanisms (and associated limitations) for enforcing the law – national courts and processes, International Criminal Court, UN Security Council – are discussed. The course concludes with reference to legal challenges occasioned by modern warfare, including drones, terrorism, and cyber- attacks.
Instructor: Paul Diehl is Henning Larsen Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Ashbel Smith Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Texas- Dallas, where he was Associate Provost and Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning. He is past President of the Peace Science Society (International) and past President of the International Studies Association. Diehl is the author or editor of 25 books and the author of two hundred articles, book chapters, and essays on the causes of war, UN peacekeeping, and international law. He has received ten campus and national awards for his teaching, including LAS Dean’s Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and the University of Illinois Campus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. This is his first time teaching an OLLI course.
Turkey's Eurasian Hinterland
Janice Jayes
Tuesdays, 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
September 13 through November 1
Location: Osher Classroom & Zoom Webinar
In the past three decades Turkey has been able to recultivate historic relations with Turkic populations in the Caucuses and Central Asia, encouraging the vision of a Turkey-centered Eurasian community. Not all of the many peoples in the countries of Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan see the region through the same Turkic prism, nor do neighbors like China, Iran or Russia welcome a turn toward Turkey. or Russia enthuse over the Turkish vision. This class looks at the cultural and political history of the region and the international competitions that continue to play out today.
Instructor: Janice Jayes teaches in the history department at Illinois State University. She enjoys looking at contemporary world affairs as both a historian and political scientist. Her current research interests are on the transformation of non-state actors in the last two decades and the way this is upending the twentieth century model of state-centered world order. She looks at the way these transformations affect many regions, but concentrates on the Middle East, North and Central Africa, and North America. She spent a year in Central Asia in the early 2000s and in Turkey in 2021-22. Her OLLI courses have been among the most well-received and highly enrolled offerings of recent years.
FILM STUDIES
The Art and Craft of Writing as Portrayed in Film
Frank Chadwick
Mondays, 1:30-4:30 p.m.
September 12 through October 31
Location: Osher Classroom
The course examines key aspects of the art and craft of writing as viewed through the lens of cinema. Eight films look at four themes: the difference between teaching writing and practicing the craft itself, the blurry line between story and reality, the tough mechanics of producing a final manuscript, and the coming of age of authors as they find their own unique, authentic voice.
Instructor: Frank Chadwick has previously taught courses on Writing the Novel, the 1973 Arab Israeli War, and World War Two, as well as study groups on writing, films, music, and history. He spent much of his career writing military history and designing war games. In addition to eleven science fiction novels and short stories, and over a hundred published game designs, he has written almost three hundred articles and columns, and fourteen military history books, of which the Desert Shield Fact Book (1991) reached number one on the New York Times bestseller list. He is currently writing a trilogy of historical novels set in ancient Persia at the time of Alexander's conquest.
Evolution of the Vampire in Film CANCELLED
Wednesdays, 1:30-4:30 p.m.
October 12 through November 2, 4 weeks (session II)
Location: Orange Classroom
This is a 4-week course that meets during the second half of the semester.
In this four week film exploration of the theme of Dracula, we will view the iconic Nosferatu, Dracula (Bela Lugosi), Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and Shadow of the Vampire. These films not only reflect the era in which they were produced but also reveal society’s changing projections of what is “monster.” This is an excellent bookend to the spring 2021 course “Monster Mash” or just a creepy Halloween treat.
Instructor: Kathleen (Kath) Brinkmann has taught eight classes at OLLI to enthusiastic participants and has been a guest lecturer at ISIS. She holds a master’s degree in Folklore and Storytelling from the University of Illinois at Springfield. Her book, The Gift of the Unicorn and Other Animal Helper Tales, co-authored with Dan Keding was published in June, 2016.
Hollywood Xenophobia CANCELLED
Tuesdays, 1:30-4:30 p.m.
September 13 through November 1
Location: Illinois Classroom
Xenophobia is defined as the fear of strangers. American policy in relation to immigration has historically been marked by xenophobia, and popular culture, including Hollywood films, has reflected that attitude. In this course, we will look how mainstream Hollywood films have represented a range of Others— specifically, European immigrants, the Chinese, and Arabs—from the 1930s to the 2000s. The films we will screen and discuss reference issues such as race science, restrictive immigration policies, assimilation, whitewashed casting, and cultural appropriation. All of the films were widely released and capable of influencing a large audience.
Instructor: Sandy Camargo holds a Ph.D. in film studies and critical theory. She has designed and taught a broad range of film-studies courses at the university level for over 30 years, retiring in June 2021 from the English Department at the University of Illinois. For OLLI, she has taught courses in Film Style, Countercultures in the Movies: 1930s to 1960s, and Canadian Film.
Jung and the Oneiric [dream-related] Films of Federico Fellini
Rabbi Norman Klein
Wednesdays, 1:30-4:30 p.m.
September 14 through November 2
Location: Osher Classroom
European critics [during Fellini’s lifetime, obviously] voted Federico Fellini the world’s greatest living director. His films won four academy awards as the best foreign language film. Freudian Psychoanalyst Emilio Servadio treated Fellini for severe clinical depression in 1952 around the filming of “La Strada”. Fellini met Jungian psychoanalyst Ernst Bernhard in 1960 and later read Jung’s autobiography, “Memories, Dreams, Reflections” (1963).
Our course will explore the influences on Fellini of C. G. Jung’s psychoanalytic philosophy (as in his memoir, “Memories, Dreams, Reflections”), as well as other psychoanalytic philosophies (such as Freud’s) and Fellini’s reaction to his native Roman Catholicism and childhood experiences under Mussolini influence in 5 great films by Federico Fellini. We shall as well see how Fellini’s style evolved out of the cinema verite prominent in Italian cinema when he began directing neorealist films into a much more personal, and yet highly influential style of filmmaking.
Instructor: Norman Mark Klein, M.A.H.L., D.D., is retired as the emeritus rabbi at Sinai Temple in Champaign. After retirement at Sinai he served as Interim Rabbi at Temple Beth Orr, Coral Springs, FL, Temple Israel, Ottawa, Canada, and at Temple Beth Torah in Wellington, FL, 2013-2017. Before becoming Rabbi Emeritus at Sinai Temple, Champaign, IL, he served as rabbi from 1995-2013. Rabbi Klein was ordained at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1985. He was rabbi of Temple Ohav Shalom, Allison Park, PA, in the North Hills of Pittsburgh from 1985 to 1991, and the rabbi of Temple Rodef Shalom, Waco, Texas, from 1991 to 1995. Rabbi Klein also studied 5 years in the Ph. D. program in the English Dept. at Indiana University with a minor in Film Production. He also taught there and elsewhere.
