Tuesday Courses   

What happens to human “consciousness” when we die? In 1978 Dr. Raymond Moody's landmark book Life After Life reported on Moody’s investigation of 150 people who died “clinically,” were subsequently revived, and reported similar extraordinary experiences. His book started a revolution in popular attitudes regarding an “afterlife” and forever changed how we understand both death and life. Since then, with vastly improved resuscitation techniques, five decades of scientific research on thousands of NDEs has brought us powerful evidence that yes, Virginia, there is “life" after physical death and, as frosting on the cake, what awaits us is both heart-warming and extremely comforting. Physicians and professors at prominent universities, medical schools, and hospitals world-wide continue to study this phenomenon with seriously "mind-blowing" results. This course brings you up to speed on these findings as well as what we now know about other exceptional “paranormal” phenomenon.

Terms like complexes, the shadow, introvert, extravert, archetypes, and the collective unconscious have seeped into common usage. While some may be aware that they originally emerged from the work of the Swiss psychiatrist C.G. Jung (1875-1961), many people do not understand fully the ways in which these concepts were developed within the comprehensive psychological theory that Jung constructed and which continues to have resonance today.

In this course, we will explore core Jungian ideas and their utility in our individual lives and our contemporary world.

We will also delve into dreams and their meaning from a Jungian perspective and explore how one can work with them, whether they are nightmares, or outlandish, or profound or silly. There are no required readings and no required preparation. During the course, the instructor will suggest further resources for those who are interested. We will have fun.

The current telescopes exploring the universe are revolutionizing our understanding. These modern space and ground-based telescopes are essential tools for exploring the cosmos, enabling us to study galaxies, stars, planets, and cosmic phenomena. We are acquiring new perspectives on such things as the early galaxies, exoplanet atmospheres (with the potential presence of life beyond Earth), the mystery of Dark Energy, and the nature of the cosmic expansion. This class will examine the many telescopes, current and future, including the Chandra Xray Observatory (imaging Black Holes, Galaxy Clusters, Dark Matter.) the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (Detecting exoplanets by observing stellar transits), the Euclid Telescope (Mapping dark matter and dark energy), the SPHEREx (launched March 2025) to study the Galaxies, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (to be launched May 2027) to study Dark Energy, exoplanets, and stellar Evolution. All of these incredible tools are designed to bring more clarity and understanding to the cosmos, our home.

The newest telescopes are revolutionizing scientists’ understanding of space. These space-based and ground-based telescopes are essential tools for exploring the cosmos, enabling us to study galaxies, stars, planets, and cosmic phenomena. The James Webb Space Telescope has greatly expanded our understanding of the universe’s origins and structure. We are acquiring new perspectives on such things as the early galaxies, exoplanet atmospheres, the mystery of dark energy, and cosmic expansion.

In this class we will examine the many space telescopes, including the Chandra Xray Observatory (imaging black holes, galaxy clusters, dark matter); the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (detecting exoplanets by observing stellar transits); the Euclid Telescope (mapping dark matter and dark energy); the SPHEREx to study the galaxies; and the anticipated Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (to study dark energy, exoplanets, and stellar evolution). All of these incredible tools should bring greater clarity and understanding to the cosmos, our home.

Russia has thrust itself into the international limelight by its war against Ukraine. Russian motives for this war and much of the predictable future arose in Russia's past. Vladimir Putin in many ways is a traditional Russian leader although his political environment is different from the Tsars and the Soviets. But his management and government style have roots in the past. This course seeks to look in a very brief manner at the roots of the forces that drive Russian international policy. In addition, it will seek to clarify both Russian mythology about the past as well as to clarify Putin's effort to reestablish the empire. The class will undertake an eight-week survey of the general outlines of Russian history that have led us to the current situation and try to look forward to future Russian behavior.

This course leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to explore America's most contentious issues with balance and nuance. Participants will learn how to use AI as an effective "fact averager" that can reveal underlying truths behind persistent social conflicts and identify biases in our opinions.

We’ll cover getting started with a large language model, so that class members can employ it at home to prepare weekly analyses of controversial topics. Each week we’ll share findings and seek common understanding. AI-generated summaries often reveal surprising areas of potential agreement between seemingly irreconcilable viewpoints.

