Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

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Study Groups

OLLI study groups are member-organized, member-led, and are designed to appeal to those who enjoy active participation. Each group is composed of up to 20 OLLI members who come together on a regular basis to exchange insights in a common search for knowledge. Study groups are free to OLLI members.

Groups may focus on any topic. There are no academic pre-requisites, exams or grades. Depending upon the topic, groups may meet for a few sessions, or for a full semester. The study group coordinator and participants determine the time frame.

Interested in starting a study group? Find out how.

The following information is also available in print form from the OLLI office. Unless otherwise noted, all study groups meet in the study group room at OLLI at the Research Park. Please call 244-9141 to register.

Groups accepting registration
Groups full or in progress
  • None at this time.

Groups completed

Groups Accepting Registration

Poetry Study Group

Facilitators: Elizabeth Abraham, Patricia Taylor

Dates and Times: 2:00 - 3:30pm, Mondays, July 7, 14, 21, and 28.

Description: As a follow-up to the spring poetry class Patricia Taylor and Liz Abraham are organizing a poetry study group. The class time will consist of participants bringing a different poem each week for the group to discuss. Participants may bring their own work as well as published poems.

Location: OLLI at the Research Park
Recommended reading Recommended reading materials: Members will bring poems to discuss for each class.
Other Information: The class is open to anyone who wants to discuss poetry, not only former members of the poetry class. As we want to have enough time for everyone to participate, we would like to keep enrollment at 8-10 people, including Patricia and Liz in the count.

While Liz and Patricia are lovers of poetry, neither have a background in teaching literature. They completed the OLLI Poetry Class.

To register call OLLI @ 244-9141 or email OLLI@uiuc.edu

Groups Full or In Progress

None at this time.

Groups Completed

The U.S. Military System

Study Group Leader: Fred Christensen

Dates and Times: Thursday, June 5, 12, 19 & 26 – 10:00 am – 11:30 am

Description: What is a Unified Command? Why are there sergeants? What’s the difference between National Guard and Reserves? Why do the Army and Navy have such different cultures and traditions (and similarities as well)? This Study Group will provide an overview of America’s military forces—how they’re organized, where they're located, how they are changing in some ways, unchanging in others. Less than one per cent of our population is directly involved with our all-volunteer forces, and there is a growing lack of awareness of military realities among politicians, the media, and the public at large. Whether you have military memories and experience to share, or want to learn about an unfamiliar but important part of American life, this Study Group will be interesting and informative. Handouts and recommended-reading lists will be provided (contact OLLI, or email fchriste@uiuc.edu for a list).

Location: OLLI at the Research Park
Recommended reading
Other Information: Now retired from both the UIUC Admissions and Records Office and the US Army Reserves, Fred Christensen (LTC AR USAR) has been an Assistant Professor of Military Science and an instructor for the Army’s Command and General Staff College. He teaches noncredit classes in history and related fields for Parkland College, the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian in Evanston, and OLLI.

New Yorker Magazine Study Group

Study Group Leader: Jean Weigel

Dates and Times: Tuesday, June 3, 10, 17 & 24 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm

Description: Calling all you sometime, former, never-miss, or wannabe New Yorker readers!

 

Join us for four ninety-minute sessions in June when we focus on significant pieces from recent issues -- articles, stories, even Talk of the Town, poems, and cartoons.  You'll receive the materials to read at home and then we'll all discuss the ideas, ask questions, and explore the writers' styles. This could be our prototype for a semester-long "New Yorker" study group similar to the popular ones at Northwestern University's OLLI. No previous experience with the New Yorker magazine or with the city is necessary.

Location: OLLI at the Research Park
Recommended reading New Yorker Magazine articles TBA
Other Information: Jean Weigel is an Illinois native and a U of I grad. She piled up New Yorkers and even carried them from state to state, always hoping to have time to read them cover-to-cover while teaching and directing plays for almost forty years in Illinois, Missouri, mostly California, and finally Utah. She says “maybe there's time to try again now."

Walking on Eggshells: Navigating Delicate Relationships between Adult Children and Parents

Study Group Leader: Marva Nelson is a poet and essayist and an Associate Professor of English at Parkland College. She graduated with an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Illinois. She has facilitated several poetry workshops including Parkland College's Women's Retreat at New Harmony, Indiana and also served as a Writer-in-Residence at Marion Federal Penitentiary, Marion, Illinois, teaching inmates the art of writing poetry, fiction, and essays.

