Monday Courses   

Taboo language can reveal a culture’s ideals and history. From Roman graffiti to Clark Gable’s famous “damn,” studying cussing opens a window onto values, religion, gender expectations, and social power. “When I got my mouth washed out with soap as a kid,” says instructor Geoffrey Stacks, “I learned firsthand that taboo language is about more than words, it’s about what a culture values and fears.” As author Melissa Mohr observes, “People swear about what they care about,” so tracing taboo words over time uncovers evolving societal values.

We begin with a historical overview of swearing and how its meanings have shifted. Ancient Roman insults reveal what they prized; a medieval medical text uses the c-word before it became obscene; and Victorian prudery over piano “legs” shows how culture shapes and censors language.

Next, the course examines swearing and law. From the FCC’s obscenity rules to George Carlin’s Seven Words routine and today’s media landscape, we explore how societies regulate speech. Finally, Stacks investigates what swearing reveals about the human brain. Why do some people with Tourette’s utter taboo words? Why can people with aphasia lose speech but still curse? Through the lens of taboo language, you’ll gain insight into our biological and cultural relationship with words.

This course explores explicit language and its cultural context. Some taboo words will be referenced, but students won’t say them aloud. 

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.

Dance is Healing is an inclusive movement workshop, founded by Paige Fraser-Hoffman. This program blends ballet and modern dance with a deep focus on awareness and wellness. Participants will learn the foundations of Modern dance technique, while also prioritizing breath work, mobility, and alignment.

Participants can expect a supportive space where and personal expression are prioritized over perfection. Ms. Fraser brings together her contemporary dance training and her perspective as a scoliosis advocate to create a class that’s inclusive of all bodies and movement abilities. Whether you’re returning to dance or stepping into it for the first time, this class offers an opportunity to move with freedom, awareness, and care.

You will learn foundational modern dance techniques while incorporating breath work, alignment practices and mobility exercises. Rather than seeking perfection, this class emphasizes self-expression, body positivity and creative engagement. Drawing from her extensive professional training (at The Alvin Ailey School) and her journey as a scoliosis advocate, Fraser-Hoffman designs each session to meet the needs of all bodies and movement levels.

Participants will engage in visual modeling, verbal cues and real-time feedback. A complete warm-up, guided movement phrases, and a calming cool-down are included. Journaling prompts will be offered to deepen personal insight and integration—so please bring a journal along with a yoga mat. Wear clothing that allows ease of movement. No dance experience is required—just a willingness to explore and connect.

Discover or rediscover the joy of movement in a vibrant, expressive and embodied way. Come as you are. Move how you feel. Let’s dance toward deeper connection—in body, breath, and community.

Participants should wear comfortable athletic clothing or sweats and bring a yoga mat and journal for note-taking; you'll be barefoot for this class. Please ensure you have enough clear floor space to lie down on your back and move side to side comfortably, removing any furniture or objects that could pose a safety hazard. This session includes a complete warm-up, guided movement phrases, and cool-down, with the instructor demonstrating all movements and providing both visual and verbal cues throughout, along with regular check-ins to ensure everyone is comfortable and following along.

Just about everywhere you look today you can see artificial intelligence (AI) in products and services, from cars to cameras, TVs to shopping and crafts to education. But once you’re done with the demos, the question remains: How can AI actually improve your daily life? In this course, tech expert and DU professor Dave Taylor shares how you can use AI to improve almost everything in your life. The class is broken down into four areas: texting with AI, talking to AI, creating images with AI and using AI for creative writing. If you attended this course in a previous session, you’re encouraged to join us again—there will be new tools, examples and hands-on practice to deepen your skills.

If you’re worried about AI and privacy, Taylor covers that too, along with ethical implications of using AI for creative work. “Our primary focus is on how to continue with your regular daily activities, but have them be AI infused, smarter and more streamlined,” Taylor says. “One key skill you learn is how to use AI to fact check your own communications, whether text messages, email or articles. Join us to go beyond demos and master AI in no time.”

Please note: Students are asked to sign up for a ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, or Google Gemini account prior to class. “There are hundreds of AI systems, but those are the tools we focus on in this course,” Taylor says.

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.

This course explores the birth of cinema as a long, evolving process. Rather than beginning with the traditionally recognized start dates of film history, we will look back thousands of years to examine our earliest attempts to tell stories with moving pictures. From ancient caves and magic lanterns to optical experiments and pre-cinematic devices, students will trace the technological and artistic developments that eventually gave rise to the movies—and to sound, color, and other foundational elements of cinematic language.

From the early days of DNA testing in the 1980s to the advanced investigative tools used today, Denver has played a pioneering role in shaping forensic science. Join two of Colorado’s leading experts, Greggory LaBerge and Mitchell Morrissey, for an insider’s view of how DNA technology transformed criminal justice and changed lives. Through two interactive sessions, explore the evolution of DNA analysis—from its courtroom debut and early scientific challenges to the development of national databases such as the Combined DNA Index System. Discover how these innovations revolutionized the investigation of violent crimes including homicide and sexual assault. In the second session, delve into new frontiers such as familial searching and Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy, which have helped solve decades-old cold cases. Learn how Denver became a national model for applying cutting-edge science to public safety and engage directly with professionals who built that foundation. This course combines lecture and roundtable discussion, inviting participants to ask questions, analyze real examples and better understand how science, law and ethics intersect in modern criminal investigation.

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.