Mondays
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
6 sessions
starting 7/8/2024, ending 8/12/2024

Join this class to delve into the world of bugs, creepy crawlies, and anything without a backbone. Bugs are interesting, not gross (ok, maybe a little), and understanding their outlook on life can, in turn, change how we perceive the world. Based on biological principles, this course will explore these animals in our lives, society, homes, and even our bodies. Discussions and activities will be a part of every class to more deeply engage in how these creatures go about their lives.

Brian O’Neill is an invertebrate biology professor and community ecologist at the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater.  He has conducted research on a wide variety of invertebrates including: how the invertebrates of rivers of the U.S. Great Plains cope with floods; the food webs of temporary wetland communities in shortgrass prairies; and the ecotoxicology of common agricultural pharmaceuticals on wetland invertebrates.  He has a productive international research initiative aimed at understanding the impact of humans on mammalian wildlife communities in South Africa, Costa Rica, Jordan, and the USA.  His teaching interests include Aquatic Biology, Invertebrate Biology, Community and Introductory Ecology, and Introductory Biology for non-science majors.

Thursdays
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
6 sessions
starting 7/11/2024, ending 8/15/2024

American writer James Baldwin (1924-1987) may be best known as an activist and essayist, but he was also a groundbreaking writer of novels and short stories. While he was born 100 years ago, his voice sounds fresh, urgent, and relevant to our evolving understanding of what it means to be American. We will read two of Baldwin’s novels, Go Tell It on the Mountain and Giovanni’s Room, in which he explores race, religion and sexuality. We will analyze Baldwin’s unique voice and talent as a writer. Together we will discuss the ways Baldwin uses his fiction to help us understand what connects us as human beings, despite our differences. Prerequisites: Participants should be willing to read and engage with complex texts addressing challenging subjects. Required textbooks (all by James Baldwin): Go Tell It on the Mountain (1952), ISBN: 978-0375701870 and Giovanni's Room (1956), ISBN: 978- 0141032948

Catherine Frank has taught more than 60 original OLLI courses in 24 years, both as a volunteer and as director for OLLI at UNC Asheville. She holds three degrees in English from UNC Chapel Hill where she wrote her dissertation on Thomas Hardy’s poetry. She developed her interest in African American literature on her own but hopes and believes that through literature we can develop understanding for lives we do not live ourselves and by reading together we enhance our ability to understand literature and life.

Wednesdays
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
6 sessions
starting 7/10/2024, ending 8/14/2024

There are more than 400 parks in the National Park System spanning 11 time zones. Have you ever wondered how a place becomes a park, what it takes to manage a park, or why there are so many different types of parks? Take a behind-the-scenes look at the National Parks as we reveal the laws, regulations, policies, and practices of managing these special places of American nature and history. Explore both famous and lesser-known parks and prepare yourself for your next park visit with a better understanding of fees, costs, lodging and camping opportunities, reservation systems, and best times to visit. National parks are in the news almost every day. Become a national park “insider” by learning more about these memorable places.

Constantine (Costa) Dillon is a retired National Park Service ranger and superintendent who worked in more than a dozen parks in his 35-year. His awards include the Department of the Interior’s Meritorious Service Award and the National Parks Conservation Association's Stephen Mather Award. In addition to his time working in parks, Costa was also the Chief of Training and Employee Development for the National Park Service and managed the National Park Service’s Albright Training Center at the Grand Canyon. He has a B.S. in Environmental Planning and Management (Park Option) from the University of California, Davis, and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Colorado.

Tuesdays
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
6 sessions
starting 7/9/2024, ending 8/13/2024

This course will give an introduction to film movements and some of the greatest films made (according to critics…but you can judge for yourself) from the 1920s to the 1960s. We will begin by discussing how and where films were made in the 1920s and how the filmmaking process evolved over the next 40+ years. We will also cover what to look for as you watch the films selected for the course. During weeks 2 through 6, we will watch at least one film during the week, and then during the class session will unpack the film in terms of style, story, filmmaking technique, and impact on society and culture. Over the six weeks of the course you will discover some of the best films made and learn about what makes them great.