Mysteries, Detectives, Amateur and Professional, Men and Women
John Frayne
Fridays, 1:30-4:30 p.m.
September 16 through November 4
Location: Osher Classroom
The basic story of crime and detection is continuing to evolve in films and TV shows. The interplay of professional and amateur detectives offers multiple sources for dramatic tension. Women detectives are increasingly playing central roles. Dramas are set in period and exotic settings. This course will offer a mixture of old and new examples of detection narratives for study and discussion.
Instructor: John Frayne was from 1965 to 1997 Professor of English, Comparative Literature, and Film Studies at UIUC, and is now an Emeritus Professor. He specialized in Modern British Literature and Film Studies. From 1985 to present, he has been radio host on Saturdays (formerly also on Sundays) at radio station WILL-FM, where he hosts “Classics of the Phonograph,” and Opera Broadcasts. Since 2000, he has been classical music critic for the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette. In recent years, he has volunteered at the Champaign Public Library FriendShop, serving on the Board and the FriendShop committee.
Time Travel with Historical Documentaries
Alison Davis
Fridays, 1:30-3:00 p.m.
September 16 through October 7, 4 weeks (session I)
Location: Osher Classroom and Zoom Webinar
This is a 4-week course that meets during the first half of the semester.
This course examines one specific genre of non-fiction film, the historical documentary. These films give us a chance to travel back in time to experience important people and events that have shaped our world. For some, it is the main way they learn about the past. Which leads us to question the responsibility of a documentary filmmaker in writing this history and presenting it accurately? Is it more than entertainment? We will watch clips from documentaries of a similar theme and discuss their approach to the genre.
Participants will learn what happens behind the scenes from a documentary filmmaker and examine the style of well known documentarians, such as Ken Burns to see why they are successful in making the past feel present. We will also discuss filmmaking techniques such as re-enactments and use of archival footage in order to make history “come to life.”
Instructor: Alison Davis has been producing national documentaries for over two decades. Her programs have received numerous awards including nine regional Emmy Awards and over 20 Emmy nominations. Davis produced documentaries for the Big Ten Network when she joined Illinois’ Division of Intercollegiate Athletics / Public Affairs in April of 2008. Before that she worked at WILL-TV (PBS) and produced several documentaries for national distribution She was the longtime producer and host of Prairie Fire, a cultural magazine series about the people and places of central Illinois. She is now a lecturer in the department of journalism in the College of Media at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. This is her first time teaching an OLLI course.
HISTORY
Britannia: Roman Britain from Caesar to Arthur
Fred Christensen
Wednesdays, 1:30-3:00 p.m.
September 14 through November 2
Location: Osher Classroom and Zoom Webinar
For four centuries Britain was the most remote province of the Roman Empire. This class (last given in 2015) will examine the social, economic, and military developments of those centuries. Julius Caesar’s raids, Claudius’ conquest, Boudicca’s rebellion, Agricola’s invasion of Scotland, the building of Hadrian’s Wall—these spectacular events framed changing developments in everyday life, from rural villas to towns like Bath and London. The class will also examine the two centuries after the legions withdrew in 410 AD, when the Roman heritage was challenged by Anglo-Saxon settlement. Later centuries saw this as the age of “King Arthur,” and the latest findings, controversies, and debates about that era will be examined. The class will try to distinguish between rational theories and romantic dreams—and with topics like the Celtic heritage and the reality of Arthur, there are plenty of both.
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 teaches noncredit classes for OLLI and other venues, in five areas of history and archaeology: Britain, Germany, early America, Israel/the Holy Land, and military history in general. This is his 30th OLLI course since 2008.
Building Up and Tearing Down: Monuments in Cross-Cultural Perspective
Elizabeth Sutton
Wednesdays, 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
September 14 through November 2
Location: Osher Classroom and Zoom Webinar
This course is a survey of selected monuments (statues/sculptures, memorials, tombs, public architecture, natural and non-built monuments, and sites of consciousness) from antiquity to the present. We examine the life histories of these works including construction, restoration, preservation, repurposing, and destruction in distinct cultural contexts around the globe. We will delve into the roles of monuments in creating collective memories and the politics and power structures involved in determining what and who is remembered.
Instructor: Elizabeth Sutton is the Director of the Spurlock Museum of World Cultures and is an anthropologist specializing in heritage management and archaeology. She holds a BA in Art History from UCLA and earned her MA and PhD in Anthropology U.C. Santa Barbara. Elizabeth enjoys using museums as learning laboratories to provide students with training in all aspects of museum operations and research. She also promotes a community centered approach to museums and welcomes opportunities to collaborate with various campus and community groups to share their stories and experiences through museum exhibits and programs. Elizabeth has over fifteen years of experience leading museums and cultural organizations in California, Utah, and Illinois. This is her first time teaching an OLLI course.
John Brown and the Origins of the Civil War
Connor Monson
Fridays, 9:30-11:00 a.m.
September 16 through November 4
Location: Osher Classroom and Zoom Webinar
Portrayals of the American Civil War often show a peaceful country torn asunder by the arrival of the brutal conflict with the bombardment of Fort Sumter. This course is meant to show how the 1850s were not a calm before the storm, but a time of deep civil unrest, political violence, and cultural transformation. We will view this period through the lives of the northern abolitionists who all spent time and interacted in Concord, Massachusetts: Charles Sumner, John Brown, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Henry David Thoreau.
Instructor: Connor Monson is a graduate of the University of Illinois with an M.LIS degree and professional training in public history. His undergraduate major was in American History with a focus on the mid-19th century. He has crafted a senior honors thesis and two peer-reviewed articles with the digital history organization Sourcelab. All three articles concern American political movements and parties. He served as Sourcelab’s Vice-Chairman. Connor also works as the museum manager at the Champaign County History Museum.
The Thirty Years War of the Twentieth Century (1914-1945)
Chris Butler
Fridays, 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
September 16 through November 4
Location: Osher Classroom and Zoom Webinar
The course will treat the period 1914-45 as a unified period of turmoil encompassing both world wars, the Russian Revolution, the Great Depression, and the rise and nature of fascism. The core will be a system of cross-referenced historical flowcharts I developed and used during my 42 years of teaching at University High School, along with the illustrated PowerPoints I used in my classes. Much of that includes timed slide shows with music illustrating specific, sometimes offbeat, topics (e.g., flapper culture, the Russian and Spanish Civil Wars, and Hitler's love life).
Instructor: Chris Butler taught world history for 42 years (1979-2021) at University High School in Urbana, in the course of which he developed a system of 250 cross-referenced flowcharts on world history from prehistory to 2000. He further developed this into a 1760 page pdf of his lectures into an illustrated and hyperlinked text for his students. He won numerous teaching awards, most notably the Beveridge Family Teaching Award in 2000, the only K-12 teaching award given by the American Historical Association. This is his first time teaching an OLLI course.