As an experiment in machine-assisted conflict resolution, this course welcomes participants who have strong opinions. All we need are people who are curious, willing to do a little homework, and who are happy to consider topics from diverse viewpoints.

As we will discuss during Session 1, participants will benefit most by subscribing by Session 2 to the AI services Perplexity Pro and Claude Pro, each $20/month.  Free versions of these and other AI services are available for those who need to economize.

This speaker series course will explore how artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming various aspects of life and work, from how we access, process, and interact with information, to how learning experiences are being transformed, illnesses diagnosed, and tasks and jobs automated. We will talk about right now, not about the future or theory. Bring your curiosity and questions. A background in IT or previous knowledge is not required.

Week 1: September 16, 2025 What is Artificial Intelligence(AI)? An overview of how it developed and how generative AI is changing our everyday lives. Can AI think, does it hallucinate? Speaker: Pat Smith

Week 2: September 23, 2025 Artificial intelligence is changing transportation from self-driving cars to drone delivery. Speaker: Ron Knox

Week 3: September 30, 2025 How artificial intelligence and machine learning is transforming health care. Speaker: Casey Greene, Ph.D., CU Medical School, Chairman of the Department of Biomedical Informatics

Week 4: October 7, 2025 How is AI changing the education landscape? How are we preparing future military leaders to use AI? ChatGPT is now being licensed by schools and colleges and changing how students take tests, write papers and do research. Speaker: Eric Tucker, Associate Professor in the Management Department at the United States Air Force Academy

Week 5: October 14, 2025 Drones with artificial intelligence are literally changing geopolitical warfare. The latest on drones and AI in the military. Speaker: Bill Gernert

Week 6: October 21, 2025 Field trip to Arapahoe Community College to learn how AI is being used in clinical programs and a live demonstration of the Anatomage table, a 3D virtual cadaver system. Speaker: Lexi Gaines, PT, DPT, Faculty, Director of Clinical Education Physical Therapist Assistant Program

Week 7: October 28, 2025 Bits and pieces - a potpourri of amazing ways AI is being used including its use in detecting brain tumors, dementia, and breast cancer risk. Plus how AI is cutting down on construction waste and improving farming. Speaker: Jan Friedlander

Have you admired from afar the beauty and art of your grandmother’s quilts? Have you wanted to learn how to quilt? If so, then this class is for you! You will learn the following quilting skills/techniques/processes(?):

• How to read a pattern.
• How to choose, prepare, & cut the fabric.
• How to build and assemble quilt blocks.
• How to add a border.
• How to prepare the quilt for the quilting process.
• Preparing and sewing the binding to your quilt

In addition, you will learn about the supplies needed to re-create your grandmother’s quilt! Please note that not all the steps will be completed during class time, so you will have relaxing work to finish at home.

For those who know they want to do quilting and invest in the tools, you will need the following items at a minimum:

• 18”x24” or 24”x36” cutting mat. (I recommend the larger size)
• 24 1/2” x 6 1/2” ruler and 8 1/2” square ruler
• Rotary cutter (either 45mm or 60mm)

The above items will cost approximately $100 - $150.

IF YOU WANT TO TAKE THIS CLASS TO FIND OUT IF YOU LIKE QUILTING, I CAN PROVIDE LESS EXPENSIVE OPTIONS.

You will need to purchase about 31/2 yards of fabric that will cost $35-$60. DO NOT PURCHASE FABRIC UNTIL AFTER THE FIRST CLASS.

Bring to class: Sewing machine in good working order, Manual for the sewing machine, Thread - white for piecing, Scissors, Straight pins. Additional tools and materials will be addressed in class.

This is Part Three of a four-course ensemble extending over four academic periods starting Fall 2024 and concluding Winter 2026 focusing on issues of inequality and their relationship to capitalism. The primary text, Thomas Piketty's Capital and Ideology, is divided into four parts of roughly 200-250 pages each. The course will generally follow the chapter structure with additional readings to augment and critique Piketty's arguments.

