Wednesday Courses   

This course teaches Hermeneutic Prompt Engineering and Advanced NotebookLM to help users overcome AI's limitations—avoiding generic responses and hallucinations. Drawing on Andrej Karpathy's insight that "English is the hottest programming language," participants learn structured prompting techniques rather than random commands.

Advanced NotebookLM supports up to 50 trusted source documents per notebook (up to 100 different notebooks), eliminating unreliable web searches. Users can explore personalized topics like dementia research, retirement planning, novel writing, etc. The platform offers nine key capabilities: deep research, customizable videos, audio overviews (podcasts), mind maps, chat interaction, reports (blog posts, study guides, briefing documents), flashcards, quizzes, infographics, and slide decks.

This interactive, hands-on course transforms participants' laptops into practical laboratories. Students select capabilities to explore, gaining real-world experience in advanced AI prompting and NotebookLM skills during class or afterward, unlocking AI's full potential through masterful prompt engineering. Participants must have their personal laptop with NotebookLM access previously setup. NotebookLM can found by searching Google.com

What happens to human consciousness when we die? In 1975, 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 research on thousands upon thousands of NDEs reported around the world have 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 worldwide continue to study this phenomenon with mind-blowing results. This course brings you up to speed on these findings and on what we now know about other exceptional paranormal phenomena like Out-of-Body and Shared Death Experiences.

Join Jan, Neil, and guest speakers in exploring 298 years of various operas:

1. Perennial favorites - THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, EUGENE ONEGIN, THE MAGIC FLUTE, MADAMA BUTTERFLY

2. Some lesser-known gems - RODELINDA, THE BALLAD OF BABY DOE

3. Two recent operas - EL ÚLTIMO SUEÑ0 DE FRIDA Y DIEGO*/2022, LILI ELBE*/2023 *Guest speakers

These operas can be seen during or soon after OLLI’s spring term, either at many local movie theaters broadcast live from the Metropolitan Opera, or onstage at Opera Colorado, Central City Opera, or the Santa Fe Opera. In Jan and Neil's class, you’ll get an in-depth education on these operas, explore the historical and social worlds in which they premiered, why they still resonate, and get some fun opera nerdery. Through videos, entertaining lectures, and lively class discussions (there are no dumb questions!), you'll feel at home whether you're an opera veteran or a deer-in-the-headlights newbie.

Art in the streets (including graffiti, murals, stickers, and paste-ups) gives voice to marginalized communities, shapes urban environments, and challenges institutional norms. This course explores graffiti and street art in the U.S. and around the world, examining their histories, motivations, and social impact. Participants will consider the rise of global mural movements, efforts to preserve and present street art, and its evolving role in activism, community identity, and social change.

 

This Osher Online course, offered through the Osher National Resource Center, lets you learn with fellow lifelong learners nationwide, guided by a world-class expert. OSHER ONLINE COURSES ARE NON-REFUNDABLE.

Long before England had monarchs, the island of Britain experienced the arrival of a succession of new peoples and traditions, one after another. Despite being cut off from the Continent, or perhaps because of it, the arrival of each new group changed the way the inhabitants lived, worked, and interacted with one another. These changes lasted until the next new group arrived.

In this class we will explore the impact of such early diverse cultures as the Neolithic farmers who built Stonehenge, the Beaker People with their bronze technology, and the famous Celtic culture. From there we will look at the Roman occupation, England’s unification by the Anglo-Saxons, and the Viking invaders. We will finish with the Norman Conquest.

While battles and war were part of this history, our class will downplay those elements. We will focus more on the way that peoples’ lives changed through this progression of cultures. This class will be a combination of lecture and discussion.

Mike Holmes is offering this multifaceted course that helps the bridge student to develop play of the hand techniques and defense strategy. This online course is for individuals with some bridge experience or those who have been absent from bridge for a while. Each class the students will engaged with supervised play on either play of the hand or defense strategy. After the hand has been played, the facilitator will lead a discussion and demonstration of the important strategies leading to success with each hand. This course is taught on Wednesdays at 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

There is a $20.00 non-negotiable or refundable fee for this class. The fee goes to offset the app fees so students can play bridge online and postage to mail a book to the students (there is no text for this class). Failure to pay the fee will result with you being dropped from the class. Students will pay the instructor directly via check or Zelle.

All of the tradeoffs in competing economic systems - capitalism, socialism, and communism are controversial. These systems and ideologies have shaped the way people view both the world today and modern history. But where does capitalism begin and socialism end? It's about choice and compromise.

