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National Resource Center
for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes Newsletter
March 2012
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Greetings from Kali
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Spring is in the air and daylight is lasting longer into the evening hours -- a welcome sight! Thank you to all who have submitted news items about their OLLIs. This month we bring you articles about happenings at the OLLIs at the University of Texas, Austin; George Mason University; the University of Richmond; and Johns Hopkins University. It's great to share just some of the inspiring activities that are taking place around the network!
Please note: the deadline for submitting presentation proposals for the upcoming National Conference is March 31. If you are interested in presenting, Fran would love to hear from you. Details follow under National Resource Center News.
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OLLIs -- Toot Your Horns!
|  We have revamped the NRC newsletter to include articles from OLLIs around the network! We are looking for those special happenings or news items that you are particularly proud of and know others in the network will also be excited and inspired by when they hear about it. Please note - We don't expect you to send something every month by any means but keep the network newsletter in mind as a place to "Toot your Horn!" when good things happen.
We still plan to post Kali's monthly letter to the network plus her news items, as we know you enjoy these useful nuggets of information. We simply want to invite you to take the opportunity of sharing your special institute news items with the whole network. We are happy to reprint one of your own newsletter stories -- we will just provide a bigger audience.
If you have a story to share, please send (with photos if possible) to Fran or Anne at the National Resource Center.
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What is your opinion?
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We've added a fun new feature to the National Resource Center newsletter! Beginning this month, we are including a poll on a subject of interest to the OLLI network.We'll publish the results in next month's newsletter.
To respond to this month's poll, click on the image below.
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Save the Date for OLLI 2012 National Conference
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The 2012 OLLI National Conference will be held November 12-14 at The Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Bernard Osher Foundation is pleased to extend an invitation to the OLLI National Conference to two representatives from each OLLI. If you have any questions about the 2012 OLLI National Conference, please do not hesitate to contact Fran Myers by email or by phone at 207-228-8256.
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Seeking OLLI National Conference Presenters
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DEADLINE APPROACHING - MARCH 31st We are requesting session proposals for the next OLLI National Conference, which will be held November 12-14, 2012, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, at the Broadmoor Hotel.
If you are interested in presenting at the 2012 OLLI National Conference, please fill out a "Request for Session Proposals" form and send it to Fran Myers (details for sending it are on the form). Conference delegates from the same or another OLLI may wish to team up to present a session. Please keep in mind that we will accept sessions only from those who are attending the conference.
If you have questions, please contact Fran Myers by email or by phone at 207-228-8256. We are looking forward to reading your submissions! |
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Kathy Sangster Chosen for 2012 President's Outstanding Staff Award
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Kathy Sangster, Senior Program Coordinator of the OLLI at University of Texas Austin was recently chosen to receive a 2012 President's Outstanding Staff Award. The notification letter from the UT President says: "You were selected for this award from over 290 nominees in recognition of the positive effect you have had on this campus, your commitment to excellence, and your consistent, high-level performance. Congratulations on this outstanding achievement."
Those of you who have met Kathy will agree that this award is richly deserved! |
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OLLI / NOAA Partnership Yields Video Lectures
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 OLLI at George Mason University is pleased to announce the online availability of the video recordings of a timely eight-week course on climate change which was presented at OLLI in the Spring 2011 term. The course, entitled Climate Change: Impacts, Solutions, and Perceptions, was sponsored by and designed by David Herring, Director of Communications and Education of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Change office. Mr. Herring recruited nine experts/presenters for the eight topics of the course. The course was co-coordinated by Mr. Herring and Dr. Alan B Rubin, an OLLI member. The course's goal was to educate citizens about climate change by presenting information, answering attendees' questions, and facilitating discussion on a broad range of climate change issues. Among these are: - What is the scientific evidence for climate change (global warming)?
- What are some anticipated impacts on civilization and the environment from such climate change?
- What measures can be taken to lessen such impacts?