The Fall 2025 course will focus on the transition from the 19th Century “Ownership Society” to 21st Century “Hyper-Capitalism with particular focus on the changing narratives of inequality and equality (chapters ten through thirteen). The text anchors the intellectual and economic history while providing the context for our examination of the underlying philosophical premises and arguments of the period. In particular, we will assess Piketty’s ongoing critique of capitalism, liberalism and illiberalism and the policies and institutional arrangements that might flow from these critiques.

All civilizations eventually collapse. Historically, the average lifetime of civilizations is about 250 years, the age of the United States. The life cycle of civilizations follows a similar pattern of 7 stages, with common factors contributing to eventual collapse. From climate change to economic turmoil to the rise of authoritarianism, current circumstances indicate that the US and much of the world are now in the crisis and decline stage, with collapse on the horizon.

In this course we will address the seven stages of civilizations, current trends that point to civilization collapse, the grief cycle as a model of the personal experience of collapse, practical steps you can take to survive and adapt to collapse, indigenous cultures as a model for sustainable communities, and how to be content and resilient in the face of collapse.

If you've ever said, “Why doesn’t my photo look like that?”—this course is for you. Composition and the Art of Chasing Light is a hands-on, six-week workshop for smartphone shooters and digital camera fans alike. Each week, we’ll spend an hour in the classroom learning the visual tricks of the trade—like symmetry, perspective, and framing—then head outside, after the first in-class hour, to the beautiful DU campus to put it all into practice. The last two weeks of the workshop will shift focus to mastering natural light: golden glow, moody shadows, and how to chase the sun. You’ll leave with sharper eyes, better shots, and a new appreciation for how light and structure shape your photos. Warning: You may never see a sidewalk crack or late afternoon sunbeam the same way again. Oh, and you'll finally understand why photographers are always squinting into the sun!

The United States has held 60 presidential elections. A few of these contests proved to be extremely controversial. This course will examine eight such elections, concluding with the 2024 election.

Each week, we’ll scrutinize one election. We’ll first look at the 1800 election where it took 36 votes in the House to declare Jefferson the winner. We’ll then review the 1824 election where Andrew Jackson received 15 more electoral votes and a third more popular votes than John Quincy Adams, but Adams became president. Then, in turn, we’ll examine the 1860 election of Lincoln; the 1876 selection of Rutherford Hayes that ended Reconstruction; the 1912 contest where Wilson defeated both an incumbent and an ex-president; the “hanging chads” election of 2000; and the 2020 election where, for the first time, the losing candidate refused to concede defeat.

The course will not use a text. Before each class, the facilitator will distribute a short reading describing the election and why it resulted in such controversy.

This course will address contemporary political, economic, social and cultural issues that are topical at the time the course is offered. It is anticipated that international, national and local issues will be discussed. Generally, each class will address two of these issues per week, with the class participants being heavily involved in the selection of issues. Participants should expect @ 20-25 minutes of reading(s) prior to each class on the topics for that week. Likely subjects are: K-12 education, college education, Colorado’s state budget, local and state elections, global warming, trade and tariffs, artificial intelligence, housing policy, technology, healthcare, US Supreme Court decisions, and others.

New and engaging topics are continually emerging as our world is constantly in flux; economics, politics, environment, gender, and racial divides, wars and aggressions, health care issues, etc.

The class time is divided into two sections each week.

During the first section, we will discuss current events suggested by class members. In addition, participants will receive two or three emailed articles per week in advance of class, drawing from sources like the New York Times, Washington Post, The Economist, National Public Radio, Wall Street Journal, etc. We will discuss one or more of these articles in the second section of the class.

The objective of the course is an informative, engaging sharing of ideas, life experiences, and viewpoints in a civil and safe dialogue. Please bring an open mind, tolerance of differences, your best manners of discourse, and a sense of humor.

This class will be a non-partisan discussion of current events that values diverse points of view. The first hour will be a look at the news of the week, with an eye towards independent/alternative news sources. Hour two will be a deeper examination of a single topic, chosen by the facilitator with input from the group. The class will be provided background information on the topic prior to the session which could include articles, videos, or podcasts.