Dates and Times: Thursdays, May 15, 22, 29 10:00 – 11:30 am

Description: Come share your thoughts and strategies with fellow parents of adult children who are learning how to steer a clear course around the rocky reefs of Anger and Despair that come with: offering advice, living a long-distance away from your children., living in close proximity to your children, lending money, and last, but not least, learning how to be a good grandparent.

This study group will meet for 3 weeks. It is strongly suggested that you purchase the book, Walking on Eggshells by Jane Isay, but purchasing the book or reading the book is not a requirement for participating in this study group.

Location: OLLI at the Research Park
Recommended reading: Walking on Eggshells by Jane Isay (not required)

Basic Techniques for Shooting and Editing Digital Videos

Learn how to make your vacation videos easier for your friends and family to watch!!

Study Group Leader: Donald Francisco

Dates and Times:
Tuesday, May 6th, 10:00 am – 11:30 am
Thursday, May 8th, 10:00 am – 11:30 am
Maximum of 6 participants (participants will attend both sessions)

Description: Have you ever wondered how to transfer the videos from your vacation or special occasions to a professional looking “Reader’s Digest” version? This hands-on workshop will cover topics such as how to shoot videos and how to edit them to make them easier to watch. With the instructor’s assistance, you will learn the basics of Windows Movie Maker. Each laptop will contain a sample video, which you will edit into a finished piece. (We will use OLLI’s laptops, so you will not need to bring one!)

Location: OLLI at the Research Park

Recommended reading
Information about Movie Maker and editing
An example of what can be done

Other Information: Don is a retired Broadcast Technician. He has 38 years of experience working in Public Television in the Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware markets. He was an Associate Producer/Editor of Patrick Stoner’s FLICKS for 10 years. Don was nominated for several local (Philadelphia area) Emmy’s, at least one for editing. He was awarded First Place for Public Service Journalism (for editing a series on health for Hispanic women) by the Greater Philadelphia Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Don and his wife, Joyce, moved to Champaign last fall and are OLLI members.

A Discussion of America’s Role in the World

Group Status: Completed

Study Group Leader: Ashton Waller

Description: A discussion of America’s Role in the World

Recommended reading material: TBA

Day and Time: Tuesdays, 1:00pm (see schedule)
Start Date: March 4, 2008
Duration: 5 weeks
Class sessions:
  1. international cooperation - Tuesday, March 4 at 1:00 pm
  2. terrorism and security - Tuesday, March 11 at 1:00 pm
  3. weapons and arms control - Tuesday, March 25 at 1:00 pm
  4. globalization and trade - Tuesday, April 1 at 1:00 pm
  5. energy and global warming - Tuesday, April 8 at 1:00 pm
Location: OLLI at the Research Park

Other Information: Ashton Waller is a retired circuit Judge from Coles County (1983 – 2003). He has a B.A. and J.D. from Northwestern. He resides in Champaign and Egg Harbor, WI.

The Idea of Happiness

Group Status: Completed

Study Group Leader: Ron Szoke

Description: This is a discussion on what happiness is and how it might be pursued. We can discuss pop-psychological theories that happiness consists of "feeling good", especially about oneself, or in pleasure or prosperity or nirvana. Can personal happiness be measured? Is there a recipe or formula for becoming happy? We can quickly survey some past ideas about what makes for happiness, from Aristotle to antidepressants. A considerable amount of academic literature on the "positive psychology" of happiness has begun to appear.

Recommended reading material:
Happiness, Mortimer J. Adler
A Guide to Personal Happiness, Albert Ellis & Irving Becker
Stumbling on Happiness, Daniel Gilbert
The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom, Jonathan Haidt
The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want, Sonja Lyubomirsky
Are You Happy, Some answers to the Most Important Question in Your Life, Dennis Wholey & others

Day and Time: Wednesdays, 3:00pm
Start Date: January 30, 2008
Duration: 8 weeks
Location: OLLI at the Research Park

Other Information: Ron Szoke is a retired computer consultant and teacher of mathematics and of educational theory and philosophy (UIUC and Cornell). He has taught numerous noncredit adult classes on computer use and on various philosophical and religious topics.