Trail of Death, Pioneer Cemetery, and the "Haunted Histories" of our Lives
Eileen Gebbie
Thursdays, 9:30 - 11:00 a.m.
September 15 through November 3
Location: Illinois Classroom and Zoom Meeting
In 1838 the Potawatomi Indians were forcibly moved from Indiana to Kansas by way of Illinois, across land now incorporated into Allerton Park. Adjacent to that “Trail of Death” are the burial grounds of colonists whose lives overlapped with the passage. Using Elaine Enns’ and Ched Myers’ “Healing Haunted Histories: A Settler Discipleship of Decolonization,” we will explore what it might mean for us (“settlers”) to now live on this same, wounded land. Though the authors do this work from a Christian Mennonite perspective, the work is open to all who want to learn about Indigenous justice and “response- ability.”
Instructor: Eileen Gebbie is an ordained priest in the United Church of Christ now working in private practice as a spiritual director and forest therapy guide. She previously worked in community organizing and non-profit leadership (you may have known her when she ran our local Habitat for Humanity affiliate). With all of that experience and master’s degrees in sociology and divinity from the University of Illinois and Chicago Theological Seminary, Eileen brings both academic and applied tools to the study of our personal stories within public histories (and presents). This is her first time teaching an OLLI course.
Wisdom in Statecraft: Why History Always, Yet Never, Repeats Itself
Richard Tempest
Tuesdays, 1:30-3:00 p.m.
September 13 through November 1
Location: Osher Classroom and Zoom Webinar
In these unsettled times one’s thoughts turn to figures from the past who met the challenges of their times, such as Elizabeth Tudor, Peter the Great, Otto von Bismarck, Kemal Atatürk, FDR, Charles de Gaulle, Deng Xiaoping, Margaret Thatcher, and Nelson Mandela. “Mankind will never see an end to trouble until lovers of wisdom come to hold political power, or the holders of power become lovers of wisdom,” wrote Plato. All the personalities on this list happened to display a measure of wisdom, within the parameters of their political culture, and all of them have something to teach us today.
Instructor: Richard Tempest is a Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Illinois. Of British-Bulgarian parentage, he spent his childhood in Moscow, where his parents worked as foreign journalists, and holds a BA, MA, and PhD from the University of Oxford. He is a former director of the Russian and Eurasian Center at UIUC. Tempest’s interests include Russian and world history and culture, and the political science of the body. He is the author of several books, most recently Overwriting Chaos: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s Fictive Worlds (2019), as well as a campus cum adventure novel, Golden Bone (2005), written in Russian, about the adventures of an American academic in the early years of Putin’s presidency. Tempest’s current book projects centers on the politics of charisma in the twenty-first century. His numerous OLLI courses and lectures have had extremely strong reviews for his deep knowledge of the subject and engaging presentation style.
LITERATURE & SOCIETY
Aesop Revisited
Willis Goth Regier
Mondays, 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
October 10 through October 31 (4-week, session II)
Location: Orange Classroom
This is a 4-week course that meets during the second half of the semester.
Aesop’s fables are usually encountered in childhood but in antiquity they were aimed at adults. This course will look at the history of fable collections that came under the name of “Aesop,” why and how they were infantilized, and how they changed over time. The course is intended to provide a view of the huge Aesop corpus, to appreciate its variety, and to inquire why some fables are popular and some are not.
Participants will be introduced to Aesop scholarship and its accomplishments. They will be able to examine editions from the 17th to the 21st centuries.
Books, Essays, and Testimonies: Empathy, Freedom, and the Just Society
Christopher Chaves
Mondays, 6:00-7:30 p.m.
September 12 through October 31
Location: Zoom Meeting
Analysis and discussion about seven important pieces of American literature produced by luminaries including Ralph W. Emerson, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Upton Sinclair, Martin Luther King Jr., Betty Friedan, Sen. John Kerry, Rudolfo Anaya, and Peter Singer through group exploration of selected excerpts. These literary works not only have served to highlight the power of both reason and emotion in literature but also improve American life in the areas of environmental protection and appreciation, family separation and the end of legal slavery, immigrants’ work and food safety, racial justice in America, women’s identity and opportunities, military veterans’ trauma and wellbeing, the tri-cultural stories of the American Southwest, and protecting animal rights and their interests. This eight-part seminar is an invitation to closely read and critically dialogue about key excerpts written in controversial but courageous literature, and how they continue to inform our current cultural challenges and opportunities.
Instructor: Christopher Ulloa Chaves, ED.D. has academic experience in nonprofit organizations and humanities teaching at institutions including Southern Illinois University, the University of New Mexico, the College of William & Mary, the University of Vermont OLLI, and the Episcopal Church. He completed graduate-level work in the humanities involving literature and ethics from which he facilitates literature discussion seminars; he holds a doctoral degree from the University of Southern California. He is author of the textbook entitled Liberal Arts and Sciences: Thinking Critically, Creatively, and Ethically; his book was recently cited in The Integration of the Humanities and Arts with Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Higher Education: Branches from the Same Tree (2018), a publication of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine. This is his first time teaching an OLLI course.
Take Me to the River: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Beloved
Parley Ann Boswell
Thursdays, 11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
September 15 through November 3
Location: Osher Classroom and Zoom Meeting
Published almost exactly a century apart, Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885) and Toni Morrison’s Beloved (1987) represent two of the most celebrated—and most controversial—novels ever written by Americans. These books have much in common and we will read them as a pair: they both take place in pre-Civil War America, giving voice and heart to the tangled knot of American slavery. Both have been celebrated as masterpieces and have been banned regularly. And both are set in our part of the world: one on the Mississippi River and one on the Ohio River. Let’s explore these two remarkable American river novels to see where they might lead us.
Instructor: Parley Ann Boswell graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign just months after Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece The Godfather Part II was released. Now Professor Emerita of English, at EIU she taught Film Studies and American Literature—from colonial through early 20th century—for thirty years. She has been teaching OLLI courses at U of I since 2018. This is her ninth OLLI course, and her courses receive exceptional reviews for being well-organized, interesting, and informative.
SCIENCE, MEDICINE & MATH
Genomics and YOU: Exploring Questions at the Intersection of Science and Society
Eva Fischer and other UIUC faculty
Tuesdays, 3:30-5:00 p.m.