What if you were assigned to a national, state or local panel tasked with making recommendations on a number of the most important issues of our time including: schools, policing, national leadership, election reform or mass shootings? Each week in this course class members will review multiple proposals on a critical topic and deliberate on the strengths and weaknesses of each "solution." The class will then try to discern any common ground and consider recommending a path forward. Critical but open minds will be an asset to this work. (Note: New topics will be addressed this term).

In the vibrant tapestry of Colorado's history, few threads are as significant as the early railroads that forged connections and propelled the region's transformation from a mere territory into a thriving state. In the 1860s, it was said that “Colorado without railroads is comparatively worthless.” Railroads would play a pivotal role in shaping Colorado's economy, culture, and communities. During this course, we will learn about the visionary efforts of individuals, technology, and politics that made railroads in Colorado a reality.

Guided tours of local gardens focus on native plants and xeric landscape options. Gardens will include Hudson Gardens, Kendrick Lake Park, Aurora Water-wise Garden, and Jeffco Extension trial gardens. Participants must be able to walk & stand for brief presentations (no seating provided).

Transportation to each garden is the participant's responsibility, although informal carpooling may be arranged.

Hudson Gardens encompasses more than thirty acres of garden exhibits, trails, open spaces, and event venues only minutes from downtown Littleton.

The gardens at Kendrick Lake Park contain 10+ beds representing the major biomes in Colorado. Xeric species from across the regions are interspersed throughout the winding trails.

The Jefferson County Extension gardens showcase research-based gardening practices, and are thoughtfully maintained by our Colorado Master Gardeners.

The Aurora Water-wise Garden is a botanical display of low-water plant species to promote the efficient use of water through education, demonstration of proven techniques, and experimentation.

When the word “God” is mentioned, most people in the West automatically assume a particular concept of God. The Asian religions challenge that concept. In this class we will look at the Hindu concept of Brahman, the Buddhist concept of Nirvana, the Taoist concept of Nature, and the Confucian idea of how our actions relate to the “Way of the Gods.” But the class will not just be about the concept of God. It is also inevitable, especially in the Asian religions, that many practices of the religions are connected to their philosophical ideas, e.g., their rituals and lifestyles. Moreover, the ethical perspective of each religion will be central as well as the concept of an afterlife in each one. I am not a specialist in any of the religions but have taught and reworked the course for over forty years in college and now in OLLI. This will primarily be a philosophy course about the ideas involved in the Asian religions. Personally, I have found the Asian religions a rich challenge to the beliefs with which I grew up and they have opened the door to other ways of seeing the world.

This discussion class will explore current crises whose solutions appear impossible. 1. Continuing the unregulated development of Artificial General Intelligence, 2. Social Media and Deaths of Despair, and 3. Modern Asymmetrical Warfare. Enacting international regulations requires understanding of the risks followed by legislative cooperation at a time when divisions are widening. Our fourth crisis is 4. Healing the political divide. Do we citizens still have shared values that can be the basis for building the bi-partisan cooperation needed to enact and enforce regulations? Or do we need a strongman to rule us? The class will explore research conclusions and discuss solutions already identified. We will prepare for an informed discussion by watching selected TED Talks or YouTube videos. That way we won’t need to spend too much class time defining the problems. Our focus will be on evaluating alternative solutions instead of just depressing ourselves with the dangers. It should be enlightening.

This is the 7th and final course in our series of movies by the decade that started with the 1960s.  We will show just five movies, because we only have a half decade to cover (and because Larry is going on a wonderful trip).   The value and fun of the post-movie discussions depend on contributions from class members, although we are fine with some who want to just watch and listen.

