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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Study Groups

Early summer 2012 Study Group registration begins on Wednesday, May 9, 2012 at 9:00am. You may sign up by emailing OLLI at olli@illinois.edu or adding your name to the sign-up sheet in the OLLI office. Early summer Study Groups begin Tuesday, May 29, 2012 and end on Friday, July 20, 2012.

OLLI study groups are member-organized, led by volunteer members, and designed to appeal to those who enjoy active participation. Each group is composed of 12 to 18 OLLI members who come together on a regular basis to exchange insights in a common search for knowledge. Study groups are free to OLLI members.

Groups focus on a variety of topics. There are no academic prerequisites, exams or grades. Study groups meet for 6 to 8 weeks during the intersession periods. A study group schedule is listed under How to Submit an OLLI Study Group Proposal.

Interested in starting a study group? Find out how.

The following information is also available in print form from the OLLI office. Unless otherwise noted, all study groups meet in the study group room at OLLI at the Research Park.

Study groups for Spring 2012


    Nostalgia in Film

    Facilitator: Chris Catanzarite

    Dates and Times: Mondays, June 4 - July 16, 2012; 1:30 - 4:30pm

    Description: Movies can open a window to the past, allowing the characters (and filmmakers, and audience members) to look back on earlier times. Those deeply nostalgic memories of the past can be a source of comfort or, sometimes, distress. They can present an idealized portrait of past times when the present seems too complicated. They can remind us of youth, long-lost people and places, hopes and dreams. They can also allow the filmmakers to capture the way we were - and the way we wish we would have been. Films will include My Favorite Year (Richard Benjamin, 1982), Avalon (Barry Levinson, 1990), Peggy Sue Got Married (Francis Ford Coppola, 1986), Radio Days (Woody Allen, 1987), Meet Me in St. Louis (Vincente Minnelli, 1944), Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder, 1950), and Dirty Dancing (Emile Ardolino, 1987).

    Facilitator Bio: Chris Catanzarite is a historian of film and popular culture who has taught two Hollywood movie classes for OLLI. In January 2012, she was named Director of OLLI. This is her first study group.

    New Yorker Discussion Group

    Facilitator: Don Pilcher

    Dates and Times: Tuesdays, May 29 - July 17, 2012; 1:30 - 3:00pm

    Description: Each week we will discuss a few selections from recent issues of the New Yorker magazine. The focus will be on the articles, with occasional forays into fiction, cartoons, poetry, or other aspects of the magazine. Participants will help make the selections and everyone will be asked to lead the discussion of one or more articles. (Because we hope to spend most of our time in discussion, leaders will be encouraged to simply come with a few questions that will encourage member comments - extensive preparation will not be necessary.) We welcome all OLLI members and invite those who may be new to the New Yorker to join the fun and discover why the magazine has inspired such devotion in its readers.

    Reading: Participants are required to have a reliable means of obtaining the New Yorker articles to be discussed. Options are to subscribe to the magazine or to download articles from the databases on the U of I library's website. Articles for discussion may go back several weeks.

    Facilitator Bio: Don is a Professor Emeritus from UIUC, an author on the arts, and has been a New Yorker Magazine reader for decades. He has been a member and facilitator of several previous OLLI New Yorker Magazine study groups.

    Writer's Cafe

    Facilitator: Frank Chadwick

    Dates and Times: Tuesdays, May 29 - July 17, 2012; 1:30 - 3:00pm

    Description: This group will provide a chance for writers to meet informally and discuss the craft and business of writing. All levels of commitment and experience are welcome, from professional to hobby to hobbyist. All genres are welcome, including fiction, poetry, memoir, inspirational, romance, etc. You will have an opportunity to share your writing and have it critiqued if you wish. Frank will provide guidelines for critique at first session.

    Facilitator Bio: Frank Chadwick currently has two novels under contract with Baen Books and two e-novels published by Untreed Reads. He had a New York Times #1 bestseller in 1991, Desert Shield Fact Book, published by GDW.

    New Yorker Magazine

    Facilitator: Jerry Soesbe

    Dates and Times: Wednesdays, May 30 - July 11, 2012; 10:30 - 12:00noon (Please note there will not be a session on July 4 - group will decide on an alternate date.)

    Description: The New Yorker provides a unique mix of articles and reviews on current topics, literature, and the arts. This study group is designed for readers of The New Yorker who want to get together to discuss current articles from the magazine. Members will be encouraged to choose and lead the discussion of one or more articles during our 7-week session.