September 13 through November 1
Location: Osher Classroom & Zoom Webinar
Instructor: Eva Fischer an Assistant Professor in the Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior. Research in the Fischer Lab asks how brains and behavior can be both strikingly flexible and remarkably robust, and how these phenomena simultaneously give rise to widespread similarities and prodigious diversity in animal behavior. We use integrative approaches to address these questions across hierarchical levels of biological organization and timescales. Fundamental principles governing brains and behavior are most apparent when we leverage natural diversity, combining lab and field studies to understand variation and adaptation in ecologically relevant behaviors. Current research specifically takes advantage of the remarkable interspecific diversity in behavior, morphology, and life histories in charismatic frog species. I am passionate about teaching, mentoring, and community engagement. I helped build the “Froggers School Program” that brings hands-on learning to K-12 classrooms and lab members contribute to a range of annual community engagement and educational programs.
Additional lecturers: Gene Robinson, Department of Integrative Biology and Director of IGB; Katy Heath, Department of Plant Biology; Steven Burgess, Department of Plant Biology; Pamela Martinez, Department of Microbiology; Ripan Mahli, Department of Anthropology; Kathryn Clancy, Department of Anthropology; David Sepowski, Department of History
Fascinating Features and Mysterious Manifestations of Disease
Nestor Ramirez
Fridays, 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
September 16 through November 4
OLLI Osher Classroom
Location: Illinois Classroom
Instructor: Néstor A. Ramírez was born in Bogotá, Colombia, completed his medical studies and internship in Bogotá, and later spent seven years in the jungle area of southeast Colombia as a general practice physician with the Territorial Health Service. He came to the U.S. and did a General Pediatrics residency at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center, both in Memphis, Tennessee. Afterwards, he held a fellowship in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine at the Regional Medical Center of the University of Tennessee. He came to Illinois in 1986 and started working as a neonatologist, first in Champaign, then in Springfield, and later in Chicago, until 2016. He worked as a physician reviewer for Blue Cross/Blue Shield until October 2017. He retired from active practice, but has continued his involvement in organized medicine at the county, state, and national levels. He was President of the Illinois State Medical Society in 2017-2018 and has been elected to be the Trustee for Region 5 (21 counties in Central and South-Central Illinois) for three years (2019-2021). He has taught several courses and given individual lectures at OLLI since 2019.
Problem Solving and Mathematical Reasoning
Wendy Tam Cho
Tuesdays, 6:00-7:30 p.m.
October 11 through November 1 (4-week, session II)
Location: Zoom Meeting
This is a 4-week course that meets during the second half of the semester.
Instructor: Wendy K. Tam Cho is Professor in the Departments of Political Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Asian American Studies, and the College of Law, Senior Research Scientist at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications. This will be her second OLLI course after she teaches her course on contemporary political and racial issues in session I.
WELLNESS
An Introduction to Tai Chi and Qigong Fundamentals
Mike Reed
Tuesdays, 9:30-11:00 a.m.
September 13 through November 1
Location: Blue Classroom
Each 90-minute class will be composed of approximately 30 minutes of verbal instruction, demonstration, and practice in each of the 3 fundamental exercises: static qigong (mindfulness/meditation), moving qigong, and tai chi form. We will follow the traditional format of alternating between quiet and moving exercises. These practices involve repetition of the same "activities" with a gradually deepening understanding. Accordingly, the content of each week's class is difficult to predict as it depends entirely on the students' grasp of the material. Our goal in 8 weeks is to provide participants with sufficient exposure to these ancient arts so that they can make well informed decisions concerning their interest in continuing group study and/or practicing on their own.
Instructor: Mike Reed has been studying and practicing Tai Chi and Qigong since 1998. He has shared his experience and understanding for the past 23 years with local students at OLLI, Savoy Recreation Center, research participants at UIUC and in a variety of other settings.
Living Well to and through the End: Navigating Aging and Death in the 21st Century
Dirk Mol
Wednesdays, 10:00-11:30 a.m.
September 14 through November 2
Location: Orange Classroom
As the world of health care becomes more and more sophisticated, aging and death have become medical phenomena rather than experiences to be navigated with the help of family and community. Studies show that few people have the end of life they desire and die trapped in ICUs and long-term care facilities. This course is designed to help participants make decisions about what they want to happen as they go through the last stages of life and take action to make sure, as much as possible, that their wishes will be respected.
Instructor: Dirk Mol is a retired psychotherapist and former Episcopal priest. He has led over a dozen study groups including one on psychology and culture, one on modern architecture, two on death and dying, and four on the best science and nature writing of the year. This is his fourth course and a hybrid of his 2018 course Maintaining Quality of LIfe in our Later Years and his 2019 course How To Die in the 21st Century.
Popular Ballroom Dances
Alex Tecza
Mondays, 2:00-3:30 p.m.
September 12 through October 31
Location: Blue Classroom
With growing popularity of ballroom dancing and more exposure on TV, new studies have been conducted to test the benefits of this activity. The multidimensional benefits of dancing include all areas of health - physical, mental, social, and emotional. In this course, you will learn the basics of popular ballroom dances and how to create your own patterns so you can have fun improvising. No partner required. Dances taught in this session will include Foxtrot, Cha Cha, Rumba, Tango.
Instructor: Alex Tecza is a professional ballroom dancer and teacher. His achievements include titles of North American champion, professional national and world finalist, Dancers Cup Tour Professional Couple of the Year award two years in a row, and several wins in professional Standard, Smooth, Rhythm, and Showdance divisions. Aside from ballroom dancing, Alex is also an AmSAT (American Society for the Alexander Technique) certified teacher of the Alexander Technique. Locally, he has taught master classes and workshops for Dance Department at UIUC and Regent Ballroom, choreographed and performed in productions at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, and has coached Illini Dancesport team. Alex teaches students of all ages and levels. He taught his first OLLI course in the fall 2017.
SPRING SEMESTER 2023 - COURSES
The 8-week semester begins on Monday, January 31, 2023
Registration opens on Wednesday, December 14, 2022 at 9:00 a.m.
CONTEMPORARY ISSUES
War in the Twenty-First Century
Richard Tempest
Tuesdays, 1:30 - 3:00 p.m.
January 31 through March 21
Hybrid: OLLI Osher Classroom and Zoom Webinar
Today’s global environment is shaped by a major land war in Europe, rising tensions between
China and the United States, and a Sunni vs. Shia feud that has split the Muslim world. We live
in an age of mass migration and climate change, quantum computing and 3D printing, populist
movements and social atomization. Yet the traditional divide between kinetic (armed) and nonkinetic
(diplomacy, sanctions) action remains. So does the distinction between the tactical,
operational, and strategic; the need for inspired leadership in combat; and the value of battlefield
courage and comradeship. These are the topics we shall explore in our course.