Understanding and endeavoring to solve these dilemmas is the job of comparative economics. This course will show you the many ways the most influential modern economic theories were developed, how they function (or don't), and how they manage to cooperate, both together and in opposition to each other.

This class will consist of videos, lecture, and discussion.

If there was ever a moment to sharpen your understanding of global affairs, today is that time. Around the world, geopolitical pressures are reshaping economies, alliances, and the daily realities of nations and people. In this course, Scott McLagan, emeritus professor of management and Amanda Cahal, Director of Global EMBA Programs at DU’s Daniels College of Business, offer a clear, engaging, and practical look at the forces driving global change in 2026.

The class features three, two-hour sessions where we explore the big-picture macro trends of globalization—from shifting power dynamics and demographic pressures to energy transitions, technological competition, and new patterns of trade. Participants will learn a geopolitical analysis framework that provides a structured lens for interpreting global events, assessing risk, and understanding the interdependence between politics, markets, and national interests.

We will then apply that framework to today’s most consequential hotspots. Topics include the evolving trajectory of the Russia–Ukraine war, the humanitarian and regional implications of the Gaza conflict, the strategic competition surrounding China and the Indo-Pacific, political and economic instability in Venezuela, and the worldwide ripple effects of tariffs and protectionism.

Whether you follow world events regularly or want to deepen your global fluency, this course delivers the insights needed to navigate an increasingly complex world.

This course will cover six major economic issues: the recent slowdown of US economic growth, economic inequality, the US's mounting national debt, the US's inefficient health care system, soaring prescription drug prices, and immigration. Here are some of the questions that will be addressed: What has caused the recent slowdown in the nation's growth? Is faster growth a good thing? What is driving the US's widening income inequality? Is the "American Dream" now just a pipedream for all but the richest American? How critical is it for America's national deficit to be reduced? Why does the US spend so much more on health care than other high-income countries, and is it getting its money's worth? Why are pharmaceutical drug prices so much higher in the US than elsewhere? Can drug price inflation in the US be tamed? What are the benefits and costs of immigration to US citizens, and does one exceed the other?

This is a discussion of the current week's events in the first hour. Dick will do the first week overview. Then the facilitators would like two people in class to volunteer each week to do an overview of the week before. The second hour will be a discussion of a specific topic.

Sue Bramley & Natalie Conklin will take you on a musical journey! Step back in time and rediscover the soundtrack of four unforgettable decades, the 1940s-1970s.

In this lively, engaging class, we will explore the swing and big-band brilliance of the 1940s; the birth of rock ’n’ roll in the 50s; music of the 60s crackled with rebellion changing culture forever; then on to the funky, feel-good vibes of the ’70s and lots in between. Get ready to share memories, learn some fun musical history, and celebrate the songs that defined our generation!

Are you ready for America's 250th birthday? Get acquainted with our little-known patriotic, colonial women and the roles they played moving us from a colony to a country all within the contexts of religion, history and politics.

You’ll meet poets and printers, essayists and satirists and one very successful, hard-working, literate midwife. These disobedient wives and spirited spinsters made our founding fathers anxious patriarchs. Nevertheless, they persisted! In this course, you will discover those feminine voices from the kidnapped Mary Rowlandson, the Annes both Hutchinson and Bradstreet. You may know their writings, but do you know Susannah Wright, Coonaponkessa or Martha Daniell Logan? Did you know that Phillis Wheatley, an enslaved, educated woman, moved General George Washington with her poetry?

Through reading, discussing, and watching videos, participants will identify important colonial and revolutionary women, describe their daily domestic lives and hardships, and elucidate how they became activists for freedom.

Required Reading: A Narrative of the Captivity, Sufferings, and Removes of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson. 

The Documentary Film class will cover a wide variety of films. Each will be shown in class and be followed by a discussion of the film. Class members are expected to stay for the discussion. The Facilitator likes to remain flexible as to what movies to show due to availability, the arrival of new films, or events that would make a film topical. If a film is repeated from an earlier class, it will not have been shown in class for 6 or more years.

Since films are of varying length, class may end at 2:45 or extend past 3 pm. The class will be informed in advance when a longer film will require class to go past 3 pm.

This course explores both the aesthetics of joy--different categories of stimuli and events that prompt the joy response, and happiness. Examples of aesthetics (Fetell-Lee, I.) include renewal (think baby chicks, spring flowers), freedom (think of riding in a convertible, or the start of summer vacation), and transcendence (imagine floating clouds or tree houses). Both “joy” and “happiness” refer to positive emotional states that motivate and energize people. “Happiness” also refers to the satisfaction humans experience from living well, specifically, living virtuously, meaningfully, and fully engaged. We’ll examine why happiness varies, how biology and culture shape our capacity for joy, and ways to make joyful living more common. Facilitators will rely on video clips, pictures, and music to help make both joy and happiness resonate. Discussions based on participants’ insights, experiences, curiosity, and questions should prompt a deeper understanding of joy and a greater commitment to living well.