The four movies we have selected are diverse and very highly rated by critics and audiences.  They are:

• 1. American Fiction, a 2023 dark comedy/satire/drama starring Jeffrey Wright;
• 2. The Holdovers, another 2023 comedy/drama directed by Alexander Payne starring Paul Giamatti;
• 3. Top Gun: Maverick, the 2022 Tom Cruise highly rated thrilling drama sequel to his not-highly-regarded 1986 Top Gun;
• 4. Little Women, the 2019 drama directed by Greta Gerwig and featuring an outstanding ensemble cast.
• 5. To be announced 

 

For nearly three hundred years, audiences have gathered all around the world to hear Handel’s brilliant oratorio, Messiah. In this class you will discover how Handel brought his masterpiece to life, and you’ll learn much about the composer himself along the way. We’ll take a close look at the musical devices and tricks that Handel and his soloists used to make this such a fascinating and brilliant work. We’ll examine some myths, misunderstandings, at least one scandal, and even some recent controversy raised about this much-loved piece. And finally, we will follow the journey that Messiah has taken for nearly three hundred years since that first performance in Dublin, the many versions, reworkings, and traditions that the work has engendered. What would Handel think of “Too Hot to Handel,” the "stompin' clappin'" jazz-gospel version of Messiah that Marin Alsop brought to the world in 1993? It's all here!

Guided expressive writing has been proven to reduce stress, enhance social relationships, and improve academic performance. While these outcomes may not surprise you, expressive writing has also been shown to improve lung function among asthma patients, reduce pain for people with rheumatoid arthritis, and reduce sleep disturbances, among a host of other wellness outcomes.

Over four sessions, you’ll dive into current research on writing and wellbeing, learning how writing practices—such as journaling, reflective writing, and expressive storytelling—can enhance your wellness. Guided by an experienced writing professor, you’ll experiment with these techniques in a supportive environment and develop a personalized wellness writing routine.

The course design emphasizes the importance of community wellness. By sharing stories and reflections with classmates, you’ll connect with others, fostering compassion and collective wellbeing. Together, we’ll explore the healing power of shared experiences and build a supportive and thriving community.

Have a Notebook handy

The new book When We Walk By written by the facilitator, Don Burnes PhD, will be the center of this course. Each of the eight classes will discuss one or two of the chapters. We will explore in depth the ways we dehumanize those experiencing homelessness, the ways in which each of the relevant systems fail to meet the needs of the unhoused and the potential solutions that address our forgotten humanity and the broken systems.

Do you want to advance and expand your use of AI?

In 2023, Google released Gemini 2.5 with a powerful research application called NotebookLM.

This class will explore the 4 Best NotebookLM and AI Prompt Practices: 1) Target Your AI Questions, 2) Analyze Multiple Input Documents, 3) Generate Summaries, 4)Translate to Audio Overview of your NotebookLM research.

By using NotebookLM and AI prompts of Gemini, means you can upload multiple documents, have NotebookLM analyze them, and check for contextual connections between documents relevant to your question. NotebookLM will then generate useful cited source responses to your question. One great feature is NotebookLM can translate the response summary to an audio overview.

Learn by doing: You will do your own research with NotebookLM using your laptop. You will learn how to ask questions about complex information and get thoughtful, cited responses to your research questions. Members should bring their own laptop to class.

No Class 9/23

Anti-Asian violence: A modern day occurrence? Not at all. Fear, hatred, and racism toward the Chinese and Japanese began in the mid-1800s culminating with the incarceration of over 125,000 Japanese at the beginning of WWII, two-thirds of whom were US citizens. From the perspective of a third-generation Japanese-American (Sansei), we will discuss the how, when and why racism landed Americans in what is more accurately described as prison camps, and what we can do to countermand the effects of anti-Asian violence and racism in America today. With the continuing immigration and border crisis, we will see how the incarceration of the Japanese in WWII can repeat itself today, and why we should be ever vigilant that this NEVER HAPPENS AGAIN.

Stories about food through the ages have gotten lost in the glare of historical dates and warfare. Yet, food has had an influence on events through time. How did travelers eat on their journey without roadside taverns? Was food preserved for long journeys? Was it safe to eat the produce grown in community gardens and fields? How did trading for exotic food stuff lead to war?

Come and engage in discussion on the influence of food in changing our past as well as changing today’s food culture.

“Dying is more than a set of medical problems to be solved. The fundamental nature of dying is not medical, but it is personal and experiential.”