Instructor: Richard Tempest is a Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He was educated at the University of Oxford and is a former director of the Russian, East European and Eurasian Center at Illinois. His interests include Russian and world history and culture, military history, and the political science of the body. Tempest is the author of Overwriting Chaos: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s Fictive Worlds (Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2019) as well as a campus cum fantasy novel, Golden Bone (Zolotaia kost’), which he wrote in Russian and published under the penname Roland Harrington (Moscow: NLO, 2004). Tempest is currently researching a monograph on charismatic politics in the twenty-first century. His numerous OLLI courses and lectures have had extremely strong reviews for his deep knowledge of the subject and engaging presentation style.
From Guatemala to Champaign-Urbana: A Global History of the Local Community
Janice Jayes
Wednesdays, 1:30-3:00 p.m.
February 1 through March 22
Hybrid: Osher Classroom & Zoom Webinar
The Champaign-Urbana area has many residents with international origins, but one of the largest local communities is from Guatemala. This class examines the intersecting histories of the United States and Guatemala to learn more about the dynamics of this relationship. We will spend some time looking at the pre-colonial and colonial history of Guatemala, the involvement of the US in Guatemalan 20th c. politics, and the 21st century dilemmas involved in regulating environmental damage, global corporations, commercial agriculture and corruption. Examining the Guatemala-CU connection provides us with one way of examining the global connections that are reshaping our world.
Instructor: Janice Jayes, Ph.D. teaches in the history department at Illinois State University. While she primarily teaches on the Middle East now, she wrote her dissertation on U.S.-Mexican relations and formerly lived in Mexico and Argentina. She is also a board member of Immigration Services of Champaign-Urbana and has written for the Guatemalan Human Rights Commission (GHRC). In July 2022 she traveled with the GHRC on a fact-finding mission to Guatemala to investigate the deteriorating human rights situation.
Watershed Citizenship: Responsible and Responsive Rootedness along the Champaign County Watersheds CANCELLED
Thursdays, 9:30 - 11:00 a.m.
February 2 through March 23 (class will not meet on February 16)
Location: Orange Classroom
Citizenship in the United States is a matter of birth (which confers automatic protections, rights, and responsibilities) and application (which does the same but also requires an oath of allegiance). But what if we open ourselves to the possibility that the U. S. is not the only nation on this land? Following the writing of Potawatomi biologist Robin Wall Kimmerer and the Maple Nation movement, we will explore the five watersheds within the state of Illinois and what it might mean to claim this layer of citizenship in ways rooted, responsive, and responsible to them and alongside their other more-than-human inhabitants.
Instructor: Eileen Gebbie is a Christian priest now working in private practice as a spiritual director and forest therapy guide. She previously worked in community organizing and non-profit leadership. With all of that experience and master’s degrees in sociology and divinity from the University of Illinois and Chicago Theological Seminary, Eileen brings both an academic and applied tools to the study of our individual, communal, and ecological lives. This is the second OLLI course for Eileen. In Fall 2022 she taught Trail of Death, Pioneer Cemetery, and the “Haunted Histories” of Our Lives.
Navigating the National Archives Please note change in schedule: NO CLASS on March 15.
Brant Houston
Wednesdays, 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
March 1 through March 29 (4-week, session II)
This is a 4-week course that meets during the second half of the semester.
The public often hears about the National Archives when a government official tries to walk away with some collection of the archives. But the National Archives has provided the basis for investigations by journalists and historians and has many online sources that do not get the attention they deserve. This course will have a brief history of the archives (including thefts or attempted thefts), an overview of its structure, examples of how the collections have been researched for articles and books, and reviews of sections of the archives that can be particularly useful for anyone. In addition, there will be references to other useful archives in the U.S.
Instructor: Brant Houston is a professor and the Knight Chair in Investigative Reporting at the University of Illinois. He is the author of The Investigative Reporter’s Handbook and Computer-Assisted Reporting: A Practical Guide. He served as executive director of Investigative Reporters and Editors, an association of 5,000 members, for more than a decade and was an award-winning journalist at daily newspapers and more recently at nonprofit newsrooms. He is a co-founder of the Global Investigative Journalism Network, which has more than 180 nonprofit newsrooms as members. He has taught numerous well-received courses at OLLI, with students noting the wealth of journalistic resources he includes in his exceptional presentations.
FILM STUDIES
Uncommon Animation and the Artists and Techniques that Create It
Richard Leskosky
Mondays, 3:30 - 5:00 p.m.
January 30 through March 20
Hyrbid: Illinois Classroom and Zoom Webinar
Most popular animated films have historically relied on classic cel animation or computer-generated images. This course will focus on animation employing different technologies and different materials and discuss briefly some of the major artists who have created works of these types. Several of these techniques, even though they have been practiced for decades, would still be considered experimental, given their theoretical underpinnings, the difficulty inherent in their use, and their consequent rarity. Each class will screen short films employing the techniques discussed and offer suggestions to students for further outside viewings.
Instructor: Richard Leskosky is a former president of the Society for Animation Studies and a former Director of the Unit for Cinema Studies at the University of Illinois. He has organized an international conference and curated two film programs for the Society for Animation Studies. Though retired from the University, he continues to present conference papers and write scholarly articles on a range of cinema and animation topics, including Japanese animation, genres in film and animation, and 19th century motion picture devices. He has been writing film reviews and essays on film topics for the News-Gazette for over forty years.
Hollywood Xenophobia
Sandy Camargo
Fridays, 1:30-4:30 p.m.
February 3 through March 24
Location: Illinois Classroom
Xenophobia is defined as the fear of strangers. American policy in relation to immigration has historically been marked by xenophobia, and popular culture - including Hollywood films - has reflected that attitude. In this course, we will explore how mainstream Hollywood films have represented a range of Others—European immigrants, the Chinese, and Arabs—from the 1930s to the 2000s. The films we will screen and discuss reference issues such as race science, restrictive immigration policies, assimilation, whitewashed casting, and cultural appropriation. All of the films were widely released and capable of influencing a large audience.
Instructor: Sandy Camargo retired in June 2021 from UI as a Senior Lecturer in English and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Cinema Studies at UI, after 18 years of teaching film studies at UI (plus 13 years before that at the University of Missouri). She has taught courses on film analysis; film style; genre theory; crime films; teenpics; film in Australia, Britain, Canada, and Ireland; countercultures in the movies; the films of 1999; and American film since the 1950s. She hopes to be able to share versions of these courses (and others) with OLLI students.
Film Portraits of Ancient Rome in “ I, Claudius” and Tragedies of Shakespeare
John Frayne
Fridays, 1:30 - 4:00 p.m.