Great Decisions is a course on United States foreign policy. Each week, we will focus on a specific topic related to that policy from a U.S. perspective. Other perspectives on that policy topic are valued and encouraged. In addition, each week the class will watch a video, prepared by the Foreign Policy Association, to further define the week’s topic. Students are encouraged to provide their thoughts and opinions on the presented materials and be ready to discuss with and learn from their classmates. Topics included are:

• •America and the World: Trump 2.0 Foreign Policy
• •Trump Tariffs and the Future of the World Economy
• •U.S.-China Relations
• Ruptured Alliances and the Risk of Nuclear Proliferation
• Ukraine and the Future of European Security
• Multilateral Institutions in a Changing World Order
• U.S. Engagement of Africa
• The Future of Human Rights and International Law

Required Text: Great Decisions Briefing Book 2026, available from the Foreign Policy Association

I love to share the beauty of our world with you! Whether you are eager to travel and want ideas about future trips, or you're an armchair traveler who enjoys seeing the beauty of our world, you'll enjoy this class. Furthermore, if you are as concerned as I am about current "overtourism' you will share my concern and discuss the problem. Here we talk travel!

Discover the joy and freedom of loose watercolor painting - a playful style that favors suggestion over precision and lets color glide and flow. In this class, we’ll happily wander outside the lines to create expressive, airy pieces that focus on feeling rather than perfect form.

Each session centers on a specific subject, with a little guidance up front and plenty of relaxed time to paint together. You’ll create pieces that can turn into cards, bookmarks, or frame-worthy art, and all the materials and support you need will be right there.

Along the way, enjoy the easy conversation and camaraderie that comes from making art in good company. This class is about connecting as much as painting.

A quality watercolor set and paper will be provided for class use and is yours to keep. A $30 materials fee is due at the first class. Whether you're brand-new or just new to this loose style, come ready to loosen up and explore.

Required: $30 materials fee to be paid directly to facilitators during the first class

Think Again by Adam Grant explores the ways we think and how we can challenge ourselves to reconsider our own perspectives. In this class we will read the book Think Again by Adam Grant and discuss each section in depth in order for us to understand how we can challenge our own thinking and improve it by learning (or refining) how to "think like a scientist." This class is highly interactive - we will break into smaller groups each week in order for people to connect with the material and each other.

It's the human condition to encounter life challenges and difficulties that we just don't know how to solve. These days, it's not uncommon to wake up uneasy and discouraged. "What do I do about this?!" Round and round we go, trying to figure out how to change the situations and circumstances that bedevil us. Enter Practical Spirituality. What is spirituality, anyway? How does a spiritual worldview or understanding (or lack of one) influence the way we navigate life? In this non-religious class we look at the what, so what, and now what of our personal versions of spirituality and the practical wisdom and guidance they can offer us. You can find solutions to your human problems by discovering a map of your own wisdom and using it as a guide to a rich, meaningful life. Practical Spirituality is where you begin. No class 4/22.

Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring caused an actual riot in the audience at its first performance in May 1913. Its loud dissonances and wild roars of sound carried with it a raw, visceral power that still leaves audiences astounded and breathless. It's no understatement to say that The Rite created a tidal wave through the arts that we are still experiencing today. In this course, prepare, pack up your things and go on a journey to an era when all the arts were in revolt, rules were being thrown out the window, Paris was at the epicenter of it all, and five brilliant men -- Diaghilev, Stravinsky, Nijinsky, Roerich and Monteux -- would bring to life a ballet, the likes of which had never been seen. On that May night, they would forever change the world of music and dance. The class will include documentaries, interviews, lots of music and dance, and PLENTY of discussion!

Laurel Canyon is a narrow strip running from Sunset Strip through Hollywood Hills. From this unusual location, and in a very short period of time, a great 'west-coast music' would be born. Performers like The Beach Boys, The Byrds, The Mamas and Papas, The Monkeys, The Doors, Buffalo Springfield, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, The Eagles, and many more, would get their start right here in the 'Canyon of Dreams.' Come prepared to enjoy the music and experience the history unfold once again.