- What are citizens' views on climate change and how does scientific information (or lack thereof) influence these views?
The eight topics presented were: - The Discovery of Global Warming- a history of climate change.
- What is the state of the climate today?
- What is the difference between "weather" and "climate"?
- How global climate change impacts the United States?
- Ocean acidification as a secondary effect of climate change and the increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
- America's Climate Choices for mitigation of climate change impacts
- Ethics and issues surrounding geo-engineering as a strategy to mitigate climate change
- Global Warming's "Six Americas"- social scientists' research of American's attitudes and opinions on global warming.
Videos of this course should stimulate further interest in climate change from Osher Institutes throughout the country. They could be used as is to offer a climate change course in future sessions or used as a resource to recruit speakers for additional climate change topics. Alternatively, these videos could be used to establish discussion groups on climate change issues. - Submitted by Thom Clement, Executive Director, OLLI at George Mason University
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U Richmond OLLI Member Writes Grant Request for Community Choir
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Delores Kimbrough, a member of the OLLI at the University of Richmond, has written a grant proposal seeking funding for an Osher Community Choir director and accompanist. Delores has been working over the past year to develop a choral group for our OLLI, and her grant proposal was written as a project for a credit class, "Philanthropy in the Arts" she is auditing this semester via OLLI. Delores' grant proposal has been enthusiastically endorsed by Dean James l. Narduzzi of the School of Professional and Continuing Studies at UR.
As a next step, Delores and I will be working with our UR grants office to ready the proposal as an application for funding. Even though we don't know if the grant will be awarded, we feel that it is a huge WOW for an Osher member to take on a project of this scope -- certainly a first for us.
- Submitted by Jane Dowrick, Director, OLLI at University of Richmond
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MSNBC Host Chris Matthews Visits with Johns Hopkins OLLI Members
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In February, Chris Matthews, the host of MSNBC's Hardball With Chris Matthews, visited Johns Hopkins University's Montgomery County Campus for a question and answer session with Michelle Bernard, president of the Bernard Center for Women, Politics and Public Policy, an MSNBC political analyst, and an instructor at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Johns Hopkins. The event was open to OLLI members and their guests who were interested in learning more about Matthews' new book, Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero, and his thoughts on the 2012 presidential elections. Read more and view photos from the event . . .- Submitted by Susan Howard for the OLLI at Johns Hopkins University
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OLLI Network Cited in New York Times Article on Brain Health
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 The OLLI network and The Bernard Osher Foundation were cited in an article in the March 7 edition of the New York Times. Entitled "Exercising the Aging Brain," the piece explores theories about how to keep the brain healthy and prevent mental decline as one ages. Read the full article here.
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Aging Means Business
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The Aging Means Business Newsletter contains quite a number of video links, documents, etc., focusing on the "Boomers" and "seniors." It is intended for businesses that want to target older adults as "consumers and producers," but you will find some interesting information, useful in the context of OLLI demographics. More grist for the mill.
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Curriculum Offerings from The Northwest Earth Institute
|  The Northwest Earth Institute has supplied course materials to a number of OLLIs (particularly good for study groups and special interest discussions): 1. NWEI's Curriculum Team is busy developing a new two-session course book supplement that focuses on solution-based curriculum to explore energy production and use as a global paradigm, as well as personal choices related to energy. This curricular tool will be offered as a supplement for NWEI's "Global Warming: Changing CO2urse" course book, but it can stand alone as a discussion based curricular tool. 2. A Free 2012 Winter Sustainability Salon Series, which can be used to enhance efforts to begin or continue dialogue on your campus around sustainability topics. You can also download previous Salon Series here. 3. Course Book Price Changes: Starting on April 1st, 2012, the following NWEI discussion course books will be priced at $23: Choices for Sustainable Living, Menu for the Future, Hungry for Change, A World of Health, Discovering a Sense of Place, and Voluntary Simplicity. |
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