Jeremy Fackenthal is an independent filmmaker and nonprofit director. In addition, Jeremy served as Director of the Common Good International Film Festival from 2019 through 2023. After completing a PhD in Philosophy of Religion and Theology from Claremont Graduate University, he began using his philosophical background beyond the academy to raise questions and craft narratives. Jeremy shot and edited a short documentary on spoken word poetry as a means of personal formation for adolescents, and he is currently working on a feature-length documentary. From making films to curating a film festival, Jeremy enjoys films as an art form, a means of expression, and of course as entertainment.

Tuesdays
7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
6 sessions
starting 7/9/2024, ending 8/13/2024

The women included in this course were practitioners of psychoanalysis and wrote extensively about their work. These women have been selected because of the significance of their thought for psychoanalytic practice. Some of them were ostracized by other psychoanalysts and the importance of their thought may have been neglected, ignored, or forgotten, and their work may have been derogated. We will articulate what is different about the contributions of women to psychoanalytic theory. And we will concentrate on women who were considered important: Karen Horney, Melanie Klein, Anna Freud, Ana Maria Rizzuto and others. The goal of this series is to bring out the indisputable contributions of these four women to psychoanalysis and the practice of psychotherapy.

Oliva M. Espín is Professor Emerita in the Department of Women’s Studies at San Diego State University and the California School of Professional Psychology of Alliant International University.  A native of Cuba, she received her BA in Psychology from the University of Costa Rica and her PhD from the University of Florida, specializing in counseling and therapy with women from different cultures and in Latin American Studies. She has done post-doctoral work at Harvard University with a fellowship from the National Institute of Mental Health.

Saturdays
11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
6 sessions
starting 7/13/2024, ending 8/17/2024

Writer and director Billy Wilder told his cinematic stories for over 50 years. A Jewish émigré from Germany, he brought his considerable talents, creativity, and insight into the human condition to fruition in a prolific career in Hollywood. His films run the gamut – from hard-edged noir thrillers, to intimate exploration of the human psyche, to the fraught nature of personal relationships, to the divine silliness of screwball comedy. His stories are told with verve and a keen sense of history, place, and American culture. He was a proponent of good fiction well told and an adversary of “fancy schmancy” camera work. We will meet Billy Wilder by exploring a variety of his films against the backdrop of the social and cultural movements which informed his body of work, seeking a perspective from a selection of Billy Wilder’s corpus of films as they are risen from and relate to American culture and an appreciation of good cinematic storytelling told by a master. Additional information: Except for the documentary Cinema’s Exiles: From Hitler to Hollywood, all films on the syllabus are available to stream from Amazon Prime Video. Some of the films may also be found on other streaming sites. Also, the DVDs may be available to borrow from your local libraries, including the documentary above-mentioned. Films should be viewed prior to the class meeting in which each film will be discussed, if possible. Even if you have seen a film before, please try to watch it again closer to the class session in which it will be discussed.

Roberta Rotman is retired after 16 years at Northwestern University, where she was the Director of Undergraduate Programs in the Radio/TV/Film Department of the School of School of Communication, teaching courses in that department and for the School of Professional Studies. Prior to joining the faculty at Northwestern, she taught at the University of Pennsylvania for 13 years, as well as in the Penn-in-London program and at Marymount Manhattan College in New York. Her scholarly work and teaching mainly focus on the transformation of literary works into the visual and performing arts of film and theatre. This emphasis flows from her earlier work as a professional actor in Chicago and her graduate degree in English Literature from the University of Pennsylvania. Her interests also include the portrayal on film of other forms of media and the cultural implications of those views over time. In her research she has explored novel-to-film translation, audience reception of plays in performance, dramatization of history on screen and stage, cross-dressing and gender bending in film and theatre, and the tension between text and music in the early English opera libretto.