Summer Programs   

Drawn from years of friendship and weekly conversations, author and humor columnist Scott Kerman presents a funny, candid, and engaging look of former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis in his book, The Duke: Weekly Conversations with the Last Honest Politician. More than a political discussion, this interactive program explores leadership, public service, friendship, family, and the human side of a public figure most people thought they already knew. Audience members often say it feels like sitting at the kitchen table listening in on the conversations. The presentation includes audience Q&A and signed books will be available for purchase following the program. 

Clear out the furniture, put away the cellphone, put on your favorite t-shirt-- we are going to recreate a beloved TV show. The past you say? It is all here still…Fonzie, Richie, the gang, Arnold’s Drive-In. You will be sent a script a week before we meet. Participants will be invited to read parts aloud. It will be as fun as it was when we made plays in the living room. Acting experience is not necessary. No memorization! Just reading the play together. Programming Note: A minimum of 10 people is needed in order to for this event to occur.

Join OLLI on an exursion to the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, a graduate school of theology that educates and forms Orthodox Christian men and women for service to the Church and society. Participants will learn the basic tenets of Orthodoxy spirituality. This campus (the Hellenic College Holy Cross) is in Brookline, close to Jamaica Pond. This summer, OLLI has put together in-person excursions into the local communities as an opportunity to learn about different religions and faiths. These faith learning excursions will visit different places of worship as a way for participants to gain a basic understanding of that religion, how it is practiced, and what are its underlying principles. Participants will also get a chance to view the actual place of worship and when appropriate, learn about the history, architecture, and purpose of the building. Transportation is not provided.

Osher at Dartmouth Summer Lecture Series
Artificial intelligence represents a transformation comparable in scale to electricity or the internet, yet most business leaders are approaching it as simply another productivity tool. Wheeler will argue this is a fundamental strategic error with consequences extending far beyond individual companies to the broader economy and workforce.

Drawing on his experience living through the internet transformation—where companies like Amazon reimagined everything while others like Sears merely optimized existing models—Wheeler will examine why the current moment demands urgent rethinking, what’s at stake when leaders prioritize short-term efficiency over long-term transformation, and what becomes possible when change is embraced correctly. He will explore specific examples across industries, discuss implications for the next generation entering the workforce, and explain why the choices being made today will determine economic outcomes for decades to come.

Throughout this 90-minute lecture, we will discuss the anatomy and function of the female pelvic floor. Participants will also learn about the various types of urinary incontinence, and strategies to improve and mitigate urinary leakage.

Enjoy a morning walk with OLLI members and guests as we explore Saint Pope John Paull II Park, located in Dorchester along the Neponset River. A combination of flat trails and gentle inclines, all paces are welcome as we chat and talk about whatever may be on our mind.  More specific directions will be sent out to those that sign up. Free parking.

How a Floating City Rose to Rule the Seas – and Still Fights to Survive. This presentation traces the remarkable 1,500-year journey of Venice from a desperate refuge built on mudflats after the fall of the Roman Empire to a dominant maritime and commercial power that connected Europe with the riches of the East. Told in four acts, the program shows how geography, trade, naval innovation, and pragmatic politics created a tiny but global empire; how that wealth was transformed into unparalleled art, architecture, music, and civic culture; how shifting world trade and Napoleon’s conquest ended the republic; and how the city has continually reinvented itself to survive modern threats from mass tourism to rising seas. It is a story of resilience, ingenuity, and identity, revealing how a city with almost no natural advantages became one of history’s most influential and enduring places.

They Called Us Enemy is an autobiographical graphic novel by George Takei, co-written with Justin Eisinger and Steven Scott, and illustrated by Harmony Becker, detailing Takei's childhood experience in Japanese American internment camps during World War II. The book recounts his family's forced removal from their Los Angeles home and imprisonment in camps in Arkansas and California, exploring themes of courage, loyalty, and the impact of legalized racism on his family and his own coming-of-age. The story comes to us through a child’s eyes, but the questions Takei wants us to consider are grown up: What does it mean to be an American? And who gets to decide? It is a New York Times bestseller and award-winning work that serves as a powerful reminder of this period in American history.

Join OLLI this summer for our common read selection, They Called Us Enemy, and attend one of our book discussions on this graphic novel and memoir. OLLI Reads is open to all OLLI members and guests, and allows us to come together as a community reading and discussing the same book. OLLI Reads is a community reading project created by OLLI’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. OLLI members, friends, and neighbors are enthusiastically invited to read one book over the summer, then gather (in person or on Zoom) to share ideas and enjoy each other’s company. Our past OLLI Reads were: So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo, There There by Tommy Orange, The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride, and Being Heumann by Judith Heumann.

