Monday Courses   

Participants will be engaged in wide-ranging discussions regarding how we can use medical ethics in dealing with such issues as epidemics, end of life care, the well-being of vulnerable and migrant children and commercial determinants of health. Participants will be in dialog with faculty members of the Center for Bioethics and the Humanities at the University of Colorado Anschutz medical campus. Readings will be circulated prior to each session to set the stage for moderated class discussion with the guest expert. The discussions will consider matters such as public trust, individual choice, public policy, changing social norms, and individual rights vs. the rights of the community. The class will not be a one-way street. This is an opportunity to voice your perspective on these important topics.

Walter Matthau, known for his "hangdog face" and playing world-weary characters, stars in eight dramas and comedies this quarter. We start with a confirmed bachelor with a wild girlfriend, a kindly widower helping a young lady in trouble, a bank robber on the run from the mob, an aging vaudevillian with a partner, a man exploring middle-aged dating, a horse track bookie with a problem, a liberal justice on the US Supreme Court, and an escaped mental patient with an equally crazy partner. All these movies show why Matthau won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, two Tony Awards, and two BAFTA Awards. We will have a short discussion before and after the movie to discuss the stars, the plot, and why the movie was successful. Due to the length of the movies, the class will start at 12:30 p.m. We will have a 2:00 p.m. intermission.

Poetry has no single definition, but we believe that music with lyrics is a form of poetry, presented in a musical template. The intermingling of words and melody has historic potency and has been going on for centuries. In this course, we explore how iconic singer-songwriters use poetic devices to create powerful art. Through audio and video, we'll dive into the work of four legendary 20th-century songwriters, Jackson Browne, Kris Kristofferson, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and Willie Nelson, and examine how their lyrics function as poetry. Expect plenty of music as we discover the timeless connection between words and melody.

This is an OLLI on the Move course, featured off-site courses happening throughout the Devner area. OLLI at DU membership is NOT REQUIRED for these special courses, so bring a friend!

In this class we will shine the spotlight on the workhorse string instruments of classical music—the violin, viola, cello, and bass. We will explore the history of each of these instruments, the music they inspired, and the ways our musical world combines them to delight audiences. Along the way, we will learn how they are built, how they work, and why they have become such mainstays of the world of concerts. There will be live demonstrations of all four instruments as well as videos.

Explore how the ancient practices of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) are being reexamined through the lens of cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) in this unique and timely course. With over 5,000 years of clinical tradition and more than 10,000 randomized controlled trials conducted since 1975, TCM remains one of the most widely practiced and studied systems of medicine worldwide.

Today, researchers at leading institutions like Harvard Medical School and the National Institutes of Health are leveraging AI to unlock the complex, whole-person effects of TCM. Unlike conventional approaches that focus narrowly on single conditions, TCM addresses the body, mind, and spirit as an interconnected system. Multifaceted interventions — such as acupuncture, herbal medicine, Tai Chi, and Qigong — impact multiple physiological and psychological domains at once, posing a challenge for traditional research methods.

Artificial intelligence offers powerful new tools to analyze these complex interactions, helping scientists better understand how TCM promotes prevention, resilience, and self-healing. We will explore how AI is transforming research in whole-person health and how universities, including the University of Denver, are pioneering studies that combine lifelong learning, integrative medicine, and advanced analytics to improve health outcomes in aging populations.

Whether you are curious about natural ways to enhance your well-being or eager to understand how ancient wisdom meets modern technology, this course will provide you with a rich foundation. Learn how TCM and AI together are shaping the future of health — and how these innovations can help you lead a healthier, more vibrant life.

Recommended Readings: Beinfield, Harriet, and Efrem Korngold. Between Heaven and Earth: A Guide to Chinese Medicine. New York: Ballantine, 1992.

Robert Putnam's book, "The Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again," uses quantitative data and trusted economists such as Thomas Piketty and Raj Chetty to track four trends shaping America from 1900 to 2020. Exploring income inequality, political partisanship, social capital and cultural narcissism, Putnam offers at times counter intuitive insights to explain the unique transition from individualistic "I" to the communitarian "We" and back again in the past 120+ years. All of this is further complicated by the perpetual factors of race and gender. The book also explores the forces which cracked the cohesion starting in the mid-1960s. These began with increasing individualism and greed and evolved into tribalism. Still optimistic, Putnam encourages us to take inspiration and instruction from a period of despair much like our own.

The book, The Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again, is required. On Amazon, the paper book is $12.59, and the Kindle version is $9.99.