February 3 through March 24
OLLI Osher Classroom
The history of Rome from Augustus to Nero was vividly portrayed in Robert Grave's "I, Claudius," and "Claudius the God." In 1976, the B.B.C. memorably turned Grave's account into a vivid TV series. Through showings of this series, this course will examine Rome's change from republic to empire. Other works, dealing with Roman history, such as Shakespeare's plays "Julius Caesar" and "Anthony and Cleopatra" will be discussed as time allows.
Instructor: John Frayne was from 1965 to 1997 Professor of English, Comparative Literature, and Film Studies at UIUC, and is now an Emeritus Professor. He specialized in Modern British Literature and Film Studies. From 1985 to present, he has been radio host on Saturdays (formerly also on Sundays) at radio station WILL-FM, where he hosts “Classics of the Phonograph,” and Opera Broadcasts. Since 2000, he has been classical music critic for the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette. In recent years, he has volunteered at the Champaign Public Library's FriendShop, serving on the Board and the FriendShop committee.
HISTORY
The Archaeology of Health and Disease
Sarah Wisseman
Wednesdays, 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
February 1 through February 22 (4-week, session I)
Hybrid: Osher Classroom and Zoom Webinar
This is a 4-week course that meets during the first half of the semester.
People of the past generally lived shorter lives than we do today due to malnutrition, disease, trauma, and lack of modern medical care. What does archaeology reveal about health and disease from buried bodies and ancient medicine bottles? How do ancient texts inform us about early medical theory and treatments? Which diseases of the past reappear in the present? This four-week class explores the world of ancient health and disease using archaeology, paleopathology, and chemistry. Topics include diet and nutrition, remedies from cough syrups to insect repellents, dental and heart diseases, public health, and medical devices from probes to crutches.
Instructor: Sarah Wisseman, Ph.D, is the retired Director of the UI Program on Ancient Technologies and Archaeological Materials (Illinois State Archaeological Survey, Prairie Research Institute). She received her degrees in Anthropology (Harvard University) and Classical and Near Eastern archaeology (Bryn Mawr College) after spending two years in Israel studying Biblical archaeology. Her primary research areas are the science of Egyptian mummies, ceramic technology, experimental archaeology, and archaeometry. Sarah has taught numerous well-received classes at OLLI. She also writes archaeological mysteries.
The Santa Fe Trail and the Civil War in New Mexico
Fred Christensen
Wednesdays, 1:30-3:00 p.m.
February 1 through March 22
Hybrid: Illinois Classroom and Zoom Webinar
This class will examine the first great route connecting the cultures and peoples of the United States to the Hispanic world of the Southwest. From its creation in 1821 to the coming of the railroad in 1880, the Trail served as a path for commerce and cultural exchange. Instructor-made videos will encourage discussion of the peoples, events and motives of travelers on the Trail. Two class periods will be devoted to the events of the Civil War in this most remote theater of conflict, including the battles of Valverde and Glorieta Pass. This is an updated version of the class given in 2012 which provided background for the OLLI tour of New Mexico, “Land of Enchantment,” the following year.
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 teaches noncredit classes for OLLI and other venues, in five areas of history and archaeology: Britain, Germany, early America, Israel/the Holy Land, and military history in general. This is his 31st OLLI course since 2008.
"A Good Day to Die" — Indian Wars in the West, 1865-1890
Frank Chadwick
Thursdays, 10:00 - 11:30 a.m.
February 2 through March 23
Hybrid: Osher Classroom and Zoom Webinar
The course — which takes its title from a Lakota battle cry — explores the wars between the U.S. Army and the Natives of the American West, the main part of which took place in the twenty-five year span from the end of the Civil War through 1890. It will cover the background to the wars, the cultural differences (and some surprising similarities) which triggered the hostilities, the way in which each side approached warfare, the changing goals of the two sides as the wars progressed, and the actual course of the major campaigns that decided the issue.
Instructor: Frank Chadwick designed historical and contemporary military simulations professionally for almost fifty years -- designing over seventy published military simulations in that time. He has authored nineteen history articles in various periodicals, over 250 military history columns, and fourteen military history books, of which the Desert Shield Fact Book reached number one on the New York Times best seller list. He is currently working on a trilogy of historical novels set in the ancient Persian Empire. Chadwick has previously taught OLLI courses on Writing the Novel, the 1973 Arab Israeli War, and World War Two, as well as study groups on writing, films, music, and history.
World War and Cold War (1939-1970)
Chris Butler
Fridays, 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
February 3 through March 24
Hybrid: OLLI Osher Classroom and Zoom Webinar
This course picks up where the Fall 2022 course on the Thirty Years War of the 20th century (1914-45) left off, with a very brief review of the early part of the century. Primary focus will be on the start of the Cold War, early crises in Berlin and Korea, Stalinist terror and Red fear, and the issue and strategies of nuclear war.
Instructor: Chris Butler taught world history for 42 years (1979-2021) at University High School in Urbana, in the course of which he developed a system of 250 cross-referenced flowcharts on world history from prehistory to 2000. He further developed this into a 1760-page pdf of his lectures into an illustrated and hyperlinked text for his students. He won numerous teaching awards, most notably the Beveridge Family Teaching Award in 2000, the only K-12 teaching award given by the American Historical Association. This is his second time teaching an OLLI course.
LITERATURE AND PHILOSOPHY
Gallery Brawls: Outrage and the Arts, 1830 to the Present
Bruce Michelson
Mondays, 10:00 - 11:30 a.m.
January 30 through March 20
OLLI Osher Classroom
Paris, London, Dublin, New York, Chicago, and elsewhere: we’ll look at moments when action in the arts has triggered catcalls and dust-ups in respectable theatres, skirmishes in cafés, and even fights in the streets. After reviewing headlines from the time about such outbreaks, we’ll think about contexts: cultural, political, economic, and geographic realities that might help us understand better what happened, and why. Along the way, we’ll also be discussing American public response to the arts in our own moment – and ‘brawl,’ perhaps, about if and how such response might matter to our cultural well-being.
Instructor: Director of the University of Illinois Campus Honors Program for nineteen years, Bruce Michelson is Professor Emeritus of American Literature, a member of the Graduate College, and a Fulbright Scholar Ambassador. Author of four books and numerous articles, Bruce has been President of both the American Humor Studies Association and the Mark Twain Circle of America. He has won several awards for teaching and academic advising, and he was selected as a University of Illinois Distinguished Teacher-Scholar in 2007. His most recent work includes four one-act comedies about Mark Twain and his family, and a translation of Georges Clemenceau’s writings on the arts. With OLLI, Bruce taught “Mind Science and Modern Cultural Response” as an eight-week in-person class in the Spring of 2022.
Philosophical and Religious Implications of The Dawn of Everything
Rabbi Norman Klein
Tuesdays, 3:30-5:00 p.m.