Osher at Dartmouth Summer Lecture Series
AI lies at the heart of the strategic competition between the U.S. and China, including the use of AI in intelligence, cyber and military operations.  As AI adoption accelerates in the national security space, the American people and their elected representatives must grapple with a number of critical questions: How will AI change the future of deterrence and warfare?  What ethical issues will the use of AI in national security raise?  What norms or principles should serve as guardrails for the use of AI? How do we get other nations to embrace these norms?  And how do we train a whole generation of military officers to ensure human accountability for AI-driven outcomes on the battlefield? 

They Called Us Enemy is an autobiographical graphic novel by George Takei, co-written with Justin Eisinger and Steven Scott, and illustrated by Harmony Becker, detailing Takei's childhood experience in Japanese American internment camps during World War II. The book recounts his family's forced removal from their Los Angeles home and imprisonment in camps in Arkansas and California, exploring themes of courage, loyalty, and the impact of legalized racism on his family and his own coming-of-age. The story comes to us through a child’s eyes, but the questions Takei wants us to consider are grown up: What does it mean to be an American? And who gets to decide? It is a New York Times bestseller and award-winning work that serves as a powerful reminder of this period in American history.

Join OLLI this summer for our common read selection, They Called Us Enemy, and attend one of our book discussions on this graphic novel and memoir. OLLI Reads is open to all OLLI members and guests, and allows us to come together as a community reading and discussing the same book. OLLI Reads is a community reading project created by OLLI’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. OLLI members, friends, and neighbors are enthusiastically invited to read one book over the summer, then gather (in person or on Zoom) to share ideas and enjoy each other’s company. Our past OLLI Reads were: So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo, There There by Tommy Orange, The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride, and Being Heumann by Judith Heumann.

Curious about the Tibetan Buddhism? Then join OLLI as we are invited to visit the Kurukulla Center for Tibetan Buddhist Studies in Medford. Kurukulla Center's mission is to provide a community of support for those who are studying and practicing the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Participants will hear from the local teacher, Geshe Tenley, about his journey and be invited to tour their facility.

This summer, OLLI has put together in-person excursions into the local communities as an opportunity to learn about different religions and faiths. These faith learning excursions will visit different places of worship as a way for participants to gain a basic understanding of that religion, how it is practiced, and what are its underlying principles. Participants will also get a chance to view the actual place of worship and when appropriate, learn about the history, architecture, and purpose of the building. Transportation is not provided.

Beyond the Frame: American History through Artworks at Smithsonian American Art Museum 
Americans entering the post-War era experienced a boom time clouded by global uncertainty. Artists grappled with how to reflect America’s changing social and political landscape. Analyze and interpret works made in response to various movements, and ponder together works that ask us: “What does it mean to be an American today?”

About the Beyond the Frame series: Artists give us a window on American life, often reflecting the cultural and social climate of the time in which they work. Explore the question, “What does art reveal about America?” as you examine better- and lesser-known aspects of American history to reframe your perspective. Join trained study group leaders as they facilitate an examination of America through artists’ eyes.

Osher at Dartmouth Summer Lecture Series
Artificial intelligence (AI) is now being used to make many lifechanging decisions in medicine, law, transportation, the military, business, and other areas. Critics object that using AI in these areas is inhumane and too likely to lead to harm, unfairness, and other moral wrongs. I will admit these dangers but reply that these decisions can be made safer and more ethical by building human moral values into the AI decisionmaker. Our team does this by surveying human moral judgments at two levels and then correcting for ignorance, confusion, and partiality. To show how our methods work in practice, I will demonstrate our websites, report initial empirical findings for kidney allocation and dementia, and finally discuss potential future applications to criminal law, transportation, business, and the military.

Most conversations about AI quietly sort people into one of three tiered camps: jumping in without looking, refusing to engage at all, or going along with it because everyone else seems to be. None of those feel great, and none of them leave you feeling like yourself. This session is built for a fourth option. We'll learn the words you actually need, look honestly at what's at stake, and practice having real conversations about all of it with each other. By the end, you'll know more, worry less, and feel like the person making the choices again. What you will leave with: A pocket-sized vocabulary that lets you follow any AI conversation, the actual settings to change in common tools so your data isn't borrowed without your consent, three questions worth asking before using any new AI tool, and a printed take-home page you can share with a friend, a grandchild, or your book club.

Program note: This workshop is not part of the Osher Dartmouth series that has been focused on the topic of AI as well.