We will all die and we need to be prepared. We also need to develop our own understandings, attitudes and wishes of what our end-of-life should look like. This course explores: Why is death frightening? Why has death become more fearsome with scientific advancements? What is the nature of death and what are the trajectories of how life will end? How to navigate our complicated healthcare system to experience a good death?

In order to be prepared for the end of life, we need to do our homework and make our end-of-life choices and share them with our surrogate decision maker, family members and health care providers. Through reading stories, discussions and self-examination, these choices become clearer by the end of the course.

As we get older, the risk of falling tends to increase significantly due to a gradual decline in balance abilities. This decline may begin in middle age and progress slowly, making it easy to ignore - until a fall happens. To address this, incorporating balance training into our personal health management strategy is essential, allowing us to take proactive steps toward maintaining stability and preventing falls.

Minding Your Balance™ training addresses this need, drawing on lessons from the martial art Ki-Aikido to take a groundbreaking look at balance and its fundamental relationship to mind and emotion. Easy to learn mind body exercises, scientific insights, and stories of applications in everyday life provide participants with tools to immediately improve balance control.

Participants work individually and with partners. Activities can be done seated and standing; all activities are adaptable to different needs and abilities.

Recommended - Minding Your Balance: Mind Body Exercises to Improve Balance & Prevent Falls - $15 on Amazon

Whether you are discovering OLLI at DU for the first time, or have taken several OLLI classes, if you’ve ever wondered, “Would I or could I ever facilitate an OLLI class?”, this course is for you! During our time together you will have an opportunity to: explore possible topics you might want to teach, investigate developmental characteristics of life-long learners, consider how to facilitate classes for life-long learners, develop skills in managing productive, inclusive classroom participation, discover current, research-based resources to enhance your topic, and build your understanding of the course proposal process. Also, classroom experiences with seasoned facilitators, peer critique of proposals, and optional class presentations will provide you with the confidence and expertise to begin your journey to a rewarding and renewing facilitation experience.

This course is offered free of charge.

We will examine – through video, readings, and discussion – those in German society who stood against Hitler and the Nazi party. These groups acted and spoke out to free Germany from oppression despite threats of incarceration or death. Germans from religious groups, journalism, the arts, universities, youth groups, and populations of occupied countries all took part in this dangerous, but necessary, resistance. We will also review the successes of these various resisting groups.

Far from being the quiet participants in the Nazi terror, entire sections of German society rose up against the Hitler government. Resistance also bloomed in occupied countries, including France, Poland, Norway and Czechoslovakia.

Join Greg in exploring the history of resistance in this significant era.

RECOMMENDED: RESISTANCE, DIETRICH BONHOEFFER,  VALKYRIE, THEY FOUGHT BACK, MAQUIS

Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson's influential and best-selling book "Abundance offers a provocative vision of "supply-side progressivism," focusing on how the progressive agenda created a government that has forgotten how to build solutions rather than merely redistribute money. We'll explore how these authors challenge fellow liberals by arguing that scarcity in housing, energy, and infrastructure results from political choices, not inevitabilities. We’ll consider the proposals offered by the bipartisan "Abundance Caucus" in Congress, which the book inspired, and debate America's priorities.

In the spirit of doing things in a new way, this discussion seminar will encourage participants to use AI to research background material and vet their opinions. We will include a brief introduction to chatbots that can search the Web for references. We’ll use these tools to critically examine whether streamlining government processes alone can achieve true abundance while also exploring the tension between the authors’ vision and concerns over environmental sustainability, economic inequality, and power concentration.

This course invites you to engage with one of today's most discussed political frameworks, using civilization’s latest knowledge tools, to develop your own perspective on how society might best create "enough of what we need."

 Participants will benefit most by purchasing a Kindle version of the book, so they can process it with AI, and  subscribing by Session 2 to the AI services Perplexity Pro and Claude Pro, each $20/month.  (Free versions of these and other AI services are available for those who need to economize.)  

Most of us have not studied the Constitution in detail since high school, but now with almost daily references to the document, we should see it in a new light. This course will examine previous constitutions, from the colonial period to 1787, to see how and why the U.S. Constitution came about and how it has been able to provide the law of the land ever since. Through background-building and lively discussions, class members will come to better understand the origins of the U.S. Constitution and how it has been adapted to accommodate changing times.