Siberia covers three quarters of Russia’s territory but is home to only a quarter of its population. Yet its role in shaping Russia as a vast and wealthy empire is profound. In this course, we will explore Siberia’s economic significance, indigenous cultures, and history as a penal colony, along with its importance for climate change, environmental issues, and Russian-Chinese relations. We will also consider Siberia’s role in both the rise and possible fragmentation of Russia.

This Osher Online course, offered through the Osher National Resource Center, lets you learn with fellow lifelong learners nationwide, guided by a world-class expert. OSHER ONLINE COURSES ARE NON-REFUNDABLE.

Are supplements essential for good health, or are many simply marketing hype? In this engaging two-hour workshop, Registered Dietitian Jessie McGinty helps you make sense of the confusing supplement industry by providing clear, evidence-based guidance. Designed for adults of all backgrounds, this session is especially valuable for those looking to take a more proactive and informed approach to lifelong wellness.

“With so much conflicting information online and in the media, it’s easy to feel unsure about which supplements are truly beneficial, which may be unnecessary and how to tell the difference”, says McGinty. We’ll cut through the noise to examine commonly used supplements such as vitamin D, B12, calcium, omega-3s and magnesium. We’ll also explore when supplementation can be helpful, when a balanced diet may be enough, and what red flags to watch for in marketing claims.

This workshop blends expert explanation with interactive discussion and Q&A so that you can apply what you learn directly to your own choices. Along the way, you’ll gain practical strategies for evaluating products, identifying credible information sources and making decisions that align with your individual health needs. Whether you currently take supplements, are considering them or simply want to stay informed, you’ll leave with greater clarity, confidence and the ability to make smart, personalized decisions about your health.

Come join a fun and joyful journey through 40 years of Jamaican music, designed to trigger dopamine and create a sense of well-being. You will explore the magical waters of Jamaican music and its ability to connect and unify people across cultures.  The course will feature 120 unique Jamaican singers, instrumentalists, producers, and DJ Toasters, but will not include Bob Marley. It will explore genres from the 1940s to the 1990s, including Mento/Calypso, Ska, Rock Steady, Reggae, and Dancehall. 

The format will be similar to a live radio show or DJ session, with 85% of the time dedicated to listening. You'll also participate in discussions and provide feedback on tracks and videos. Come catch the beat and dip your toes into this rich musical history. 

Short stories are fun, and they're easy to write. The approach that Edward Ford uses is known as writing from life. A writer does not make up a story and then try to make it seem real. Rather, a writer writes about everyday life and then tries to make it seem magical. If a student can write a story about strolling down the sidewalk or riding a bus, then the student can write about anything. There will be no end to their stories. Each class, students will write two stories (when possible) about their own lives and then read them to each other. The facilitator will share some of his own stories as well. Class participants will get to know each other very well.

Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, and G. K. Chesterton . . . or should we say Hercule Poirot, Lord Peter Wimsey, and Father Brown?

These authors and their famous detectives were all part of a period called “The Golden Age of English Detective Fiction.” The period covers the years between the two world wars, so this fiction was published after Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes mysteries, but represented a unique trend all its own.

We will read short fiction by six authors and watch dramatizations of their detectives. That approach allows us to discuss and compare depictions by the authors vs. interpretations by subsequent screenwriters and directors.

The objective is to contemplate why the “Golden Age of English Detective Fiction” occurred when it did and produced the kind of fiction it did. We will be guided in that venture by reading mystery writer P.D. James’s book Talking About Detective Fiction.

The early '60s witnessed the explosion of a charming social phenomenon—a guitar-strummed sing-along known as the hootenanny, inspired by such folk singers as the Kingston Trio, Joan Baez, Peter, Paul and Mary, Pete Seeger and some kid from Minnesota named Dylan. But let's also remember the pioneers: Woody Guthrie, Cisco Houston, Leadbelly, Ramblin' Jack Elliott and others. Centered in New York City's Greenwich Village, this craze soon led to a rash of guitar and banjo sales here and in England. Everyone wanted to learn to play and add their voices to old standards and hip new songs from such young singer-songwriters as Donovan, Paul Simon and Joni Mitchell. Even the Beatles and Stones would add acoustic-guitar songs to their albums. Folk was in and it produced more than laid-back campfire ditties. It gave us influential protest songs, Top 40 hits, legendary artists (many still with us!) and who knows how many guitars still being played in American homes. In this fun participatory class, led by Marc Shulgold (armed with his 6- and 12-string guitars) we'll revisit the music and musicians of that era through videos and recordings, as we learn about the role that folk music has played in pop and world culture.