January 31 through March 21
Hybrid: Osher Classroom & Zoom Meeting
The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity, by David Graeber and David Wengrow,
is a blockbuster book in size, scope, and potential impact. It attempts to transform the way we
look at ancient history and prehistory, and in the process give humanity a new perspective on our
possibilities as a species, and with our civilizations. I propose to examine the philosophical bases
on which the authors attempt all this, exploring their stated philosophical starting points, the works
of Rousseau, Hobbes, the Huron-Wendat thinker Kandiaronk, other Native American Thinkers, and
the archeological and anthropological record worldwide. In the process we shall also examine some
foundations of religious beliefs about human relationships.
Instructor: Norman Mark Klein is retired as the emeritus rabbi (which literally means "my teacher") at Sinai Temple in Champaign after serving as the interim rabbi at temples in Canada and Florida. Before becoming Rabbi Emeritus at Sinai Temple, Champaign, IL, he served as rabbi from 1995 to 2013. Rabbi Klein was ordained at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1985 and was rabbi at temples in Pennsylvania and Texas between 1985 and 1995. Rabbi Klein came to rabbinic school at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion with an interest in literature, having done graduate work at Indiana University, Bloomington (A.B.D. in the Ph.D. program of the English Department, with a minor in film production), his thesis work on the subject of the interaction of character and place in contemporary novels set in exotic places. His rabbinic thesis focused on a contemporary Israeli novel. Rabbi Klein has a special interest in comparative religion, philosophy, literature, and the hard and social sciences.
Tennessee Williams in St. Louis of the 1930s
Tom Mitchell
Wednesdays, 9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
February 1 through March 22
Location: Osher Classroom
Playwright Tennessee Williams is thought of as a southern writer, but from twenty years in St. Louis he left behind many stories, plays and poems set in Missouri (and some in Illinois) that are only now coming to light. This course will introduce these works, expanding the appreciation of the writer and the Depression Era in St. Louis. Each session will include a presentation of background information by Tom Mitchell, a class discussion of short selections, and an in-class reading performance by participants led by Joi Hoffsommer.
SCIENCE AND MEDICINE
Information Overload and Adaptive Minds
Jessie Chin
Mondays, 1:30 -3:00 p.m.
January 30 through February 20
Format: Zoom Meeting
This is a 4-week course that meets during the first half of the semester.
Instructor: Dr. Chin is an assistant professor in the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research programs aim at (1) advancing knowledge in cognitive sciences regarding evolving human interaction with the contemporary information technologies, and (2) translating theories in social and behavioral sciences to the design of sociotechnical solutions and interaction experience to promote health communication and behavior across the lifespan. As a translational cognitive scientist, she conducts both use-inspired basic and applied research to examine the interaction between human minds and complex information environments in both individual and collective levels.
'Whadja Say?’ An Introduction to the System and Sounds of Spoken Language
Sue Ingels
Mondays, 1:30-3:00 p.m.
February 27 through March 20 (4-week, session II)
Hybrid: OLLI Orange Classroom and Zoom Webinar
This is a 4-week course that meets during the second half of the semester. Learning one’s first language(s) seems to occur with little effort. So why does it often feel so challenging to pick up additional languages later in life? In this four-week class we will address current theories about how languages are learned, focusing particularly on the sound system of languages. Topics include a definition of language, components of a language’s sound system, approaches for learning to hear and produce a different language’s sounds, language accent and dialects, and communicating cross-culturally. Instructor: Sue Ingels recently retired from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she taught for UIUC’s Intensive English Institute and the Linguistics Department and coordinated oral English proficiency testing for international graduate students. She completed a master’s in teaching ESL and a PhD in educational psychology, both at UIUC. Her research interests include how second language sound systems are learned and how to teach and assess second oral skills. Prior to her academic career, Sue worked in educational publishing.
Battlefield Medicine
Nestor Ramirez
Tuesdays, 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
January 31 through March 21
Location: Illinois Classroom
Instructor: Néstor A. Ramírez was born in Bogotá, Colombia, completed his medical studies and internship in Bogotá, and later spent seven years in the jungle area of southeast Colombia as a general practice physician with the Territorial Health Service. He came to the U.S. and did a General Pediatrics residency at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center, both in Memphis, Tennessee. Afterwards, he held a fellowship in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine at the Regional Medical Center of the University of Tennessee. He came to Illinois in 1986 and started working as a neonatologist, first in Champaign, then in Springfield, and later in Chicago, until 2016. He worked as a physician reviewer for Blue Cross/Blue Shield until October 2017. He retired from active practice, but has continued his involvement in organized medicine at the county, state, and national levels. He was President of the Illinois State Medical Society in 2017-2018 and President of the Champaign County has been elected to be the Trustee for ISMS Region 5 (21 counties in Central and South-Central Illinois) for three years (2019-2021). His recent OLLI courses and lectures on medical topics have received positive reviews for his engaging presentation style and the useful information he provides.
What's in My Blood? Genomics Testing and You
Brian Cunningham
Wednesdays, 3:30 - 5:00 p.m.
February 1 through March 22
Location: OLLI Osher Classroom
Instructor: Professor Brian T. Cunningham (Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering) serves as the Theme Leader of the Center for Genomic Diagnostics at the Woese Institute for Genomic Biology and as the Program Leader of the Cancer Measurements Technology and Data Science program at the Cancer Center at Illinois. Prof. Cunningham has been on the Illinois faculty since 2004 after a 15 year career in industry, including as founder and CTO of a company that sold biodetection systems to the pharmaceutical industry. Other faculty that will lecture during this course are Andrew Smith, Xing Wang, Yang Zhao, and Hong Jin.
Natural Disasters, Part 2: Danger from Heat, Fire, Flood, and Unstable Ground
Stephen Marshak
Thursdays, 11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
February 2 through February 23 (4-week, session I)
Location: Illinois Osher Classroom
This is a 4-week course that meets during the first half of the semester.
Instructor: Stephen Marshak was a faculty member of the Department of Geology at UIUC from 1983 - 2018. For eight years, he was Head of the Department of Geology, and for ten years, he was Director of the School of Earth, Society, & Environment. He received several teaching awards at the College and Campus level and was listed on the "List of Outstanding Teachers" almost every semester. His research has taken him to field sites around the world. Steve also writes college textbooks that are used worldwide. His most recent book is Natural Disasters: Hazards of a Dynamic Planet (W.W. Norton & Co., New York). He has previously taught five OLLI courses and has given noon-hour lectures and walking tours.
Computer Security: Health Care Systems, Democracies, and Social Networks
Roy Campbell
Fridays, 9:30 a.m.-11:00 a.m.