Recommended: Copy of the US Constitution

Stories have always been a way of preserving history. Today we still need stories. There are stories inside all of us. Some are funny, some not so much. These stories are often waiting to come out. Sometimes they just need a little help. This class will feature examples of stories well told. You may remember stories told by your grandparents or other adults. We will review good stories and discuss what makes them memorable.

You will be invited to share a story – your own or just one you remember. Small groups can help us share our stories informally.

We will laugh, we may cry, but we will surely learn how to tell a good story. Whether your target is a grandchild, a partner, or a friend, we can make our stories better with a little help. So, don’t keep your stories locked inside. Let this class help you get them out.

Suggested reading: Telling Your Own Stories by Donald Davis

Seven Colorado Authors League writers will be sharing their unique paths to becoming published in this fascinating speakers series. Learn about their books, their techniques, their successes and their failures. Genres include science fiction, historic fiction, historic non-fiction, poetry, memoir and mystery. There will be ample time for Q&A and an optional writing exercise. See Author information in Jack's bio.

The Focus:

*We will focus on the history and evolution of the economic, legal, theological, and philosophical systems embedded in our country’s laws and systems. We will follow the four roots as they become ever more intertwined and grow ever more deeply each decade to produce the racial disparities that we experience today.

•While there are many stories of minorities that could, and need to be told, given the eight-week timeframe, these conversations will focus on those systems and structures that have resulted in wealth disparities, mass incarceration and the unchecked killing of Black people.

Why Participate:

•“Whites created slavery, segregation, and racial discrimination. Whites have most of the political and social power to change racial discrimination and inequality now. We cannot have a truly free and democratic society until we do that.” MLK

•Our desire to be good can prevent us from doing good if we do not see the historical systems and structures we created. If we don’t see them, we cannot act to change them.

This class seeks to answer the question of role reversal:

In the Old Europe, Mesopotamia, and Canaan areas during Neolithic (10,000 - 3500 BCE) times, women were of greater value and respected as creators of life. The people’s worship reflected this with the Goddess who was creator of all life and the cosmos. By 1000 BCE the tables had turned, and men were of greater value. The male God became creator of all life and the cosmos.

We will explore both worlds to discover how and why this reversal of roles happened. We will look at how women became subordinate as the new God became fixed and more powerful and how this continued through the centuries and what it meant to a woman’s conscious development as a person.

 

This class will shine the spotlight on the wind instruments in the context of classical music – the flute, clarinet, oboe, English horn, bassoon and French horn. Highly accomplished musicians will visit with their instruments, talk about their musical journeys and play for us. Along the way, we will explore the history of these instruments, the composers they inspired, and the ways our musical world combines them to delight audiences. We will learn a bit about how they are built, how they work, and why they have become such mainstays in the world of concerts. The musicians plan to perform a wind quintet for us during the final session.

Expanded weeks and new tips added to this class, which features the new user interface for Snapseed. A deep dive into the free Snapseed in-phone app for comprehensive, flexible tools for effective, professional edits and polish in post-production. Within each session, we will unpack techniques for optimal smartphone handling and improving photo capture for expressive images that sparkle with color, composition, and impact. Explore journaling in words to accompany and expand the pictorial message. Snapseed is great for making memory books, inspiring slide shows, and eye-catching Internet posts. Detailed instructions and examples to correct, optimize, and artistically interpret photos will be included.. There will be a PDF presentation of more than 200 slides, downloadable to follow along during the class and retain for later reference.

Recommended: Late model Smartphone, iphone 13 or later, with email capability, free Snapfeed app. 

Rick will discuss legal actions facing the court system, including those brought against Donald Trump and or his administration. He will review underlying issues of the various cases and compare them with similar cases to understand whether there is merit to the actions. He will discuss if the cases could or should be criminally prosecuted. The class will be by presentation and question and answer. The hope is that classroom members will be active participants.

War is often a turning point in history, but it does not stand alone in reordering a culture. This course explores other circumstances that altered our history. For example, after the Corps of Discovery, Lewis and Clark estimated that 200 years would be needed to settle the Louisiana Purchase territory; but the rapid growth in population and the railroads changed everything, including the timeline.