The Peace Education Program is an innovative series of video-based workshops that invite you to explore personal peace and your inner resources for wellbeing. The course includes short video excerpts featuring author and peace educator Prem Rawat’s international talks, facilitated reflection time, individual exercises and the opportunity for group interactions. The sessions cover ten themes, among them Peace, Inner Strength, Dignity, etc.

Rather than describing or defining personal peace, the program aims to empower participants to reach their own understanding.

The facilitators’ role is to support the activities, interactions and reflection times, helping each workshop to run smoothly.

This course will be offered over five weeks, in weekly two-hour sessions. A complimentary course workbook will be given to each participant. For more information about the Peace Education Program, please visit https://tprf.org/peace-education-program/

Across the U.S., city streets are dominated by cars—but what if we reimagined them for people instead? This course explores the growing "War on Cars" movement, which seeks to reclaim public space, reduce car dependence and prioritize community over congestion. Join Jill Locantore, Executive Director of the Denver Streets Partnership, to examine how limiting vehicular traffic, reducing parking availability and encouraging alternatives like walking, biking and transit can help create safer, healthier and more equitable urban environments.

More than a critique of cars, this class is a hopeful look at what’s possible when we center courage, inclusiveness and joy in our public planning. Learn how cities are fostering authentic relationships between residents and urban space by emphasizing shared streets and vibrant public life. Consider the health, environmental and social impacts of current transportation norms—and what a bold, human-centered future might look like instead.

Learn ways that we (you!) can help make Denver more pedestrian-, bike-, transit-, and micromobility-friendly. We don’t have to get rid of cars, we just need to put them in their place and make the other options safer and more efficient. Whether you’re a city planner, cyclist, curious urbanist or concerned citizen, come explore how your community can move forward—together.

What is "Fracking" and why is it controversial? Should it be allowed under the Aurora Reservoir as proposed? How is a horizontal well drilled and completed? What are the economics and geopolitics of oil and gas production, and how has horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing impacted these? What can go wrong? What are the long term consequences of burning fossil fuels, and what are the alternatives?

We will cover and discuss these questions and more, with examples of what can go wrong. The Santa Barbara oil spill offshore California (1969), the BP Macondo well offshore Louisiana (2010), and other incidents will be used to illustrate the drilling process, well control, and intercept and plugging of oil and gas wells.

Add your voice to the Colorado sesquicentennial! This class invites you to workshop your short memoir, for possible inclusion in the illustrated, coffee table anthology Unplugged Colorado Voices, sequel to volume #1, which has won 10 book awards. Participants will share, beta read, and workshop everyone's prepared draft of a 700-1000 word personal experience of the Rocky Mountain West — an issue, adventure, revelation, oddity, escapade, skill, or ordeal — each a valuable story that otherwise would never be heard. I present the background of the Unplugged Voices Project in a safe space to hone storytelling and wordsmithing skills, and equally help others. Additionally, this class offers tips for good blogging and shows the way to work toward a collection your own experiential memoirs. You bring the stories; I do the rest. I need your help to make book #2 as fabulous as the first! Come prepared with a few sentences or rough draft of a real-life personal story.

This course is centered on the stories of specific individuals: refugees, designated enemy aliens, and those that enabled their escape from France during WWII. Meet and learn about the unsung heroes who spirited Europe’s most prominent artists and intellectuals (among them, Marc Chagall, Max Ernst, Wanda Landowska, Heinrich Mann, Franz Werfel, Hannah Arendt) from under the nose of Nazi terror. In 1940, the private non-profit Emergency Rescue Committee sent the 32-year-old American journalist, Varian Fry, to Marseille with a list of two hundred people and $3,000. Fry’s charge: rescue these acknowledged giants of western civilization from imminent demise. Instead, Fry and an unlikely cast of characters rescued two thousand people via derring-do, subterfuge and unremitting courage. Moreover, the arrival of this wave of immigrants permanently changed the face of American culture. The magic and heroism of this drama is infectious.

Recommended Prerequisite Movie: Varian’s War: The Forgotten Hero 

Recommended Book: Andy Marino, A Quiet American: The Secret War of Varian Fry

Numerous actors have brought Agatha Christie’s Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, to the screen. We will see Albert Finney, Peter Ustinov, David Suchet, and the latest to join the ranks, Kenneth Branagh. Tony Randall and John Malkovich’s performances will also be covered. There are various attempts to choose who best portrays the Belgian detective. Now it's your turn to join the dispute. In this class, we will view and discuss 15 of Agatha Christie’s 40 Poirot creations. Near the conclusion of our eighth week adventure, your vote will be cast to decide the contest.