The One-Volume World: From H.G. Wells to Jared Diamond

Group Status: Completed

Study Group Leader: Fred Christensen

Description: Can the stories of all the world's peoples be told in a single volume? Many historians have made the attempt, each selecting themes that help to explain humanity's diversity. H.G. Wells, William McNeill, J.M. Roberts, Geoffrey Blainey, David Fromkin, and others have examined the cultures, religions, and societies of Islam, China, India, Africa, Europe and elsewhere. You're invited to read any one or more of these thought-provoking surveys, and to discuss their (and your) ideas. The range of discussion topics is almost limitless! In today's world it's more important than ever to understand other cultures as well as your own.

Day and Time: Thursday, 10:00am - 11:30am.
Dates: GROUP IN PROGRESS, January 17 - February 14

Registration deadline: open to additional participants through January 10 as space permits. Please email Janet at jis@uiuc.edu or call 244-9141 to register.

Reading Materials: See OLLI for list.

Other information: Fred Christensen recently retired from the UI Records Office. He has 35 years of teaching experience. He taught history at the University of Kentucky, military science at the University of Illinois, the Command and General Staff Course for the US Army, and teaches noncredit classes in history and related fields for the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian in Evanston.

The Tall Grass Prairie Peninsula: Its role in Shaping American Culture

Group Status: Completed

Study Group Leader: Jim Fay

Description: A couple of the fundamental principles of the study of innovation and its diffusion is that innovation occurs where diverse ideas come together, and that ideas are diffused much more effectively along an east-west axis than a north-south axis. The tall grass prairie peninsula is at the confluence of an extraordinary system of east-west flowing rivers and is not dominated by any one regional culture. It is also extraordinarily rich in natural resources. As such it has been the center of extraordinary innovation. The study group will discuss: 1) the definition of the tall grass prairie peninsula; 2) overview of the ecology; 3) overview of the prehistory and archaeology; 4) the prairie peninsula as one of four or five cradles of agriculture on the globe; 5) its central role in the development of Algonquian culture; 6) Johathan Baldwin Turner and the invention of the modern research university; 7) Abe Lincoln and the re-invention of America and 8) the entry of jazz into mainstream American culture.

Day and Time: Wednesdays at 3:00pm
Start date: November 14 (no class November 21).

Resource Materials:
The Tall Grass Prairie Peninsula: Its Role in Shaping American Culture, by Jim Fay
Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That Remade America, by Garry Will

What's Next? Issues for the Second Half of Your Life

Group Status: Completed

Study Group Leader: Alice Faron

Description: Are you nearing "retirement age" or already in that second stage of life trying to figure out how to productively spend you time and energy? In this three-part study group, we will explore the emotions, issues and possibilities related to life after retirement. Using current literature and books, as well s our own personal stories and wisdom, we will explore everything from the anxiety and excitement of abundant free time to communicating with adult children, managing aging parents, and figuring out if there's a second career in the future. The format of this study group will focus on guided questions and "prompts" that evoke thoughtful discussion. No one will be the expert!

Day and Time: Wednesday, 9:00am - 10:30am
Dates: January 16, 23 and 30
Registration deadline: open to additional participants through January 10 as space permits. Please email Janet at jis@uiuc.edu or call 244-9141 to register.
Location: OLLI at the Research Park

Other information: Alice Faron is on the OLLI Curriculum Committee, and has a background in leadership training and higher education. She is a 1970 LAS graduate of the University of Illinois.

Improving Thinking: Cognitive Hygiene

Group Status: Completed

Study Group Leader: Ron Szoke

Description: This is a series of brief presentations and discussions on topics in the area of critical and productive (straight) thinking, or what Ron calls "cognitive hygiene". Some guided questions to evoke thoughtful discussion include: Do our unconscious assumptions and presuppositions filter and distort our beliefs about what is true or real? Is everyone biased? Is truth important or only "what works"? What is sophistry, and how do we identify it?

Day and Time: Thursdays at 3:00pm
Start date: November 15 (no class November 22)
Registration deadline: open to additional participants through November 21 as space permits. Please email Janet at jis@uiuc.edu or call 244-9141 to register.

Resource Materials:
Thinking Straight: Principles of Reasoning for Readers and Writers, Monroe C. Beardsley
Critical Thinking, Robert H. Ennis
Politics and the English Language, George Orwell
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, Carl Sagan
Mistakes Were Made…(but not by me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts, Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson

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