How does history happen? Is it inevitable or full of surprises? Does history progress by gradual evolution, or can a single person or event change its direction almost instantly? With Great Courses lectures, we take a dynamic journey of U.S. history to explore these questions. Please join me on this memorable excursion.

The divergent directions that U.S. history takes will expand your awareness and significance of known and unknown events. Instructional methods will include presentation, discussion, Great Courses and YouTube videos.

In this course you will learn how to use brain plasticity to improve balance (vestibular system), focus (keeping your mind on topic!), and memory. Science has answered many questions, but we are just scratching the surface of understanding the human brain. Nevertheless, one thing becomes clearer with each new discovery: the brain is massively powerful. One of the more intriguing aspects of the brain is its adaptability. The brain can change! It can employ strategies to improve memory and focus; it can learn to be more positive and ruminate less; it can reshape itself, assigning tasks to different areas if one area becomes injured or weakened. In fact, it might be possible for the brain to accomplish practically anything!

The Tell Tale Brain, by V.S. Ramachandran; The Brain that Changes Itself, Meditations of Marcus Aurelius (translated by Waterfield), and The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday

Mrs. Dalloway (1925), recounts one June day in the life of a wealthy London woman. As she makes preparations for her party, Clarissa’s memories and reflections intersect with her actions and with the plight of a WWI soldier. Virginia Woolf (1882-1941), an innovative novelist, used “stream of consciousness” as a way to access the inner life of her characters and to consider the social changes of the 1920s.

Woolf and her sister, Vanessa Bell, an artist, gathered around them a group of friends in the north London neighborhood of Bloomsbury. This group included some of the great intellectuals of the early 20th century, including John Maynard Keynes, Duncan Grant, T.S. Eliot, Leonard Woolf, E.M. Forster, and Lytton Strachey. Their philosophy valued knowledge, freedom, progress, and beauty, as they broke from the values and restrictions of their Victorian childhoods.

Join us as we read Mrs. Dalloway and explore Bloomsbury!

Required text: Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf, Penguin Classics, ISBN 978-0-241-37194-7, or equivalent.

 

Wine 101 – Swirl, sniff, sip, and spit. What does all that mean to you? What is the difference between a sommelier and a master sommelier? What wine goes with what food? Why does soil matter? Does location mean a lot in wine? Some countries name wine after the grape, some after the region, and some are proprietary names. How do you differentiate, and is this information on the label? These are all questions you have probably asked yourself or others. Wine can be magical and mysterious. Each week, we will explore wines from around the world. They might be one country or one grape. It could be one region or one vineyard.

This class is scheduled to start at 1:30pm and conclude at 3:30pm to allow participants to have lunch before arriving for the class. Small snacks will be available during each session.

Join us for the fun! A $100 fee will be added for wine samples when registering for the course.

“The War to End All Wars” promised the world leaders. What really happened? How could an assassination in a third world country propel all the world powers into a global conflict? How did imperial leadership give rise to the escalation? The war brought the end to four great royal houses and the rise of communism and fascism that led to another world war in just 20 years. Join us as we look at what was supposed to be a small punitive action that went wrong. What part did mutual support agreements play into conflict getting out of control? In this course we will cover the first three years of the war. We have great battles that have faded into the past such as Gallipoli, Verdun, the Somme, and others. We will end the class with the little discussed Mutiny in the French Army. Part 2 follows in the Winter Quarter.

“The War to End All Wars” promised the world leaders. What really happened? How could an assassination in a third world country propel all the world powers into a global conflict? How did imperial leadership give rise to the escalation? The war brought the end to four great royal houses and the rise of communism and fascism that led to another world war in just 20 years. Join us as we look at what was supposed to be a small punitive action that went wrong. What part did mutual support agreements play into conflict getting out of control? In this course we will cover the first three years of the war. We have great battles that have faded into the past such as Gallipoli, Verdun, the Somme, and others. We will end the class with the little discussed Mutiny in the French Army. Part 2 follows in the Winter Quarter.