    Reading: The New Yorker Magazine

    Other Information: Participants are required to have some reliable means of obtaining the articles to be discussed.

    Facilitator Bio: Jerry Soesbe is a long-time New Yorker enthusiast. He facilitated a New Yorker study group spring session.

    Twentieth Century International Short Stories Discussion Group #1

    Facilitator: Paula Watson

    Dates and Times: Wednesdays, June 6 - July 18, 2012 and Thursday July 5, 2012; 2:30 - 4:00pm (Please note there will be no class on July 4 and this is a 7 week session)

    Description: For this exploration of the 20th century short story we will read additional selections from The Art of the Tale: An International Anthology. Conventional, experimental, allegorical, fabulist, surreal, and political stories are all represented in this collection by writers from all over the world. Halpern writes of the short story: "we need its singular purity and magic, its devotion to the crucial-though often eccentric and enigmatic-moments in human life." And, as we have found in previous discussion groups, quoting Proust, "each reader reads only what is within himself,"-- which is what makes our conversations so stimulating. We will read two or three stories each week.

    Reading: Participants are required to purchase The Art of the Tale: An International Anthology edited by Daniel Halpern Penguin Books, 1987. The book is available from Amazon in paperback: from $12.47 to $15.01 new and or from $4.43 used. Please note: this is an earlier anthology edited by Halpern and not the one used in the fall of 2011.

    Facilitator Bio: Paula Watson has previously led several other short story discussion groups: the Seven Deadly Sins, Even Deadlier, the Best Short Stories of the Century, Olive Kitteridge, Contemporary American Short Stories, and International Short Stories. She holds a Master's degree in English literature.

    Two Would-Be Queens

    Facilitators: Sharon Michalove and Ann Russell

    Dates and Times: Thursdays, May 31 - July 19, and August 2 - September 6, 2012; 1:30 - 3:00pm

    Description: In this study we will read two historical novels, Queen by Right by Anne Easter Smith and Queen of Last Hopes by Susan Higginbotham. These books highlight the lives of the women behind the men in the early years of the Wars of the Roses. By reading the novels simultaneously we can discuss how Margaret of Anjou and Cicely Neville have been presented over the centuries. By the end we hope everyone will have a better understanding of this tumultuous period in English history and how women's reputations can be molded by different writers to present very different views. The facilitators will lead the discussion and fill in historical background.

    Reading: The books are available in paperback and as eBooks.

    Facilitator Bios:Sharon Michalove was Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of History until her retirement in 2006. She has a PhD in History of Education, and specializes in 15th century history and the history of polar exploration. She has facilitated several study groups for OLLI.

    Ann Russell has an undergraduate degree in history and has been a serious student of English history since she was eight years old. Her special area of interest is the Tudors, with emphasis on Anne Boleyn and her daughter Elizabeth I. She previously facilitated the OLLI study group The Six Wives of Henry VIII or how ‘The Tudors’ got it wrong and Elizabeth I.

    Twentieth Century International Short Stories Discussion Group #2

    Facilitator: Paula Watson

    Dates and Times: Fridays, June 8 - July 20, 2012; 10:00 - 11:30am (Please note this is a 7 week session)

    Description: For this exploration of the 20th century short story we will read additional selections from The Art of the Tale: An International Anthology. Conventional, experimental, allegorical, fabulist, surreal, and political stories are all represented in this collection by writers from all over the world. Halpern writes of the short story: "we need its singular purity and magic, its devotion to the crucial-though often eccentric and enigmatic-moments in human life." And, as we have found in previous discussion groups, quoting Proust, "each reader reads only what is within himself,"-- which is what makes our conversations so stimulating. We will read two or three stories each week.

    Reading: Participants are required to purchase The Art of the Tale: An International Anthology edited by Daniel Halpern Penguin Books, 1987. The book is available from Amazon in paperback: from $12.47 to $15.01 new and or from $4.43 used. Please note: this is an earlier anthology edited by Halpern and not the one used in the fall of 2011.

    Facilitator Bio: Paula Watson has previously led several other short story discussion groups: the Seven Deadly Sins, Even Deadlier, the Best Short Stories of the Century, Olive Kitteridge, Contemporary American Short Stories, and International Short Stories. She holds a Master's degree in English literature.

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