June 2012

 

Left to right: Medford Mayor Michael McGlynn; David A. Fechtor, Director of OLLI at Tufts University; Dave Blumberg, Operations Manager, Cummings Properties. Photo courtesy of Cummings Properties.

Great news for the OLLI at Tufts University (Medford, MA). After less than four months on the job, David Fechtor, the program's new director, applied for a $100,000 grant from OneWorld Boston, a Cummings Foundation affiliate. Barely a month later, he learned that the grant had come through! Payable in two $50,000 installments over a two-year period, the money will enable David to increase the size of his support staff, upgrade his program's computer and A/V equipment, develop a registration database, improve his program's online capabilities, and, most important, increase his marketing efforts with an eye towards expanding and diversifying his program's membership.

In March two members of the OLLI at Brandeis University,  Alorie Parkhill and Marjorie Roemer, were invited to present a session called "The Age of Memoir: Teaching Writing in a Lifelong Learning

Marjorie Roemer

Setting" at the annual Conference on Composition and Communication in St. Louis. The 300-session conference draws some 2600 college writing teachers from all over the country and acceptance to the program is highly selective.

The theme of this year's conference was "Writing Gateways," a reference to the famous St. Louis Gateway Arch and the role of that city as "gateway to the West." This metaphor provided a platform for speculation about gateways in the practice of writing: the thresholds, transition points, and explorations that are studied in the field of composition. But it was the Momaday quote above which framed the opening keynote address that spoke most directly to our work. (Momaday is a Pulitzer prize-winning Kiowa-Cherokee author.)

A punch bowl in the China trade; citizen soldier monuments; lynching memorials remembering a dark past. These and other fascinating artifacts populate the syllabus of the "Objects as Cultural Artifacts" class at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Delaware in Wilmington, UD's member-based teaching and learning program for those over 50.  The course is presented by graduate students from UD's Delaware Public Humanities Institute (DELPHI) whose material culture research spans history, literature, art history, art conservation and more. Read more about this innovative program.

The OLLI/PLAYHOUSE Radio-Active Players, an older adult theatre group sponsored by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at UNL and Lincoln Community Playhouse, raised $2,750.00 in donations to the USO with their 1940's musical revue, USO: A Stage Door Canteen.

 "All of the donations from our audience will be sent to the USO to support current programs for our troops and their families. As a community theatre leader, it is a great feeling to know we are playing a part in improving life in communities around the world," stated Morrie Enders, Playhouse Executive Director.

- submitted by Dee Aguilar, Coordinator, OLLI at University of Nebraska-Lincoln

On May 23, Le Chat Noir Writers Circle hosted an event that featured the literary works of 13 gifted writers. Their funny, poignant and compelling stories were presented to more than 60 family members, friends and supporters. The event program thanked the University of North Florida OLLI for showing the writers "that there's always something more to learn."

Le Chat Noir, based in Jacksonville, Florida, was born in a UNF OLLI class entitled "Remember Me: Writing the Powerful Memoir" offered by Carol O'Dell. As the group's founder, Carol offered a safe, productive and encouraging environment that allowed OLLI members to grow and flourish as authors.  The group's name pays homage to a group of artists who found inspiration and showcased their talents in the Parisian cabaret of the same name.

-submitted by Jeanette Toohey, Director, OLLI at University of North Florida

 

There are three regional conferences for lifelong learning institutes coming up in the next year.  Institutes are welcome to attend any of the three, regardless of home region:

Southeast Region Lifelong Learning Conference - July 25-27, 2012 - That's next month! Sponsored by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, University of North Florida in Jacksonville. The theme of the conference is Innovation for Today and Tomorrow. Even though this is a Southern Region conference, LLIs and their members from all across the country are invited. For more information please see the conference website.

Midwest Region Lifelong Learning Conference, April 10-12, 2013 - Sponsored by the Academy of Lifetime Learning, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston. To be held at the Hilton Suites Chicago Magnificent Mile, 198 East Delaware Place, Chicago. For more information please contact Janna Overstreet.

Northeast Region Lifelong Learning Conference - April 20-21, 2013 - Sponsored by the Second Half Lifelong Learning Institute, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. For more information please contact Beverly Stevens..

 

The Aging in America conference will be in Chicago March 12-16, 2013.  Proposal deadline is July 2. If anyone would like to collaborate with Kali on a session, drop a line.