February 3 through February 24
Location: Illinois Classroom
This is a 4-week course that meets during the first half of the semester.
Instructor: Roy H. Campbell is the Abbasi Professor emeritus of computer science at the University of Illinois. He joined the faculty in 1976 and led the Systems Research Group until his retirement in 2019. He worked on Vosaic, an early video streaming system. He made contributions in operating systems, parallel computing, distributed systems, security, and the internet of things. He served as the director of the Assured Cloud Computing University Center of Excellence at UIUC and authored the textbook Assured Cloud Computing. He was Associate Dean of Information Technology for the Engineering College (2016-2019) and chaired the Senate Executive committee (2013-2015.)
NanoMachines: The Tiny Biological Gadgets that Animate Life
David Tracy
Fridays, 9:30 - 11:00 a.m.
March 3 through March 24 (4-week, session II)
Hybrid: Illinois Classroom and Zoom Webinar
This is a 4-week course that meets during the second half of the semester.
Instructor: Dave Tracy earned his B.S in physics at the University of Florida. After a 2.5-year stint in the Peace Corps teaching high school math and physics in Malaysia, he obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 1972. Following postdocs at Imperial College in London and at UW, he switched gears and entered industry, working over 20 years developing semiconductor processing equipment and analytical instruments for chemistry and biochemistry, mostly involving optics. He retired from Perkin Elmer as VP, Science and Technology in 2000. Since then, until 2018, he consulted in instrumentation and optical design for startups, research institutes, and large corporations, in the US and abroad. He has accumulated about 50 patents. This is his eighth OLLI course.
WELLNESS
An Introduction to Tai Chi and Qigong Fundamentals
Mike Reed
Tuesdays, 10:00 - 11:30 a.m.
January 31 through March 21
Location: Blue Classroom
Tai Chi Form - a series of movements performed slowly and in sequence. We will learn an 8- movement form which mirrors common everyday movements and was designed to reinforce healthy body mechanics and to promote clear mind/body connection. 2) Moving Qigong - the word qigong translates roughly as "energy exercise." This group of basic movements has developed over millennia to improve general health and well being. Their relative simplicity helps beginners to develop an inward focus connecting mind and body. Exercises specifically for balance are included in this category. 3) Static Qigong - This practice would more easily be recognized by Western audiences as meditation or mindfulness. This exercise will be practiced in both sitting and standing positions. Learning to relax and sit or stand quietly is the foundation of the first two practices. This course has been a popular mainstay of OLLI’s wellness curriculum for more than a decade. It is intended both for students who are new to tai chi and those who have taken it at OLLI or elsewhere in the past.
Instructor: Mike Reed has been studying and practicing Tai Chi and Qigong since 1998. He has shared his experience and understanding of these practices as follows: classes at OLLI since its inception, initiated a program at Savoy Recreation Center, and instructed senior research participants at a UIUC Department of Kinesiology study.
Popular Ballroom Dances CANCELLED
Tuesdays, 3:30 - 5:00 p.m.
January 31 through March 21
Location: Blue Classroom
With growing popularity of ballroom dancing and more exposure on TV, new studies have been conducted to test the benefits of this activity. The multidimensional benefits of dancing include all areas of health - physical, mental, social, and emotional. In this course, you will learn the basics of popular ballroom dances and how to create your own patterns so you can have fun improvising. No partner required. Dances taught in this session will include Foxtrot, Tango, East Coast Swing, and Mambo.
Instructor: Alex Tecza is a professional ballroom dancer and teacher. His achievements include titles of
North American champion, professional national and world finalist, Dancers Cup Tour Professional
Couple of the Year award two years in a row, and several wins in professional Standard, Smooth,
Rhythm, and Showdance divisions. Aside from ballroom dancing, Alex is also an AmSAT (American
Society for the Alexander Technique) certified teacher of the Alexander Technique. Locally, he
has taught master classes and workshops for Dance Department at UIUC and Regent Ballroom,
choreographed and performed in productions at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, and has
coached Illini Dancesport team. Alex teaches students of all ages and levels. He taught his first
OLLI course in the fall 2017.
Uplifting Chair Yoga for Strength, Balance, and Emotional Wellness
Robin Goettel
Thursdays, 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
March 2 through March 23 (4-week, Session II)
Location: Blue Classroom
This is a 4-week course that meets during the second half of the semester. Chair Yoga integrates body, mind, and spirit for those unable to do yoga on the mat. Practicing yoga helps improve flexibility, balance and strength, along with concentration and patience. Students will experience a calming atmosphere to help them de-stress and gain increased self-confidence. This course creates a safe environment by: 1) teaching proper ways to do a pose, based on individual challenges; 2) expanding student awareness that every “body” is different; 3) adapting to varied levels of flexibility; and 4) offering modifications based on participants’ needs.
Instructor: For 45 years, Robin Goettel has practiced many yoga styles and continues to glean the latest research from the Yoga Alliance and International Association of Yoga Therapists. Since retiring, she became more involved in promoting wellness as a certified Lakshmi Voelker Chair Yoga(TM) teacher. She has received additional training by participating in a National Yoga Alliance conference. Goettel has taught chair yoga classes since 2014 at five senior facilities/fitness centers in C-U and via Zoom for OLLI and Parkland College Continuing Ed. Through her OLLI Chair Yoga classes over the past 8 years, her students noted that the postures and breathing techniques they learn have created a sense of calm, happiness, and balance to carry into their daily lives.
Slo-Flow Yoga – The Philosophy and Practice
Jan Erkert
Saturdays, 10:00-11:30 a.m.
February 4 through March 25
Location: Blue Classroom
This course is an introduction to yoga history, philosophy, and practice of the eight limbs of yoga, rooted in the ancient Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Participants will learn the postures (asanas), meditation practices, and breathing techniques (pranayama) as a springboard for playful explorations of stability and ease, breath and flow, and joy and limitations. These embodied activities build strength and flexibility as well as cultivate increased concentration, focus and mindfulness. Participants who prefer to practice on a mat should bring a yoga mat. For those preferring not to practice on a mat, modifications on a chair will be provided.
Instructor: Jan Erkert is an embodied practitioner, educator, author/writer, and choreographer. She was Professor and Head of the Department of Dance at University of Illinois from 2006- 2022, and as Artistic Director of Jan Erkert & Dancers, she created over 70 works that garnered national and international awards. Throughout her career, she has researched and taught dance, vinyasa yoga, kinesiology, and somatic practices, receiving an Excellence in Teaching Award from Columbia College, and a Leadership Award from University of Illinois. Certified by Yoga Alliance, her classes emphasize efficient movement practices, movement flow, and our collective capacity for joy.